creative play day

It's been a week of many inspiring moments. On Christmas day I spent part of the day with my mum on her property where she has recently moved a 100+ year old building onto her place to restore back to it's former glory. In the meantime I had a wonderful time taking photos of it's current derelict state. So on Thursday when I had a creative play day with some friends exploring the many possibilities with Lutradur, TAP paper and heat gunning metals, my mind went a racing to using the photos I'd taken of the derelict building. I've printed a few of the photos onto the Lutradur this afternoon and planning to create a collage using the images. So enjoy the creative play days, very inspiring in deed. And today Dad and I went along to the Matisse Exhibition which is currently on at GOMA, it was very popular but still very inspirational and certainly worth a return visit outside of the holiday period.

In time for Santa

I've been enjoying getting back into doing some Christmas nibble cooking this year. Apricot balls, rum balls, white Christmas, chocolate fairy cakes and one of my favorites mocha balls. In keeping with this years theme word which was expand, I've been exploring with taking still life food shots. Thought I'd share the recipe for the mocha balls

1 2/3 cups icing sugar

3/4 cup rolled oats

2 tbspn instant coffee

1 tbspn coffee liquer

3/4 cup coconut

125g butter

300g dark chocolate

Cream butter with icing sugar. Dissolve coffee in liqueur. Add rolled oats, coffee and coconut to mixture and mix well. Refrigerate the mixture for about 20 minutes and then roll into small balls. Dip the balls in melted chocolate and decorate with coffee bean or cherry.

Merry Christmas and best wishes to all

Ginger Ginger

Enjoying the flowers of one of our ornamental gingers at the moment. The turmeric and the edible ginger have also started to shoot new growth.   

Related Post:

From the sketchbook - ginger study

From the sketchbook - Ginger Study part 2

5 Simple ways to enjoy everyday pleasures

Inspired by

Finished putting the final touches onto my little bag tonight. I'm part of a small group and we meet every 6 weeks or so and enjoy sharing ideas and setting ourselves little challenges to expand and grow. On this particular occasion we went along to the Queensland Art Gallery and picked one of the exhibitions that was on at the time which happened to be Paper Skin - Barkcloth from across the Pacific. 

The mission was to draw inspiration from a current exhibition

We made lots of notes and then explored and expanded from there. Initially I explored on paper and into my visual diary. I finally drew a pattern directly onto freezer paper and then cut out sections to create a stencil. Ironed the stencil onto cotton fabric and then using a stencil brush and Artists Paintstiks I stenciled the fabric, repositioning the stencil several times. Once I had finished, I allowed the fabric to rest for 24 hours before heat setting it. The fabric stayed that way for a few months and just recently I finally drafted up the pattern for the bag and assembled it. I've used upholstery fabric for the handles and base and hand dyed cotton fabric for the interior.  

forgotten/overlooked

 Added the above photos to my forgotten/overlooked series. There's 21 photos in the series so far, I envisage to keep adding to the collection. The full collection is on my Facebook fan page (you don't need to be a facebook member to view the collection).

fun with the sun

 Sunday last week was hot, sunny and humid but a great day to have a bit of fun with painting fabric and doing some sun printing. I've used transparent paints by Hi-Strike and Pebeo Setacolor . I've also mixed through a couple of metallic fabric paints. I first learnt how to do this technique in a workshop with quilt artist Gloria Loughman and really enjoy returning to the technique.

The fabric used was white homespun and pre-washed. Damp pieces of the fabric were laid out onto my work surface. I then paint the fabric pieces with paints which I had diluted. Once the pieces were painted I laid the macadamia leaves across the top of the painted pieces. Everything is left in the sun to dry, the leaves act as a resist. It's fun to play around with different shapes laid across the top to get different effects.

Tommy Toes

We've got back on top of the veggie patch this year, today's harvest was some Tommy Toe tomatoes. They just looked so good I decided to have a bit of a play with setting up still life shots and photographing food.  

meet the artists

I was so excited when both my entries were accepted into the State of the Art Quilt Juried Exhibition.

The collection also features pieces by artists: Ankie King, Jan McPike, Ros Ward, Margie Creek, Sue Dennis, Linda Robertus, Julie Tasker, Alison George, Felicity Clarke, Helen Kidd, Sue Duffy & Tricia Smout.

The collection has been on tour throughout the year and will be on display at

Gallery 159 opening at 330pm on Saturday 12th November 2011

the exhibition will continue at Gallery 159 until the 26th November 2011

open weekends 11am to 4pm and weekdays by appointment

Gallery 159 is located at 159 Payne Road, The Gap, QLD 

out and about town

After dropping husband off to his computer land day today I headed over to a friends place for a couple of hours and then onto the city. I've been wanting to wonder around the city area and take photos of the architecture with a focus on the contrast between heritage and modern buildings and how they interact. I mostly wondered around the King George Square area today and plan to do another field trip. I also did my bit to support retail and purchased a pair of shoes.

mailart

Enjoying the moment - playing, exploring & creating

Exploring a theme

Over the last week I've been ink jet printing and painting fabric pieces which will be used in a quilt which has been inspired by "Spilling Over" the theme set back in March as part of the sketchbook challenge. I particularly liked the theme and wanted to explore it further from several perspectives. Over the weekend I was sorting through the images and bits n pieces I've been collecting for the theme and these two collages evolved.

ready to quilt

I was out at Boonah last weekend on a retreat with the girls, lots of laughs and creating had by all. I've been finishing off a couple of my traditional quilts this year as well. So last weekend while out at retreat I pieced together the fabrics for the back and drafted the quilting patterns and today I pinned all the layers together - so now it's ready to quilt and finish off. When finished it will take it's turn hanging in our library/sitting room (we converted one of the bedrooms to a library as part of our renovations).

Cairns Artist & Photographer

I've been tidying up my studio following the recent exhibition and came across the Cotton Fabric Patches I purchased at the Esplanade Markets while in Cairns from Artist & Photographer Gerhard Hillmann Each patch is 6 inch square and printed with one of Gerhard's fine art creations. The fabric patches are also available online along with other prints and artworks by Gerhard.

Out of the Blue

It's hard to believe 12 months has passed since the release of my first calendar "A Gathering of moments" For this years release "Out of the Blue" I've drawn inspiration from the sky. I love to explore how objects/nature contrast and interact with the blue backdrop. Both calendars are available to view and/or order through Redbubble

Mushroom Relish

In my "Jam n Books" Post, I had a request from Pauline for the mushroom relish recipe.

1kg mushrooms, 500grams tomatoes, 2-3 onions, 2 granny smith apples, 3-4 garlic pieces, brown sugar to taste approx one cup, salt and pepper to taste, 2-3 cups vinegar (I use brown vinegar with a splash of port/liqueur added), a selection of spices to suit own palate - ie coriander seeds, a pinch of mustard, turmeric.

Wash the mushrooms and tomatoes, chop coarsely and set aside. Peel the onions, peel & core the apples chop both coarsely and set aside. I then put everything (including garlic) through the food processor in batches. Once processed it all goes into a saucepan. Add the vinegar, sugar, spices, salt n pepper. Stir occasionally while bringing to the boil. Reduce heat so it remains simmering and continue cooking. Check the flavor as you go and add more seasoning as needed - I'm fairly sure I also added a tablespoons of Golden Syrup as my husband and I both have a sweet tooth. Stir relish occasionally during cooking, cook relish until it reaches the desired consistency - usually about 1-2 hours. Divide cooked relish up into sterile jars, seal and store. Makes about 4 x 250ml jars.

fabric through spoonflower #4

 

 

A couple of new fabric designs available through "Spoonflower"

Exhibition Opens Today

We three artists (Felicity Clarke, Myself and Tricia Smout) with the much appreciated help of my Dad hung our "Undercurrent Exhibition" yesterday. The Exhibition opens today at 10am. It will be on display 9th - 14th September 2011 at the Arts Factory Gallery cnr Merivale & Glenelg, South Brisbane. The Gallery will be open daily 10am to 4pm. We're having an opening ceremony tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 10th September) at 4pm.

friend or foe - a matter of perspective

As well as working on my pieces for the up-coming exhibition, we've also been catching up in the garden and of course the camera is never far away. This time it's been the pesky weeds that have had center stage. I stumbled across some information on edible weeds while researching companion planting. Who would have thought that some weeds actually have alternative uses. So camera in hand I've captured some shots, printed them onto fabric (using the Ink Aid method) went through my fabric stash, picked out a few floral prints and now working them into a collage. Apparently the following are just a few of the possible culinary delights: Dandelion, Purslane, chickweed, stinging nettle (once cooked the tiny hairs on these leaves are no longer an irritant), chicory and even one of the most annoying weeds in the garden is edible - the cobblers pegs (apparently an Aztec herb) One must always remember to correctly identify these plants before plunging in for a feast as some have similar looking cousins that are definitely not safe to consume.

Everyday Objects

Inner City Circle Quilt Show

Inner City Circle Quilt Group is having our bi-annual quilt show tomorrow. Opening 10am to 3pm at the Milton State School, Bayswater Rd, Milton QLD. All money raised is donated to Karuna Hospice. Our "Chinese Whispers Challenge" will also be on display.