on the studio wall

Currently on the design wall - I'm enjoying working on a piece inspired by our macadamia nut tree.

Photos printed onto fabric combined with hand dyed &, painted fabric, commercial fabrics and also created some rubbed fabric with Shiva Oil Sticks using the different textures and natural knots on the trunk & branches

going nutty

Currently working on a textile piece inspired by the Macadamia Nut Tree that's in our backyard. I had previously taken a few photos of the leaves and had them printed onto a length of fabric by Spoonflower. But I also wanted to do something with the nuts. I like the shape, layers and textures of the nuts, especially the interior of the fallen/forgotten nuts slowly decaying. Firstly I took photos and then created a couple of sketches. Through further adaptions and explorations of the sketches a symbol evolved which has been used to make up a stencil from freezer paper. Using 'Shiva Sticks' I stenciled the fabric (the same technique that I used when making up the fabric for my bag)  

As I work on the pieces I lay them into the basic layout, the layout alters several times throughout the process. Once I decide on the layout I then prepare it for stitching and quilting. 

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.