How cool is this, I’ve been playing around with a Kaleidoscope attachment for photoshop. These are some from the Lincut I showed yesterday:
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Linocut Revisited
I’m giving Linocut another red hot go. One of my dorm-mates from Geelong (Chris from Queensland) gave me a few tips, mainly that I should use a texta to colour in the negative areas of my design so I know what to cut away (that freemotion linocutting caper just didn’t do it for me, and as much as I hate to plan things out, I REALLY need to with linocut).
I need to work on the ‘inking up’ concept, but I don’t think it turned out too badly.
Have you ever looked at a portrait of Queen Elizabeth (the first) and lusted after her dress, or longed to slip on a ruff for just a day? Well, maybe I’m a little loony. But I sure do love those costumes and fabrics Mmmm Mmmmm Though I’m glad I don’t have to entertain those corsets LOL
Anyway, I was admiring this portrait (in and ad) yesterday, when I decided I could have a little bit of the fun myself by stealing a bit of her skirt:
Now, as a surefire way of killing a project, I’ll tell you about the germ of an idea I had whilst cutting away. Perhaps I could do a little series of linocuts featuring bits of fabric. But only the good stuff (and stuff with big motifs LOL, my linocutting skills aren’t that great). Anyway, now I’ve let it out of the bag, it is sure to be the last you hear of it! 🙂
And, just to keep the magic going, here is a sunrise photo I took in Geelong (Chris of Linocut fame is just visible to the right, she is wearing the lovely blue felt hat she made herself!)
*********************************************
Edited to add some more info on Lady Reynell:
Excerpt from the article “Robert Peake & Scipione Pulzone in Adelaide” by: Angus Trumble at Antiques & Are E-zine
“Mark Weiss, who has published the painting in his recent Rex Irwin catalogue, Tudor and Stuart Portraits, 1530-1660, London & Sydney 1997, states that: ‘Frances, who was the daughter of John Aylworth of Polstow in Devon, married Thomas Reynell (1555-1621) in about 1580 and by him had nine children, three of whom were sons…The first was born in 1581. The Reynells, a West Country family of great antiquity, were first recorded in the 12th century during the reigns of Henry II and Richard I as having custody of the castles of Exeter and Launceston. Thomas Reynell, whose brother Sir Carew was cup-bearer to Queen Elizabeth, was knighted in 1603, following the Coronation of King James I [and VI of Scotland].'”
Now, I grew up in Tasmania where English place names are numerous, but I never knew that Exeter and Launceston were named after castles. Launceston is the second largest city in Tassy and Exeter is a ‘blink and miss it’ town in the same region. We get most annoyed when mainlanders refer to Launceston as Lawn-ceston, it is pronounced lon-ceston. Anybody know how they say it in England?
Posted in Painting
2 Comments
Books on the Edge
The workshop I took at Geelong was called Books on the Edge – That Ain’t a Book! by Marianne Little and Gail Stife.
We actually did do traditional book binding as well, coptic and celtic etc. But my main interest was to explore materials and tools I’d never used before:
I just took some photos of my work, they aren’t the best, but I hope you get the idea :-):
The family peeking over the book is my sister and her family, must have been taken about 3 years ago, as her baby is now a 4yo handful!
Posted in Dyeing
5 Comments
Back
I just returned (a few days ago) from the Geelong Textile Fibre Forum. It truely was a wonderful experience, I made many new friends (I knew nobody at the start of the week), I learnt alot and I’m inspired to create.
I took a workshop called ‘Books on the Edge’ taught by Gail Stiffe and Marianne Little. I’m pleased with what I produced through the week and I’ll post photos in my next post.
I was so tired on the last day, I had to pull off the freeway on the way home for a nap. Fatigue is a huge cause of road crashes and the message has gotten through to my head… Safety message for the day: If your eyes feel gritty, you are having trouble staying alert, do yourself, your family and other road users a favour and pull over for a 15-20min nap. You can fall asleep for a mini second on the road and I’ll be all over.
I spent SO much money at the forum, the biggest purchase being a felt hat made by by May Hvistendahl from Norway. I don’t know where I’ll wear it, but at the price I paid, It’ll be as often as possible 🙂 Considering the scandal I caused at work yesterday by wearing orange ‘above the knee’ stockings with a short skirt (which I’ve worn to work many times), I don’t think I could wear it there LOL.
I was much more classic today, wearing a green straight skirt I bought from an opp shop for 50c and a length of fabric made of silk and metal (very yummy, another forum purchase from Beautiful Silks, unhemmed) as a wrap… I was even told I looked more professional today by my manager, I laffed at him, if orange socks is all it takes to be ‘unprofessional looking’ then he is a bigger dick than we all think!
I’ve got a new direction with my art (which has been stagnating for six months), I’ll talk about it more when I really get going with it.
Cheerio for now.
Another Finished
Pattern: One Skein Wonder from Glampyre
Yarn: My handspun, hand dyed merino, very soft. I dyed the top, spun it up and navajo plyed. I was delighted to find it knit to gauge.
Needles: 5mm Circs for body and 3.75mm circs for ribbing and moss stitch sleeve detail.
Comments: This was a very fast knit for me, I reckon it took me about 6 hours all up, and I’m not a superfast knitter by any standards. The worst bit was picking up stitches for the ribbing, I did pick up too many and I think this has been one of the factors in why the ribbing isn’t as ‘pulled in’ as I would like. I also should have used 3.5mm circs, but I don’t have any.
I’ll be away for a week, attending the Geelong Textile Fibre Forum YAY!. I’ve been looking forward to this for 6 months.
Today is AFL Grand Final Day. A great excuse to eat savloys LOL
Posted in Photography
2 Comments
Kiri – Finished
Kiri Shawl – FINISHED!!
Pattern: Kiri (12 repeats of chart 2) from All Tangled Up
Needles: 5mm Circs. I used a 7mm straight needle to cast off.
Finished size: I haven’t measured, but it is wider than my wing span so I’d say it is around 170cm wide and it reaches down past my bottom, so it is a nice size
Yarn: My handspun 2 ply from a locally grown merino cross fleece. Spun in the grease.
Comments: This was a fun knit, and as a relatively new knitter (since January 05) by far my largest project yet. I highly recommend using a much larger needle and the pattern’s instructions for casting off, this way you will get enough stretch to get the points on the edge (the points in the photo aren’t showing up too well because I wore it yesterday and they tended to curl.)
And, I found this cluster of pods on our walk tonight.
Posted in Photography
8 Comments
Nearly There
Kiri is finished and blocking. No full shot photos til then, but here’s a glamour shot to tide you over.
Another day, another gallery opening. Geez life is tough LOL. Cowwarr Art Space is hosting a travelling exhibition of works by Jim Thalassoudis. His paintings are of the sky; cloud formations, dramatic sunsets and bushfire affected heavens. I enjoyed the works immensely.
I also had the chance to meet Stephen Gallagher who I mentioned yesterday. I am sad to say I had a go at him about his lack of web presence, sorry about that Stephen. He tells me he is going to create some larger scale works using bigger mesh. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with!
Stephen informed me of an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria called Everlasting – The Flower in Fashion and Textiles 26 August 2005 – 2 April 2005. Sounds like Riscy and I will need to plan another Melbourne weekend excursion.
And to round this post out, here is a photo I took this afternoon of a Four O’Clock* folding up for the night:
This is what Riscy’s mum calls them. I think they are californian poppies though.
Posted in Photography
Leave a comment
Motivation
Well, to motivate myself to finish Kiri, I’ve purchased the One Skein Wonder pattern from Glampyre. I’m not sure whether it will flatter me (busty as I am), but I’m keen to give it a shot. My first knitted item with sleeves.
I swatched the yarn I want to use, and it appears I’m right on gauge, pretty remarkable given this is one of my handspun yarns, this gauge stuff is all new to me!
We went to a marvelous gallery opening last night at the Latrobe Regional Gallery*. It was quite an extravaganza with three exhibitions opening at once and tonnes of people.
Contemporary Leftovers – Rehgan De Mather
Unstrung – The Bead in Contemporary Art
Bushwaters, gums and gardens. A close look – Marilyn Close.
I was very impressed by De Mather. I’d seen some earlier work before but his new stuff is much more compelling. His use of texture and layers really sucked me in and I plan to go back for a second look.
Unstrung was a group exhibition curated by the Director of the Latrobe Regional Gallery – Louise Tagart. I particularly enjoyed the peices by Anna Davern, vessels with delicate, organic protusions like growths or tendrils reaching out.
Also wonderful, was a vase made of steel mesh embellished with beads and embroidery by Stephen Gallagher. (Article and Link)
And suprising, was Neon Beads by Patricia Harper, a string of neon beads, you can see it at this link, third photo down.
And to draw this little review to a close, I’l like to say that bush and landscape painting is not all bad news. Marilyn Close has opened my eyes to how wonderful it can be, her ability to capture the bush, textures of bark, light in a garden. Quite wonderful.
*For the sake of disclosure I must add that I am a community rep on the LRG advisory committee.
Posted in Photography
Leave a comment
First Rose of the Season
I ventured into the garden in the fading light this evening and was delighted to find a beautiful rose blooming:
E’toile de Lyon is Tea rose, quite an old variety having been released in 1881. In my garden this rose is short and sprawling and currently covered in buds. It wins the ‘first rose of the season’ prize by a country mile although I was getting blooms on Margaret Merrill up until I pruned her a month ago.
I still have quite a few roses to prune. Perhaps this weekend 🙂
Edited to add… !!!STOP PRESS!!!
I just came across this art quilter, Angela Moll (thanks to Wee Wonderfuls). Had to share.
Posted in Spinning
2 Comments
Kiri – A Sneak Peek
An unfortunate mistake required the heartstopping decision to take Kiri off the needle. But every cloud has a silver lining ’cause this allowed the opportunity to get a preview 🙂
I only took her back 4 rows, but given the number of stitches at this stage (last repeat before I launch onto the border) I have been set back a considerable amount… I don’t think I’m gonna have her finished by Friday.
I’ve made more mistakes in this repeat than I have since I started on the second chart. I can’t work it out. I shouldn’t knit when tired is probably a good lesson though.
We had our second meeting with our architect today regarding the renovations. Scary stuff, but so far it is all sounding good. He will get back to us in 2-3 weeks with some concepts. My work mates made fun off me because we are getting an architect to do this for us when we are theoretically capable of doing it ourselves (y’know, being engineers and all). But, it would take us 5 years to get this project finished because we are too absorbed with other stuff and frankly our relationship will be all the better because we have chosen NOT to do this on our own. Believe me.
Posted in Photography
2 Comments