Monday, August 31, 2015

Inspiration from the Craft Fair

I was so impressed with this years WA Craft Show at Claremont Showgrounds that I wanted to share some of the highlights with you, like these fabulous quilt creations from "Just One More Stitch".



and the marvellous textile and fibre art from "Designing Women".


Dale Rollerson's work never fails to inspire me.


But for me, the big draw card this year was Alison Cole and her superb stumpwork and goldwork embroidery.  Her work is simply stunning, so fine and well executed, with a wonderful selection of styles and themes to entice you.  Not only that, she's a lovely lady too - we sat and chatted quite a bit together at the end of the day, and I came home all inspired to create a stumpwork design - something I've not done in a number of years.
Each year the fair holds its Art to Wear display and as always the artists imagination is awe inspiring, like this dress made by Minni Karamfiles, all made of ringpulls from aluminium drink cans.  Incredible!! 
and this work of art from Jan Rowe - such an amazing amount of texture created in this piece and the colours were extraordinary.  I couldn't begin to imagine the number of hours work that went into creating this piece.

There was one piece in particular that caught my eye, and that was the eco dyed dress made by Jane Flower.  The colours and patterns in her work really appealed to me and I spent quite a long time chatting with her and went away itching to set a date on the calendar to attend one of her workshops.  Fortunately she lives not too far away from me, so as soon as I get a slot in my calendar I'll be off there in a shot.
 

There's something so appealing about the natural colours and patterns in Jane's work that I kept going back to her stand time and again, just to soak it all in.  She certainly inspired me, and since the show I've spent a lot of time googling eco dyeing, so watch for future posts, I might have something to share with you soon.

Another guest this year was Ro Bruhn, whose work is so colourful and vibrant.  It makes you want to pull out your paint box and have a go. They were such happy bright pieces.

Val Hornibrook is a West Australian artist and her felted pieces were also colourful and enticing.


There were many exhibitions of art quilts and textile and fibre art from leading artists from all over Australia and internationally.  But the one that stood out the most was The Sentinelles, by Dijanne Cevaal.
I couldn't get enough of this wonderful display.  My brain was like a sponge trying to take it all in - so many different approaches to embroidery and colour, and the way the display was set out showing the colours changing as they moved around the colour wheel was incredible.  If you ever get the chance to see this travelling exhibition I thoroughly recommend it.








And last but certainly not least, was the Kimberley Dreaming exhibition run by Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio.  Unfortunately my photos don't reflect the true colours of some of these masterpieces.  They were the colours of Australia, and were simply beautiful.



There are so many talented people all around us every day who work hard in their creative fields, and I'm always so grateful to these people for sharing their inspiration, ideas and techniques with us all. So a huge thank you.  I had a brilliant day, my mind is spinning with inspiration and I can't wait for next years show.



Monday, August 24, 2015

ATASDA Challenge

We have two big craft shows in Perth each year, one in May and the other in August, and they are both highlights of my year.  I love them.  I love going there and bumping into people I know, I love the inspiration of all the amazing creations I see there, and most of all I love buying lots of goodies to add to my stash of things that I'll probably never use.
Last week was the WA Craft and Quilt Fair at Claremont Showgrounds.
This year I had the added bonus of manning our ATASDA stand for half a day, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  
We had lots of wonderful comments on our work and quite a few names added to the list of new members interested in joining us.  We look forward to meeting all you new ladies at our next meeting.
Our groups theme this year was a Green/Teal triangle. We were all given a mystery pack last December, containing various materials in the colour theme and off we went to design and create our own triangle.
Here they are all displayed together - I love how everyone has a different approach, and each and every one of them was fabulous in its own right.  
Then there was the Challenge this year - based on "Exotica".  Another example of wonderful work from our members.
Thank you to the kind generosity of The Thread Studio and Halcyon Steppe for donating the prizes once again.  The winner of the The Thread Studio challenge was Trudy Boyce; and winner of the Halcyon Excellence Award went to Raye Farcic - well done ladies. 
Here's looking forward to next years challenge.