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.

Autumn at last

After what seems like the longest summer ever, Autumn has finally arrived ... a bit late, but better late than never, so I'm busy every day raking up leaves.  What seems like a chore to me is an absolute joy to my grandson.  I couldn't help but laugh and wish that I too, was young enough to be able to sit in a pile of leaves and play about in them without the neighbours thinking I was a complete prat.

Today I feel a bit lost, not going to Needle Ny-dle Noo to teach.  The workshop finished last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and miss the ladies and the patter and enjoyment you get in a group class.

They all diligently did their homework and weren't too cross with me for giving them so much to do.  Although they didn't get to completely finish their project in class, they came close to it, and I'm looking forward to catching up with them again in a few weeks time to see the finished results.  Here they are, with their progress - they should all be very proud of their work as they did a wonderful job and created lots of cheeky badgers.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mums, step-mums, grandmums, and mums-to-be ... I hope you all had a wonderful day today.  I'm lucky to be able to say that my own mum is also my best friend, which is something that is becoming rare in todays fractured society.

 My own family gave me a lovely day ... all visiting and spending time with me, wonderful cards with heartfelt words, chocolate roses, and dinner cooked by number 2 son .... I could get used to this!!!  Why is mothers day only one day a year??!! 

After such a relaxing day, tomorrow will be a challenge ... up early, now thats a challenge in itself. I'm off on the train to teach my badger stumpwork design to a group of ladies at Needle Nydle Noo in North Perth, for the next three Mondays.  I love teaching, and I'm excited about meeting new ladies and sharing what I love to do.  As for the experimental pulled thread work ... well I'm still thinking about that. 

I'm hoping that meeting new stitchers will kick start some inspiration into me.  Hope you all had a great weekend.