Wild Things…

Wicked Wearables & Whimsical Wonders

Don’t miss this unique selling exhibition of affordable contemporary textiles by Brisbane based textile artists and ATASDA members Sharyn Hall and Wendy Bailye.

Shibori sheer - Sharyn hall

Textiles in all their forms will be exhibited and there will be lots of wonderful handmade items to buy –- many utilising recycled materials.

Expect plenty of smaller items that will make fantastic Christmas gifts. Brooches, bags, large and small art for the wall, lamps, sculptures, handmade cards, exquisite machine embroideries, and hand felted items. Expect a dose of quirkiness, priceless individuality, bold colours and amazing textures and techniques!

Wendy Bailye

It is here you will find truly unique Christmas presents all with that little bit of hand crafted eccentricity.

The exhibition will be held at Richard Randall Art Studio, Brisbane Botanical Gardens,

Mt Coot-tha   on the 27 – 29 November 2009. Fri: 10am – 4.00pm, Sat: 9.00am – 5.00pm, Sun: 9.00am – 4.00pm.

Block Printing Textile Taster

Diane Groenewegen recently gave a “Taster” class in block printing. Here are some of Diane’s photos from a busy and very successful day! Click on any photo to get a larger view.

First the hard work:

Then the great results:

Morphology

Svenja and Janet De Boer

Morphology – exploring the fascinating surface and forms of fungi and lichen through contemporary textile practices, an exhibition by Carol Wilkes and Svenja, was opened by Janet De Boer OAM on Sunday 16th of August, in front of a simply outstanding crowd. A steady stream had visited through the day, no doubt prompted by the coverage received in the Sunday Mail the weekend previous. Another article was discovered in the Courier Mail on Monday, too! Peter had recently celebrated a birthday, hence the presentation of the ‘fungal’ hat he is wearing - created by Carol and Svenja. Janet outdid herself in pink to rival Svenja, with a constantly changing array of headgear over the afternoon.

Carol Wilkes, Peter and Svenja

There were many disgruntled viewers - unhappy that the articles they wished to purchase were not for sale! There is a reason for this – we hope to tour the exhibition, and grow it along the way, so we can’t have it all disappearing! So look out at a gallery near you in the coming months! We will of course keep you posted. Disgruntlement aside, the work was well received, and although we were each working in very different techniques, it was agreed that the work sat together very harmoniously in the space.

Thanks to all who made it along to support us, and thank you to all the members of ATASDA who have been a part of this journey in some way. Be warned though – this is just the beginning!

Morphology can be seen at Gallery 159 Brisbane August 16-30 2009.

Words and pictures by Svenja.

Diane Groenewegen – Just Foils workday

After the great success of her new publication Foils Discovered, Diane is offering two “hands on” workdays at her home studio in Chatswood (Sydney).

Warm studio–good music–plenty of inspiration
Limited to six students per session
All materials and equipment supplied
Just bring your lunch-good coffee and tea provided
Cost $ 75.00
a short day from 10 am till 3pm
Thursday 20^th August or Sunday 30^th August

For more information or to book, email di_groenewegen at bigpond dot com

More of Diane’s work can be seen in her ATASDA Member’s Gallery here.

Gail Stahmer – Passages of Intrigue

Gail has created this piece to add to Kirry Toose’s Tora in the Passages of Intrigue swap. The inspiration here comes from Arthur Rackman’s illustrations in Alice in Wonderland.

Denise Lithgow – Passages of Intrigue; Meditaranian seagul

Tora

Denise has used machine embroidery to create a passageway in the Passages of Intrigue group swap.The rings in different colours will be decorated by each person in her group of 5 as they see fit. The final piece will be completed in April 2010.

Meditaranian seagul

Meditaranian seagul is Denise’s entry for the Glebe art exhibition. In it a brown paper bag was painted then scrunched up to feel as soft as fabric. Denise has then machine stitched and hand stitched.

Denise Lithgow – Bliss Dress

Winning entry Bliss Dress, for the recycled Textile Art to Wear exhibition in Brisbane by Denise Lithgow.

Using recycled raffia the Bliss Dress has been knitted to form a wearable artwork. My colleagues at a busy day surgery helped collect the raffia and other recycled products used. The dress has a silky sheen and its form has been achieved by sculpturing, shrinking,and moulding. Floating features have been attatched to the skirt. To compliment the dress I have created a futuristic neckpiece made from handmade fabric beads, wire and silicone tubing covered with raffia.

Front

Back

Detail of neckpiece

Photos: David Griffen

Val James – Mask and Bag

Val James showed some of her work at the Stash Surface Stitch Exchange in May.

Val made this mask in Cheryl Bridgeart’s class at the Tafta Forum in Orange this year. Maz Beeston’s work from the same class can be seen here.

Val showed one of her bags that will be exhibited in the Hornsby Shire recycling competition in June.  The competition will be judged this weekend and then the exhibition opens on 3 June until the weekend at the Hornsby Art Gallery in Hornsby (next to the Shell Garage).

Edited to add: The Hornsby Council Recycling ” Returned to Glory” Exhibition had the official opening and announcement of awards. Val James won the Art to Wear section and $1000 prize with her Fantastic Plastic handbag!

The exhibition is on daily from 10am to 4pm at the Hornsby Art Gallery,
208 Pacific Highway, Hornsby, till Sunday 7th June.

Photos: Helen MacRitchie

May Stash Surface Stitch Exchange

Ecilia wore a jacket made by a friend to the SSSE

Val James kindly offered a treasure trove of fabric and trimmings up for grabs to those present for a small donation to the scholarship fund.

Helen MacRitchie – Sea Dragon

I made a cartouche (yes, we all had to look up wikipedia for that one too) for the Exotica exhibition. I decided to go down the mixed media avenue after my recent fibreinform online workshop and produced a very 3D hanging (about 6 x 12 inches) which I’ve called Sea Dragon.
It features paper casting for the border and dragon with molding paste, scrim and fibres to set them in. I’ve used Golden flow acrylics and waxes to bring out the texture.
It then has some surface machine and hand stitching to integrate it all.

Exotica celebrates ATASDA’s 35th anniversary. It is travelling Australia as part of Expertise Events’ 2009 Craft & Quilt Fairs.

Exotica, showcasing the work of Helen and other ATASDA artists, can be seen in Perth (13-17 May), Sydney (10-14 June), Hobart (26-28 June), Melbourne (23-26 July), Canberra (6-9 August), Brisbane (21-25 October) and  Adelaide (5-8 November).

More of Helen’s work can be seen on her blog, fibrenell.