Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Metal and Fabric mix ......

Saturday my friend Nat and I took a trip into Ziguzagu.....our favourite Japanese Warehouse where we find lots of old deconstructed kimono, vintage kimono fabrics...row upon row of baskets of wonderful fabric treasures. If you ever visit Melbourne be sure to visit.  You wont be disappointed!

There are also many wonderful kimono's and Japanese garments to be found and many other Japanese wares.  I found some beautiful old Kokeshi dolls (circa 1950), I bought a lovely metal ikibana (I hope that is correct), used in Japanese floral arrangements.  I am going to use it to print onto fabric and journal papers.  Sorry,  I havent photographed the dolls or ikibana piece.  Will show you soon.

Nat admiring the Japanese garments .....so hard to choose as there are so many beautiful pieces.  I love the fabric in this one.

I bought myself some lovely pieces of vintage kimono linings.  I love to use these for dyeing.  Some of the colours as they age are just so beautiful though,  I think some pieces might be used with just their natural patina of age.

Our day out was planned around a visit to the opening of an Art Exhibition,  "Journeys In - Journeys Out' at the Burrinja Gallery in Upwey.  Jude Craig of Naturally Dyed and  Michael Hyett and Martin Judd of Juet Sculpture collaborated to create an exhibition fusing metal and fabric.  It was wonderful.....  see photos below and visit Nat's blog for even more photos of ZZ.. 

Eco dyed patchwork.  I love how Jude displayed this piece with the reverse as the front .... those raw and frayed edges created such lovely texture.  Arent the colours amazing?  Colours from the Australian bush.

Beautifully framed eco dyed clothing fragments/remnants.  And if you click on the photo you can see one of the metal and fabric sculptural pieces.   (all photos are clickable for a closer look).

Wrapped canvases...each one with a metal object attached.

And the artist posing with a couple of her students/fellow artists.  L to R  Nat, Jude Craig and Jillian.
It was a wonderful exhibition and Jude's body or work was amazing. 

These next few photo's are 'just because' .....  Lynne and Zorana,  here are my new brushes!!!  We've been talking about how much we love our paintbrushes and how exciting when we get a few new brushes, so I wanted to share them with you.  I was recently given a voucher to my local art shop so bought two new brushes, more expensive than my usual purchases...such pleasure in choosing them. Arent they such beautiful shapes?

 L-R.  First,   for acrylic work a new filbert.  Then a chinese calligraphy brush I found on a trip to China Town...I just loved the look of it.  I love the shape of this 3rd brush (and dont even know its correct name),  but it is for my ink and watercolour work....as is the lovely little brush on the end.

Leaf and Rock
Leaving the exhibition I picked up this river pebble and lovely pink gum leaf....they fit together so well and are now sitting on my bookshelf for me to admire.  They make me happy.  I want to crochet a cover for my rock,  or paint it ... but I think it likes it little leaf companion.

OUR LIVES ARE FILLED WITH
GORGEOUS MOMENTS
THE SMELL OF CLOTHES DRIED
IN THE SUN IS ONE OF THOSE.
RELAX, AND LET MOMENTS
LIKE THESE SEEP INTO OUR SOUL.

- SARK -

Relax and enjoy your week.

Jacky xox

21 comments:

Catherine V. Bainbridge said...

Jacky
I have been away for a long time, but am loving catching up with what you've been doing! And there sure is ALOT to catch up on! Looking forward to your ink and watercolor.

I am coming back @ http://iy-am.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there too.
Hugs
Catherine

angela recada said...

Wow Jacky! Australia is truly a magical place. Those Japanese textiles, and the textile art! Gorgeous!
xoxoxo

deanna7trees said...

i love seeing all of your adventures and especially all of your purchases. those brushes look wonderful. i just bought a fan brush for the first time that i hope to use with watercolors. thanks for sharing so much.

lynne h said...

omg, jacky... i'm just on the verge of drooling here. all that silk, then jude's work (which is so beautifully displayed), and finally the brushes... oh! and the brushes are laying on top of gorgeous watercolor paper!! have you used the 2nd brush from the right? that looks like it might be a very useful shape. and certainly delightful to gaze upon if nothing else...

what a treat. thank you...

xoxo

Nat Palaskas said...

Jacky, it was a fun full day. I love my photos on here. They didn't turned out well on my camera. May I steal them please? I might take Tom back to the exhibition this Saturday. It was overwhelm last week.
Lovely, lovely my friend - Love
Nat

Cheryl Razmus said...

What a wonderful day you had. Decadent even! Thanks for including us as always. Great picture of Nat, too. (I love the name of that shop--Ziguzagu. Does it mean something or is it just a fun word?

Ro Bruhn said...

Ah Elizabeth and I went to ZiguZagu yesterday and both came home with lots of treasures, I mentioned you and Nat to the lovely lady behind the counter, she's so helpful and loves her work. We then went on to Brunswick Street and visited all the wonderful supply shops there too. I'll be visiting Jude's exhibition in the next couple of weeks, it's so close.

Mo'a said...

What a wonderful post. Thank you for taking us on your adventure.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw all this wonderful kimono fabric...lucky you :)
I love the eco dyed patchwork...now I need to go to Jude Craig's web site to see more. This is so exciting.

Linda Vincent said...

Ooooh I'd love a rummage amongst all that lovely fabric! Ah well....maybe one day ;-)
Jude's exhibition looks excellent; I'd love to see that too.
And your brushes are already pieces of art before you've even started!
I love the 3rd one!
XX

Zorana said...

Oh Jacky, always such richness in your posts! Where to start? From the (OMG) - PINK leaf on the grey stone... Ashamed to say I had no idea that there are pink leaves... and pink/grey has always been my favorite color combination. ZiguZagu seems like the best place ever. I don't work with fabric, but I know I wouldn't be able to come out without a handful of something scrumptious. Eco dyed patchwork is amazing... in my mind I scanned it and printed it on paper. And your brushes! Well, those you can't leave in water like I do with mine. Such shapes and beauty must be preserved. Thank you for sharing all this beauty.

Karen said...

the patchwork piece is magnificent, thanks so much for sharing that.

Anonymous said...

I just learned something new - a filbert.

Must look it up to know exactly.

I have total brush envy now.

ArtPropelled said...

I zoomed in to the red brush ...It's rather beautiful. What a treat to browse through vintage kimono fabric. Love the wrapped canvases!

blandina said...

A fabulous post full of yummy stuff, I am dying to visit Ziguzagu and sooner or later I will!
The exhibition looks very, very interesting and I love the pictures of Nat (now I am sure that I will not confuse her with someone else when I will meet her in Tokio!).

Dot said...

Beautiful post Jacky. Loved your photo's from ZZ and from the exhibition. Amazing art. Loved the ecodyed patchwork. Your new brushes look gorgeous!
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Dot x

Dot said...

P.S The river pebble and pink leaf are beautiful and I can imagine you looking at them every day with a smile on your face.

Dot said...

P.S The river pebble and pink leaf are beautiful and I can imagine you looking at them every day with a smile on your face.

Emma said...

Wonderful fabric & I love the mix of eco dye with metal pieces.

Peggy said...

Jacky, this was a feast for the eyes! You and Nat have such fun outings together, so great that you share the good times here. ;-) The kimono linings are gorgeous, the shop is gorgeous and the artwork is too. Sighing. Will be watching for your paintings and the rock cover, love it. xo

helen said...

oh! oh! oh! such treasures in one shop....I would have to centre myself completely before going in there!!

My husband is the same with the brushes....he found two bundles in very good condition, for £1 a bundle in a car boot sale on Sunday, so was very happy. I love the shapes you have here.

Jude Craig's work is incredible...I swooned over the wrapped canvases.

.....and the pebble and leaf..... _yes_ :~))))

Anonymous said...

what yummy shopping! look forward to seeing what comes of brushes/silks! the pebble/rock picture looks like it belongs on an altar.