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

A Gathering in the woods ......

We gathered in the woods on a beautiful, sunshiny autumn day.  I had been invited to a friends property for a recital in her woods  (I felt very lucky to be invited).  It was a cool day,  but with lovely clear sunshine creating dapples through the trees.



Tini's woods



Such a special day.  Ethel,  a friend of Tini's played her exquisite harp for us and recited some beautiful poetry....my favourite was the poem  "Ethel red".   We had such a beautiful, peaceful afternoon on Tini's farm, with a little bit of humour thrown in with the reading of 'Ethelred".. everyone was quietly happy.

Finally...... I put together the backing for my cloth for Magic Diaries.  I am really happy with the backing.  Last visit to Ziguzagu I found the large floral piece of cotton cloth. Very old,  but still quite sturdy and perfect for my cloth.  I have added other vintage kimono pieces to the edge to make it a bit larger.  I am very happy with my backing and can now start to place my pieces .... I have been dithering,  but this backing cloth has set me on a path.

These two special pieces are now living at my home..... "Mistress of the North".  This beautiful art doll was made by Dee Mallon, there is something so very special and spiritual about her as she watches over my home.  The little feather in her hair just happened to be on the seat when I was photographing,  perfect adornment for her.

And the beautiful black bear, her companion...... I bought from the blog,  Fog and Swell.... visit and see all of the other beautiful creations, all nature inspired,  in cloth and stitch.  I love his red wood cord from the woods near his original home.  Both beautiful blogs , please pop by and visit!

LET'S

MOVE

OUR

BODIES

IN NEW

AND

JOY-FULL

WAYS

-SARK-

Sending JOY your way .....

Jacky xox

yo-yo's .....

I caught up with my art friends on the weekend..... Ro, Dot and Patsy.  We spent a beautiful day down by the beach in Beaumaris, lunching at the "Tea House" a lovely little cafe right on the beach.  It was a perfect summers day... beautiful sunshine, with a light sea breeze (guess who forgot her camera though!!!). 
There was amazing birdlife....black swans, pelicans, seagulls all swimming in the shallows,  feeding.  A beautiful little wattle bird kept us entertained while we ate....he dined with us....we on our scrummy salads and cakes,  the wattle bird  swooping on insects.

Afterwards we all went back to Patsy's studio and made yo-yo's.  We are making ourselves necklaces from these.....stay tuned for the finished product!  The lovely old box of threads was from my MIL's,  it belonged to her mother ...a special treasure for me.  I also have some of the most amazing old lace...I will photograph that for another day.

I have been stitching these letters for ALAW.  Muted coloured thread beads  (a la Jude Hill)  make up the letters for my alphabet on a lovely soft white linen cloth.  I am enjoying stitching these and by the end of the year I will have two sets of alphabets. I quite like the look of them pinned to this lovely shibori dyed silk from Ziguzagu ... I might have to find some more.

WORDS  HAVE  WINGS,

SO  SPEAK  GOOD  THINGS.

Jacky xox

Sending Love ...

HAPPY  VALENTINES DAY !

LOVE   IMPERFECTLY

-SARK-

 Heart gifted by  Nic Hohn.

 Heart gifted by Ro Bruhn

 Heart gifted by Dawnie

 Heart gifted by Robin Olsen

 Hearts - stitched by me a la Jude Hill.

Magic Diaries cloth.  Layout idea.  taken at night...

I have been playing around with ideas for laying my cloth out on backing.... I am thinking I will have the earthy/neutral patches in the centre of the cloth and surround them with the blues and indigo's.   Well that's todays plan anyway.  I need to get it onto a backing cloth soon so I can have more of an idea where to go with it next.

I hope you have enjoyed your Valentines Day ..... know you are loved!

Jacky xox

Sending Love ....

Drying and stitching ......

Now this is the sort of washing I like to see hanging on the line..... some more eco dyeing.  It's lovely to see it fluttering on the line, seeing how the colour has taken.  Most of these are silks.  I used vintage kimono silk, silk velvet, flannel blanketing and felted wool.

 The pieces below had some 'purple carrot' in the bundles....what amazing colour they gave off.  My friend Nat gave me a couple of them to try....I will definately be on the hunt for them now.

 Pieces of an old silk dress dyed with eucalyptus leaves (the tan/orange) and the darker colour was achieved using metal to wrap the fabric around.

 More of those Purple carrots...this time the piece was wrapped around an old piece of exhaust pipe and put in the dye bath.  I love the grey colour from the metal and the spotty look at the bottom.

 And above,  little more stitching to my cloth (click for a closer look).  The rainbow bird is finished...he has arms and legs now.  Plus some stitching around the Magic Pony....lots of x's  and above him some birds feet stitched (variation of fly stitch).  It was Australia Day on January 26th so I stitched the Southern Cross  on this small piece of cloth to celebrate the day and more mark making stitches.  The moon is a moonday moon (visit Peggy's blog to find out more).  I've even tried a bit of paper pieces which I have decided I love!!!  So easy to pack a little bag of pieces to take when you are out and about.  And if you look really closely I have stitched over a little silk heart with my mark making.... it is valentines day soon!

Close up of some of the stitching.

DANCE

WITH COLOR

ECSTATICALLY

-SARK-

Have a great week.

Jacky xox

Eco Fun ......

My friend Nat and I ventured up into the hills at Upwey last weekend to do an eco dyeing workshop with Jude Craig of Naturally Dyed.  What a fantastic day!!!!
Jude is a very talented and generous person,  sharing her home, her art, her supplies and her passion for eco dyeing with us.
The picture below is of Jude beside her piece "Miss Havershams Dress" (click for a closer look), it is wonderful in real life..... and the dressmakers dummy beside her is adorned with a rusty piece of metal (I think part of a wire base of an old bed).  This is Jude's inspiration for work she is doing for an upcoming exhibition later this year with a couple of sculptors from her area. 

We spend the first part of our morning being inspired by pieces of Judes art in her home and studio and then after Jude does a quick demonstration of her process we are let loose in the studio.  Bundles of various eucalypts, wattles, prunus.....all types of flora there for our use.  Wonderful rusty objects  to be used.....coils, copper pipes, old car bits...a great collection.  I am afraid I havent been able to upload most of my photos because blogger is playing up at the minute.  Pop over to Nat's blog,  she has lots of wonderful photos from the day!

 One of the best parts of the day was when we gathered to unravel our bundles....to see what surprises awaited.

My piece on the left and Nat's on the right....drying on some metal pieces out in the garden.  Glorious colours from onion skins, prunus and carrots (the dark piece on mine is from the metal it was wrapped around).  This picture makes me think I might make some prayer flags out of some of this fabric.

So much fun and a very inspirational.  We each made many, many bundles so I have a whole new stash of fabrics to use in my latest cloth.  I dyed up silk velvet, silk lining from old kimono's, silk organza,  wool flannel and felted wool (thank you Jillian) and some lovely threads....I'm all set for a while.

If you are ever in Melbourne check out if Jude is having a workshop.....Such fun!

IF  SHE  GOT  REALLY  QUIET  AND  LISTENED,

NEW  PARTS  OF  HER  WANTED  TO  SPEAK.

-SARK-

Enjoy your week!

Jacky xox