Taking photos of animals to create textile art.

My passion is thread painting. (using the sewing machine to create an image with thread) and not having a cat I practice taking photos on my friends cat. She is patient and sits with a fixed stare as if to say. ‘Just take it’

Our Marathon Sunday.

It is set in the beautiful town of Tanunda, in the heart of one of South Australia’s best wine regions. The very scenic course passes many prestigious wineries, with the vines in all their autumn glory.

We left home in the dark to travel the 60 kms to the event. Son Matt and his partner Sheena left a lot earlier. It was one of the coldest mornings we’ve had for the year, but the promise of a nice day lasted just an hour or so at sunrise.

A Mixture of Measures.

Today has been a mixture of measures. Juggling the norm to create something new. As well as family pleasures I bought 3 new pairs of glasses, a blue pair, a black and white pair and a black and orange pair ! (those of you who know me, know my passion for unusual glasses)  Family pleasures…

The quilting Genres I love.

During my time home I need to complete 5 quilts and I’m well on the way to doing that at the moment. I find that working on a number of genres at one time works well for me. I don’t get bored with one quilt… and at the end I finish 5 quilts at once… (well there is a possibility that I won’t) It all depends on babies, family, babysitting, another visit to the skin specialist and the need to stop and sigh every now and then.

The way I see it.

Most of the things I add to my blog are for women. Textile artists mostly. Well, I think this blog will be of interest to the man in your life. The colors of these old cars just blew my mind.

Connecting fabrics to Places.

It proves that the use of the stitch ties us to the past and is part of our everyday life. I would love to be able to interpret that in fabric, but its a little beyond me right now.

However, the fabric I bought in Nepal is being used in a very different way this week. I call it painting with cloth and its just perfect for my quilt, ‘Finding Frida’ It has nothing to do with Nepal, its Mexican inspired…… or then again does it?

One Textile Artists journey.

2 months on the road and I have told it in images. Its been a creative and at times a very difficult time but I’ve come into contact with so many wonderful people in several countries.

I’m a textile artist, and the best way to learn is to study the art of others.

Let me just say that studying the work of others is about reverse-engineering. It’s like taking something apart to see how it works. It gives me a better understanding of how I can do things.

Take a walk with me to the Denver Art Museum and share two amazing textile stories.

In Denver people were asked to donate a blanket with a small story attached to it. The Artist Marie Watt’s work is centered around community, particularly through her use of wool blankets. As with many of her projects, she looks for blankets that hold meanings and memories. The blankets donated are folded and stacked to create a blanket sculpture. As part of donating a blanket to this project, there is a tag attached to the blanket documenting the particular story.

Walking in Denver.

Its been a busy trip, LA, Nepal, Alamagordo, Chicago, Asilomar and now Denver. I actually have the next 3 days free and today I took it easy and walked out with the camera… not my fancy one but the shots came out quite well I think.