MORE ON THE BALLARAT FIBRES CONFERENCE

As well as working on paper, we did a lot of 'mark making' on fabric. We talked about traditional indigenous peoples' mark making from various world regions - especially the 'Kantha' stitching from India and the 'Boro' stitching from the remote, poor and cold regions of Japan. I absolutely love the Boro pieces - the honest and noble lives of those amazing women really touches my heart. Thanks to Donna Watson, of 'Layers' blogsite, I have tracked down the book -'Boro - Rags and Tatters from the far North of Japan'  and now have my own copy - delicious. Thanks, Donna.

So here are some samples of mark making on fabric, which were displayed hanging on satay sticks suspended in a black box, but now I have joined them together into a book form.

batik resist, wax stage,

batik, dicharge dying [bleach] and stitching,

Kantha stitching front and back,

waxed kimono silk lining stitched to discharge dying 'failure' [not pure cotton],

beautiful waxed silk sample,

'pages' hanging,

 

 stacked,

in the box,

in book form, 

with cover.

This is a little book made entirely from waxed kimono lining silk.

 ....my favourite.

The fabric book is a work in progess - I am stitching a bit more every evening in front of the telly.

Ballarat Fibre Arts Conference

I have just returned from a very creative couple of weeks in Ballarat and Melbourne, Victoria.
I was very fortunate to receive a grant from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the Queensand Government to help me with my expenses to go to the annual Ballarat Fibre Arts Conference.

 I attended Dorothy Caldwell's class - "MARK MAKING -A BOOK". What a fantastic experience - experimenting, developing ideas, sharing methods and philosophies, looking at other cultures and allowing myself to free up without restraints. Six days of hands on workshops and then artists' slides, demonstrations, talks, and exhibitions in the evenings. The last day was dedicated to a huge exhibition of finished work from the 300 participants and an artists bazaar selling all sorts of wonderful hand made creations.

In the classroom.

A simple mark making exercise.

 Blind folded stitching.

Noela blindfolded.

Bold mark making exercise.

Wax resist, batik, discharge dying exercises.

MARK MAKING ON PAPER... my results...

Ink on paper towelling,

...back of paper towelling.

Left handed 'jabbing' with fine liner,

...same with a 'brush pen'.

Playing with stencils,

and a smoky candle,

...and poking holes with a nail,

a candle flame and an incense stick.

Pages torn to size and assembled into a book,

... with fabric ties woven through 5 hole pamphlet stitch binding.

My small sample book with easy and effective 5 hole pamphlet stitch binding, with woven feature, coral beads and linen threads.

Class samples.

There is more to come from the workshop, including mark making on fabric. I'll save that for the next post.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO THE SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL [RADF GRANT] FOR GIVING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY.