COLLAGE GIVE AWAY

The draw for  the collage to celebrate my 100th blog happened at 6.05 this evening. As you can see, I put the names in a hat and put the hat on top of the fridge, so no cheating to be had.
Congratulations to Sandra and Richard, from Bruny Island, Tasmania [I reckon the gin had something to do with it!!].
The collage they chose was collage D, by far the most popular of all of them. The others will be winging their way to NZ then on to other parts of the world, so if you are in the collage exchange, you may still receive one.
Thanks so much to everyone for participating. It was great fun. I'll have to think up something else to celebrate - the 200th will be too far away.

100th POST, COLLAGE EXCHANGE and a GIVE AWAY

Well, Faithful Followers - at last I have reached my 100th post so it's time to celebrate with a GIVE AWAY.... yeah!! As you will have noticed, I have also given my blog layout a face lift for the occasion. Haven't finished yet, still struggling with the tabs.

I have started making my bakers dozen [13] A4 collages for the 13th International Collage Exchange, organised by Dale Copeland in NZ. http://outofsight.co.nz/Dale/collage.htm  If you'd like to join, get in touch will Dale - the more the merrier. It's a great way to network with international artists and to extend your own arts practice by trying new things. You may even sell some of them.

Here are the first 6 of my collages. One of these will be my 'give away gift'. You will need to post a comment in the comment box [no emails please], and tell me which one you like - they are labelled at the bottom of the image with 'Collage A' etc. If you are the winner, you will need to email me your address and I will send the A4 collage to you wherever you live. They are all mounted with a single matt on a mattboard backing.

 Collage A

 Collage B

 Collage C

 Collage D

 Collage E

Collage F

If you know how to comment, ignore the following, but if you are not sure how to make a comment, this is the process-

You will need to go to my blogsite http://wabisabiart.blogspot.com/ [the emailed update is not sufficient]. 

Scroll down to the bottom of the post where you will see 'Posted by Noela Mills at [time and date]',  and 'x number of comments'.

Click on 'X Comments' then scroll down to see the comments people have posted. Go the bottom of the list and you will find a blank white box.

Type your comment into the box.

Where it says 'comment as' - if you are on facebook you can go to 'Google account', if not you can go to 'anonymous' but please tell me your name when you post the comment.

Then click on the 'post comment' box.

You will now need to write in your email address, password and type a crazy word verification - this all helps to avoid spam.

Sometimes you will get a red message saying that passwords etc don't match up, but ignore this message and keep going to the end if you can. I find this part of the process a bit tedious, but it's worth it so that we can connect and nertwork with one another. I have made fabulous new blogging friends this way and found so many like minded artists.

So just to recap - post your comment and tell me which collage you like and include your name and an email link if you are not a blogger.

I will draw the winner next Sunday so you have a week to decide and to post.

GOOD LUCK, and thanks to you all for fabulous support and inspiration over the past 100 posts.

Noela xoxoxoxo

MIXED MEDIA MADNESS WORKSHOP

I have just finished teaching 2 x 2 day workshops at the Maleny Arts Retreat. Over the weekend I taught "Mixed Media Madness". We played with splashing, splodging, squirting paints and inks using house brushes on long sticks, our own hand made fine crazy brushes, syringes, spray bottles, fingers and even tried burning and smoking with a candle. Lots of fun. The students had a ball - creating a few art works to take home including a collage of grids and a sample book of mixed media painterly effects. Here are a few of the fabulous results.

Well done, Arjan, Felicity, Linda, Denise, Jo, Janet, Kerry and Anne.



Acting the Clown

As the flood waters start to recede in Brisbane we find that the absolute best is coming out in people - volunteer help is appearing from everywhere.

Time for a touch of light heartedness as I enjoyed a fabulous dinner with good friends Barry, Fiona and Ken. I am wearing my new 'Fisherman's pants' and a silly pair of huge strange shoes with  a somewhat dubious history - [not mine], yes, I am 'Acting the Clown".

Fisherman's Pants

I am finding the WET weather rather conducive to sewing - a good thing as I could do with a wardrobe makeover.

I had a pair of cotton 'fisherman's pants' that I didn't wear - totally the wrong shape for my shape - ha ha - and I was thrilled to bits when I realised that I could easily make them over using my trusty basic pants pattern. A couple of hours later, VOILA - a new pair of pants -daggy, comfy, arty, patchy, faded, wabi sabi and VERY practical and very ME. 

 

 

 

Rainy Maleny

...the bridge near the showgrounds,

Yes, our town is notorious for lots of rain, but in the past couple of days we have had a constant downpour. We are in the hills so not in danger of flooding as in the river flat areas of central Qld, but our local picturesque 'river', the Obi Obi is in flood and the bridge in the centre of town was close to going under last night. It has rained all night, so I will venture out a bit later to see if it has flooded. Fiona and Barry were called out last night to stack library books on tables as the library was in danger of flooding.

...centre of town,

...the deck of the library,

...there is a pedestrian underpass under this bridge.

Making clothes

Yes, I've been sewing and quite enjoying it for a change. I can never buy clothes off the rack without heaps of alterations required, so I am resigned to having to make them. I have a couple of favourite patterns and they lend themselves to lots of variations.

The top was made from a 2 layered silk skirt which I needed to patch to make the fabric go the distance. I then overdyed it with a 'black' but the fabric was beige/orange tones, so I ended up with this rather lovely sage/olive. It's cool and comfortable.

I needed some grey pants to go with several tops, so bought a long Indian cotton shift dress on the 'throw out rack' and made these pants. Again lots of patching and 'pojagi' style seams with some rather dodgy hand stitching. Love 'em - also cool and comfy, and I even managed a small pocket for the tissue and car keys.

I get great satisfaction from recycling my fabrics and making new clothes - the 'wabi sabi' factor, and the desire to save money and the planet.