At the end of this post is the link Tasmania’s Material Girl exhibition.
You should look at these works… mine is always at the end anyway as they are listed reverse alphabetically, so to get to it you must scroll past all. If you like my work you can vote for it by clicking like via this link to the 45 works in the Material Girl Exhibition. Such creativity on the theme Dance of Life from some of Tasmania’s women artists. I do wish they had the artists’ statements with each work …. I have added mine. The fabric art did well in the awards this year with Pam Thorne’s creative knitting winning the overall award and Aujke Boonstra’s outfit from recycled fabrics also winning an award. Really getting back to the original idea of Material Girls. A must view on http://pinterest.com/pin/530932243540955320/
NEACA Exhibition, Scottsdale, Tasmania
Every year I pack up some art works and send them to North East Tasmania to the North East Art And Craft Association exhibition at Scottsdale. The committee who organise this do an amazing job volunteering their time. Everything has always be perfectly recorded, I am always paid correctly for sales and work that does not sell is repackaged carefully in its original packaging and returned free of charge to a local depot for me to collect. Wonderful organisation of the event to assist the artists. This year I am sending a small collection of handpainted silk jewellery and cards along with some watercolours and a larger acrylic painting. 
Ink and Watercolour wash… old hut
I have done an ink and wash painting of this disintegrating hut before, but each time it comes out differently…. that is because I like to work in a loose, not too structured manner. Interestingly I have been painting in very strong colour recently…. the dance of life series, colourful silk works and watercolour flowers….. and that use of stronger colour has unintentionally carried through here. Usually in ink and wash my colour is more subtle, a minor player as the ink lines dominate.
This work has a destiny mapped out…. re-visit this site next week when all will be revealed.
Burnie Makers Workshop today (and tomorrow)
I had a lovely day at the Makers today. I thought it would be a bit flat as I was the only artist in. But it was wonderful. Donna let me spread my stuff (oh, I mean art creations) out over the whole area which made it look more “inhabited”. I must admit that it did look better than the usual crowding onto one table. And then there were quite a few people in… a number interested in watching my technique of watercolour style on silk without using any of the flow resistant methods… and my reasons for preferring to work in this (difficult) manner. Good discussions particularly with a fashion lady (French Pony) and a web building whizz (Ian) who gave me lots of hints re online and some young children . Thanks all. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be as rewarding…. remember handmade for Mothers day… if you can’t make your own gift, the next best is to buy unique, one off, handmade item. And I don’t mean merely bits bought on-line and glued together. All my works are handpainted individuals… no reproductions. And especially with the silk it is not possible to repeat a work because of the way I prefer to paint.
Just for fun… felt crab
Last night I made this felt crab. I wanted to see if fabric glue was OK instead of sewing the bits together. It is, but I had to hold it together firmly for a while. I used butterfly clips for this and they worked really well. I sewed on beads for the eyes to suggest the way crabs eyes are on stalks. If giving to a very young child, felt eyes, and all sewn rather than glue is safer. I sewed a small pin on the back of this so it can be put on a hat, bag or jacket. Today I will be at a Creative art workshop at Burnie Regional Art Gallery helping others make all sorts of sea creatures from assorted materials, including knitting and crocheting. This crab was to get my mind into the right mode. The workshop is part of a local project called Hooked…. from mountain dragons to handfish…. which looks at the local marine environment and inhabitants and translates that into creating art
Dance of life theme: watercolour painting
This year the theme for the Material Girl statewide selected work exhibition is Dance of life. I have been playing with an idea and have completed two watercolours on this. Now to see if my entry makes it through the selection process. I am posting images of both works
My artist statement which is rather personal:
Little bottles of insulin have maintained my life….. enabled the journey. But as my legs no longer dance, I dance with the brush, I dance with paint. My life dance is full of colour from the palette and within.
Materials used…. soft white Langton (Daler Rowney) watercolour paper, 300gsm, rough. Soft Chinese goat hair and squirrel teardrop brushes which “dance” well. Koh-i-noor intense watercolour discs.
Tasmania Autumn 2013
After posting some old photos of fly agaric I had to go out this weekend for more pics. Browsing on the internet I came across Wynchwood Gardens at Mole Creek. So there we went, armed with cameras, to enjoy the colours of autumn.
