My "letter from America" ....

Look what arrived in my mailbox today, my own "letter from America" 

(it was a parcel actually but I loved and miss Alistair Cooke's 

weekly article on Radio National, so the title is an ode to Alistair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Cooke) ...

...and my favourites are the Blue Jays - needleworker unknown,

but needlework pattern is by Linda K Powell (printed by

Creative Dimensions C1979) ...

and the Cardinals - needleworker unknown,
and needlework pattern also by Linda K Powell 
(printed by Creative Dimensions C1979)

These wonderful embroideries were sourced for me

by Pat at Smokey Mountain Vintage - one of the lovely

Etsy shopkeepers that I have purchased unusual 

needlework from over the past couple of years

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SmokyMountainVintage

Updated News and views from the studio....

 "Let the Jungle In" has been selected for
Yering Sculpture Exhibition and Awards, 2013
at Yering Station Winery 27 October - 8 December 2013
http://www.yering.com/winery-art

the work takes its name from Rudyard Kipling's
tale of the jungle's revenge on civilisation.  I have
kept to my first love of reclaimed needlework, but have
moved it from my usual wall relief-work and into the space 
of the studio/gallery.   

The work hangs from the ceiling on fishing line 
and swivel and so it turns hypnotically....
while the 'human heart' motif which was extracted from the front 
of the bamboo birdcage sits silently, watching, 
from the wall behind and beyond 

(this piece includes some exquisite embroideries
from as far afield as Mexico, Budapest and Vietnam)

below - the view from inside 
'looking to the stars'...

and a view of the 'nest'
showing the 'heart' cavity in the front...

me and my jungle..... almost finished this new work,

my first ever large scale 3d piece which I hope to 

enter in the Yering Sculpture Award 2013

(Yering Station is a beautiful winery in the 

Yarra Valley just out of Melbourne)

and this shot shows a snippet of the human heart motif

which has been extracted from the bamboo birdcage

and sits high on the wall.  The cage is suspended from

the ceiling and turns ever so slowly....excited

In other news...

I have opened a shop on Etsy to sell limited edition giclee (pigment) prints

of my Sanctuary birds, insects and flower.  You can find me at:

http://www.etsy.com/au/shop/SanctuaryPrints

Postcard from Adelaide - Day 2

Day 2 in Adelaide - the Art Gallery of SA ...

of course I was attracted to this exquisite lace work in the Colonial gallery,

apologies for not taking down the name of the artist...

and this wonderful portrait by Percival made me

think of Ben Quilty's painting of Margaret Olley...

Amazingly they own a Gericault (a very romantic one of a young man -
not one of his fabulous Portraits of the Insane)....but it is exquisite

and they have a William Morris gallery - stunning
and the crewel worked silk embroideries 
were my favourites - detail below

 loved the installation by Tjanpi desert weavers
and this (detail) below of fibre feet...

 and a bird...

 and last but not least - in the William Morris room there
are two stunning Tiffany glass windows and this
is a detail of one - the luminosity is breathtaking....

Postcard from Adelaide - Day 1

Bowden calling - the post-industrial northern suburb, 
which is my home this week - fishing industry remnants below

Stunning succulent hedge

Yarn-bombed mother emu and brood,

in my local park...

 mosaic bird bath - "bad folk tales"

A touch of Asia...

A touch of France...

A touch of Islam...

A leaning Pomegranate...

A touch of First Nation... neighbouring suburb primary school mural

A touch of Africa...

A touch of....is it Khali or Buddha?

my first day exploring this suburb which was once an industrial heartland,

now an industrial wasteland, fast being gentrified.  Signs of a cross-cultural

community abound on the streets, through mosaics and painted street signs

and this is the rascal I am looking after...

A winter's bird, a nest and a heart....

A detail of a new bird after John Hunter c.1789

(reclaimed needlework, lace pins, nylon tulle)

And below - the man himself, with his beautiful diary and his King parrot (NLA)

A new adventure - taking the needlework into three dimensions....
(reclaimed needlework, nylon tulle, pins, bamboo birdcage)