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)

Thinking of Magnolias...

artist unknown....

'Magnolias on a golden velvet cloth' by Martin Johnson Heade c 1888

Happy Mother's Day 2013

The opening of my show at Gould Galleries last

Saturday was fabulous, with close to 100

people turning up to help us celebrate.  All that

hard work mounting and having the pieces framed

has been worth it....none of my birds or insects

will be coming home with me after the show - which is

both wonderful and sad at the same time, but they

have found new homes and have begun a new journey.

And this is where my journey as an artist began,

on the knee of my beautiful and creative mother,

who taught me to sew and knit my own clothes

and, along with my Dad taught me to value working

with my hands to create something new

and, because none of my birds are coming home to live

with us, I just have to make one more, don't I... and so,

I am attempting to reinterpret another First Fleet artist's

King parrot - this time it's a male specimen painted by 

John Hunter (left), who was copying the other wonderful

First Fleet artist, George Raper (right), both c1780s.

Recent goings on ...

Weep has been extracted from its original swath of tulle and

attached to a new 3.6mtr length for installation in 'Sanctuary too'

at Gould Galleries, 1-31st May 2013

Suzana and I in Wagga, recently for the 16th Ausglass

Conference, The Collective Vision.  Here we are

on a bridge over the Murrumbidgee River Lagoon,

in front of the Wagga Art Gallery and Theatre -

the weather was absolutely divine.

This strange object is a 'heart' extracted from a

Chinese bamboo birdcage - in readiness for my

next 3-dimensional project!...

and here they are together - the 'uncaged heart'

awaiting weaving with tulle and pinning with

floral motifs...stay tuned

Love Autumn

As Autumn arrives, my 'last gasp' tulip is

finally complete, pinned to its backing

mount, ready for framing

and photographed by the wonderful

Gavin Hansford