Spring

On this sad day (for some of us) I turn to nature for inspiration

beautiful ornamental plumb blossoms in my street

 Eucalypt - colours of the earth

 the moon rising above my beloved Yarra Billabong

on a morning walk

Silver Princess gum blossom in Fitzroy

 more blossoms bursting with life....

Sneak Peak...

Finding inspiration for new work......

exquisitely painted in the late 1800's by 

Marianne Collinson Campbell (1827-1903)

 is a beautiful bunch of Sturt's desert pea 

(Swainsona formosa) 

held in the NationalLibrary of Australia 

and published in "Women of Flowers"

a detail of work in progress

(reclaimed needlework, lace pins, museum board)

"...we saw that beautiful flower the Clianthus formosa [sic] in splendid blossom on the plains. It was growing amid barrenness and decay, but its long runners were covered with flowers that gave a crimson tint to the ground".        (Sturt's journal, Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia)

More treasures from France...

More treasures from overseas - a friend's mother

kindly sent me these exquisite vintage laces 

 and embroidery from France some months ago

and then this week I received another parcel

of vintage lace trims - mostly hand made - from

my sister's French friend's mother!

this is the studio work table 'mess' of fabric scraps

and inspirations

and lastly - Spring is coming to Melbourne

and I've been rising earlier than usual to walk

my dog - so I leave you with this gorgeous

Spring blossom... renewal, hope, joy...

Studio Two...

I am currently juggling two studios - I know that sounds

greedy, but... one is the studio I have had since 2007

and the other is a year long artist residency, which I

embarked upon in May this year.  It is a much smaller

studio space in a de-commissioned wing of St Vincent's Hospital's

Caritas Christi Hospice for palliative care, in Kew.  

There are 7 studios which can house up to 9 artists and 

the residency program is run as part of what is referred to as

St Vincent's "mission to the heart".  It might seem like a strange

place to choose to undertake a residency - somewhere people

come to die or to seek relief from the process of being terminally ill,

but it is a really peaceful and nurturing environment, and my

studio room as stunning views across Studley Park to the old

Wilsmere Asylum, which is now Wilsmere Estate...

There are lovely grounds for families, staff and artists to enjoy

 in the back of the hospice and beautiful manicured gardens

in the front which faces Studley Park Road

I love this second space, as unlike Studio 1, which is filled

to the brim with past and current work, art materials and 

my collection of inspirational objects, the Caritas Christi space

is very Zen-like.  I've taken only what I need to make the

piece I am working on there - which has up until last week,

 been my reinterpretation of a male King parrot after John Hunter.

My work tables....

with "John & George - after John Hunter" in the background

and I just have to add to this post a recent acquisition,

which I photographed in Studio 1 - my beautiful space

above a shop in the Harp Village.  These exquisite

antique and vintage laces and embroideries were gifted

to me by some beautiful women in France, who want

to support my 'project' of salvage and reclaimation of 

other people's hand-work.  I received a 2kilo box of

treasures in the mail not so long ago:

A great place to end this post with this exquisite French Knot

'flowers in a vase' embroidery from c1930.  It will be extracted

one day and so will the 3.5 metre long lace table cloth, but

for now, they are points of inspiration, waiting for their time

to shine again in a new form, for a new audience.

Thank you for reading! Louise x

John & George 2013

John & George 2013 after John Hunter c1789 is 

slowly coming together....the wings are the latest challenge

and, as I'm sure I've said before, each time I finish a work in

this vein I think, never again with the tiny, tiny fragments...

but here I am again making another painstaking 

assemblage from tiny fragments of reclaimed textiles.  

And it is these textiles, made lovingly and painstakingly by 

anonymous others - from different eras, continents and cultures -

 that keep my commitment to the process alive.  The textiles speak 
to me and hopefully to the work's audience.

The Kings hand - in the original painting, Hunter's

King offers the bird two European cherries.  I've added a

Bottlebrush (Callistemon) flower and some kind
of berry, both exquisitely cross-stitched...

my studio table, with exquisite French Chantilly lace and
other fragments, past and present. The lace was sent to me recently 
from a 'fan' in France, along with 2 kilos of other vintage 
embroideries and lace!  The book below my journal is "A Brush with Birds"
by Penny Olsen, National Library of Australia - the original source of
inspiration for the Sanctuary Collection.

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