Wrap UP!!

I am showing my new range of hand printed scarves and warm winter socks, along with beautiful handwoven scarves by local weavers Belinda Jessup and Melanie Olde, at the POD pop-up shop in The Lonsdale Traders in Braddon until the end of this week only.  We open tomorrow night at 5pm, so drop in and join us for a drink if you are in the area.  Thereafter, we will be open every day 10-4pm with our last day on Sunday. Hope to catch up with you there!
To read more about the Wrap-Up artists click here

Connected Cloth

This fascinating book which was published last year presents an invaluable guide for textile artists who work collaboratively, either in formal situations, such as art residencies with institutions, or informally such as small community groups. It provides useful information on setting up groups, finding venues, establishing ground rules and working methods, and staging group exhibitions. It also gives plenty of practical advice on how to hang and display textiles, themes and inspirations, collage techniques and working towards an exhibition.

My arts residency and collaboration with Dr Christine Cargill at the Australian National Botanic Gardens,  and my 2010 residency in Hill End is featured in the book (p96-97). Also included are many other well-known textile artists such as Els Van Barle, Alice Kettle, Glenys Mann and Machiko Agano.

Connected Cloth is written by well-known UK textile artists Cas Holmes and Anne Kelly.  Cas is no stranger to Australia as she often teaches in residential workshops for Fibre Arts Australia in Australia and NZ each year.

Mordant Printing

I have just written an article for the latest 'Embellish' magazine (Issue 18) on the early history of mordant printing in conjunction with natural dyes. It was fascinating to discover that the Egyptians used mordants from the 12th Dynasty (2055-1650 BC) and that alum was used in India around 2000 BC. The advantages of applying mordants and resists to a cloth before dyeing enables a polychrome palette to exist alongside areas of undyed cloth with only one or two dyebaths. I will be teaching this process at the Geelong Fibre Forum in September-October this year. I believe there are only one or two places left in my workshop, so if you are interested, get in quick!

Petite

I have just sent off my entry for the annual 'Petite' miniature textiles exhibition at the Wangaratta Art Gallery. The exhibition opens on Saturday June 14 from 2-4pm, by Antonia Syme, the Director of the Australian Tapestry Workshop. There will also be an Art Lovers Talk in the Gallery on Wednesday July 16th from 10-11am.  If you are down that way in Victoria, put this on your agenda!

Winter has arrived!

After a week of glorious Autumn weather, Winter arrived this morning in Canberra and we woke to heavy grey skies, intermittent rain and a definite drop in the temperature.  I have spent most of today sitting in front of a crackling fire and stitching some textiles for exhibition later in the year. So cosy listening to some classical music and watching the flickering flames warm up our home.
I am also getting stock together for the Belconnen Art Centre Mid-Winter Market which will take place in the BAC foyer on Saturday 28th June from 12 noon to 5pm. I will be launching a new series of silk/cotton scarves as well as the ever-popular tea towels, merino socks and hankies.....hope to see you there!

Come and visit me at the BAC Mid-Winter Market

Ni Hao from China!

I have just returned home after three weeks in Dalian, China, situated at the tip of the Liaodong peninsula in Liaoning province. Dalian is a major seaport and is easily accessible by boat from Yantai in Shandong across the Bohai Sea, as well as North Korea, just across the Yellow Sea. Dalian is a relatively young city of 100 years,  had been under British, Russian and Japanese occupations, and was formerly known as Port Arthur, Dalny and Ryojun in the past.

I was in Dalian to visit my sister and to install an artwork in her restaurant, The Riviera, which specialises in Italian, Spanish and French cuisine.

'Biota' installed at The Riviera

I ate many delicious meals at the restaurant during my stay, and was also there for The Riviera Annual Italian Wine Dinner, cooked by an Italian master chef and accompanied by Marchesi di Barolo wines from Piemonte.

I do have to say that The Riviera makes the best Tiramisu I have tasted in a long time (and gazpacho, cannelloni, portobello mushrooms stuffed with shrimp, etc etc.......). Consequently, walking around Dalian was high on my agenda every day, and I got to see most of the nearby sights. 

Unlike my usual trips abroad I was hard-pressed to find any local textiles though- I searched high and low, believe me, but perhaps  this is because Dalian is such a young city. I did manage to take this photo of what the local menswear trends were.....

Not sure what occasion would call for this attire .......

Dalian is going through a huge building boom at the moment, with massive developments popping up everywhere. Down near the new conference centre on the water is an amazing development in progress called 'Montage', complete with European inspired buildings and its own Arc de Triomph.  The mind boggles as to who will be living and working in this mini-city built on recently reclaimed sea.

Montage Development goes on for miles along the seafront.

And from the whimsical to the sublime, at the other end of the Montage fantasy you have the new Dalian International Conference Centre, by Austrian architecture practice Coop Himmelb(l)au which features a 1600 seat theatre, a primary conference room for 2,500 delegates, an exhibition gallery and 6 additional smaller conference rooms for 300-600 people each.

The Dalian International Conference Centre

Located directly across the road from the Conrad Hilton, this inspiring building was planned according to sustainable principles, such as using the nearby sea water for cooling.

The downside of China was that I could not access my blog or any other social media sites and also found it difficult to surf the internet or even access some website that we commonly take for granted.  Some residents get around this restriction by having a VPN and going through another country for connection, but that was not possible for me in such a short visit, so hence I could not post anything on my blog the whole time I was there.

Anyhow, I'm now back in the glorious Canberra autumn, checking out what plants have grown since I left and getting used to cooking meals again after the luxury of eating out every night!

Experiments in Printing with Mordants

Just a heads-up on the workshop I will be running at this year's TAFTA Geelong Forum from September 28 - October 4th. My class will definitely be going ahead, and is almost full, so if you are interested now is the time to register.

Combination of resist, dye and mordant printing on cotton.

Discover the magic of printing with mordants in conjunction with natural dyes. Mordant printing is a centuries old process whereby different colours can be obtained on your cloth from just one natural dyebath. This class will focus on several mordants and dyes as well as different printing and stamping processes. It is suitable for those wishing to extend beyond immersion dyeing to printing. It can also be understood as suitable for relative beginners to the very experienced as participants can determine how to incorporate the Mordant Printing methods in their own practice.

Naturally dyed silk wool and cotton with mordant printing

Hope to see you there!http://tafta.org.au/geelong-forum-tutor-julie-ryder/