Bus Depot Markets Turn 20!

Well, it has been a busy week for me, requiring the wearing of many different hats along the way.
I have been busy printing new stock at Megalo for the upcoming Old Bus Depot Markets on Sunday 14th September when they will be celebrating their 20th Birthday.  Congratulations! It will be a fun and vibrant day, with entertainment and a cutting of the cake at 2pm.

Busy printing new stock and dyeing merino socks for the upcoming OBDM

I have also been madly dyeing a whole new batch of super-fine merino socks as I have been inundated with requests from loyal customers who just love the funky patterns and colours but also the quality, fineness and softness of the wool. They are sure to be a sell-out on the day.

On Thursday night I put on my Craft ACT cap as a member of the Management Committee and opened three exhibitions - the APM annual exhibition on the theme of Awaken, The Arid Zone  by local ceramic artist Cathy Franzi, and Scantlings by SA ceramic artist Lesa Farant.  More information on these wonderful exhibitions can be read here.

AND I have been busy proto-typing new work for the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House for an upcoming exhibition I was selected for, responding to historic furniture in various rooms.....more updates on this later.

Playing Fields Workshop

I ran a short block-printing workshop at the Playing Field Studios this morning to a group of 12 very creative ladies (14 counting Ali and Gael!).  We had such a great time and I could tell they were focussed because there was utter silence for most of the morning, apart from "ooh" and "ahh" and "I'm lovin' it!" Anyway, here's a few photos of what they achieved in just over two hours.  Well done! I'm really looking forward to my residency there next month.

  

Natural Dyes and Mordant Printing at Sturt

Sturt have just released their  Summer School 2015 workshop information and I will be teaching Natural Dyes and Mordant Printing on Fabric.  Places are filling fast so if you are interested now is the time to enrol!.  I always have such a good time at the Sturt Summer School - everybody is super friendly, the tutors are the top of their field, the Sturt staff are fantastic and the weather is usually lovely. I seem to attract a great group of students and we all end up having a fun yet productive time. I hope to see some of my students return for another great week of printing and experimenting.

While I was in the UK I went to loads of museums and galleries and one of the most interesting I went to was the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.  I am including a few images of some very old block printed  textiles which have been done with mordants and natural dyes.

Indian textile from Indonesia (1400). Block printed cotton with resist and mordant-dyed red.

Indian cotton textile traded to Egypt, block printed, painted mordant and resist.

Block Printing Workshop

As part of an upcoming residency at the Playing Field Studios in Canberra later this year, I will be giving a short community workshop on block printing on paper on Saturday, 6th September from 10-12.30pm.  The venue is great, and the price is super cheap ($2 !) but places are limited so book your place now.  The Playing Field Studio is located at 2 Kingsley Street, (Cnr Barry Drive), diagonally across the road from the Drill Hall and next to the Canberra Dance Theatre and the Food Co-op.

Selection of my block-printed works using hand-cut blocks 

Asialink Residency Talk

I will be giving a short talk about my 2013 Asialink residency at Rimbun Dahan tomorrow night.  Please see the details below.

almost Wrapped-Up!

Today is the final day of our POD pop-up shop in the Lonsdale Street Traders. Its a chilly Sunday here in Canberra, but the atmosphere in the LST is buzzing! The hip crowd are here having brunch, lunch and browsing the eclectic shops, so if you're not doing much get out of the house and get your circulation going where it's all happening.

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