Machine felted scarf today...

Had a very busy day today but still managed to make the time to make another free-machine embroidery felted scarf. This one is a gift for the wife of my husband's colleague. Barb has been sending little gifts of lovely tastes from home to us each time her husband has to visit Italia. Those yummy little taste sensations that remind us of New Zealand.

This one is made of about 25 strands of fibre; wool, synthetic 'eyelash', fluffy, cotton, cashmere, angora, and one with a few sequins attached. I stuck to shades of blue and purple with some black as a base. There's a hint of lime green and hot pink just to mix things up and highlight the main colours. The whole things is stitched with black thread to tone it down.

Hope Barb likes the scarf...

Heat and Fibre Art - Sculpture

I have kept playing with my cocoons looking at ways to display them. They also look to me like seed pods. This is an idea I have explored a little in 2D with silk paper. I was interested to try to mount the cocoon/seedheads upright on a base.




With this piece I created a base using the usual process of adding layers of fibre and heating them. I started with a cork and a wooden skewer...and then kept adding as the piece inspired me. It was such a wonderfully organic process of creation.



On the left you can see the work as a whole and on the right some detail shots of the top and base.

Heat and fibre - Cocoons

Here is some more fibre art work done with textiles, plastic, wire, glass beads and heat. The cocoons are created by firstly wrapping plastic foil wrap around a meal knitting needle. This gives me a base to work from and, more importantly, a clean centre through which I can thread a hanger. I gradually build up layers of various fabrics, partially wrapping the whole in light wire onto which beads have been threaded. I heat set each layer to ensure it is attached and to gradually build the surface texture I want to achieve.

These two pieces are the largest cocoons I have attempted so far. Each is about 15 cm long and almost 2cm in diameter at the widest point. They are strung on recycled-sari, silk yarn.

Fibre and heat - A new Light

I discovered the amazing fibre art work of Kim Tittichai. Kim works with fibres, textiles, dyes, and most importantly - heat. Here's a link to the gallery on her website http://www.kimthittichai.com/html/gallery.html

I bought myself an embossing heat gun from a craft show and started playing. I experimented with lots of different fabrics to work how they responded when heated. The biggest things I noted were the speed with which they reacted and the amount of shrinkage that occured. I played with lots of different ideas.

One of my most successful pieces so far has been this lamp. I purchased an old lamp from a second hand store and most of my fabrics were off cuts from a local market, or left over old curtains. I layered these around the frame and then heated them with the gun until I was happy with the result. Then on with the next couple of layers of fabric and more heat. I continued until I was happy with the final look.

The lamp stands about 60cm tall

Here is a close up view of the top of the lamp. I love the way the colours change in the fibres when they are heated and the way different layers are exposed in the processing.

Free-machine Embroidered Felting

I LOVE fibres. I love the bright, jewel colours; the soft, silky textures. I love the nubbly bits and the smooth. I love to wear handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces...but I hate to knit. It takes soooooo long to make anything!

Many years ago I was introduced to water solubles for machine embrodery work. I loved the idea but never really went very far with it. Then about 5 or 6 years ago I started playing around with using the water soluble fabric to contain fibres until I could get them to hold together with stitches. Through experimentation (and failure!) I eventually made my first scarf.

I get to use all those gorgeous fibres that I love, all mixed in together. I don't have to knit a stitch and I can make a new scarf in a couple of hours. I get to wear a totally one-of-a kind-piece that I have made. Win!

And the best part about it is just how easy it is to do! I've taught people of all ages and all abilities to make scarves and belts in this way. I'll add instructions soon!

Action shots

On the weekend our Italian home town celebrated Palio Bosino on Mother's Day. They cook huge racks of ribs on a bbq that is about 6 metres long and then sell them by the kilo. As part of the entertainment the locals dress in period costumes from the medieval times.

Another part of the entertainment is the flag performances. Either solo, in pairs or in larger groups the men perform intricate dances and simulated fights with these large flags. It's amazing to watch the way they throw them into the air and catch them again. Catching the flags is a lot easier than catching the shot!

Prosecco - a bubbly drop

Prosecco is a delightful little bubbly drop that is poular here in la Bella Italia, particularly as an apperitivi... something to whet the appetite. There is no wrong time to drink prosecco.

I used the cork form as the covers of this mini book. The wire cage that holds the cork in the bottle acts as the closure for the book. It's caused great amusement amongst Italians and stranieri alike!

Why "Inspiring Creativity"?

I struggled to think of a name for this blog. The name of my first blog, which I managed to effectively vanish, I had really liked but too many similar versions are about now. I wanted a title that spoke from my heart. The name was important to me. It needed to say in just a few words all that I hoped to share.

As I explain in the brief profile on this page I've been through a fair bit in my life. Sometimes it's been exhilarating; absolutely sky-high unabashed joyfulness. And there are the other moments, the times when hell itself would have been preferable. I've experienced loneliness and terror, sorrow and desperation. I've been in depression so deep there wasn't even room to be afraid.

What has always helped, has always grounded me on the good days and dragged me back eventually on the bad days has been Creativity. That's spelt with a capital 'C' deliberately. It deserves the credit. Creativity. I make something, I do something, I write something, I draw something. Sometimes I simply form things from rolled up pieces of paper torn from scraps in my handbag.

I Have to.
I have to create something, anything.
Creating something inspires me to regain myself. Being creative and doing creative things gets me out of my brain and into a state of 'flow'. It relaxes my mind and allows a sense of calmness I find nowhere else. Some days it's the only thing that lets me close my eyes and escape the thoughts. The freedom from all other thought but the focus on the creative process; the plan, the problem solving, the search for balance in the final piece. This quieting of all distractions is a peace that I relish.

Creativity is my inspiration.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles

I had a stunning afternoon yesterday with my daughter.

She blew bubbles for me and I photographed them

from a variety of angles, and

against various backgrounds, in our garden.

We had so much fun.

This shot was accidental but opportune.

Our darling Buster is a dear dog, however,

the 'empty' thought bubble above his head

could not be more appropriate!

Bubble Constellation

Bubbles Fly

Big Blow

Speaking of Trees...

...and I love trees.. here is my version of a celtic quilted Christmas tree adapted from a da Vinci design. I started with a white on black design 2cm high...and finished up adapting it to this. I created a simpler version of this design for an "Introduction to Celtic Quilting" class.

Curly trees

I love trees. The stark leafless winter, the burgeoning spring, the dappled light of summer, the warmly colouful autumn; trees in every season. I doodle them, sketch them, paint, quilt and felt them. I especially love to draw these 'curly trees'. I love the way they evolve under the pen.



And then someone suggested I try to recreate my trees in another medium... I tried cutting the forms in light aluminium but couldn't get the light whispy look I was after. Then I tried with some florist wire wrapped in cord. This seems to be very effective as it allows for a thickening at the lower end and then the gradual thinning of the branches.

Life drawing

Following on from my doodle yesterday I thought I'd post some sketching today. This is a life drawing I did about 6 months ago. There is something so amazing about watching the female body do what it was designed to do. (With all respect for those women who choose not to, or who are not able to, have a child.)

" Celebrating Life"

Paisley inspired design

The little quilt I made for my personal shrine (see my previous blog post) is made from a piece of material I printed. The design for the printing stamp came from a doodle that developed into a larger work.


I'm currently playing with this and cutting the drawing into sections to see how the elements work alone. The arrow at the bottom looks a little like a christmas tree to me...and I'm big on christmas trees! I'd like to try to recreate some of these designs in free-machine embroidery either on a backing or as a lace form.

Personal Shrine - mini quilt

I've begun work on some mock-ups for some personal shrines that I want to create. They've been in the brain space for a while and have now made it to the 'sketching-ideas', 'making-notes, and 'test--creation-markIII)' stage. This is very advance for me...some ideas never make it off the thought-board.

This current test-creation is for a small personal shrine with a number of inner boxes and display shelves. Each little box and shelf is dedicated to an area of my life that is precious to me in some way. Fibreart/creativity/quilting/beading are all in this category...so first creation for the mini shrine is a miniature quilt.

The quilt is created from some fabric that I snow dyed winter before last. It was then printed with a personal design that I created. I used som- felt that I was given by a patchworking friend as the wadding.

Mini-quilt; paisley printed, snow-dyed cotton

Giving...

This is a fibre art piece I've been working on for some time. I was inspired by the work of Susan Sorrell (http://www.creativechick.com) and took an online class with her. I made a series of little collages but couldn't decide what to do with them or how to mount them. Finally decided to add a few other techniques I enjoy. I covered a canvas with layers of fabric and took to them, layer by layer, with a heat gun; then bound the whole with a golden thread, to reinforce the giving/gift idea.

The background fabric of the collage was snow-painted, stamped, and free-machined. Various images and a word from magazines added, then the piece was embellished with embroidery and beading.

Edinburgh Inspiration

Took my daughter to Edinburgh for a long weekend to visit a friend of her's who recently moved there. We flew by the dreaded easyjet ... and the snack menu now includes...

"Snakes on a Plane"

I took some time to go sightseeing and looking for those inspirational shots you have to snap. The skyline is full of amazing spires. This one close to my B and B really caught my eye.

And then there was the gorgeous green across the road...

I have more of these to come but there's a bit of work to do editting first.

Peace of Snow

I find trees fascinating. I'm always drawn to pictures of trees, especially trees without leaves highlighted against a setting sun or clear blue sky. I've always found them a beautful thing to look at. And when it comes to trees in snow against a clear sky...that's beautiful and incredibly peaceful.

Here are a couple of my favourite photographs of trees and snow taken this winter.

Coping with Fear

In the days following the devastating 12.51pm earthquake in Christchurch the events continued to fold hour by hour on the internet news sites. I sat glued to the screen. The pictures horrified me, bringing the carnage closer. I needed to capture some record of those moments; I created a book in response.

I trialled a number of different book styles, meandering books, accordion style with foldouts before finally deciding on a book that looked like it was barely holding it together.

The book consists of six leaves, the front cover and an additional tag. It is bound with large loops of wire to represent the famous 'No 8' wire, with which anything can be fixed. The front cover design was inspired by the terrible damage done to the Christchurch Cathedral, the heart of Christchurch city and the lines on the seismic drums recording the earthquake. Each page of the book focuses on one image that particular affected me. These were printed out, torn from the printed page and then crushed up before being spread out and loosely attached to a sheet. The edge of each page is decorated in red and black watercolour pastels brushed off another card. The attached tag has a quote from the Mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker.

"You have to believe me

when I say we can do it,

we can get through this

by leaning on each other

and finding a strength

we didn't know we had."

Responding to Fear

Somethimes things happen that we have no control over; your car bursts a tyre at speed, a parent is diagnosed with inoperable cancer or the city in which your friends live is shattered by an earthquake. At 3am (Italian time) on the 22 February 2011 I was wakened by a text from my son. Christchurch, New Zealand, the place of his birth, had been devasted by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake an hour earlier at 12.51pm (NZ time). The closeness we celebrate through internet connections shattered. Our distance from home became impossible to cross. Our worst thoughts could become a reality. As the day dawned in Italy we were able to begin to get in touch with close friends in the city and more and more news filtered out about the massive devastation of one of our favourite places.

I needed to do something, anything.

To cope with the turmoil of emotion I started to do something creative. I turned to my fabric and my love of celtic design. I chose a design that appealed and spent hours adapting it to work in fabric. The repetitive nature of the applique stitches was soothing and allowed my mind to rest. In a celtic knot there is no beginning or end, and every intersection alternates weaves. Under, over, up and down, always and endlessly. This is life, the circle of life of the planet.


Celtic design in Canterbury colours