Fibres West 2017

Fibres West is a week-long conference for textile and fibre enthusiasts held approximately every two years. This year there were ten national and international tutors, auditorium talks, classes, presentations, traders, displays, a 'bizarre bazaar' and so very much more.

I've actually been struggling to write a little something about Fibres West.   I know.....ridiculous for someone who loves a chat.  It was just such a wonderful experience that anything I write somehow seems a little bit lame or woody.  'Woody' is a word isn't it?

Comments like "Profound", "Life changing" and "Soul enriching" keep pouring out of my mouth any time someone asks about my week off - but actually putting my Fibres West experience into words has been quite hard.

I had a whole six days in Sandra Brownlee's 'Tactile Journals and the Written Word' class.  It wasn't so much a technique based class.  It was more about finding and bringing out our soul's desire.....see what I mean? Sandra's classes have a reputation for being life changing.

We spent the week working with our journals, ourselves, our thoughts and dreams, our goals for both our professional and personal lives, our love for textiles and our absolute thankfulness to be able to have so much unpressured time with other creative women.

We talked, laughed, cried, listened, walked, hugged, meditated, breathed, ate (lots), and appreciated
every.......single.......moment.

I met beautiful, courageous, creative and kind women -

and luxuriated in the peaceful, tranquil atmosphere of Muresk.

Sandra's journals are legendary -

as are her 'clothesline talks'.

We studied bookbinding and journaling methods of both Sandra's and other artists' work.

Absolutely exquisite binding on an old cut down phone book.

We worked in our own journals each day.  Shared readings, thoughts, written words, laughs, triumphs and discoveries.

We journaled after our walking meditations, being encouraged to write how we felt rather than what we saw.

Here's one of my pages.

Sandra always being ever present, 

patient, kind

and lots of fun!

Our class display on the last evening gave no real indication of the depth of transformation most of us had experienced during this week.

I know I'm richer, calmer, empowered and changed.

Thank you Sandra Brownlee.

Post script:

"It'll be cold" they said.

"Oh I'll just take a couple of singlets, it'll be ok" I replied.

An Interim Journal.

I've finished with my current journal.  I'm not quite sure what type of journal I'd like for my next one.  Maybe something a little bigger?

Hmmmm.....what to do what to do.

I can't make up my mind.  Oh well, nothing new there....  

Generally I like a small journal which fits into my handbag, but there's always so much crap in my handbag that the journal doesn't fit anyway.  It's all I can do to extricate my credit card without the innards of my bag exploding out onto the supermarket conveyor belt and happily bouncing their way towards someone else's groceries.

Perhaps I'll make an interim journal until I can make up my mind.

A 'Clayton's' journal.

You know, the journal you have when you don't have a journal.

I don't know how successful the little red book-plate on the front is going to be, especially if the journal is in and out of my handbag (and bouncing around the supermarket).  The book plate is pretty cute though and matches the retro cover fabric....so it's staying.

I'm still de-cluttering so have used papers and fabrics from my rather large stash.  *Rolls eyes*.

Fooling about with zentangle.

My beautiful daughter Chelsea and I have spent a bit of time drawing and sketching together recently.  I even had a go at fooling about with 'zentangles' which was more fun than I thought it would be!

I wish I had a scarf like this zentangle.  How fun!

Rubik's Cube public toilets (!)

One of the recent Urban Sketchers Challenges was 'something indicative/symbolic/iconic of your local area'.  I thought that I'd have a go at sketching our fun and very funky Rubik's Cube public toilets down on the foreshore.  It was early in the morning on my way to work, so not a lot of time to fiddle about and procrastinate...a good thing for me!

Urban Sketchers (or USK) is a not-for-profit grassroots global community of sketchers, dedicated to raising the storytelling and educational value of location drawing, promoting it's practice and connecting people around the world who sketch where they live and travel.

It's also about getting outside, participating in life as it happens and being fully in the moment, as opposed to staying in the studio and painting from a photo.  It's more about the experience and less about the sketch.

URBANSKETCHERS MANIFESTO
-----------------------------------
• We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
• Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
• Our drawings are a record of time and place.
• We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
• We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
• We support each other and draw together.
• We share our drawings online.
• We show the world, one drawing at a time.

You can see more about USK Australia on the blog -australia.urbansketchers.org
or the facebook page - facebook.com/groups/uskaus/

Brown Journal to the Rescue

This is what happened to my lovingly and patiently repaired little Monte Marte landscape sketchbook on day two.....fail!

..........it's falling apart at the back of the book too.

So I took the one and only sketch out of it, and voila!

Brown book to the rescue.

Painting in the Garden.

I had the whole day to myself today, so I decided to try out one of the new little Mont Marte sketchbooks that a friend and I had thought was a really good buy.  A whole book for less than the cost of one sheet of watercolour paper.  Bargain!  I bought seven.  I couldn't help it...that classy little landscape format was just too irresistible.

I sat down in a lovely shady part of the garden, with my little picnic morning tea. 

Hmmmmm....a whole day....brand new sketchbookbook....bliss.

As soon as I cracked it open, the first signature fell out.  Unbelievable.  So back inside I went and stuck it all back together with masking tape.  Then just for good measure (and to cheer myself up) I reinforced it with a bit of washi. Now I had a funky little landscape sketchbook.

Back to the garden.

The ants have attacked my banana.  

Change location, get another banana.

Ok.  Here we go.  Painting in the garden.  Goody gum drops.  What luxury.  

Sketching is not my fave.  I usually hurry through that bit so that I can get to the watercolour bit.  But the paper didn't take water very well at all.  It was like working on blotting paper.  The faster I worked, the faster the paper sucked.  The more water I slopped around, the more my little book behaved like a buffalo at a keg party.  Not that I've ever been to a keg party.

I gave up about half way through.

Episode two to be advised.

A journal for Urban Sketching

I have such a lot of trouble starting a new journal and even a new page sometimes.

I just sit there and look at it without actually putting pen to paper because I don't want to mess it up.

It's called 'blank page syndrome'.  Truly.  There's even a name for it!

So to get over this I decided to make a really crappy journal.  A journal that I don't even like.  One that I'll be glad to see the back of.  That way I'll be sure to use the damn thing and not fuss over it.

Introducing the 'Boring as Batshit Brown Journal'........

Made from used envelopes, remnant papers from other projects, wrappings from parcels received in the mail, shop soiled and damaged papers that the girls from Jackson's have thrown my way and a dreadful old brown Reader's Digest cover that I don't even like.

This deceivingly pretty orange paper has bats on the reverse.

Bats?  What was I thinking?

(Ha Ha...I've just realised...'Boring as Batshit Journal!  Get it?)

I'm going to leave this journal in the car so it's always at the ready for Urban Sketching.

Listen to me..."Urban Sketching"...like I know what I'm talking about! 

Simplicity

As part of Life Book we recently completed a guided meditation with the purpose of connecting with our 'Art Guardian'.

Mine showed up, plopped herself down on a chair and enveloped herself in one of my quilts.  She was short and dumpy.  I thought to myself  "Oh great.  Aren't guardian angels supposed to be feminine, floaty and have wings?" Mine was a bit rugged...like one of the seven dwarfs...except female...and she looked as though she had been pulled through a bush backwards.  Her hair full of leaves and twigs.  She did look fun though and had kind eyes.

I'm not much of a face painter but I tried to make her as 'floaty' and angelic as I could.

We were also led to choose a word for the year.  Mine's Simplicity.    

Getting to know my Iceberg Roses.

I'm participating in a six week e-course by Jane LaFazio at the moment.  I'm hoping it will help me build sketching confidence and enjoy a regular sketching habit without feeling guilty every time my backside hits a chair.  Why is it that we always fill our lives to the brim with a continual 'bombardment' of noise, activity and commitment?

I'm also currently reading a book called 'The Zen of Seeing' by Frederick Franck.  It's all about drawing as a meditation.  The book is written in his own handwriting which in itself slows down the process of reading and absorbing the information.  He talks about allowing your pen to 'caress' what you see....

"What really happens when seeing and drawing is that awareness and attention become contemplation.  Seeing and drawing is not a self indulgent 'pleasant hobby' but a discipline of awareness and unwavering attention to a world which is fully alive."  

Pretty deep huh?

Anyway, this weekend I put some of what I have learned into practice.....and I didn't feel the least bit guilty! 

Another journal completed.

Another journal has been filled to overflowing.

  

This is the journal that I've been using to document the 'Summer of 2012'  The poor thing is bit worse for wear because it's travelled along with us to Lucky Bay over Christmas and then to Coral Bay for our camping trip in April....and everywhere else in between.  Lots of sand in the cracks!  The coptic binding handled really well though and allowed me to have the journal lying flat to work in.  I waxed my own thread for this one.  That was the day I knocked my glass of wine over and ended up having to replace my laptop..........a lesson learned the hard way.  (So does that mean if I buy my waxed thread I can still enjoy a glass of wine.....no?!)

Here's a couple of pages........

Just a couple of quick watercolour sketches while we were up the beach. I really don't know why I even try to capture the colours of the ocean.  I never can.  Maybe I need to buy more paints?  Any excuse!

I love this seaweed.  It has little bobbly things that are such fun to pop.  Keeps me entertained in my own little world for ages.  Yes I know......small things.

'Rust and Tannic' Journal

Here are a couple of images of my latest journal.  It was made with papers and fabrics dyed with 'Rust & Tannic' and Indigo dyes.    

Working with these natural fabrics, old lace and op shop doylies, made me think of my 'Nanna', her beautiful sewing skills, (and even more amazing sewing room) her years during the depression, and how she always managed to make do, be happy with what she had and to just simply 'get on with it'.

I have used papers and fabrics that remind me of her, have been dyed naturally...well sort of (no harsh bright artificial synthetic dyes), look old and rusty and incorporate lace - which she always managed to find a little bit of, to embellish something special.  

I have called the journal 'Tide Marks and Contours' because some of the dye marks reminded me of aged topographical maps, and also because we can't always predict where life is going to take us, and sometimes we just need to go with the ebb and flow of the tide.

Latest bookbinding adventure

I spent the afternoon bookbinding......so what's new?  That's after spending the morning belly dancing.  Gee I have a hard life.  (I'm a better book binder than a belly dancer by the way).

Stamping a 'lotus' design into the rust & tannic fabric with a squashed toilet roll.  The technology at my house is unbelievable.

A little bit of machine embroidery...............my brain works better in 'stitch'.
Not a very clear shot.  Probably just as well.

The lotus is a symbol for purity and spontaneous generation .......hopefully the generation of artwork in my case!

Hello Colour Copier.

I learnt to use the colour photocopier in the library.  Big moment.  This simple skill is going to open up a whole new world for me........(ok so it doesn't take much).  Now I'll be able to copy my own work to use, and manipulate & rework images that are all my own.  I could hardly sleep last night.

The first task is a couple of new signatures for my visual diary using my own drawings and acrylic 'test strips' as a base.

.........just playing.....................

More Bookbinding

Look at all those beautiful papers.......

just itching to be bound into another visual journal......

....and the highlight of my weekend was discovering coloured masking tape at Bunnings while I was looking for the metho.....do you believe it?  Pretty exciting (the tape not the metho....I actually drink red wine).

.....small things.