...of March Madness

Yay! I've recently reduced my work hours as I found I just wasn't getting enough time to play creatively and I felt somehow not whole because of that. Also, I felt that I wasn't spending enough time with my family....

So, flip side; Here I am with a bit less money to play with but way more time! I've done a little more to the sacred heart piece; the wings are cut and ready to trim and stitch on (soft creamy gold fabric- if they were jewellery they would be called white gold!)..... I'm loving this little piece; I haven't got a working plan; I'll just keep adding to it until it's done. I do know I want it to be very decorative and embellished!

Sacred Heart

Vintage Embroidery, silk and found textile Applique

on vintage linen

This is my first week of reduced hours and I am loving having my freedom back! I'm enjoying baking and cooking again; seeing more of my kids; and well, just playing! I continue to have a weekly art day with Lynda - this week we played with soldering. We soldered broken crockery, coloured glass and tried a technique (I can't remember if it was in Cloth Paper Scissors or Somerset Studio) where you adhese an image onto foam core board, polyurethane or varnish the image, add copper tape, then solder the edges and an eyelet pushed into the top of the foam core to make a pendant!

We had lots of fun...! and some mixed results! -I still need to practice my soldering technique and think I need a different tip for my soldering iron!

I also squeezed in a workshop with Glenys Mann (local textile artist who also teaches and organises textile events and classes bringing international tutors to Australia) which was fun! We did some natural dyeing, and rusting; as well as worked on an individual project prompted by Glenys' brief. She's a lot of fun and very talented and knowledgable.... I enjoyed the day very much!

WIP - Reliquery

My work revolved around the theme of reliquery. Here are some little pieces I worked on. This has since led me to explore the theme further and this discharged cross is a further step... I don't know where all this is going yet; but I'm having fun! Unfortunately I won't be able to make the class this week as Mack has a belated birthday sleepover...

Discharged Black Cotton Whole Cloth -Cross

Cross - detail

Cross - detail

I just love the shapes and images in the individual squares. Not sure whether to add stitch or just leave it as is? Any comments welcome.

Off into town for coffee and cake with a friend; then a quick visit to the op shops, before coming home and finishing up the signs I've not had time to finish! I'm also going to mount my 3 sisters piece onto a painted canvas and hopefully frame it to take into the gallery. I'm going to rename it 'Grace, Beauty and Wisdom'!