… irons in the fire, balls in the air, things to do!
Along with getting ready for the new Studio Collection’s Spring Sale 2015 (April 25 at Harmony Hall in Spring Grove Village), I have been prepping for the Western Wildlife Corridor’s Wildflower Show this coming Friday (tomorrow!) evening at Mt. St. Joseph University. Naturally dyed clothing and silk scarves are ready to transport.
Rack of naturally dyed clothing ready for Wildflower Show.
And the deadline for submitting work to the Cincinnati Book Arts Association’s annual members’ exhibit at the downtown public library is coming fast, so I’ve been working on a new book. Used the accordion fold of a hot tub filter as the pages…
Side view of the pages of the tub filter book.Closer look at one section. Marks made with shoe polish, inks, markers, embroidery threads.
It’s been fun to do! Now, back to Spring Sale work…
… at Alice Springs was a blur of activities, people and sights.
After an hour delayed flight from Melbourne, i connected with Janet dB and Phil H. Janet and I did the whole walking tour of the Alice Springs Desert Park – some very interesting displays of birds, nocturnals, plants/flowers and kangaroos.
Phil co-emceed the Eco-Couture Fashion Show Thursday evening that showcased 6 regional artists with their current recycled/reworked clothing. Some very cool work seen in a very cool setting (temps and ambience) as the event was held in the current airplane museum – the actual plane hangar from which they had to push out three small planes while the runway wound under the wings of an old DC3.
Friday dawned cool and sunny and we jumped into Beanie Festival activity early by attending the sponsors’ coffee inside the beanie competition exhibit space. Some wild creations! (See pics below.) And a quick look thru Beanie Central proved to be overwhelming with amount (7,000), color and variety of styles, shapes and sizes.
Janet and I then made our way to downtown Alice Springs, strolled through the mall and hiked to the Pink Botanical Gardens where we had a lovely lunch.
A quick trip back to the Art Centre and I was teaching a random basketry class outsied under the trees. A great group of ladies and they all created wonderful work. We hung around for the official opening of the Festival. Had a deluxe meal (grilled sausage, potato salad and saurkraut all piled into a huge hot dog bun) from one of the outdoor booths.
Saturday was full-on with bookmaking, mudcloth and rust dyeing classes during the day. Phil and I took in the view of Alice just at dusk on top of Anzac Hill, viewing the Macdonald Mountain range that curls around Alice.
Sunday was another busy day with repeats of rust dyeing and bookmaking with the addition of a soft book class. Turns out I have a groupie! One gal came to the Festival just to take classes with me and wound up in three of them. Too funny! Love it, Anne!
A predawn pick-up by a tour bus on Monday heading to Uluru, southwest of Alice Springs. The desert is lush right now due to summer rains and a big storm earlier in the fall. The first large rock formation seen was Mt. Connor which is larger and older than Uluru.
… in Melbourne with Anne N and her hubby Tony this past week has been great fun: making books, stitching, planning mudcloth clothing, checking out constuction sites, visiting other basketmakers, having teas, trading stories with neighbors and friends, traveling to the countryside, doing laundry, moving bricks, eating and drinking and watching more TV than I have in a long time. Way too busy to post any blog reports, sorry!
Ann and I motored east to Traralgon today tomspend a couple days with Glenys M before teaching mudcloth thus weekend in Meeniyan. Along the way we stopped in the village of Darnum for a coffee/hot chocolate and delicious piece of honeycomb caramel cake with cream at the local Tearoom. We also drove by the Musical Village just down the road from the Tearoom. Lovely vistas of the valley paddocks. (See pics 1, 2.)
Glenys toured us around the hillsides to view a brown coal mine and the results of the Churchill Fire that went through about 4 years ago. Blackened tree trunks amid the small blue gums that have been planted to help reforestation. Eleven lives and many homes lost. (See pics 3-5.)
I was just introduced tonigt to the Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan – really cool work!
It’s the holiday art sale season and I’ve been busy. Last weekend did a show in Clifton, this weekend is the Weavers Guild Fall Sale and next weekend is the Studio Collection’s Holiday Sale at Harmony Lodge. Would love to see you there! I’ve got some great silk scarves with lovely natural dyed designs on them!
