Backgrounds and Textures

 On the spur of the moment, I signed up for Jane Dunnewold's Backgrounds and Textures on-line class. I know, I am too busy and have enough to do, but a friend signed up and I did too!

I have some of Jane's books and have watched her on You-Tube and she is a very thorough and encouraging teacher. I have actually done most of the techniques before but the course is reminding me of the techniques and it is something I have wanted to do more of lately.

We made our own stamps using cardboard at first, she is encouraging us to use what we have rather than spend more money on supplies.

Some of them worked better than others but I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of making more and more stamps, I'd rather see what works and then make some that suits what I want to do in my work. We were painting and stamping onto the gelli plate first and then taking prints from there.

The stamps go really well on paper., but I was happy with the results on fabric as well. On fabric, you have to be sure to get the right amount of paint. I was also experimenting with textile paint compared to normal acrylic with fabric medium added to it. I think that the stiffness of the fabric was only slight with both. I'll have to try sewing on them to see what the real difference is.

I made some more collage paper using deli paper, because I discovered when doing some collage recently that I really like thin, transparent papers.

They don't look very good as big pieces but they come alive when cut or torn into smaller bits. I've also done prints using normal printer paper, I love the different textures.

We also learnt how to draw an image onto the Gelli plate using acrylic paint pens and then printing the image. Here is my little butterfly on the Gel plate.

Here is the butterfly printed onto paper with a background as well.

You can see that the gel plate resisted the paint pen a bit but I could now paint another layer the butterfly. I am not sure if I'd use this technique though. I could have just drawn the butterfly onto the paper in the first place, but maybe it would give a different look. I suppose that means you would have to do further tests and compare the results.

I decided to try the same technique on fabric, I forgot to take progress photos but here is the dragonfly printed on fabric and I have thread painted over the top.

The background is paint, I don't think that I'd like to quilt it, but I'll try.

The reason I have experimented with butterflies and dragonflies is that the topic this month in the Waverley Art Quilters is Insects.

That's what I've been up to, as well as driving to Kyabram for the exhibition, I'll be back in Kyabram this Thursday as well. 

Bye for now,

Linda

Kyabram Exhibition 2022

 My exhibition is on again at the Kyabram Town Hall Gallery. This time I have my art quilts on display along with the quilts from the Waverley Art Quilters.

Coral Reef Triptych by Linda Steele

It's a lovely space with proper gallery lighting and the people running the gallery are wonderful to deal with.

I've run the Waverley Art Quilters for about ten years now and they are a wonderful group. I encouraged them to display a large wall hanging each as well as our challenge quilts.

Here are some of their larger quilts.

Here is another photo of some of their work.

We usually study an artist or a topic each month and then make a small work inspired by our studies. Some of that work is on display. Here is the display about Windows.

Here is another display. The quilts on the left are inspired by Marimekko and the quilts on the right are by Val Jackson, one of our group who worked in a series.

The exhibition is on at the Kyabram Town Hall Gallery in Kyabram, Victoria, Australia.

It is open 10am - 4pm Monday to Saturday until 29th July.

I'll be there on Thursday 23rd June, Thursday 30th June and Wednesday 6th July.

It is so wonderful to find a gallery that supports textile artists and I hope they get a good attendance. There is a lovely patchwork shop next door and cafes for morning tea or lunch.

Bye for now,

Linda

AQC 2022

A  couple of weeks ago I flew up to Brisbane with my friend Jill to AQC (The Australasian Quilt Convention). It's the usual story, it didn't go ahead in 2020 or 2021 and it's usually held in Melbourne, where I live. Apparently the venue couldn't guarantee that it would be available because it has been a vaccination centre. I usually work with the event company to organise and hang the quilts etc., so I was glad to go up and be a visitor for a change.

The weather was lovely and warm and the theme was celebrate, which is exactly how everyone felt after so long.

It was so good to catch up with quilting friends from all over Australia once more. There was a cocktail party the first night.

Here I am with my friend Jill, ready to enjoy our time up there.

I also caught up with my friend Julie Haddrick and we loved that Brisbane skyline, it added to the party atmosphere.

Women come from all over Australia to do classes, shop and look at quilts. Jill and I weren't doing any classes, we shopped and went to a couple of lectures, enjoyed the gala dinner and caught up with friends.

The quilt displays at the Convention are mainly art quilts, which are my favourite, so I love the show.

There were many different exhibitions. The challenge was called 'Going Green'. I didn't get a chance to make anything but I loved seeing everyone's ideas.

The winner was Harmony in Green by Rachelle Denneny.

Second Prize went to They're Bagged by Kathryn Harmer Fox.

I also liked Nature's Resilience by Raylene Richardson.

Another Exhibition was The State of the Art 2020.

First Prize went to Water Course by Brenda Wood.

Second Prize went to Pam Hill for Blue Space.

The SAQA, Beyond the Mirror exhibition is in Australia too and I was so pleased to see the quilt, Becoming one with the Night by Bobbi Baugh.

 My friend Sue de Vanny had a display of her quilts up there and she was doing a floor talk every morning at 11. We went along the first morning to help encourage a crowd and ask questions! Here she is mid-talk.

Gloria Loughman also had a display of her quilts, it was so good to see them again, we also enjoyed her lecture. Here's Gloria's famous Boab Tree quilt.

I also love her Fern Pool quilt.

Fern Pool by Gloria Loughman

These are just a few of the many photos that I took. I also went out to dinner every night with friends and visited the Art Gallery and Museum.

It was a big shock to come home to Melbourne's winter weather.

It has just been announced that AQC is returning to Melbourne in April next year, but it was so lovely to have it up in Brisbane for a change.

Bye for now,

Linda

Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show Success

 Last weekend we had the Waverley Patchworker's Quilt Show and it was a great success. We hadn't had a show since 2018 and we didn't know if people would come or if they would still be wary of going to events.

People arrived in droves, the car park was full and some people went home and got dropped off in the afternoon by their husbands. We even had a couple of buses arrive from the country. Everyone was so glad to see a quilt show and shops too.

I had a small display of the work from our Waverley Art Quilters group.

I set up the rest of our work at the Kyabram Gallery, Victoria, that will be on display until the end of July.

There were so many beautiful quilts on display, here are just a few.

Fickle Pickle Clan by Linda Crouch

Pineapple Quilt by Naomi Hynes

The Caswell Quilt by Jan Smart

A Karen Kay Buckley design by Cheryl Meyer

Bye for now,

Linda

Back to Nature

 Our theme for the year at the Waverley Art Quilters is Back to Nature. After a few years of contemporary and abstract work, it is really nice to go back to nature. Everyone else in the group feels the same. Maybe after what we have been through in the last couple of years, it feels right to connect with nature again.

I started a new sketchbook and try to draw regularly.

Our first topic was flowers and the the following month was leaves.

Last Month our topic was Seed pods. I have a collection of seed pods because I have always loved them. Here is a photo of a few in my collection.

I enjoyed drawing them, it is hard to photograph the book though, the pages won't stay open.

I finally came up with the idea of holding the pages back with a clip, it made it a bit easier to photograph.

I wonder if this work will eventually translate into any quilts. Our next topic is Feathers.

Bye for now,

Linda