Chihuly Glass Exhibition

 A couple of weeks ago, I was over in Adelaide for the Ozquilt Network Inc. AGM and opening of the Australia Wide Nine Exhibition. The following day we went to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to see the Dale Chihuly glass exhibition. Chihuly is a famous artist from America and is most known for his wonderful glass work.

The entrance to the gardens

It was a lovely warm day and just perfect to wander around the gardens.

The beautiful gardens

The glass sculptures were spread all around the gardens. There were also night time sessions where you could see the sculptures lit up. We walked around during the day, went out for dinner and then came back in the evening to see them under lights.

Here is one called the sun and underneath I have a photo of it with lights.

The Sun

The Sun at night

Here is another called Lime and Red by day and night.

Lime and Red

Lime and Red by night

They were amazing during the day and magical at night.

Sunken garden

Vivid Lime Icicle Tower

Cobalt frog Feet

Float Boat

Red Reeds on Logs

My photos do not do them justice, I felt very inspired.

During the day, we had the lovely sunny weather and luckily the evening was still warm and there was music playing creating an exciting atmosphere.

We also walked around the city and saw the lovely jacaranda trees and had coffee in the heritage Adelaide Arcade.

Jacaranda Trees

The Adelaide Arcade

We only had two days in Adelaide but we certainly made the most of it.

Bye for now,

Linda

Australia Wide Nine Opening

 I recently flew over to Adelaide for the opening of Australia Wide Nine. It is the biennial exhibition run by Ozquilt Network Inc. (OZQN)

I am the President of Ozquilt Network, which promotes art quilts for Australian and New Zealand art quilters. We met earlier in the day for our AGM, it was a bit more tricky than usual because the AGM was held in person as well as via Zoom. It all went well and I was elected President for a second year. A visitor took a photo of us after the meeting.

OZQN AGM

After the meeting, Zara Zannettino kindly gave us a talk about photographing our quilts. Then it was time for the official opening of AW9.

The opening was held at the newly renovated gallery Fabrik, in Lobethal Adelaide. Lobethal is in the Adelaide Hills, I think it was about a 45 minute drive from the city.

The quilts are 40cm x 40cm square or about 16 inches, they were beautifully displayed and the gallery provided us with a delicious spread of finger food.  I missed out on the food because I had to give an opening speech and then I was busy talking to guests. We had over 50 people at the opening including quite a few interstate people.

Here are a couple of photos of the crowd.

I took some photos of quilts with the artists, but I missed out on getting a photo of everyone who was there. Too much talking I suppose.

Here I am with my quilt Tropicana.

Me with Tropicana

Still Surching by Zara Zannettino

Bandicoot on Damask by Julie Haddrick

Ode to Bundanon by Linda Balding

Lorinda Freeman 

Here are some other quilts that I admired.

And the Wheels go Round 4 by Sue Reid

Blossom and Buzz by Tracey Barelli

Configuration by Alison Withers

Kangaroo Grass Study 2 by Alison Charlton

Mr. Roo 2 by Ann Head

After the opening we had a dinner at the Lobethal Bierhaus which is the restaurant next door. Unfortunately,  the power went out in the area and in the end we were dining by candle light. Luckily we had ordered wood fired pizza for dinner. The staff were frantically trying to cook and serve us, it was slow but everyone understood.

It was much more stressful being the organiser for the event rather than a guest, but it went well I suppose. My husband came with me, so that made it a little holiday for us and it was good to catch up with some fellow quilters.

Bye for now,

Linda

One Step Further 2024 and good news

 Last Saturday, I went to the opening of One Step Further in the charming town of Kyneton, Victoria Australia.

As usual with these events, one of the most enjoyable experiences is catching up with friends and meeting new people. I managed to catch up with quite a few who I only know by name and have never met before.

The quilts were of a high standard too, I think the exhibition was even better than the last one in 2022. One Step Further is on every two years and is organised by Victorian Quilters Inc.

Here are some of the photos that I took.

Windswept by Anna Brown

Goddess by Grace Di Muzio

Joy Shines Through Life's Blurred Lines by Judith Oke

Earth Blanket- Leaf Litter by Judy Hooworth

Cicada 2 by Julie-Anne Rogers

Heat Stress by Sally Swan

There were two Highly Commended prizes and they both happen to be on the Ozquilt Network committee of which I am President, so I was really thrilled for them.

River Bank by Linda Balding

Eucalyptus 1 by Julie Tasker

Julie Tasker lives in Queensland and she made the trip down so she could visit her brother at the same time. She didn't know that she had won a prize when she organised her tickets.

Second prize went to Zara Zannettino.

Full Circle by Zara Zannettino

The winner was Bree Thomas, one of the judges, Lynda Worthington did a talk and said that this work went Two Steps Further!

New Beginnings by Bree Thomas

I heard Bree talking about her quilt and she said that the rolled fabric behind the butterflies were old quilts that she didn't want anymore. What an innovative idea.

The Old Auction House Gallery is at 52 Mollison Street, Kyneton and there is a large art supply shop attached to the gallery. Oh my goodness, I had to be strong and only bought two things.

The exhibition is on until the 14th October 2024, so plenty of time to get there.

Someone took a photo of Julie and I together.

Julie and I at OSF.

I didn't have a quilt in One Step Further because I was busy trying to make an entry for Quilt National.

This morning I got the email saying that I was accepted!!

I still can hardly believe it. Quilt National is the most prestigious contemporary quilt exhibition in the world. People try for years and never get accepted. It is held every two years and I tried in 2020 and 2022 with no luck.

I guess it was third time lucky!

Bye for now,

Linda

Beth and Trevor Reid Exhibition

 My husband and I travelled up to Kyabram to the opening of the Beth and Trevor Reid exhibition.

Beth and Trevor are husband and wife artists from Canberra in Australia. I have seen one or two of their quilts before in exhibitions but absolutely loved seeing their collection. We were greeted by amazing colour and design. What a feast for the senses.

Here are some of my favourites, but really I loved everything.

Hot Lava by Beth and Trevor Reid

I loved how they spoke about their work and told us the secrets of how they made them.

Diversity Waterways

Here is a detail photo but really my photos do not do them justice.

Diversity Waterways detail

Checkmate by Beth and Trevor Reid

I love how they create by combing quilts and art techniques.

Degree of Difference by Beth and Trevor Reid

Griffen Legacy by Beth and Trevor Reid.

There are actually 20 leaves in this collection but they only had three of them on display. I actually bought the one on the left. So it will come home with me when the exhibition closes.

Elements by Beth and Trevor Reid.

As I said before my photos do not do them justice and you will be blown away by the full gallery of their colourful work. I wish that I had taken a photo of the room, so you could get an idea of the visual feast.

Luckily the exhibition is on until the 4th October 2024.

It on at the Kyabram Town Hall Gallery in Victoria, Australia.

Bye for now,

Linda

Annemieke Mein - A Life's Work

 The Annemieke Mein retrospective exhibition has now finished, people are still talking about how wonderful it was though. I am sure that it could have gone on for longer.

You can read my post about the Exhibition here

I purchased the new book, called Annemieke Mein- A Life's work. It is a large hefty book and has all the work that was in the exhibition and more.

The book is not a 'how to' but rather a look at all her work to date. There are a lot of essays from various people about Annemieke and her work.

I actually haven't read the book yet and as I usually read books in bed, I am not sure when I will. The book is too heavy for bedtime reading. I have glanced at some of the articles and it is interesting, so I'll have to try and read it during the day.

Here are some of the pages.

I looked at the gallery website and some of the merchandise is still for sale. You can see it on the Gippsland Art Gallery Website here.