Christmas Day Lunch

After setting our lobster pots, we were lucky in trapping a few Western Australian Rock Lobsters, (we call them crayfish here in WA). These are some shots just after they were caught then cooked. Yum.

Precious Metal Clay

I have recently finished a silver pendant made with PMC3, which is fine silver particles in an organic binder. During firing the binder burns off and you are left with 99.9% pure silver. Its really good stuff.

Praying Mantis

I found this stick insect in a cardboard box and took some close up shots before letting him go.

Fish

These pieces were inspired by Christi Friesen. She does some awesome sculptural jewellery.

Whale Washed Up

These photos are of a pygmy right whale that unfortunately died at sea and was washed up on the beach near me. It was of interest to all the locals, I was one of many taking pics of this magnificent creature. You can read more about it here:

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20874205-2761,00.html

Western Australian Christmas Tree

Nuytsia floribunda Western Australian Christmas Tree

These trees are all in blossom now and the colour of the blossom is amazing. This tree grows naturally only in Western Australia. It is partly a root parasite in that its roots attach themselves to the roots of other plants and gain part of their growth requirements from the host species sometimes up to 150 metres away.

Finished Basket

Well there it is, finished and full of fruit.

Grevillea on canvas

I finished the stitching of the Grevillea study today and attached it to the art canvas.
This is a close up showing the stitching.

Locusts Swarm

This a photo of the locusts in the orchard. All the little white dots that you can see are the insects.




I set the shutter speed on the camera to fast and tried to get the locusts in flight.

Here is one on the ground that I zoomed in on. Its well camouflaged.

Swarm of Locusts

The Australian reported that a swarm of locusts are heading towards Perth, well they have arrived in Bindoon. This morning as I drove along our driveway there were hundreds flying up in front of me as I disturbed them. Several flew in the car windows as well as getting smashed against the car front and making an awful mess.
I'll take some pics later. We have lots of young plants in the ground, sweet corn, melons, vegies, etc. as well as all the citrus trees, it will be devastating if the locusts decide to eat these.

Coiling Basket

My coiling basket is getting bigger. I've added a few coils each time I get a spare hour. So progress since the class has taken about four hours. It's been pleasant to sit outside when the afternoon breeze comes in off the ocean and do some coiling. MagsR asked if it is hard on the hands. It is so an hour at a time is enough. My hands wouldn't ache afterwards if I coiled loosely and didnt pull so tight...........too late now. I'm going to do a few more rounds and incorporate some gum nuts on the outside.

Traditional Aboriginal Coiling

I joined a group that was being taught traditional coiling techniques to make baskets, mats and bowls. The tutor was taught these methods by Aborininal Elders. We used the New Zealand flax plant which is very strong. The method was fairly simple, the leaves are split into strips with the point of a tapestry needle. One of the strips is threaded and sewn around a group of five or six leaf strips which are twisted and coiled.
This in my effort after a few rounds. More strips are added when needed and you just keep going to the size wanted. To make a basket or bowl the next round is made on top rather than next to the last round.
This is 'Henry' who was so inquisitive. His cage is open during the day and he can hop in and out as he pleases. He did hop on to my shoulder while I was sewing my coils. It was a very hot and humid day and after lunch he went back into his cage for a snooze.

Sun Dyeing Workshop & Native Garden

Here are some photos I took at the workshop and in the garden.
These are from a Eucalypt, I'll have to ask which one it is.

These nuts are from the previous year.
The top left nut has a little spider inside, you can just see its legs.




These pics are of the Illawarra Flame Tree or Kurrajong seed pods.
I looked up Kurrajong as 'Bush Tucker' and found the following: Kurrajong FlourHighly nutritious seeds extracted from hairy pods of Kurrajong and Illawarra Flame Trees. Roasted and ground they produce an exceptional rich, dark flour.

The workshop was held at a friend's studio and her garden was full of native plants and trees. I took a few photos but will go back and take some more.


I had a very full on workshop on Saturday and was totally exhausted at the end of the day. All the students had a great time and although the sun wasn't out all day (infact we had some rain and had to put our samples under cover).

Flowering Gum Stitched Canvas

This is a photo of my latest work from the wildflower series.

Visit to thethreadstudio.com

I had to do a few errands in the city, so treated myself to a visit to Dale at the Thread Studio. It's like visiting 'Aladin's Cave' with all the yummy items on offer. I came awat with some new books. I bought the latest Cloth Paper Scissors magazine which usually has some interesting articles. Valerie Campbell-Harding's Edges & Finishes in Machine Embroidery which I keep getting out of the library and is such a great reference book. I covered quite alot of Val's techniques in the online couse with Maggie Grey. Val's books are always an inspiration to me and since her untimely death recently are even more treasured. I think I'll collect every one of her books.The last book I purchased is Sandra Meech's Creative Quilts. This one was a bit of the spur of the moment. I'm not a quilter but since doing my latest works on canvas thought that the ideas would lend themselves to a quilt (quilt as in a piece of fabric painted and stitched through 3 layers). Just flicking through the book there is much on exploration, design & composition, all of which I'm at home with but little on construction. I will have to investigate further.

Flowering Gum

These are that latest pics of my wildflower studies.

Emu feathers

I use emu feathers in some of my work. These are collected for me by a friend that works on an emu farm. The feathers are washed and dyed and incorporated in my textile art. Here are a few pictures of the feathers used in a journal that I made. the binding is coptic stitch.

Grevillea

Grevlliea flower
close up

These are a couple of shots of another flower to study.

Bottlebrush

These are the pics of the bottlebrush study. I used loops of rayon thread for the emerging flower stamens, wrapping the thread round a paint brush handle. Then I slid it off and carefully machine stitched it before it unravelled. The background it a free machine quilting design from Dijanne Cevaal's booklet. She has some useful ideas when it comes to filling in backgrounds.
More flower studies to come. I'm really enjoying these.

Banskia

This another amazing flower of the Banskia. I 'll have to investigate it's proper name. It's different to the previous one I had looked at. This one is in full flower and where I took this photo the parrots where stripping the flowers for some succulent bits. Lots of the flowers where on the ground so I picked up some to study more closely. There were several discarded seed pods amongst the flowers.