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Last March the Banksias were in full bloom in my front garden. I played around with a variety of techniques to achieve the look of the blooms. Some of the backgrounds are dyed with Procion dyes. The brown background and edging is eco dyed. Hand and machine stitch embellish the wall hanging. The blossoms are a mixture of lino cuts, screen prints and overlays of one over the other.

In May the silver wattle was blooming in my local park. I have used hand dyed fabrics and mono printed over them, using Inktense blocks and pencils. To create the ovate leaves and bright blossoms, I cut paper stencils for screen prints. More yellows were needed to complete the runner so I dyed some more fabric with the Procion dyes.

The pin cushion Hakeas started blooming in April. All the background fabric has been eco dyed. The seed pods are lino cuts. The blossoms are a mixture of stamps [created with adhesive foam, cut and adhered to a piece of cardboard] and lino cuts……cream print. The leaves are screen printed and appliqued. Eco dyed cord surrounds the individual pieces.

This image represents a hillside in Angorichina, covered with spinifex. This is in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The Spinifex plant is so exciting with its spikiness and way of growing. I have machine and hand stitched the plants over the image. Little walking trails are defined with a kantha stitch. Again eco dyed fabrics are used in the image and for the edging. Silks and cotton fabrics are used.

I have been having fun again, working on new linocuts.

I have created two designs for journal covers and Walkers bags.

The designs are Sturt’s desert pea and the running postman ( kennedia prostrate).

The two linocuts have been hand painted before being quilted and made up into journal covers. The covers fit A5 sized art books and diaries. These two are on display (and Sale) at The Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte. The gallery features a lot of products reflecting our native flora and fauna.

After making the small journal cover I decided to try my hand at creating a desert pea design on a fabric vessel. I dyed some fabrics then set about draping the design around the vessel. Here is the result.

Across the sides I have created stems and leaves. Areas have been quilted with tiny leaves.

The vessel has been lined with red.

As I created the leaves I found I wanted to put vein lines into them. This led to creating another, larger desert pea design.

Here, I designed the lines on the leaf, much easier to cut on the larger design.

The design is printed onto a multi coloured piece of fabric. The flowers have been thread painted and the whole design has been quilted with straight lines. I plan to put the design into larger bags, ready for Leesa Chandler’s exhibition at The Cranbourne Botanical Gardens next May 2019.