This week I have been making more journal covers for The Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte. This is my design which I screen print onto fabric. Here I have hand painted the wrens and the Hardenbergia. If you look closely you will be able to see the quilting which highlights the design.
Bundoora Homestead has been running a Craft lab this winter. I have been able to attend several sessions. The first day was mark making. We had to create our own paint brushes using plant material/other found objects. I made one from raffia and one from the seed fronds of a date palm. I have often used leaves, grasses and twigs to make marks and prints but this was the first time I had actually made a large brush. It was great fun dabbing, trailing and swishing the brushes around. Here are some of the marks made. On the calico you can see the lovely trails created by lightly using the brush. With the top piece, I used a variety of screen printing opaque inks with the brushes.
Mark making with hand made brushes.
These brushes are 40 cm long. Fine dowel has been lashed on with the raffia and date palm.
I selected eco dyed fabrics to create a wall hanging, using the new brushes. Although I had painted some wild bright colours I preferred the bush colours. Perhaps this is due to doing so much work with eco dyes over the past year (preparing the artworks for our recent exhibition at Montsalvat). I added hand stitch and manna bark strips as well.
These beautiful branches are from a fallen limb of a prunus plum. The lichen just fitted in with the soft greens.
I tapered the edges to follow the curves of the branches. This piece is now on display at the Bundoora Homestead. Many pieces of artwork are on display form a great number of people who participated in the Winter Craft lab.
