Art speak

Talking with friends about all our UFO's and one lady mentioned her goal of finishing one UFO a month for 2007.

This led to what we call our UFO's to make them sound a little less unfinished.
PhDs - projects half done
WISPS - works in slow progress
SINS - stuff I'll never stitch

Then my friend Ann pointed out that she attends workshops purely for the technique, and said she was "process orientated instead of product orientated"
This is the lady who introduced me to the phrase "figurative fibre artist"

So now I'm a "process orientated figurative fibre artist"

It sounds so much better on the resume instead of "a dollmaker who never finishes anything"

I love hanging with people who can do art speak.

Happy Australia Day!!

Haven't had much to report from Chez Gramarye, except that it's hot and it's school holidays, so while the grand daughter was staying over, we picked up on the knitting I started teaching her last holidays



this time I really think she's got it!



the rest of us just lie around in any cool spot we can find doing dead dog impressions



I'll just wish all the Aussies a good one, may your flags fly high and your barbies burn long and may we get a bit of rain (but not today)

Cocoon for an embellished butterfly

Another one from the art doll round robin, the owner of this doll goes by the nickname of "Purple Butterfly" so when it reached me, the butterfly doll had already undergone her transformation.

I decided that such an embellished butterfly must surely have emerged from a wondrous cocoon, so that's what I made for her:









The next lady after me took a tree branch and felted over it to hold the cocoon:



and here she is:

front:


back:





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Art Doll round robin

I have been turning the house upside down looking for a photo taken a few years ago, it's a headstone for some family research, promised a copy of it to someone, now can't find it anywhere, but in the turning upside down I unearthed some photos I'd taken of my work in an art doll round robin back in 2003.
A group of us each made a plain doll body then circulated the dolls around our group so we all worked on each doll, then we had a party when the completed dolls were given back to their owners.

This was my work on "Khadira' - her owner wanted an eastern theme so I researched the art of Mehndi painting and decorated her hands and arms.







The dolls also had journals for us to write up the process - these are my pages in Khadira's journal:





and here is Khadira finished - she is now back with her mum Annette



If anyone is interested in knowing more about Mehndi, these are the research notes I included in the journal:

"When I first saw Khadira and her bare brown arms, I thought immediately of a book I had bought for my daughter called The Art of Mehndi.

Mehndi is the applying of henna to the body in intricate patterns and designs. The henna stains the skin with an orange/brown dye that gradually fades away. I had bought the book after we watched a girl painting henna designs one afternoon at Glebe Markets, so first stop was to borrow the book back from daughter, then I actually read it instead of just looking at the pictures.

And this is what I found out:
Henna is made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant and was used as long as 5000 years ago throughout India, Africa and the middle east.

Henna painting spans many countries and religions but the designs vary greatly - in Islam prayers are said with the palms facing skyward, hands can only be decorated with abstract designs so as to not distract from the prayer.
In India, only the body parts above the navel are considered holy, so religious symbols must be painted above it.
Indian designs are finely drawn floral and paisley, whilst Arabic concentrate on larger floral motifs and African designs are bold geometric.

Henna is seen as a blessing with the power to bring the wearer happiness and wealth and has played a part in the Indian wedding ritual since the moguls introduced it in the 12th century.

Painting the bride's body with henna is an essential part of the wedding preparations, the deeper the stain, the more her mother in law will love her.

A popular tradition claims that the bride-to-be will not have to touch housework for as long as her henna designs last.

The initials of the husband-to-be are hidden in the mehndi design - on the wedding night the bride asks her new husband to find the initials, if he succeeds he will be the dominant partner, if he fails the wife will rule the relationship - the female medndi artists go to great lengths to conceal the initials in their designs.

Symbolism is extremely important and all designs start with the seed (bija) from which everything grows. The triangle (trikona) either points upwards as a male symbol representing fire and ascent to heaven, or downwards as a female symbol of water and grace descending from heaven.

Stars are symbolic of divinity and hope, the square denotes stability, honesty and shelter, the diamond enlightenment.
An octagon symbolises protection, the circle wholeness.

Many flowers and fruits are used as joyful symbols - the lotus is associated with earths bounty, tree of life, an unripe mango (a symbol of virginity) is a common bridal design, a vine is the symbol of devotion as it grows to the light and needs support.

As I decorate Khadira's hands and arms with these ancient traditional patterns I bestow on her the power and the happiness that has followed this ritual for thousands of years."

The Fairy Tree

.......or how to waste and hour or two with paintshop.
When Glenda starts whipping up some hot spells, the fairy folk gather to watch the action.



We went to see Eragon today, having read both books I was looking forward to the movie but was disappointed with it...I thought the main character was weak, Rachel Weisz made the dragon sound a complete woose, and compared to the book the film script was corny and the acting hammy.

I know you can't cram every event in a 500 page novel into...what? hour and half?... (seemed longer) but the story was ripped to shreds and there was no character development (fortune teller Angela was lucky to have 1 minute to roll her eyes back and predict Eragon's future, Murtagh (Garrett Hedlund), a major character in the book, had slightly longer...probably all of five minutes to save Eragon's life and utter a dozen words which left you thinking who the hell is he, no sign of the complex betrayed character he plays.

Brom (Jeremy Irons)and bad guy Galbatorix (John Malkovich)were good despite the odds. The dragon was well done - the CGI apparently by WETA of LOTR fame, but if Christopher Paolini really wanted to do his incredibly good books justice, then he should have gone all the way and given it to Peter Jackson.
The ending made it obvious that a sequel is planned but if the same script writer and director are working on it, I don't think I'd bother seeing it.

If you like dragons, do yourself a favour and read the books, but give the movie a miss.

Next one I'm looking forward to is Pan's Labyrinth

Our cornucopia swap

Each year our Ladies Who Lunch swap a piece of handmade work at our christmas/solstice party.
This year it was to be a cornucopia filled with chocolates.
Of course I left mine to the last minute but luckily had some panels of crazy quilting that I was able to back and turn into something presentable the night before the party ...phew....thank goodness for UFO's !



Here are some of the others:





this next one had a little figurine inside her own cornucopia







and I tried to hide the faces in the other picture, to protect the innocent VBG, but Toni's big smile has to be shown, because that was just how we were all feeling