Ghost nets

Following on from the previous post, one of the inspirations for working with mesh bags was finding out about "ghost nets" - discarded fishing nets that continue to float in the sea, catching fish, turtles and other marine life for no one, simply as pollution destroying marine life.  How careless, how uncaring of our planet's life.   This is a link to a website (http://www.ghostnets.com.au/) that shows how the local indigenous people used these nets to recycle them into art.  Workshops were held in North Queensland to give inspiration to the local people, using experienced fibre artists, such as West Australian Nalda Searles - see this page.

The first mesh basket I made was this one:

basket made from mesh bags 

©Christine Linton

Coiling mesh bags

One of the coiling techniques I wanted to try was coiling mesh bags.  I had tried it once before but didn't really like it because the mesh, being plastic, was so slippery and unpleasant to work with.  So I used a mesh bag with a better feel (still plastic but not so slippery) stitching it with raffia.  I did alternate rows of totally covered bag and open stitching.

Coiling mesh bag stitched with raffia

©Christine Linton

detail of the bag 

©Christine Linton

The result was actually what I wanted - but still, the plastic feel was there, which puts me off continuing in this vein.

Op Shop find

I found this great little circle yesterday in an Op Shop that I hadn't visited before, at Tea Tree Plus.  The shop is enormous, everything classified, packed and labelled.  It seems to be a chain of stores that supports a number of non-profit organisations.  I've put a link in above so you can see what it is about.
This circle seems to be mini tree trunk rings glued to a base.  Couldn't resist it because it was so interesting to look at.

I'm not quite sure what I can put on here now because I'm starting to work on my exhibition work.  Hmmm!

Sea Urchin

Experimenting with some coiling using red raffia, and stitching it with tapestry wool from the Op Shop, I think in a shade called dusky rose.  My experiment was with shaping, and I made a sea urchin; I have found some lovely sea urchin shells down at Corny Point on the Yorke Peninsula, many years ago.

sea urchin made with raffia and wool

©Christine Linton

Embellishments

I like incorporating natural materials into my art, and I have collected some gum nuts of two types, and some small pine cones from Casuarina (Silky Oak).  My plan is to drill holes and hang them from ?something?  Before drilling I decided to paint them with gouache - I find that things painted with acrylic paint tend to stick to each other.

painted seeds

©Christine Linton

These will decorate a largish item; the smaller gum nuts could possibly embellish a journal but the large pine cone, although only about the size of a thumbnail, would be too heavy for small or light artworks. And they are not flat enough to use inside a journal or book.

To see an inspired use of found objects in a hand-made journal of Cornwall, see Under a Topaz Sky blog.

Netting

One of the techniques I learnt at Lizzy Emery's workshop was netting.  We worked around a jar but you can also work between two posts.  After finishing, I sprayed it with starch, twice, drying in between.  It now stands up on it's own though it is made of soft crochet cotton.

©Christine Linton

Cross-techniquing - uh what?

I don't think there is such a word as cross-techniquing, but I am sure there is indeed a term for learning a technique used commonly in Art/Craft Number 1, then using that same technique in Art/Craft Number 2.  What I have in mind is a technique used in textile arts, where you make machine cords by zigzagging on the sewing machine, down strips of fabric, in which the fabric is totally enclosed by the stitches, which gathers it into a cord.  (For those who don't know how to make this, see Linda Matthews here)
What I have done is to take a large number of these cords, and joined them all together with more zig zags.  I rolled this large number of cords into a ball (as in a ball of knitting yarn) to stop them tangling - as I left all the end threads on for effect, this was a real challenge.  Then I used the weaving technique I learnt in Lizzie Emery's workshop (see previous post) to make a small basket.

Machine made cords as a basket - detail

©Christine Linton

 If anyone knows of a real word for cross-techniquing, I'd love to hear from you in the Comments.

My own style

I have been enjoying workshops with Lizzie Emery, and below is a picture of a coiled basket that I made in the basketry class; I have added my own style by firstly stitching the coils together with tapestry wool from the Op Shop, and more so, by adding my own "parcel beads".  I made these one day when I was trying to find a way to make beads from fabric but without using glue.  I was delighted to find a piece to use them on.  They are made from cotton voile dyed with Procion dyes; they are tied together with gold cotton embroidery floss, which I tied up in a circle.  I liked them so much because they were different to anything I had seen, and because they are totally surrounded with frayed edges - my favourite finishing technique!  This sample of 5 beads sat on my design wall for some weeks before I decided this was an ideal place for them to end up.  My design wall by the way is a white door on a cupboard, next to where I sew.  Needs must.

©Christine Linton

Ok the photo is a bit blurry, didn't realise that.  But you get the overall idea, and the parcel beads show up well in the detail photo below.  I am using the basket to store some gum nuts and other seed pods, which I plan to use as embellishments later on.  I always like to use things that I have made if they are practical pieces, though I have overcome the drive to always make stuff that is useful.  I am happy now to make something for art's sake.

©Christine Linton

Making string

Hi I'm back; I haven't been away physically but have been working on ideas, plans and samples for an exhibition I am participating in next year so have not done any experimental work for a while.  I have now started taking part in a workshop at Pepper Street, with basketry and netting.  This first week we made string from plant material; this is a traditional skill world wide.  It is very simple; tie two strips together at the top; bend the right strip back up to the right, then return it to the straight position and bring over the left strip; repeat endlessly.  It is quick and easy, but I found after a while my fingers started to hurt, because I get arthritis in them, so it is something to do in between other tasks that don't affect the fingers so much.  Also you do get to find the natural way to hold and fold the plant material.

This is the coil of string I made, taking about half an hour.

©Christine Linton

You probably can work a lot quicker once you get into the swing of it.

Close up of the string 

©Christine Linton

We also did some coiling which I will show in my next post.  The workshop is run by Lizzie Emery.

Plants as textiles

On a trip to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, I was fascinated by this coiled up fern in the Bicentennial Conservatory.  I only saw it because a large group of students came walking along the raised boardwalk where I was trying to photograph a turtle in the pond below; to wait until they had gone past, I walked to the other side of the boardwalk and looked at the tall ferns, and was captivated by the texture on this; it reminds me so much of rope or twine or yarn, plaited or knotted, and rolled up inside a strip of polar fleece!

coiled up fern

©Christine Linton

Here is a finished letter further to the post http://craftconversations.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/new-ideas-for-new-year.html 

letter "e", in french knots 

©Christine Linton

Feathers in textiles

This tassel I made from dyed string, which had been used for tie-dyeing fabric, and from feathers collected locally - Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, Australian Magpies, Lorikeets.

©Christine Linton

©Christine Linton

©Christine Linton

For other feather-inspired textiles, see these or visit here.

A new blog

I have started a new blog to show my adventures with my new camera.  It is at
http://photographyartinnature.blogspot.com.au/

New ideas for the new year

At last my brain has jumped out of its Artists Block - I had been struggling with making a Book Cover at the end of last year, tried lots of techniques and didn't like anything, it all looked so dull, that's why I took a long break from it. I think sometimes your brain freezes up and has to take a rest.  Then I spent some time recently with my new camera, and found that I really enjoyed pictures where the main focus e.g. flower bud, stood out sharply from a soft-focus background.  This gave me the idea to try for this effect in textiles, so I tea-dyed some white cotton sheet from the Op Shop, to get a fuzzy background, and looked for a sharp bright colour to embroider with.  Here is the result - or at least the first part of it.  This is a letter T, almost finished.  Working with french knots, I used mostly doubles, some singles, and some loopies.  So I got lots of texture into it.  It is DMC perle cotton no. 5, thicker than I originally wanted to use but once I started I loved it, had to use a chenille needle for the thickness.  I love the colour, I wanted a beautiful bright blue to contrast with the background.

French knots on tea-dyed cotton sheet

©Christine Linton

Then I went to a natural-dye workshop at Pepper Street Art Centre, with Lizzy Emery as the tutor - who I first met as the tutor of a basketry workshop in December.  Multi-skilled lady!  We used mixed berries for red, onion skins and acacia flowers for yellow, the bark from the ironbark tree for brown - today I will show you the yellow.  I used cotton voile.  If you look at the left near the top, it looks like a frog leaping downwards.

cotton voile dyed with onion skins and acacia flowers

©Christine Linton