Art Insitu

A number of times, while on a recent holiday, I played around with materials I found.
Here is a nikau palm leaf on a beach.

The ridged inside breaks down to make long fibres...

...that can be pulled off.

I was thinking of a nest. 

Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre

The Joshua Creek Gallery housed the World of Threads Festival exhibition De rerum natura ( On The Nature of Things). The festival curator, Gareth Bate, looked at all of the work submitted then decided on groupings and themes. He "observed that environmental work is the most dominant theme in contemporary fibre art."
These are some of the works I particularly liked in this exhibition.

Leanne Shea Rhem, Armour, 2011

Hand-made kozo paper and lambskin leather were stitched together to make a dressed, life-size human form.

Kozo was a popular medium in the festival but no 2 artists used it in the same way.

Emily Jan, Durer's Rhinoceros, 2011
Emily's title refers to the woodcut Albrecht Durer made in 1515, of a rhinoceros, an animal he had never seen. He worked from a description written by an explorer who had returned to Europe. Durer modeled it after what he was familiar with - metal and leather amour.

Wiki - "probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts".

Emily, likewise has made a rhinoceros from the familiar materials we cover ourselves with - our clothing. 

Recycled garments & textiles and resin.
Knitting, crochet, eyelet embroidery, button fastenings, lace edgings.

This suspended rhino made everyone smile.

A couple of days ago...

A couple of days ago I posted about some books that have been influential in my studies and I forgot to add the one I am currently reading.

I am looking at how nurturing and housekeeping have gone on in the home and taking those activites out into the natural environment to extend our concept of what is our home.

I am racing through this book because it is such a good read. I'm not even stopping to make notes, which I may regret later when I am looking for something I know is is there.

A couple of days ago, I went outside to check my different textiles and I felt as though I was being watched.

"What is that crazy human doing? We can't eat anything she has put out. We tried them all."

I also found the early spring flowers were rather burdened that morning.

The good part was we had limed the grass the day before and we were looking for some moisture to take it down into the soil. By the afternoon the snow had done its job and was all gone. 

Dialogue with Cedar

One of the trees I have been working with is the Western Red Cedar.

I found this burnt stump......

... and rubbed my sketchbook over it.

The tree has wonderfully suggestive textural bark.

The drawing the cedar did on a breezy day.