chiseling away

21 Nov

WEEK FORTY-SIX (november 14-20)

This was such a big week filled with little things that I was left in a gently exhausted blur by the end of it…
The continuing VERY full family life with lots of ordinary/unmissable ‘contact’ time, three membership group events to attend/to fit in, and my November projects that I really need to chisel away at…. or is that keep the whip hand at?

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It was a big week for me on Craftsy and by the end of the working week all the patterns that I aimed to upload are up.
To have this done, and done it so quickly was brilliant.
Having said that, the ease and speed of this project came from having done it all initially for the Patternspot site a while ago. That was a very slow and daunting process as I was rewriting / reformatting many of the patterns completely.
I give myself a BIG tick on this one…..

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My keyboard hands are aching though.
My back is aching in unison because of another week of sitting staring at the screen. I need to move downstairs away from this position but the next big ticket item on my list is to continue processing the photos of Mongolia….. quickly!

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Back to the three membership group events that happened this week.

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WAFTA’s last meeting for the year had two components.
The first was a wonderful talk from Martien Van Zuilen. She is a feltmaker, has recently finished a PHD and is full of vim, vigour and inspiration. Oh, and she spend months in Mongolia many years ago learning how to make the felt of the Gers.

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The other part of the evening was set aside to celebrate the talent of WAFTA with many members being part of a quick show and tell of a piece of their work. Getting to know others through their work speaks volumes. Conversations are sparked and recognition attached to each bod via your viewing of their work. Lovely.

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The weekend was full.
On Saturday The Quilt & Textile Study Group of W.A met to look at a collection of vintage cotton quilts from America.
The session was also a ‘bring your own textile of interest’ which was, for me, the highlight.

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These treasures were wonderful to behold, to ponder on, to question, to be educated by those in the know….and simply to drink in the beauty of fabrics and threads and clever or naive design and making.
I love this vibrant group.
Unfortunately I left my big camera at home so the phone photos, taken from usual possie in the back row are not brilliant. Instead, just for a change, we have some photos of Mongolia ‘stick 3’ specifically from the Gobi Desert to excite…. though I haven’t quite finished with stick three yet…

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The Friends of Art Gallery of W.A had a studio visit to Waldemar Kolbusz on Sunday arvo. I have always loved his paintings and he’s not too shabby to look at himself! His portrait by Rachel Coad won this years Black Swan Prize for Portraiture.

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To visit his studio, with works that map his artistic journey covering the walls, and to understand his works by listening to his story/his history was illuminating.

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To be able to join in a group conversation where the questions were certainly not of the ‘rote’ variety was precious.

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I haven’t been able to attend any other friends events this year, my program card is too full, hopefully, always hopefully, next year though….?

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Jan Mullen

B. Ed. Art/Craft (Textiles/Sculpture) Living in Perth, Western Australia Artist, Fabric Designer, Author, Teacher, Mentor.