\na hook used to fasten cloth on a drying frame or tenter…. (fitting\/ sitting well with my line of work?)<\/em>
\nPHRASES<\/em><\/strong>
\non tenterhooks;<\/em>
\nin a state of suspense or agitation because of uncertainty about a future event.<\/em><\/p>\n
The week is veiled by the waiting game… my daughter is due with her second bub on the twelfth and until this week we were told that it would not go longer than that….but it is…and that is great….but the waiting, the anxiety of a mother for her child\/grandmother for her grandchild is enormous.<\/em> Wednesday<\/strong> Wednesday Night<\/strong> So Wednesday was the peak point of the week and this day has loaded me with organisational tasks for the week ahead. I truly value being involved in this way but I badly need to have an end in sight….to be able to spend time growing myself (as was my plan at the start of last year). Exploring a little more I find a Pozible campaign<\/a>. <\/a>It thrills me to see that this knowledge, however old or new, is being used to empower communities NOW.
\nI wait, I don’t make the appointments I should, just in case<\/em>.
\nI don’t go far…just in case.<\/em>
\nThe phone is glued to my body….which is solace. If it doesn’t ring I am not needed and all is well….
\nbut still… tenterhooks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWas meeting day for the Quilt &Textile Study Group of W.A. which results in hours\/days of time taken on research, correspondence in and out, sometimes beautifully leapfrogging as changes and updates happened quickly between ‘us’.
\nFor this bijoux group has two new enthusiastic organisers plus me<\/em>…that is the me that is trying to ease out of organisation of the group and into the self appointed position of recording the story\/history of what we do and see.
\nWhy this interest?
\nNot quite sure but<\/em> this small and fluid group is doing something a little different from other textile groups in Western Australia. It is (sort of) affiliated with the Quilt Study Group of N.S.W but the link has not been maintained in the last few years.
\nYears ago I began this desire to record by photographing some of the items we viewed at the meetings, which were mostly held in my studio, and last year, with the idea of initiating a blog or website, I was more proactive with recording some visuals at our meetings.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"http:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/week6-1.jpg\")
<\/a>The website is only just past the drawing board stage but I am quietly keen to move on to this project recording our history and current exploits….. to celebrate the talent that we have in isolated W.A and to make note of the fantastic collections that can be found locally if you know someone who knows someone<\/em>.
\nWe may not have a dedicated textile museum or even a wing of one but there are gems to be found, enjoyed and celebrated – shown for example, are two pieces from the City of Armadale collection. Their finding\/viewing makes it all so much more exciting for someone starved of museum riches….yep, that would be me:)<\/p>\n<\/a>Having a finger on the pulse of things to see is an attribute I bring to the table so we easily have our five visits this year planned out but not locked in quite yet.<\/p>\n
\nWas meeting night for twentyONE+ where we start off the year by lining our ducks up and waiting for entries – which are due by March 1.
\nIt is hard to know what we are up against.
\nWill we be thrilled and overawed and have enough quality work to hang in two shows, (twentyONE+ & a Salon des Refuses)?
\nOr will we struggle to have enough entries to fill the lovely but not enormous space at Spectrum Project Space?
\ntenterhooks<\/em><\/strong> again…..<\/p>\n
\nIf I look back on this blog’s tag line….
\nTime to press refresh, time to reinvent, time to produce a new body of work.
\n…..<\/strong><\/em>it does feel like I am only fiddling around the edges of my desires at the moment.
\nAt the same time these experiences are invaluable.
\nGrowth here is not artistic but it does challenge, it makes me think on my feet and be sure of my decisions.
\nIt has made me totally unafraid of changing my mind if someone else has a better idea.
\nIt has helped me to be firm in my ideals of empowering as many bods as possible…in particular those of the female variety.
\nYep, invaluable,<\/strong> but I don’t want to burn out…. instead I have have batons at hand ready to happily pass on.<\/p>\n<\/a>All week, in between everything, I stitch….<\/strong>
\nI stitch on paint chips.
\nI listen to Conversations with Richard Fidler and am particularly struck by Bruce Pascoe’s conversation about Aboriginal civilisation – we<\/strong> were bought up to believe they were hunter gatherers but it turns out that proof is HUGE that they inhabited an agrarian society growing millet, damming to irrigate, harvesting in stoops and milling.
\nPLUS
\nExplorers such as Sturt (who is close to my heart as we grew up with his descendants) wrote about it –<\/em> so it was documented early.
\nIt seems incomprehensible that this wasn’t something the general populace knew about? Why weren’t we taught this in Australian History? I have many questions and am intrigued.
\nStraight away I want to read Bruce’s book Dark Emu: Black seeds<\/strong> and will explore this when I get my hands on it….sold out locally at the moment though I have ordered it through Magabala books online<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nExciting stuff….<\/p>\n