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.