Dare to Differ

The Dare to Differ contemporary art quilt show begins tonight, at Marion's Gallery M.  It's open till 20th October so if you can hop down there and see many interesting quilts, mine amongst them.  My quilt is about the Strands of Life, each one being different; some we like more than others, some are comfortable and some are scratchy.  They all crowd in together and make up our whole life.  Here is a detail to intrigue you.  I have used all recycled items, because we have to take in life what we have, and work with it.  You will see the wrappers from embroidery cottons, bread tags (beads and straight), cords made from all manner of materials.

©Christine Linton

Detail of my "Strands" quilt

3D with bread tags

I have been playing with the last of my bread tag beads, and made this DNA double helix - simplified of course from the real thing.  I used some wires to thread the bread tag beads, and dug it into a sponge before twisting the two strands - not exactly as the diagram I found on the internet, partly because I couldn't make it go that way, and anyway this is art not science.  I used kebab sticks for support, and added bits of curly copper wire and broken jewelry, a piece of plastic peg - DNA can get contaminated.  An enjoyable experiment.  I have put on the video I took to try and show the effect.  Whether it works or not on the blog I will see.  It makes my eyes go a bit funny if I look at it for too long.

Bread Tag DNA 

©Christine Linton

detail showing bits of copper wire curled, bits of broken jewelry, piece of plastic peg 

©Christine Linton

Embroidered brooches

I have been trying out some motifs and brooches, using various sheer fabrics, beads, and embroidery.  This little hat started out as a piece of beading on several layers of fine and sheer fabrics, which I manipulated into a little bunch with beads, then held the outsides down with french knots.  After I had frayed out the edges carefully, I realised it looked like a hat!

©Christine Linton

My hat brooch

Weaving and woven vessels exhibition - wow!

This week I went to an exhibition by Megan Walsh-Cheek, who has been working on some wonderful experimental weaving.  Unfortunately most of my photos didn't come out well, but Megan has kindly given me permission to show her work here, and one of my favourites did photograph well:

weaving from Megan Walsh-Cheek

What I liked so much was not just the variety of materials she used, such as fabric and lace strips, as well as yarns and threads, plus sticks of various kinds, but also the fact that she wove around the shape of the sticks, so that when a stick curved, so did the weaving.  She also made some fantastic vessels which can be seen on her etsy shop, see below.

The exhibition has now finished, but you can see the exhibits on her etsy shop here, it is lovely to look at them again.

Hand embroidery artist Tom Lundberg

I have been looking at the work of Tom Lundberg, in a book called Hand Stitch Perspectives, and on his website.  I like how he does so much work in small scale, but very densely stitched.  Fascinating to look at close up.

Victoria and Albert Museum

Anyone for a browse of beauty?  Go to the website of the V and A.

Hand embroidery threads

I'm back to hand embroidery again, and just discovered this web page in which there is a link, down the left hand side, look under "Resources" and you will see DMC Colour Chart listed, where you can access the full colour range of DMC threads, in glorious colour.  8 pages of them.  It also has stitch instructions - I had been looking up Vandyke Stitch, which was referred to in Jan Messent's book "Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon Embroidery" - a wonderful lavish book with textiles you feast on with your eyes.

I have been working on an embroidered panel "Cootamundra Wattle" for the Port Community Art Centre SALA exhibition, at the Black Diamond Gallery in Port Adelaide, starting 24th August - can't show here until after the exhibition, and that is a contemporary, freeform type of embroidery.  Impressionistic.  I haven't done anything else like that by hand and really enjoyed the freedom - though machine-embroidered plenty of freeform - my hand embroidery previously has always been traditional like this:

Fletcher the 2nd