2022 - it's a wrap

 

Small concertina booklet - All the Letters of the Alphabet berbe

Well, 2022 turned into a busy year.   I keep pinching myself thinking how amazing this could all had have happened this year.   

I was thrilled to have an application accepted for the Wodonga Ephemeral Art Program with three images being displayed outside the entrance to the Cub theatre for three bermonths from September , 2022.

The RE-create Collective, of which I am part, hung its works for From Where I Sit;  Stories from within   at the Albury Library Museum for nearly 6 months.   It was a long haul completing works up to the eleventh hour! The exhibition opened in June and there were a number of associated activities with it  I had a ball doing a couple of workshops.  I wrote about about that in my last post.  And I’m inspired to do more collage in the coming year. 

Armchair travel series 

In October I undertook an artist residency sponsored by the Southern Midlands Council at Oatlands, Tasmania.  A wonderful opportunity for which I will be ever grateful.  It took me away from the hustle and bustle of home and community activities and I worked.  I think I’m still smiling.    A little bit more about the residency can be found here on my website.

AIRspace - Oatlands

At the same time, I was accepted in an online residency with the ENSO Circle.   I was able to dovetail the two.  The Enso Circle led me through a journey has helped me understand what my art practice is, how to refine and refocus goals and that it is alright to work with more than one medium.   And I found my online tribe in a wonderful group of artists.  More moments of gratitude.   

When I applied for the residency at Oatlands I had a personal brief to develop mixed media substrates which I could stitch into.   I mostly focused on fabrics which I built up with paint (mono prints, painting, printing and stenciling), applied paper and fabric and stitch.  But there is so much more I want to do. 😊  The Enso Circle gave me a structure which kept me focused on this goal.

My feet had hardly touched the ground when I got home in November the Albury Wodonga Doll Bear and Hobby Show Inc had its first major event since 2019.   The last two years events were cancelled, like all other events across the world, by the impact of Covid.  Though our event was small it raised quite a bit of money which is earmarked for community operated charities in our region.   I am so proud of the amazing people that have kept this organisation alive and continue to champion involvement in arts and crafts.  Since November monies have been donated to a food charity, a women’s refuge and an animal rescue and re-homing organisation.    They are all not for profits which are also kept functioning through the efforts of volunteers,  fundraising and donations.   Food care has 140 volunteers help pack and distribute food.

Then to finish off the year I attended a symposium at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University run by the Creative Practice Circle.   The work that I did at Oatlands was on display and I did a presentation.   But the best of it was sitting listening to like minded people present and talk about their work ranging across purely artistic to academic endevours.  All presentations were different but the synchronicity of themes and thought was striking.  The week was finished by partaking in a short altered book workshop run by Barbel Ullrich.  A fabulous way to wind down. 

Some of the participants work at the Altered Book Workshop

The icing on the cake was to spend Christmas with some of my  extended family in Melbourne.  It has been six years since we spent a Chritsmas together.  They went out all stops to welcome us.   Here's my gingerbread place mark for the table.  

Wishing you all a fabulous 2023.  

Much metta 

Donna