Toadstools in the Garden

“A toad stool is an inedible or poisonous fungus with an umbrella-shaped fruiting body”.

So says the free dictionary I looked up on my web browser.  But that is not the case!  Toad stools can have no stem, no apparent cap or be misshapen.   Colours and size can vary too.

These toadstools are not poisonous and are definitely inedible.  They are also a little on the tall skinny side. I gave them to my partner in life to celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary. 

A perfect quirky gift of toadstools arranged in a bouquet and subsequently transplanted to the garden – in a literal sense for they are made of weatherproofed fabric with a stem from a sacred bamboo bush.

I.

Woodland Imp

Wire armature of my Woodland Imp

I was trying to put a couple of mediums together to create a female form.   I made a wire armature, covered it and then made a head and face with air dry clay and some beads for eyes.   I think its a fact that some people are gifted and/or skilled in working small to miniature.  I'm not one of them!  Note to self - work bigger! The face came out decidedly masculine.

I put it aside for a while and picked it up the other day and decided to just play a bit.  I used what was close to hand and wrapped  the arms and legs with overdyed thread, used a little paverpol and acrylic lace and created a vest.

The loin cloth is a scrap of silk gauze I purchased ages ago from a very small boutique dress shop that had a hand written sign saying "Quilters will be surprised".  I went in to discover offcuts of delicious bits of silk - this is the last remaining scrap.

The hair is more like a turban and made from flower thread.  The best use I can find for it as it is very fine and not what I like to stitch with as a rule.  The bit of wood I picked up at the beach at Cabarita Park. (He is nailed to it if you were wondering).  I often find lovely bits of worn wood that has been tossed around the Parramatta River for quite a while and of course I always come home with some shells.

This little guy is definitely not my best work  and I see heaps of faults in it but, despite all of that, it has a charm that comes from being created by hand.  And I have had the satisfaction of using those bits and pieces that I had been hanging onto for way too long.  A sort of destash in reverse - I have used my materials but now I need a place for the end result!   Cheers

Green Man & New Pages to Cloth Garden

green man

I have been quietly playing with fabric sculptures for some time now and not put much up on Cloth Garden about it.   I have now made two new pages - one which has a collection of photos of fabric sculptures and the other foreshadowing classes to be offered in March 2014.

In the interim I have uploaded some photos of my Green Man in progress here.   The face is made from Apoxie Sculpt and done under the tutalage of Lex Sorrintino.

I hadn't done any sculpting with Apoxie Scupt before and Lex was very generous in her time and instruction.   If you ever get the chance to visit her studio in Canberra I highly recommend it.  She runs both formal classes and a drop in at her studio - you could work in a visit on a Saturday and go to the National Gallery or similiar on Sunday morning before heading back to where ever home is :-).

The 'arms' are a wire armature and covered with Paverpol dipped fabric.  The leaves are actually florists wire with a very light fabric hardened with Paverpol.

Taped wire before wrapping in fabric

 This the wire I use  - the samller roll is galvanise steel and is rather hard to bend with my fingers and I use pliers .   The other wire is made from aluminium and is very soft  and easy to overwork if I am not careful.

After creating the wire armature I wrapped it in alfoil to give it some bulk.  Then I taped it.  After it was taped I wrapped it in the fabric strips whoich had been dipped in coloured Pavorpol and left it to dry.  While it was drying I shaped the leaves out of florists wire and added the leaf with more fabric.

It was all very satisfying to do as a project and I am sure I have a couple more Green Man lurking in my imagination.    They are a very medieval thing and I am looking forward to creating some more as well as some gargoyle type creatures out of paverpol and clay at some stage in the future.

Green Man  completed and hanging on my garden fence

Books for Christmas

The family was kind to me this Christmas and gave me a few craft related books.  The photo is from a Batik Design Book given to me by my son – it came with a CD of printable images.

I also received two books on doll making – one was crochet dolls and the other more a contemporary mixed media number.  Having poured over the book I have made one crochet doll so far.   My daughter gave me a heap of buttons which I have played with but reached no decision about which ones to sew on : I think I need to make more little dolls J. They will make great broaches. 

Stitchers Plus Challenge Award - Say It With Words

Had our last Stitchers Plus meeting on Saturday.    A small meeting but a busy day.  There is a great exhibition of works by art quilter and embroiderer Caroline Sutherland.

After lunch we adjourned to the Five Dock Library where the winners of the annual challenge were announce.   Sheila Beer, a member of our group, came home with both first prize and Viewers Choice!   Here is her work :Hay Stack.    Sheila couched down straw to create her out of the box embroidery :-)


All of the works can be found here -  you might have to scroll down to find the images.

fabric garden statue and lace for indoors :-)

I had fun creating this little statue for my garden.  She is made with a wire armature and built up with fabric stiffened with a product called paverpol.   

Her components came from Paverpol in a kit form.  

There is sufficient space in her arms to put a small pot and I was thinking of doing this and filling it with babies tears which would grow/flow over the edges.   In the interim her arms are full of dried bouganvillea.

I have been framing the lace collages I have been working on and when I finally get a decent photo I will put them up. :-)

Hello Hello

Working with the embroidered letter project inspired me to play with felt applique for a display at our local Library.  The Concord and Five Dock Libraries have regularly hosted an exhibition of works made by Embroiderers; Guild NSW members to a challenge.  This year the theme was "Say it with Words" and some interesting works were received.  Not many this year but it has been a busy year for many of the members what with the embroidered letter project, many group (and other  exhibitions and the Margaret Oppen Competition.

The original piece that I made for the challenge itself is the first collage I put up in my last post.  I am still exploring this sort of collage - a wonderful reason to play with laces and beads and buttons that I have been squirreling away for that special project.