I Finished the Rug and Prep for Summer School

I finally finished my rug! Well kind of - finished the weaving anyway - I still have to do the edges. I think this is not the best photo of it, as the green is a bit more prominent. I'll try to take some more photos of it later.

This is part of my preparation for a kids' workshop for the Sturt Summer School. It's called 'Bazaar Textiles' and we will be doing some sewing, knitting, felting and weaving if we can fit it all in! I'm busy warping up 11 ridged heddles for them... should be fun I hope!

-- melly

A day at Sturt

I thought I would show you a little bit of what other people are up to at Sturt.
Here is Val weaving paper and cotton with a Fibonacci sequence.



Here is Maureen weaving a floor rug with an interesting draft.



This is Dimity, our tapestry weaving teacher, working on a commission.



The following images are of silk (2/60s) that I will use for the velvet warp - very excited! Though I needed to dye a few extra colours.












Can't wait for tomorrow!

A trip to the Power House Museum

I went along to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney the other day, as I was thought I saw that they had a 1920s jacquard head on display. It was on the website as being on display but I couldn't find it - just a remnant - some lonely jacquard cards -

So I wondered around the other exhibitions. There was an exhibition on design which the following images are from.

Textile by Reiko Sudo
Poyester organza, folded, heat set, between dye transfer paper, in a vacuum transfer machine, and heat cut.
made by Nuno Corporation, Japan.

Still Life by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott.
wheel thrown and slip cast in Limoges and Southern Ice Porcelain.

Bracelet by Peter Chang
acrylic, polyester, PVC, and silver

I took this for Belly
Art Deco Wallpaper Sample Book, France 1930-31

Catalogue by Liberty, London 1912

Detail of a Liberty Cloak on display
jacquard fabric, printed.

Unfortunately I forgot to get details of this beautiful ostrich feater hat.

And I had to find some waratahs
Bush Beauties by Bilton Burslem, England, about 1892.
pocelain depicting waratah and the Wonga-Wonga vine.
Sign reads -
'Befoer Bilton began working at Doultan in 1892, he travelled to Sydney to make drawings of the native flora to illustrate The picturesque atlas of Australia of 1886.
'While Bilton drew on his Australian sketches to decorate many Doulton pieces, this design is a copy of the bone china blank Wedgwood plaque he painted and fired in Sydney in 1886.

And to finish with a William Morris. I had only seen this print in books before.
Fabric by William Morris, England, 1917-23.
The 'Wandle' fabric design.
Looks a lot like waratahs to me but i haven't yet researched what it is.

--mel

around sturt

Thought I would show you a little part of the world in which my studio lives...

Sturt Craft Centre is a collection of workshops (weaving, ceramics, jewellery, wood, photography) established in the 1940s. It was established with the ethos of adult education in practical crafts of high standard. Currently the weaving workshop is the only (I think) public access workshop of it's kind in Australia, with term classes and short courses throughout the year.

Anyways here are a few pics to give you a feel of the place...

pathways
gardens
weave room
my studio space and new loom (just after it was assembled) - AVL compudobby 24 shaft triple back beam

hope you enjoyed the tour - check out the link at the side for more on Sturt.