River of Moons (go with the flow) Mo 2020-2021
H22 cm W107cm
linen, silk & cotton cloths indigo dyed by Glennis Dolce (Shibori Girl Studios), Jude Hill (Spirit Cloth),
Ulrike Bogdan (Nemo Ignorat) and Jacinta Leishman (Spiral Dyed)
linen, silk and cotton threads, boar bristles, bangalow palm inflorescence, milk paint, white glass beads,
antique parchment stars
every knot and stitch is filled with memories of my best friend Julie RIP August 7th, 2020
River of Moons (go with the flow) Mo 20-21 in process
scanned this month for clarity
the next 4 moons will be on this one patch by Ulrike Bogdan
so I started a new moon cycle through the seasons
with gratitude to the indigo queens, Glennis Shibori Girl, Ulrike Bogdan and Jude Hill
Autumn Moon (Honesty) in process Mo 21
indigo dyed silk moon and cloth from Jude Hill
whisper silk organza from Beautiful Silks
boar bristles , rotted silk, Silkworm vintage cotton from Margaret Johnson & indigo dyed silk thread from Glennis Dolce
River of Moons is moving along, after finishing the second moon this morning I cut into the river of cloth to weave the next two moons through
inspired by Jude Hill this morning when she cut into the edge of her moon to weave through a cloud over on Spirit Cloth
it’s a one step forward two steps back work flow as each new moon changes how the last one fits in,
the two moons on this new cloth are for the next blue moon in November for us here in Australia
finished the knotted thread rays on the second moon this morning
the first moon was a little too puffy so I stitched it through and it feels a lot more solid
there will be 13 moons in this meditation on time, flow and the effect of the moon on one woman’s mind
front cover of the Lunar Almanac by Rosemary Ellen Guiley 1991
with gratitude to Glennis Shibori Girl, Ulrike Bogdan and Jude Hill
for the materials and inspiration!
the Virgo Moon is finished for now for the River of Moons
the other side
now onto the Libra Moon’s balancing act
it needs boar bristles and beads to make a compass for this journey
stitched in, the boar bristles define the rays & they feel like bone stays in a foundation garment…
PS just added a bit more stitching in that wonky lower centre ray now I can move onto the Libra moon!
PPS added a ring of raw cotton bound with blue silk thread to finish the Virgo Moon for the River of Moons
the 13 moons for this year long project are shibori indigo dyed by the queen of Moon Makers Glennis Dolce
the river cloth is indigo dyed by Ulrike Bogdan
I am stitching a river of blue moons by Glennis Dolce combined with a long piece of indigo dyed linen cloth from Ulrike Bogdan, this project will take 13 moons to make both physically and time wise
considering the nature of fluidity…
Memory Keeper for Julie Mo 20
H 33cm x W 19cm x D 2.5cm
hand woven & indigo dyed linen cloth and threads by Ulrike Bogdan
100 year old hand woven linen from Germany for edges and gusset
stars of vellum parchment circa 1812
blue and white glass beads
bone bead for closure
knotted nettle string handle
silk noil from Margaret Johnson for the lining
the last thing added this morning was that tiny blue bead in the centre of the fringe
the back needed an insert as the lower edge of the hand woven indigo was narrower at the base
the moon needed a little more definition so I backstitched the edge
the bone bead worked perfectly for the closure
I stretched the handwoven linen making gaps in the weave that needed reinforcing
detail of silk noil lining and edges
I thought there would be lots of feathers and shells in the knotted string handle but they were surplus to requirements and had to be cut out
full of memories from our 44 years of friendship & all set to go!
this bag full of memories for my friend Julie is almost finished, every knot holds a story
the indigo dyed hand woven linen & moons are by Ulrike Bogdan
I started working on this bag on April 24th and have worked on it for a few hours every day, it has gone through several ugly stages where I had to reconsider what I was trying to do
Jude Hill’s good words after the first ugly phase have helped so much
“ha, the ugly phase is just an in-between we can’t quite understand yet.”
you may have noticed in the first photo I am rereading “The Education of a Gardener” by Russell Page first published in 1962
one of the most beautiful and inspiring books about gardening ever written
talking of gardens and well thought out design
Owl Rock went for a walk with us to the wetlands to observe the way the water moves around it
my friend Peter Webb plant guru extraordinaire is writing a book and has asked if I would like to do a few illustrations! When I first met Pete in the 70’s he was the seed collector for the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. I asked him to write a book way back then so I could illustrate it and now I can, it’s a dream come true!
Sydney Park Wetlands has matured beautifully in the time we have lived here in Newtown
love how these old piers add mystery and a sense of spirit to the space
a friendly blue tongue lizard
13 moons arrived in the mail by Glennis Dolce Shibori Girl
these will keep me happily stitching for a good long while
the gardening work is keeping us busy, the walks to the wetlands are helping us stay a bit grounded and the social isolation measures are lifting a bit, still I put some x’s on the floor in the dining room when our friend Richard visited on Saturday for the first time since March, he noticed that they weren’t exactly 1.5 metres so I will measure them up properly for next weekend!
a raggedy blue moon heart getting ready to be filled with rose petals, rosemary, lavender and lemon verbena
Raggedy Blue Moon Heart Mo20
H 15cm x W 13cm
indigo dyed Blue Moon from Glennis Shibori Girl stitched with indigo dyed linen thread to indigo dyed linen from Ulrike Bogdan, antique parchment stars, grape vine tendrils painted white
made with love and hope for my friend Julie who is in hospital with complications from the chemotherapy
PS Yay! next day, Julie’s home from hospital recovering well from the respiratory tract infection. The radiotherapy has helped a lot with the bone pain and she has had her first round of chemo.
Thanks for all the good vibes
Fingers crossed.
Ulrike Bogdan’s pennant & Bronwyn Berman’s talisman arrived yesterday to join The Gathering
Ulrike has written about her deeply philosophical response to the dream of a world where love is the answer over on her blog Nemo-Ignorat
I love the way she has combined all her skills as an artist, scientist and linguist
to quote from over on her blog
“…’Selbstlosigkeit’ (selflessness), ‘Mitgefühl’ (compassion) und ‘Geborgenheit’ (care and comfort, safety and protection). When you love someone or something, you feel compassion, act selfless and this love may give you comfort and protection.
I added some onion dyed cotton, used different silk thread dyed in indigo, madder and logwood. There is a lot of madder, because madder is of the Earth. And I just love the earthy part of its colour.
Let’s all protect this broken world. Feel compassionate for her well-being and for the beings living on her and be selfless about it. Step outside of the Dream and just Love.”
Bronwyn Berman’s talisman of love for our beautiful broken world vibrates with a delightful sense of humour and whimsy
echidna quills, Silver Sebright chook feathers, copper wire, glass beads
the patinated pod with echidna quills is by Bronwyn from back in 2015, here’s a link to a better photograph
they are enjoying getting to know The Gathering
the beautiful indigo dyed silk scarf on the right hand side of the book case is a gift from Ulrike, perfect for this chilly day!
The Gathering is singing such deep love into our beautiful broken world
it’s like conducting a choir with each voice bringing in a new harmony
namaste
Ulrike Bogdan’s beautiful pennant is on it’s way from Germany!
she has written a deeply philosophical response to the dream of a world where love is the answer over on her blog Nemo-Ignorat
after sitting with her piece of the wedding dress she wrote this response in an e-mail back in December;
“It took me a while to get an idea. But I got one I really feel good with. German is a rather unwieldy language but what is can do best is describe philosophical conditions. Love (Liebe) is more like a portmanteau than one concept. It consists of so many different emotions and connotations. Love alone is encompassing a whole range of being and feeling. What this world needs is Selbslosigkeit (altruism), Mitgefühl (compassion/kindness) and Geborgenheit (care/comfort) all these are living striving under the heading of love in general. Which is what I am doing in stitching.”
I riffed on her thoughts encompassing the word Love (Liebe in German) as a portmanteau envisioning a travelling medicine bag of dreams for mending our beautiful broken world & look forward to introducing her beautiful work to The Gathering!
It's Crow Time 