Woollenings about The Town

Preparations in the drawer at theGRID

Here's a brief retrospect on my activities about The Town in the last six months or so. I would have put them out before, and should have, but making works is a lot more fun then putting thoughts and feelings into words and visual aids.

And remembering to take the photos, or have someone take them during the making process? Groan. In a completed related note, does someone want to do this in exchange for high fives and good vibes?

Working on the beanbag cover

 

Teaching a peep how to crochet

 

Made a headband for a coooool lady

Received these via post...I believe the expression may be...coals to Newcastle?

Feet, knitting and Grace

Bunting preparations

Some blurry shot

Let this be a lesson to all of you: don't be in a relationship with someone who knows how to make any kind of apparel.

 

Back into a crochet. A blur of hooks and wools.

 

Didn't think I was a huge fan of bombing growing things, but whatever. Happened once so now I know for sure.



Twisting horizontal stripes creates a candy cane effect...nice!

I really liked this one, until someone cut all the mushrooms off. Then, not so much.



This one disappeared the weekend it was put up.

Interstate woollenings in UK1

Had a bunch made up, and this grey old day helped me decide which ones would go where

Bunting!

Events in September-October

Urg...hands hardening up, sore, turning into claws...

Events in September-October don't look to be slowing down. Here's what we have so far:

Time for holidays! What are you up to?

The school holiday program that is being run by theGRID hybrid arts collective. School holidays begin in QLD for state schools today! theGRID has classes on in the first week. Click on the image for a larger version to peruse what we do (it's pretty extensive) and work out which ages can do what.

I have another workshop coming up at Wirraglen. These are held on the third Wednesday of the month and I am currently busy online sourcing tools for the next one. Have it narrowed down to making a pincushion, intro to embroidery and beading.

The beading is not really my idea, but it's a popular one, and learning hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills is probably more important than a bit of ego and a mild dislike for fiddly beadwork on my part. I have also been given a lot of beads recently, and am happy to see them go. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out, stupid beads!

Beads donated recently. So many beads.

 ....but I haven't decided. I really like embroidery. I like to drawing pictures on cloth with thread. I am currently trying to source inexpensive 10cm hoops online, approximately two dozen. If anyone has some experience bulk purchasing craft supplies and could point me to a few websites, that would be just fantastic.

Last but definitely not least in this round up is this amazing opportunity, extended by Artslink Queensland. You can go here to see their events line up throughout this year and into the next. Teasing the Domestic is the name of the travelling exhibition that will embark early next year for a twelve month (at least) stint in a number of destinations. According to the beautifully laid out page on their site, Teasing the Domestic "proposes a toast to both the hand-made and the home-made, with a strong cup of tea, a hot twist of irony and a cheeky grin."



I love cheeky grins!

And another feature of this tour is that "the exhibition is accompanied by, amongst other cosy kitchen and crafty resources, a children’s tea party area", which just sounds so welcoming. Available for booking 2013-2014. Bookings are filling up at a respectable rate so, be quick if you're interested!

Arts based workshops, a wrap up.



School holdidays at theGRID

 

 

Over the last couple of months I have been busy developing and delivering arts based workshops locally. These have been met with mixed success. Overall, I am pretty grateful for the opportunity to practice my craft and engage with other like-minded folks in the region.

 



 

September school holiday plan for arts based workshops

I have kept the region limited to South Eastern Queensland, which keeps the driving distances short, but I never travel light so sometimes I have to fit things like this (minus marquee);

HomeFest in Brisbane

....into a small car. I've picked up some tips and tricks in this short time, like understanding the importance of photo release forms and surveys (because if there's not evidence, it didn't happen), and I've also gotten better at getting myself ready for upcoming events (like remembering the camera, and float).

Rugmaking in Highfields

 

 

I also found a satisfactory wholesale supply website for a number of products that I use in bulk. This is an incredibly nerdy sentence, but it means more take-home-and-keep stuff for people that maybe want to finish projects but not drop any serious amount of money on tools or materials.

 







theGRID as part of the residency

I try to have stuff for most age groups, or at least be flexible. Sometimes, people show up and they know more about stuff then me! Glad it's only happened for the free ones so hopefully no one feels ripped off. That would be awkward. It's also good to talk shop and learn things about threads...anyone for some Z-twist wool?! What about some 4ply polyester/bamboo turqiose shibari-dyed blend for a modest cable stitch on double ended size 5 needles? Is that even possible? It's good to be able to ask someone in the know.

 

 

Macrame in Highfields

I've learnt a lot at these arts based workshops from people under ten years old as well. Patience, better listening, stronger multitasking skills, more clarity and adaptability are just the first ones off the top of my head. It's a good balance of challenge and reward and most of the kids dig it too, and will generally be successful at these workshops with a little application and focus. Like life, really. 

 

The four and under crowd still holds huge challenges, because of the disparity between their developmental level and what I was trained for (secondary/technical college).

 

But that's all part of the fun! How do I do a better job of being clear, and making sure everyone succeeds at an individual skill level? Maybe I could get some feedback? How do I frame this for all age groups and literacy levels?

 

...these are the questions of the artist/teacher. And I can't wait to find out some answers!

The manager, the artist, the all of it

The last few weeks have been busy. So busy, in fact, that I've really got to keep on making works. This will hopefully be a quick post, where I will recap on some recent interesting events and discuss what's on the horizon.

Past:
So, I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in not one, but two documentary series that came to fruitition in August - early September in 2012.
Firstly, Ali Lawson and Ashleigh Bunter, in conjunction with ABC Open created an episod for the A day in the life series, featuring me in my "dual roles" as manager and artist. There's probably more roles I would play in life, like responsible pet owner, daughter, sister, niece, student, confidant, nemesis, common-law wife...but we just covered those first two on this day. Follow this link to fritter away 4:07 minutes of your [work]life and gain a little insight into mine.

As part of my residency at theGRID, Ben Tupas of Oh Darling Downs followed me around intermittantly, interviewed me and then put together this gleaming gem of a short film:

WARNING: This is a dual documentary, as Ben was also keeping an eye on Danish Quapoor's progress throughout our residency. So, 50% of this is about him.

Recently, the number of pop-up workshops I've been holding has increased. The last one was yesterday, at theGRID space in the MARS gallery (it's just so flexible). Here's an insight into the general student process;

WTF crochet?

Last month, I was also invited by the Home Festival crew to take my show on the road- down the hill to Brisbane. I put on a mending workshop, and as a bonus, it was such a beautiful day. I sat in the sun, drank a bunch of chai teas and became the St Johns tent for clothing.

Broken shoe emergency repair.

Present:
Inside Outside is still open until Tuesday the 18th September. In case you weren't aware, it is displayed in the MARS gallery at theGRID hybrid arts collective. humananimal is also open until Tuesday until Quapoor tears it down...

Today was also the official opening of the Imagine you know exhibition at the Toowoomba Regional Arts Gallery. Here is a little bit of press surrounding the opening, which will fill you in on the background. What it won't fill you in on, though, is this piece of amazement;

!

I've cut out bits and pieces, but I think you get the gist.

I'll also be travelling up to Highfields this week to host a workshop for the Wirraglen Support Group. This group is active at the scout hall in Highfields, and the brains behind the organisation are doing some amazing things for kids (and for free). Please follow this link for a PDF on what they're about, and what they do if you live locally.

Future:
Currently, I'm getting together some works for the upcoming Creative Tanks exhibition. Last year was the inaugural event, and it was a really interesting experience. Put on by made. creative space in conjunction with the Carnival of Flowers celebrations, I'll be on show at a local business over the next weekend.

And that brings us to what I really need to be working on. Right now.

theSPACE

So, theGRID's residency is over for me, and the new artists have moved in. I thought it would be nice to have a wee retrospect of what Danish and I (along with Dale Mundi, and Ben Tupas of Oh Darling Downs) did with the space at the end of the day.

 

It's been a gradual process, and I've added the photos haphazardly. The only way to best capture the madness might be stop-motion, over a period of weeks. But, here's a break down of what we've done.

 

Drawing on butcher's paper, hanging up collages and bunting

....so there you go then

 

[Desk.workspace] - Kelly's space

After about a month, I had a couple of desks and what not in the space that I was using infrequently. In part, that was because they were being used for extra height when painting murals (wall drawings?).

I eventually got tired of that and carved out an L-shaped deskspace, into which I piled paint, plastic, snacks, wools, matryoshkas, all manner of junk. That was then my space, but from it I could access/view the room's many wonderful features;

Flooring:

Loved that astroturf

Fireplace/vent (with helpful fire diagram above):

A corner of Ben's space (shelf + plants), example of Dale's work

                                     

 

Olive green velveteen couches (cranky old muppets not included): 

Some nice n' shitty couches - they are even worse in person

A role model for organisational skills (good feng shui?):


Ben's ultra-organised space
 

Eye-candy:

Dale & Danish's hellspace. Every piece of paper for itself in there.

No room is complete without one of these: 

Dale, again

Or one of these:

uni-CORNY ahaha!

 

Dale's latest plan: Genetically modifying snakes that shoot tears/upsidedown hearts at intruders to lull them into a state of confusion

This actually worked really well. Thanks, [flat-pack assembly furniture company]

 

Every week, there'd be some other thing on the walls - hard to see in this photo but they've really pulled the room together

Then, it was over. I packed everything in a number of boxes, pulled down the bunting, and left.

[End residency].

theWORK

 

With the dust of the residency beginning to settle and the works in a place of pride in the MARS gallery of theGRID, life is returning to normal. I have time to reflect, and post a behind-the-scenes montage of the making of Humine Spongiform II - Advancement.

 

Is montage even the right word for it? Anyway, here we go; 

 

First, we start with the raw materials:

 

Woollen...tubing?

I spent months on these in the lead up to my residency. They take between 7 - 25 minutes each to make. You'd think with the time spent on making these individual items, I would have a name for them now, but no.

First class potato bag. I only work with the finest materials.

Fact: When you take the seams out of a hessian potato sack, you have the start of a long, narrow rug. A hallway runner perhaps?

When you sew a series of long, narrow strips of hessian together, you have the start of a long, wide rug. Usually, for less than $5.

Crocheting or blanket stitch around the edges increases strength of work in travelling and storage.

Hard to believe, but this has been through a washing machine at least once.

Then, you begin the painstaking process of sewing each individual piece onto the work. Try to remember to take photos of the work at regular intervals, or it may look strange in retrospective posts.

You sew....

 

and sew...

Some nights, gnomes take a break from cobbling shoes and do several feet of rug for you...

Then you take some happy snaps....

 

And keep sewing.

 

Stitch stitch stitch.

Note to future GRID residents: bring suncream for the back of your neck.

 

Not much to go now!

In almost no time at all, this work is nearly done (lie).

The last of the woollen tubing on the left.

 I didn't want any leftover pieces, so it was (mostly) good when I ran out early. From then on, I custom made the pieces. This took much longer than I would have liked.

 

 

Now, for the heart-stopping moment of happiness;

 

Last. Piece.

 Question for all artists, textile and non-textile craftspeople: In the final moments of creation, when that last small detail is falling into place, what is your emotion? Also, how do you feel, physically?

 

Complete.

Ecstatic, nauseated, proud, protective: this is how I feel when I finish a large-scale work. On a small scale work, I also feel these emotions. But on a smaller scale. 

 

Complete.

This work is currently being exhibited at the MARS gallery in theGRID space in 488 Ruthven St, Toowoomba City. After that...?

Please continue to watch this space. And thank you for watching it previously.