Autumn Day on Victoria Street

I just love Ozquilt Networks “personalised promos” for Art Quilt Australia 2019 …. these are prepared for each of the art quilts included in the exhibition - here is the one for Autumn Day ……

Thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you a little more about the work ….

The inspiration for this piece came from the amazing color of the autumn leaves on my persimmon tree in the late afternoon sun . I used the photo as the background for the label attached to the back of the quilt.

The collage background uses hand dyed cottons and silks and some natural (eco) prints from my stash. I often find that I need some additional colors or tones …. and this time I created some digital fabric prints to fill the gaps. I used a design based on an earlier art quilt design and modified in Photoshop Elements. This allows me to change the hue and saturation to fit the color combination I’m working with and has proved very useful technique.

With the background collage sorted, it was secured with a layer of stitching and then the overlay of grevillea leaves in batik were added. The applique leaf design is fused in place and a second layer of stitching follows, this time just at the edge of the applique. This helps to secure the applique and ensures the density of stitching is equally distributed across the work so it will hang flat against the wall. The final step is to add an acrylic finish to ensure the work is secure and protected.

Art Quilt Australia 2019 opens on 6 September at the National Wool Museum in Geelong and runs until 15 December. There are many amazing art works included in this exhibition …. if you are unable to see the 37 works that make up this exhibition in person you will be able to see a gallery of all the works at https://www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au/exhibitions/art-quilt-australia/ after the exhibition opening.

Thank you for reading and for your interest in my work CC

Art Quilt Australia 2019

I’m sorry to have been absent from my blog for so long … life has been tough the last few months with the loss of my much loved husband and soulmate earlier in the year. The support of family and friends has been amazing and I’m picking up the pieces and getting back to my art practice….

I had some good news recently, my work, “Autumn Day on Victoria Street” has been selected as part of Art Quilt Australia 2019 and will be on show at the National Wool Museum in Geelong, Victoria (go the Cats!) from 6 September to 15 December 2019 ….

'Autumn Day on Victoria Street'

'Autumn Day on Victoria Street' Detail

I also have a couple of new projects underway …..

The first is the outcome of a wonderful online workshop with Lisa Call …. “Finessing the 4th Dimension” . The workshop and the project both explore incorporating time in an artwork. This project is definitely pushing the boundaries for me in terms of the concept and the development of technique. The starting point was to photograph the changing patterns and colors of autumn in my garden as the season progressed. Here are some of the images I am working with ….

The second project involves developing my knowledge and experience with direct contact botanical prints (eco prints) with a specific focus on eucalyptus trees … I’m calling it the ‘BlueGum Project’ and I have had some pleasing results ….

There will be more to come shortly on both of these new projects.

Thanks for your patience and for your interest in my work ….CC

Yoga, Art and Other 'Delights'

I love my weekly yoga class with Samaya Studio Kiama … think I’m the oldest member of the class! The younger ones all wear very stylish leggings for class, so not to be left out I went looking for something I’d like to wear … but couldn’t find a thing! So a thought occurred to me …. ‘why not design my own’

I decided on joining Redbubble - a terrific Australian based site that makes it very easy to upload your own designs to a range of products and sell them.

I started with my first ‘Interlaced’ design on leggings and then moved on to play with a whole range of products … so much fun!

I ordered a pair of the leggings and a thow cushion with the Interlaced design, they took about a week to arrive and I was totally delighted with the quality of both the products.

Now I’ve been trying out some of my eco-prints and earlier grevillea and maple leaf designs to see how they work … using some digital design filters and trying different color combinations. I think this might get a little bit addictive!

I’ve ordered some more leggings … can’t have just one pair … and a tee shirt tonight !

Here’s the link to Redbubble and my products if you’d like to have a look …. https://www.redbubble.com/shop/Carolyn+Collins

Thank you for reading and your interest in my art ….CC

February Flowers

I’m making ‘February’ flowers with India Flint this month as part of her online workshop “A Clearing in the Woods”. The class is designed to bring some light and joy to February … whether its in the freezing Northern Hemisphere or sweltering heat of the South! You can checkout India’s online classes at her website https://www.indiaflint.com

I’m loving the making of each flower … one each day (in theory). Here are some of the ones I’ve made so far ….

It’s sometimes hard to know when a flower is finished, its tempting to keep adding more ……

Lot’s more flowers to make before the end of the month! Will show you the end result when its done!

Thanks for reading …… CC