Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

The name Tapestry Girl is playful and I like to dip into playfulness when things get too industrious. Textile art draws on creativity, skillfulness and industriousness. It’s easy to get bogged down in the mechanical side of life but when I remember to be lighthearted, grateful and playful, it feels like magic happens.

Life is busy, I have a day job, kids and a house to manage, my needlepoint tapestry is portable, so I sew as I go, it’s part of my playful project. It’s fun and rewarding to find interesting, challenging and gorgeous places to sew. People ask me how I get it all done, the key for me, is to remember to be playful and to sew as I go.

Mother May I? Use the tools of domesticity for sustained self expression and urban sass. 

As a textile artist I sometimes feel the confines of expressing myself through the textile medium. I am asking for permission and validation to use needlepoint tapestry as a medium to break the rules of tradition using a traditional medium.  Mother May I, is a ‘Darn Bombed’, repurposed traditional tapestry that I have roughly darned with black wool to impart urban sass and individuality.  I give myself permission to go outside the needlepoint tapestry grid.

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Using wool, tapestry canvas and pegboard for urban sass. On exhibition at Be Brave Art Space at 5-7 Careel Head Road, Avalon. Opening 16th of March and running 3rd of April.Invite PNG

2017 was all about maximising the needlepoint tapestry medium. I played with spray painting my 5ct canvases (90x60cm) and using the luxurious KPC yarns for a double half cross stitch which revealed the background allowing depth and layering. I’m drawn to size and wanted bigger so I moved to 3ct canvas and stitched with 20ply wool (180x110cm). I was satisfied with the size, it had impact and maximised the medium.

Throughout the year I wanted to break the rules of tradition using the traditional medium. I’m saying that the colours and shapes from our streets empower our urban woman and give them sass and individuality.  The repetition of the tapestry stitches echoes the pixels in digital work and is in line with the photographic term DPI (dots per inch)

Some 2017 highlights were; The KPC yarn Pop up shop in Paddington, the exhibition with the ‘Seedstitchers’ at Gaffa Gallery where we employed textile mediums to express our theme, Wonderment. An exhibition to celebrate The Manly Warringah Arts Festival at, Gallery Diverasity and an exhibition at TAP gallery for Sydney Craft Week.

5 big exhibitions meant a year of painting, stitching, purchasing, evaluating, creating, framing, talking, connecting, organising and feeling. I also had the honor of 4 interviews, 3 workshops and a design published in MR Xstitchs’ Modern Xstitch magazine. It was a great year and I’m feeling maximised out,  now I’m in anticipation for 2018 with 2 new body of works in process and so many notes in my art diary……. I’m giving myself permission to use the tools of domesticity to start a conversation on permission.

 

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The collective is comprised of seven Sydney based artists: Soraya Abidin, Sky Carter, Alana Clifton, Suzanne Davey, Gillian Lavery, Niki McDonald and Emma Peters. While their backgrounds, education and approach to art practice are diverse, they each have a deep understanding of material qualities and textile processes. The Seed Stitch Collective are passionate about exploring and promoting contemporary textiles.

Wonderment can be described as a surprise encounter that arrests our senses for a fleeting moment. It is an instant of absolute presence where we are transfixed by an awe-inspiring sight, or engaged in child-like discovery, or merely struck and shaken by the extraordinary that exists in the familiar and everyday. In every instance of experiencing wonderment, we are left with a feeling of revitalisation, renewal and awe.

In our current state of political and social tension and the accompanying cacophony of media noise, wonderment stimulates a momentary pause in time, acts as a surge of clarity, and sees the worry and overwhelming tensions in the world fall away.

In this exhibition, the Seed Stitch Collective celebrates wonderment as an antidote to contemporary anxieties. As artists, we are able to delve into the depths of our creative world and seek remedy in the surprise encounters of creative acts. The moments found within art-making is where this respite is found. It slows us down, it occupies our mind and hands, and we are joyfully enthralled by the possibility of creation.

We hope that the audience finds the spirit of this theme, the collective and the creative output to be a powerful reminder that hope, generosity and connection is alive and well.

You are Invited to, ‘Wonderment’ @Gaffa Gallery, level 2, 281 Clarence St, Sydney.

Wonderment opening – Thursday 31st August 6-8pm through until 11th Sept 

Artist Talks – Saturday 2nd of September 12-2pm

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I am excited to be part of, Issue 1 of XStitch Magazine created and developed by Jamie “Mr X Stitch” Chalmers. There’s an abundance of textile artist profiles and patterns. You can purchase copies of the magazine from the website (http://xstitchmag.com/shop/issue-1-pre-order) and because I’m in it, you can use the discount code ISSUE1STAR to get 10% off the xstitch pattern magazine, the discount doesn’t apply to shipping though. Here is a sneak peak of one of my pages.

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I Love needle point tapestry because I can sew as I go…. some places that I sew….

Follow this link for bookings

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Learn the art of contemporary needlepoint at the KPC Yarn @kpcyarn pop-up in Paddington, Sydney. I am teaching two three-hour workshops.

Explore the half cross stitch traditionally used in needlepoint tapestry, sew on an urban inspired painted tapestry canvas and use a stencil to extend your image with key black lines. Seeking movement, layering and texture we will work with the single and double cross stitch and allow the painted background to reveal itself.

This work shop will provide you with the skills and inspiration to access your creativity. Needlepoint tapestry is the perfect combination of art meets craft and you’ll find the rhythmic flow of sewing is restorative, soothing and uplifting.

All equipment is provided; KPC Yarn, A painted 5ct tapestry canvas, An embroidery needle, Stencils, Black markers and a Tapestry tote bag

There are limited spaces so hurry.
For bookings and more details go to kpcyarn.bigcartel.com or follow the link above.

SONY DSCNiki McDonald lives in Sydney, Australia. Her contemporary needlepoint tapestries explore the urban landscape and experience. ‘Faces, spaces and attitudes,’ are all themes in work which often depict strong women against a colourful background that includes cultural references to today’s society.

Follow this link to the interview

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100 x 120cm – 3.75ct tapestry canvas – maximizing the stitches to reveal the spray painted background. On exhibition in November at the Barometer Gallery in Paddington as part of the Seed Stitch Collective.