Skip to main content

Blue Textiles



 I love working with blue .... much of my recent work is blue. In the latter part of last year I saw blue everywhere - I stitched a series of blue temari (embroidered thread balls) and felted dolls in shades of blue. 

- Blue Temari  - "Layered" exhibition ,January 2014. 
Blue felt doll - Bonnie 

Blue felt doll - Maribel 
I love the colours of the traditional Willow Pattern… these blues induce a sense of calm and peace and the sight of a blue bird is often seen as a symbol of happiness and contentment…. One of the works in the current "Layered" exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists is  Blue Bird which was completed in December. I  covered a  wire frame  with different fabrics, which have been felted, stitched by hand and/or machine, painted and stamped, dyed. This textile art is a derivative of an earlier collaborative work created for International Women’s Day 2013.

Blue Bird - "Layered" exhibition , January 2014 


Close up of  textile art - Blue Bird 
My  new work for the Contemporary Craft Retreat in October 2014 are some mixed media collages on canvas. Blue again.... 

Willow Pattern Collage. 


Blue Represents
Communication: Blue relates to one-to-one verbal communication and self expression.
Peace and calm: Blue induces calm and peace within us, particularly the deeper shades.
Honesty: Blue is the colour of truth.
Authority: The darker the color blue, the more authority it has.
Religion: Blue is the colour of devotion and religious study.
Wisdom: Blue enhances the wisdom of the intellect.
from http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/ 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Too Precious to Waste

 Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons  More than a year ago, a decision was made.  The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2]  A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

'Anything Goes" and It Does Matter.

 When 'anything goes", does it follow that "nothing matters" ? .... I think not.  When I interpret "anything goes", I think it means taking a few risks and experiment, but also care about what you are doing and finding a purpose in the process.  Currently, the Tag Tuesday theme is "Anything Goes" ... This describes my daily art practice at the moment. I am doing #the100dayproject and each day I am responding to weekly published colour prompts #coloricombo, curated by  artist, Este McLeod.  During the last week, the suggested colours were jade green, primrose, vermillion and  purple grey.  Each day, I've been trying to experiment with colour and technique with the goal of developing and learning.  Here are some of the tags I created using these colours, or at least as close as I could manage with stuff from my stash...  I have titled these "Fragments from Afar" as all of them feature an image or a postage stamp from somewhere far from

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str