Janine's Journey - August 2022 - Wildflowers
Sent: 8/31/2022 4:45:11 AM

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Janine's Journey - August 22 - Wildflowers

Hi Subscriber

Another month has raced by, where is this year going.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my quiz about teaching. I now know what I am working towards - an online fabric collage with thread painting course with a live coaching call. (also some local classes in Perth)

It may still be winter in Perth with some cold and wet weather but I have been thinking of spring and focusing on wildflowers.

Wildflowers are a big deal in WA (assuming there has been enough winter rain). More than 12,000 species of flowers burst into bloom across the state each season. 60 percent of the flowering species are only found in WA.

It starts up north in the Pilbara in June and works its way south with September being the best time for Perth.

The Rabbit Hole, Bridgetown

The month started with a 530 km (330 miles) daytrip, to drop off some artwork and cards at The Rabbit Hole in Bridgetown.

If you happen to be passing pop in and have a look. It is a vibrant community Arts Hub hosting local and state wide Artists.

Wildflowers for the Perth Royal Show

The Perth Royal Show generally has a special theme category and this year it is Wildflowers. As we take lots of photos of wildflowers and I enjoy creating them it was the perfect theme for me.

I started with the Waitzia which we saw when we climbed Mt Toolbrunup in the Stirling Ranges earlier this year. It is similar to an everlasting (Strawflower or paper daisy). The petals start off pink then fade to white as they age.

I had some nice green ice dyed fabric which was perfect for the background. Then I added the usual fabric collage and did a bit of thread painting to blend the transitions along the petals.

Next up was the Banksia...

I have been thinking about doing a Banksia for awhile, but I wasn't sure how to tackle all the fine details. Banksia have a large flower spike with rows of hundreds of pairs of tiny flowers. The flowers with yellow stamens open from the bottom of the flower spike and work their way up.

Once again I started with the green ice dyed background. There really wasn't much of a fabric collage to do. I started stitching the vertical lines of buds in both red and white. Then I added the horizontal bits and finally the yellow stamens on the open flowers at the bottom.

I decided against adding extra fabric for the leaves to keep the focus on the flower spike. Instead I just quilted with a darker green thread to suggest where they were.

Then a bottlebrush....

They are generally red but I really liked the soft pink colour of this one we saw in the Stirling Ranges.

To change things up I went for a brown ice dyed background and started with the flower. There was lots of layering of slightly different pinks to make the flowers along the spike. I did use a metallic thread for the stamens but it didn't really stand out.

I then merrily stitched the buds on the next flower spike and it was only when I had finished I realised I had sewn it on in the wrong position!!!

I had it upside down so it was on the top of the piece instead of the bottom

There was no way I was going to unpick it, so it got tossed aside in disgust!

After a couple of days when I looked at it again I decided it wasn't so bad and with a bit off extra stitching I could make the top of the flower the bottom. Adding more stitching is so much better than unpicking!

Finally I added the other spikes in bud and some stitched leaves using a couple of different greens including a variegated and voila it is done.

The last one in the series is the Blue Water Lily.

We saw this lovely Blue Water Lily in the creek at Galvan's Gorge along the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley last year.

Again I started with the green ice dyed background. I was feeling lazy and couldn't be bothered doing a fabric collage so just cut out the shape in white fabric. I stitched the basic petal shapes and started with the thread painting. I rapidly discovered that the thread painting was going to have to be very dense to totally cover the white. In other words my shortcut had failed miserably!

Next option was to dig out the Inktense pencils. I can't say I have used them very often but they were just right for adding a bit of background colour to the tips of the petals that I could enhance with some stitching.

Sometimes you have to work smarter not harder!

Bleached

Bleached did not get into the WAFTA exhibition.

They had 103 entries and accepted 42. They did offer feedback which made a nice change instead of just getting a No!

My comments were "A solid execution of techniques" and "Needs more development of concept". Does that mean my Artist Statement wasn't good enough and I didn't sell what I was trying to achieve?

Moving on that means Bleached is now ready for it's forever home and listed on my website here

In the meantime you will be able to see her at the Perth Royal Show (24 September to 1 October).

After that she will be at Wild and Free 2022

8 - 15 October at the Fibonacci Centre Fremantle, 19 Blinco Street, Fremantle.

Art Quilting Studio Magazine

I have an article in the Fall edition which comes out on September 1.

To be perfectly honest I don't really know the magazine, but earlier this year I got an email from Danielle Williams the Assistant Editor asking me to submit photos of my work. I gave then several options and they selected Splash, Solitude and Bombora (the seascapes from around Gracetown) for this edition. A couple of months later I was even more surprised when I got an email saying the Kimberley pieces will be in the Winter edition coming out in December.

With postage from the States I'm not sure when I will get my copy so you might see the printed version before I do.

I will post pictures next month once my copy has arrived.

Stitched and Bound Exhibition

Hidden Gem is part of the Stitched and Bound exhibition that runs from 10 September to 5 November at the Midland Junction Art Centre.

After that the exhibition goes on a regional tour around WA visiting Lake Grace, Margaret River, Katanning, Geraldton and Carnarvon.

More details are available here

As part of the Stitched and Bound program they are also running an Artist in Residence programme while the exhibition is at Midland.

I am there 26th October to 5 November. More details next month.

You can find details of who is in residence and when here

If you are interested in reading more about Hidden Gem, it was featured in my March email which you can read here

Musero

It feels like another month, another new social media I am trying!

This month it is Musero (and it will definitely be the last)

I know you wont have heard of it as it has only just been released.

It has been developed by FASO/Boldbrush which is the company I use for my website.

The idea is to go back to how Instagram used to be, a place to share photos with a chronological feed and no algorithms.

A lot of people have been getting increasingly frustrated with Instagram trying to be like TikTok.

My handle is @janinejudgetextileart

(Sorry I'm not sure how to give you a direct link to my page)

You can find out more about Musero here

Well that is enough from me for now, I really must get this sent before I go and judge the Local Schools Art Exhibition (Primary Schools) this afternoon.

Janine