Wedded bliss in Denmark

We all love a wedding, don't we! And when the wedding is situated in beautiful down south Denmark, in a vineyard on top of a hill overlooking Karri forests. Well.. Bliss! Oh and the wines were great as well!

Toby and Skye

Denmark River Western Australia

My man and I stayed a few nights down at this beautiful place and wandered along the river bank in the morning.

Pink Water Lilly's

After a wonderful few days it was time to go home. It was a 3 hours drive home which gives me lots of time to ponder art of course! And as we wandering along down through the wonderful forests, a scarf idea popped into my head. (As it is want to do) All I could find was a paper towel to scribble a quick picture on and add a few notes.

And yesturday, I couldnt wait to get started.

My idea was to lay wool down onto silk and felt it before painting. The felted scarf was then left to lay on the table top without stretching, and dye was applied. 

I'm very pleased with the result. The scarf reminds me of a tigers eye stone with the golds and browns. What do you think?

Nuno felted silk and wool scarf

Hand painted silk scarf

My Big News. And other smaller events.

Sesen Textile and Mixed Media Art Studio

Drum roll please.........
I am incorporating a gallery into my studio! Yes! I am so excited!
Having been involved with little co-ops and had scarves and paintings in other peoples exhibitions or galleries for a number of years, there has been this little voice whispering that I could do this in my own space.
So when we were designing our house, I made sure that my studio would be big enough to include a little section for the public to drop in and check out what I make and how I make it!

But of course life gets in the way and the past two years had been taken up with building our new house and making it a home and I had been caught in the rut of producing same ol', same ol' for the on-line stores. Well, it was easy. People like what I created and it helped pay its way. But in the meantime my studio was becoming an embarrassment and I didn't like inviting people in.

So there I was deciding that enough was enough with the mess and disorganization that was my work space. Something had to be done because I had become lost. I felt like I was achieving nothing and going nowhere. ( mid life crisis/ menopausal hissy fit?).

Mixed media cards and canvasses

 
By the end of December a lot of stuff was thrown out and generally made tidy, when a little door in my head opened and said. "Remember Julie? Remember that you wanted  to invite people in? Well now you have the room!"

Hand painted silk scarves

So my little gallery has become a work in process.
And little section it is too! Only 3.3m square (11").
My wonderful hubby (extraordinaire)built a sectional wall for me to hang paintings up and we put together a shelf for bits and bobs.
I have approached a local artists collaborative to be included in their open studio map and approached the council for zoning to be told that  because I only have a little space and will be open by appointment rather than full time no zoning was needed on their part (yeeha!).

Silk and Cotton Nuno Felted Scarves

So now I need to design a sign for the verge and need to create wall art and other yummy things! I'm thinking I'm about 4 weeks away.
So wish me luck on this next stage of my artistic life!

Latest and greatest nuno felt wrap!

Well I'm not sure if its the greatest? But its definitely the latest!

I actually gave you a hint of my latest nuno felt wrap in my first post on attempting to tidy my studio.

Nuno felt scarf in process

There she is. This is one of my stained glass scarves in process. I combine my own hand painted or dyed silks, along with commercial silks and laces and hand dyed wool/silk roving to create these OOAK wearables. 
They generally start with one piece of fabric that catches my eye which just carries on from there! I rarely have a finished piece in mind. They seem to grow just by themselves!

Silk and Wool Nuno Felt Wrap

Red and Black Special Occasion Stole

I am very happy with how this girl turned out. (they are all girls to me!) 

I love this form of felting. You never quite know how they are going to turn out, and each one always has a bit of a learning curve attached to it! Never easy!