Sneak Peek (Co-Creations Exhibition)

I can't show you everything here before the opening, so is just a little sneak peak. Ceramics by Valerie Stuart, and felting by me. We both like this, and there will be more experimenting to come with this idea!

 

We need a name though...

Stitch-O-Coccus

After lots of experimenting with crochet stitches, machine (free hand) stitching, and dissolvable interfacing, I have come up with this. (Also to be part of the "Co-Creations" exhibition coming up next week.) I think its a bit growth like, a bit like bacteria - hence the name "Stitch-o-coccus". I did some research on bacteria names and found the 3 most common types are: spherical (-cocuss), rod shaped (bacillus), and spiral (spirilla). These have been mounted and framed.

 

STITCH-O-COCCUS (cotton & sewing thread)

 

Felt & ceramic sculpture

Another item for our "co-creations" exhibition coming up (21st Feb, 2015) is this:

 

The ceramic centre was hand built by Valerie Stuart. A wire was then attached to the end, which can be manipulated to easily. And then felted over. It is tricky to calculate the correct shrinkage items like this. If you start too big you will never get a good fit, but if you start too small then you will never get a good felt. Another consideration for the felter is that some of your favourite fulling techniques can't be used - a good solid throwing of your felt obviously can't be done when there is a ceramic piece inside!

3D felting - over a ceramic vase

 



Felted Ceramic Vases - Co-Creations

So this is the start of "Co-Creations" - combined mediums, two artists working together. My felting and textiles, my mums ceramics. It's the start of a beautiful relationship!

I have been very busy felting lately. I did a course on felting over 3D objects way back in Easter 2014, and I'm really putting that to the test now. My mum had some ceramic vases she made a while ago, and was getting tired of them, so we decided to try and felt over them, see what I could come up with. The above is the finished product, below are the pictures of the process. The wool I'm using is called a "ready spin", from Bendigo Mills - I know that doesn't say much! It is quite a course wool, and with my limited experience and knowledge on the many different wools, I would equate it to something like a corriedale.



The vase to be felted over

For size comparison - the wool is laid out and wet down

Design and prefelt stage

During the felting stage

The start of fitting the felt perfectly to the vase

Some art works for the wall - in yarn!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog. So here I am to break the silence with something I am really proud of, and hope you love it too.

"Cell Structure" - crochet cotton and resin - 250 x 600mm
I wanted to do something with resin for this project. And I was inspired by microscopic photos of cell structures. This took a little experimenting. My first attempt I didn't like, and put down somewhere. A few weeks later I rediscovered it and decided it did have potential. This is the end result.

"Colony in Red" - mixed yarns, crochet, on plywood - 340 x 1000mm
You may remember "red barnacles" which was done in a reclaimed frame. I received many comments about the frame. So this time I decided to try them in an organic shape. I was inspired here by barnacle shells crammed into a crack at sea side rock pools.

I have entered both of these into the NSW arts and crafts society's 2014 Emerging Artist - Craft Award (find here). Good luck to anyone else that enters!

Red Barnacles - free form crochet

Yes, I know I have been slack in my blogging for the last couple of months, but I haven't been slack in my making. I am making a conscious effort to catch up on my blogging at the moment. So here is my "Red Barnacles".

There are about 15 different reds, and well over 200 'barnacles'. They are all done in SC (single crochet), with various sizes. No pattern was followed, I made them up as I went. For about 3 months there was always a ball of red yarn and a crochet hook in my handbag! I really love the texture this creates.

This is currently hanging in the ICAN@7 gallery. I'm pretty sure it will end up in my lounge room when it's finished - unless, someone likes this more than me (is that really possible?!).

Crochet Brooch Series

Here are the first dozen brooches ready to hang at the ICAN@7 gallery at the Repoint Artist Complex in Port Kembla. There are a mix of crochet cotton, acrylic & woollen yarn, old and new buttons & beads, some with a fine wire crocheted around the edge to give more structure. Each one has a brooch back (most are a 25mm back). To hang at the gallery I have mounted on fabric covered balsa wood squares (3" and 4" squares).

Crochet Coral / Rockpools

Finally finished my first crochet coral project. The finished project is very different from what I started out with in my head...and changed many times along the way! My project ended up as rockpools:

One thing I have learnt is that this really does take a long time to do! Making up heaps of tiny little things, weaving in ends, stitching them together. Then you gathering them all up and there seems to be only a fraction of what you imagined there would be (for the time spent!). But I do think it is worth it, and I am still going to do one more project like this.

Long Beanie & New Vest for Troy

I seem to have a little obsession for crochet at the moment. But who can blame me, it is coming into winter after all!

ICAN is holding an exhibition during the June long weekend at the Old Court House in Wollongong, the theme being "All about Long". So, continuing on my hat theme, I decided to crochet a long beanie, from a long strand of yarn:



And one beanie became two:

 I also decided Troy needed a little vest to keep him warm. So I designed and crocheted this:

The buttons are false - there are snaps sewn behind them. Next time I will make the buttons real - snaps sewn onto yarn really don't work that well. You have to pry them open with your finger nail. You can't just pull at the crocheted fabric because it stretches too much. I do really like the side entry though (the opening is on the right side and right shoulder).

The yarn used in the beanie is "Filo Grande", colour is "paint pot", from www.seansheep.com, bought from Big W for about $5.70. It is a 12ply acrylic yarn, and I used a 6.5mm hook around the head (about 6 rows), and the rest was done using a 10mm hook (spiral). All done in double crochet.

The yarn for the vest was bought from one of those cheap $2 shops. It took just over 1 ball of 8ply acrylic yarn (yes, $2 per ball), using a 5mm hook, all DC.

WIP: Coral Reef / Rock Pool crochet

    

Some trial pieces for my crocheted coral reef / rock pool project. I am thinking of making a wall hanging for above our bed. Got some great inspiration from the rock pools at Depot Beach on the weekend too! I'm not using any patterns for this, just freestyle crochet. If you are interested in doing something like this I recommend a google image search on "crochet coral reef" - there is a lot of inspiration out there! When I get some more done I will post some more photos. And if there are any comments asking, I will put out some basic instructions on how to if you want.

Crocheted Video & Cassette Tape

For the ICAN collaborate exhibition at "Project" I experimented with video and cassette tape. These 3D forms were all free form crocheted. I was quite impressed at how well the forms held their shape, especially with the smaller hook size and using the smaller crochet stitches.