DownUnder

A few weeks has past since my last messages and I am writing this from Port Campbell, on the Great Ocean road, Victoria Australia.  What a journey it has been so far.

First stop was Canberra

After arriving 10 days ago at Sydney, I arived in Canberra ACT, the nation's capital fora workshop teaching to a textile group there.  It was great to be back in Australia and Bonnie and Christine gave me such a welcome.  These two talented ladies have won awards in the World of Wearable art and it was so interesting to talk to them about the show and the challenges of new creations.  I was shown the sites and was able to visit a wonderful exhibition at the National Gallery on the ‘Ballet Russe’ with a display of theatrical backdrops and costumes from the ballet in the early 1900’s, -just wonderful to see especially for anyone interested in fashion and stitched textiles.

My class about Art and Imagery in Stitched textiles and what a great bunch of gals they were.  Here is only a little sample of their finished work.  We had such fun.

Canberra is beautiful, - in a lovely landscape surrounded by mountains with a modern city plan of lakes and contemporary architecture to rival many cities.  My visit was short but also managed to visit the Botanical Gardens (thanks to Beth Miller) and, as always took so many photos.  I learned about 'scribbly' gum patterns caused by moth larvae under the bark of gum trees - amazing lines just like stitch.
More photos from that day include flowers, and the many shrubs and trees typical of the area.  So many textures and colour.

Stay Tuned -
The Fibrearts Forum in Ballarat was great and I had a great opportunity to meet teachers from everywhere.  My class was terrific and I feel I have made some good friends in Australia.  I will add another post soon,  -  Just so many photos to select from - the work was fantastic!!
Bye for now and thanks for reading.