A good excuse!

Dear Friends,
Over the last weekend I had a stand at a Quilt show run by a girlfriend. This event was to raise money for Eastern Palliative Care in Melbourne.

I had 2 lovely days demonstrating felting and chatting away to the lovely interested public.
With lots of wool and my samples hung up I made a few sales and then towards the end of the day I sold my last 3 canvas and felt figures.

Do you ever have that mixed feeling of wanting to keep your work and sell it as well?
It is a strange sensation. Today I started on a fresh batch of figures and it occurred to me that it was just what I needed - a good excuse to clear the decks and start afresh.

It is imperative to be proud of one's work - but equally important not to get too attached.
More especially if you are to make your living by your art.

So on that contemplative note, I am off to bed,
Cheers until next time
Love
Elizabeth
XXX

Home again!

Dear Friends,
Well, home again! I had a wonderful time away in Canberra, teaching members of the Canberra Region Feltmakers - of which I am now a member!!
I think that Canberra has had a great effect on me because I seem to have hit the ground running when very often I am tired for several days afterwards.



My lovely hosts Robyn and Alan had 5 magnificent Alpaccas and for several days I was greatly entertained by Lance - grey, Beethoven - white, Barney- brown, Calleo - black and Collingwood - black and white.


They are very elegant animals in many ways and stand in a rather statuesque position gazing in to the middle distance and I often wondered what they might be thinking or dreaming about.



Lance was such a darling!


Early morning - a cockatoo came to settle in the Lilac bush



Having a cup of tea on the deck at the end of a lovely day



and the sun settling beneath the hill



The classes were great fun and the students were wonderful - working hard for 3 days to create more beautiful felt.Here are some of the results - aren't they stunning!


Setting in beautiful beaded lace




Judy having fun with prefelts. Those not pictured were a little incomplete so with any luck I can convince those ladies to send along a photo before too long.

A new scarf I finished last week with many strips of silk felted in

I don't think I could ever get tired of colour

Our darling cat Nelly just purring in the corner of the studio this evening. So pleased just to sit on this old green cushion. How very simple life is for the completely worshiped felines of this world.

Hoping you are having fun whatever it may be.

Love
Elizabeth
XXXX

Off to Canberra!

Dear Friends,

Off to Canberra tomorrow to do some classes for the Canberra Feltmakers.

I am certain the students will come up with sensational work which I hope to share next week.

We will be making dolls on Friday and then a 2 day class of nuno felting techniques.

Hope everyone is having a wonderul week,

Chat soon

Love

Elizabeth

XX

A little of this and that.......................

Dear Friends
Well a bit of a mixed bag this week. Here is a new piece of felt I have been stiching the life out of or into! I find the searching through the layers of fibre and fleece for shapes and lines a good challenge. And often when you least expect it, you are able to draw things to light making them clear.

I suppose like any artwork it is the job of the artist to give the viewer a new outlook, provide them with the ability to really "see" articulating elements through colours and shapes.

I rarely use yellow as my base colour but I do strive to remain open minded about colour choices. This time I decided to actually put it to the test and have discovered that a bit more yellow is no bad thing!

Here are the remainder of the Fairytale wall hangings already in the library at school. This is the Princess and the Pea in one corner.

Each layer represents one Grade 5 student and their excellent efforts at hand stitching.

On the opposite wall is the gorgeous tower of Rapunzel. I just love this one!

I have also been trying my hand at hand built clay sculpture again. This is a bird that looks more like a Dalek, but who cares!!

Hoping your week is panning out really well

Much Love

Elizabeth

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Phew!

Dear Friends,
Well this school term has been so full with three very large school jobs. Here is the final one that will be hung in a new Performing Arts Centre at Orchard Grove Primary school.
The work has been carried out by 504 children as well as an evening class of staff!

These flowers were made by the teachers during an evening class where we had about 30 arrive to learn how to felt! The preps made the centre pieces for them.

They all did such a great job!

Shapes and shading with just a little fleece.

Our little owl is guardian of this, our Enchanted Forest.

Trees with plums on them.

Dancing pine trees with boiled lollies on them.

It is so easy to make big plans, especially months before when deadlines and timelines and bells are a thing of the future and not worth worrying about. Carrying them out is a little more challenging!

I am looking forward to the school holidays!!!

Every best wish

Love

Elizabeth

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Remembering..................

Dear Friends,
Thinking of you all - especially in New York who are marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11
when the world changed for us all. I am following the service here in Australia where it is being telecast live and can only send you my thoughts of peace and well wishes.

No matter where we are on this day - I know we will all recall our disbelief and horror upon learning of this disaster 10 years ago.

Every best wish,
Love
Elizabeth
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A little of this and that

Dear friends,
This post is a little of this and that. Here is a small piece of felt made by ME! Yes me! Not children felt, just my felt! I had a small opening of time today and just decided THAT WAS IT!
Grabbing time for oneself even one hour can often be better than any tonic you could possibly take.
Not only are you recharged but you are better for everybody - everyone around you.
They all benefit from your sunshine. OK so it is a form of therapy, but so what!

THe white filminess that you see is a piece of tissue silk with holes cut in it. Being white it takes on the hue of the fleece beneath it. You can see in the border that there is quite a contrast - I just love the way the colours seep through like a watercolour.

Of course a bit of stitching is a a great addition - just deciding how far to go.

Righto PUPPETS with Grade 4 from the school I have been at since the Fairytales (see last post). I just love the way the haphazard stitching takes place. The children make everything but I get the fun of sewing up their desired shape from the patterns they design. I have found that they are completely durable then and don't fall apart.

Figures with grade 6 - Green Gal

The Little Prince

Masterchef

and this fab Pirate that I just LOVE!

Golidlocks - another of the fairytale hangings that I forgot to post last time.

Well that's it for me - heading for a long sleep in - this getting up at 6.00am during the week to get to school on time is just AWFUL!

I hope everyone is doing something llovely this weekend - at least for an hour!!

Love

Elizabeth

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