2023 in review

In early December – a great finish to the year – I enjoyed many visitors and a good number of sales as an artist in residence during the annual Kāpiti Coast Art Trail.

Also in December, my third book of inclusive, progressive, evolving-christian liturgy resources, named “Joyful Spirit Bubbling“, was published.

In July, my hand-stitched cushion, “Sunshine on Fields of Gold”, was awarded the Crafts prize in Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Society‘s annual Art and Craft Awards. Judged by Penny Eames and sponsored by Forsyth Barr, the Society awards prizes in both Art and Craft sections.

March – April: my story about a fibre art commission made the cover of March 2023 Creative Fibre magazine – and one of my entries in the national Creative Fibre Exhibition at Pataka Art & Museum in Porirua had a red sold sticker before the Creative Fibre event began!

Friends have given me linen and Aida cloth, and I’ve tried new stitching techniques this year, for example, the Black and Red Village fibre artwork. And for the first time, as part of a demonstration/workshop following my weekly craft group, I made silk paper, and was very please with the results.

I’ve been concentrating my jewellery-making on high end, complex floral creations for wedding parties and special occasions; my best-sellers are still kids’ bracelets at the Saturday morning markets.

And right at the end of the year, I’ve tidied the gardens – including moving some plants, and finding a home for the beautiful standard “Iceberg” rose my daughter and grandsons gave me for Christmas!

Wishing you a happy new year and heaps of art-and-craft enjoyment in 2024.

Fibre art has its own site

My Eclectic Yarn pages and updates were beginning to take over this site, which was meant to be just an overview of my creative endeavours – so I’ve created a unique website. I’d love you to FOLLOW me on the new site, as well as this one.

All the fibre art pages from this showcase site have been transferred to the new one, and there’ll be plenty more new and updates from eclectic yarn, especially as I create new things and prepare for the 2023 Kapiti Arts Trail in November.

Sunshine on Fields of Gold

(July 2023) This cushion, “Sunshine on Fields of Gold”, has been awarded the Crafts prize at the winners of Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Society’s annual Art and Craft Awards. Judged by Penny Eames and sponsored by Forsyth Barr, the Society awards prizes in both Art and Craft sections.

See images and description here

Fibre artworks – double happiness!

One of the photos accompanying an article I wrote about a fibre art commission, “Da Bees”, has made the cover of March 2023 Creative Fibre (New Zealand) magazine.

And one of my entries in the national Creative Fibre Exhibition at Pataka Art & Museum (Porirua, Wellington Region) already has a red sold sticker!

My entries: “Enchanted Forest” stitched fibre artwork (behind me) and the small, bright turquoise “Swirling Summer Seas” scrumble knit work.

I’ve also made a couple of works for the “Squares, squares, squares” challenge at the Festival of Fibres event at the end of the month – see previous post.

Squares, squares, squares

Latest fibre artworks: for the NZ Creative Fibre “Festival of Fibres” Event challenge later this month:

Two more Silver Birch Forest works, and a couple more ‘works in progress’ – stitching is finished but still deciding whether to frame or make into a bag or cushion

artisan craft market 11.09.22

On Sunday 11th September, I’ll be showcasing and selling jewellery and fibre artworks at a local market. It’ll be a busy, fun-packed day, and I’m beginning to choose what to display on the day. I’d love to see you there!

Celebrating Harakeke

“Celebration of Harakeke” was the theme for entries in the 2022 Creative Fibre education event exhibition (July 2022), and I enjoyed making a couple of fibre artworks especially for it – you can see them on my “Harakeke” page.

My first attempt didn’t work out: I knitted an oblong entrelac shape in flax-like colours, then tried to felt it. (Entrelac knitting mimics a woven look, and is great so long as you get the triangles on the edges sorted. I’ve definitely got to mark where I’m up to in the pattern next time!)

Unfortunately, because I’d used several old yarns from my stash – some of which proved to be acrylic – the piece didn’t felt well and the stitching looked quite loose. Even tacking it onto tapestry canvas and back-filling didn’t work. I’d harvested a flax stem, and planned to include it against the entrelac background in a box frame – but couldn’t find a frame deep, or inexpensive, enough. Another unfinished project, but one I might go back to some day when I’ve got nothing else to do…

In the end, I knitted Colours of Harakeke socks and a hat, incorporating a basket weave pattern, as well as making two new fibre artworks. Works in progress:

Here’s how entrelac is supposed to look (image on left); I’ve downloaded this pattern from Ravelry and plan to tackle it some time. Meantime, I’m working my way through the stash, making moss stitch tote bags, and only buying more wool to finish grandson’s stripey pullover.

but is it iconic?

Latest stitching work in progress: fibre artwork for gallery’s “NZ Icons” themed exhibition. Started out okay, but – since taking the photo – I overdid the pāua and it’s a mess. So here goes with the unpicking, and finding a better “icon” to include. Also, the punga fronds / koru look a bit like horns sprouting out of the shell.

I’m jolly pleased with the stylised pōhutukawa and fern, though.

Natural fibre artwork sells!

Two of my fibre artworks have sold this week, Silver Birch with Lavender through from out of the blue studio gallery in Ōpunake, and Summer into Autumn at the Waikanae Community Market. The second sale followed a conversation about the fibres I used, and I mentioned that work submitted to the gallery in Ōpunake is required to be made from “all natural fibres – no synthetics allowed”, and how it’s influenced my choices so that (unless using up bits of my old stash) I now try to use all NZ wool, sometimes cotton, but no acrylics. The ‘browsers’ returned a short time later to purchase a fibre artwork, saying, “We’d like to support you.”

Links to: Silver Birch Forest, Stitching inspired by mosaic art, and Fibre Art

@bronz.beads first midweek market a success!

My @bronz.beads first time Mahara Midweek Market was a great success today: it was good to be under shelter from the persisting rain. Some other stallholders had pulled out because of the weather, but when people commented we were brave to be out in this weather, I pointed out that if it was sunny, I’d have to be at home mowing the lawns, but instead I was having a nice morning, knitting and chatting and selling jewellery to the nice folks in Waikanae.

It was great to sell two of the four brand new bracelets I made last night, as well as Christmas ‘trinkets’ – and a couple of knitted wreaths and Xmas trees I took along ‘just in case’.