See the latest quotations about creativity on my Fave Quotes page. Here’s a sneak preview:
Let’s admit it: We put ‘Made with love’ on our home crafted gifts, because…
You can also find quotes from one of my favourite comedic and philosophical writers, the late Sir Terry Pratchett, and a whole section from Sir Stephen Fry on depression.
Click on the link below to see this post on my EclecticYarn website, about the vivid works created for the 2025 Kapiti Coast Art Trail (images below):
Have a look over on my EclecticYarn website where I’ve posted about two new fibre artworks for a gallery exhibition:
Post about new works
ShapeShifters range page
These are called “Autumn Forest” and “Winter Forest”. Guess what I’ll be working on next…
Click here to read about my latest fibre artworks, created for Creative Fibre’s Festival of Fibres in Christchurch next month. Here’s a tiny preview slice:
No sooner had the Kāpiti Coast Art Trail (November 2024) – for which I stitched a lot of new fibre artworks, including Vivid Forests – ended when it was time to prepare for the Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Society’s Christmas-New Year Exhibition in Kāpiti Gallery.
I completed two triptychs: Gum Tree Triptych (ii) because I’ve decided not to sell the first one, and Black and Red Villages Triptych (i), the latest in my Quirky Villages series, and began a new Yuletide range, an evolution from my Vivid Forests!
The next couple of Yuletide works will be variations on Christmas Candles, either in groups of three or quartets representing the liturgical Hope, Peace, Joy and Love – works in progress just now.
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.
(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
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.
Customer saw me stitching this and paid a deposit before Xmas 2021 although it was only two-thirds done. It’s almost completed and ready for delivery to my enthusiastic buyer!
See more of my fibre art here fibre art and in my online shop EclecticYarn
If you’ve ever had that feeling of, “I wouldn’t wish depression on my worst enemy—but I wish my friend could experience it for just a day…”
As I ate breakfast in the sun this morning, I’ve been browsing through the March 2012 “Creative Fibre” magazine in which crafters from Canterbury write about the destruction of their equipment, social and business lives in the earthquakes of 2011, and their stories going forward.
I wondered what stories of recovery, inspiration and kindness will come from our collective experiences of COVID-19, a different kind of devastation, but one that’s brought many lives to an abrupt halt. For some, “isolation” has been little different from “retirement”; for others, the social and financial fabric of their lives is shredded and torn.
A good news story is the astonishing success of the “New Zealand Made Products” initiative on Facebook. In less than a week, it’s gained 250,105 members who’re sharing their NZ owned, designed and made products—and getting sales. You may be sure I’ve added my bronz.beads online shop to the listings!
Yesterday, as we move into Alert Level 3, it finally hit me: cabin fever! Most of the projects—I finished knitting those cardigans!—are complete, the garden’s tidier than ever before, I’ve run out of good beading wire and a necklace I made with florist’s wire broke and beads spilled everywhere… basically, I was out of sorts.
Not sure I can blame this on the lockdown, though; some readers will know I live with depression and despite the thank-god-for-antidepressants that keep me from despair and hopelessness, there are still ups and downs, as the black dog tries to throw its shadow over everything.
Finally I stopped procrastinating and got on with collating another book in my “Words of Spirit and Faith” series. It kept me absorbed—husband had to remind me I hadn’t moved from my chair for hours and should take a break—and brought a gratifying sense of accomplishment. And a Facebook discussion led to possible collaboration with someone in the United States—my lyrics and her music.
Because there’s sure to be someone reading this who struggles with anxiety and depression, or who cares for someone who does, I’m offering some excellent and simple resources. If you’ve ever had that feeling of, “I wouldn’t wish depression on my worst enemy—but I wish my friend could experience it for just a day”, share Matthew Johnstone’s “I had a black dog” and “Living with a black dog”—yes, amusing cartoon drawings and words about mental illness (links below).
And if you’ve ever thought someone should just pull their socks up and get on with it, please also read, view or listen to these resources. They could change your life or save a friend’s.
I trust you’re making this time of limitation a space for deciding how you’d like your life and community to be, and what sort of ‘new normal’ we can create together.
BronzCreative 
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