Portfolio 2014

My theme for the contemporary Quilt journal project is ‘Lines across Burma’. Inspired by a ‘Trails and Temples of Burma’ trip, there are many lasting impressions of this fascinating country, many lines to follow.

The Journal Quilts have an 8” square format and must include a line from one edge to another.

Shimmering Lines
26 x 100cm 2014

Stitched lines here impose form and shape: do you see the suggestion of a crevasse in the snow, a cleft in the rock, cycle tracks or a shoreline in the sand?

Wool and crab fibres, with stitched lines.

I have used the shrinking properties of merino wool fibre to distort naturally smooth and glossy crab fibre

February - Temples in the Mist

At Sunrise and sunset, the temples in Bagan are quite magical, so many rising from the mist, a memorable landscape. I made a sheet of ‘cobweb’ wool felt, cut it up and dyed in gradations. Layered and quilted, with silk ‘temples’applied.

March - Water Lines

Reflections on Lake Inle. Nampan, a village where all living and farming, as well as fishing, takes place on the water. A magical place. Layers of merino wool felt with a digital print on organza, hand quilted.

April - Reflections

Zooming in on some of my photographs taken on Lake Inle suggested some experiments with marbling on silk. I collaged several different weaves and enjoyed hand stitching in the style of Japanese recycling seen at the Boro exhibition in London during April 2014.

Coal or Climate?
(120 x 51cm 2014)

The colours of coral set against the stunning turquoise and deeper blue waters of the Great Barrier Reef represent for me all that is magical in the natural world. A Greenpeace video showing the impact of the expanding coal industry in Queensland and it’s likely impact with oil spills over the reef gave me the idea for this ‘dislocation’ in the environment.

To create surface design I made around forty translucent prefelts of wool fibres and patches of silk chiffon. These were layered to compose the image and felted again.

Layered with dyed silk dupion and quilted.

May - Catch of the Day

The fishermen on Lake Inle have a unique method of rowing with one leg and catch their fish with traditional spears. They are incredibly athletic and also like to show off in front of the camera! This composition is based on a photo taken close up on the lake. Wax resist textured silks layered on wool wadding. Nuno felt for the large fish using metallic & silk loose weave.

June - Life on the Irrawaddy

Ten leisurely hours from Mandalay to Bagan; time to relax and appreciate the local pace of life. A modest shelter and a boat is just about as basic as you can get. Continuing with wax resist silks contrasted with nuno felt for texture on the shoreline.

July - Pigments

Pigments at the lacquer works in Bagan. The range of skilled crafts seen in Burma was an unexpected bonus on a ‘trekking and temples’ trip. The pigments are created with nuno felt: wool laminated with a metallic-silk weave and acid dyed to get rich bright hues. Hand quilted and embellished with shells

August - Old Bagan

Mosaic columns by the Bupaya on the banks of the Irrawaddy. Bonded mosaic applique, wax resist dupion and habotai on a noil background. I used a fine thermore wadding and ultrafine thread for quilting.

September - View from the Vineyard

Magical views from Aye Tharyar, the Pindaya area of Burma. Inktense pencils on silk/bamboo mix cloth, with a light wash of water. Machine quilted with fine threads and a wool wadding.

October - Gilded column

At Ananda Phaya Temple (Burma) there are many examples of gilding on buddhas and decorative columns. At the larger temples you can buy gold leaf and help keep up the restoration, a nice idea, but only open to men in some! To get an aged look I applied gesso to textured silk cloth and after drying rolled a layer of gold acrylic paint on top. After quilting the design I applied more gold paint and a final rubbing of markal paint stick.

Lines from Sea and Sand
236 x 244cm ( 93 x 96")

Double sided bed quilt. Inspired by the work of Doreen Reid Nakamarra, indigenous Australian artist.

I set out to celebrate the colours of Australia through simple curved lines. Only one 'line' is used for the strip pieced side, and just one (different) line for the resist dyed second side.

The fun was in sorting fabrics I had collected and over dyeing some to work with the colour theme.

The scale was quite challenging, so I quilted, with wool wadding, in three sections, machine lines and hand quilted circles. I plan to add more surface stitching, working from both sides.

November - Chook House

The Chook House at Myauk Taung Monastery. Most of the time the chickens are free to range, supplying our trek with chili omelettes for breakfast! Digital print on silk organza, with added silk paint to enhance the colours. Hand quilted with silk and ultrafyne threads.

December - Fields from the Air

‘Flying beyond expectations’ is the motto of the Burmese Airline KBZ and the trip proved worthy of this in every way; wonderful views, friendly people and lots of inspiration. Collagraph print with ultramarine oil on cotton sateen. Machine quilted with rayon thread.