I was given an ōlloclip to play with while I was dog sitting in Melbourne.
On our 1st day in Melbourne we watched the birds in feeding frenzy mode in the eucalypts & discovered that they seem to be feasting on scale insects. Nature & especially nature at different scales, has always fascinated me & macro photography is something I've thought about trying for ages. I was given an ōlloclip to play with while I was dog sitting in Melbourne. An amazing world exists on these leaves & they make quite an interesting subject at normal scale (no pun intended) but magnified … a.m.a.z.i.n.g. 1st I found these scale insects . . . & then I found these critters . . . & then I found these galls . . . . which of course I had to cut open ! & then I stopped looking heeheehee Australia, you never cease to amaze !
At the beginning of the year Kristin Axtman, from Brooklyn Haberdashery, proposed a year long, creative project Instagram challenge called #our52weekproject. The rules are guidelines & extremely flexible; you choose your own project, choose a unique hashtag & post to IG once each week. That's it ! So simple & so attractive. Attractive to me because I like to experiment with different techniques & different media AND I like to have a point of focus & a deadline, albeit self imposed & arbitrary - basically it just helps me get shit done ! Kawakawa (piper excelsum) Selecting a unique hashtag which relates to your project is a brilliant idea for posting to IG as it means all your own posts will be in one place. I've chosen the general theme of 'botanicals' which will allow me to experiment & explore many different things & I'll be using the hashtag #52weeksofbotanicals. January has been an exploration of mono printing & embellishing the mono prints with embroidery. I've been making direct prints of kawakawa leaves (piper excelsum) onto calico using water based fabric paint which is heat set by ironing before I add some embroidery stitches. On a side note, last year I started 'a thing', guidelines for me to work under, basically, to use readily available materials, which makes things accessible to me & it also keeps the cost down. This month's project has been a great example of that. The leaves grow in my back yard. The fabric, fabric paints & embroidery cotton are sold in my local Spotlight store & are affordable. The make up sponges I've used to apply the paint I bought in my local supermarket. I found a superb resource book at my local library. Below is a gallery of photos which show the process I've used. I think piccies are easier to flick through then wading through a sea of words. I am incredibly excited about this year long project as it will provide a year's worth of motivation & continual exploration. Continual exploration ensures I will be able to approach my creative year with enthusiasm, excitement & energy. I look forward to trying new things, learning new things & hell, I'll probably even take myself out & meet new people ! I've said it before & I'll say it again, I love Instagram & this is why. Embroidered Kawakawa Monoprints January 2017 Of course the added bonus is that I will end the year with at least 52 new art works.
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Hi, I'm Sally
I'm a fibre artist who loves botanicals - especially NZ native plants |