A year of artmaking, from A to Z

​I quite like the practice of wrapping up a calendar year with some reflection on the year that was, particularly reflection on the many blessings received. So I’m wrapping up 2018 with this ‘year in review from A - Z’ post.

A is for art trail

The Armadale Hills Open Studio Arts Trail is a much beloved annual local event, and I was so pleased to be able to participate again this year! Around 25 studios opened to the public for three weekends in September. It’s always such a joy to be able to share my artwork and my art making process with my local community in this way.

B is for book,

with a title that also starts with B, but which I can’t share yet...

Yes, I think this might be the first time I am saying it out loud, online: this year I illustrated my first children’s picture book. I’m still pinching myself! The process for publishing a book is a long one, and the book won’t be released until next year. I look forward to letting you know more about it when I can!

C is for colour

D is for daily drawings

I started 2018 with a daily drawing project. I love personal projects like this for pushing me to create regularly and to push through ‘I can’t be bothered’ and ‘I’m bored’. After 100 days, I realised that this one had served its purpose, and ended it. I’m still looking forward to translating some of these drawings into textile artworks.

E is for Eucalyptus Excerpts

This is an ongoing, very popular series of artworks. I added 11 artworks to it this year! The photo shows a number of them hanging for the Armadale Hills Open Studio Arts Trail.

F is for Florae 1 and 2

These two artworks were created to fit into some upcycled frames. It was a joy to make banksia art again!

G is for Geraldton

In October I road-tripped to Geraldton for a two day workshop - and thoroughly enjoyed it (see my previous blog post).

H is for hand-pieced

Hand piecing became a more significant part of my quiltmaking process this year. In the past few years I have taken to piecing faces and other fiddly sections by hand, and this year a number of small quilts (‘making sense 1, 2 and 3) were pieces entirely by hand. I really enjoy that process and would like to grow this series in the coming year(s). These three all feature beautiful barkcloth by Gertrude Made.

I is for illustration

If you follow me on social media, you would realise that my creative energy is shared between textile art and illustration. Sometimes it’s mostly textile art making, and sometimes it’s mostly drawing. I love that I can bounce between the two pursuits, especially if something isn’t working and I need to mull on it for a bit. I also love how my illustration inspires my textile art and vice versa.

J is for joshua tree

I’m currently working on a commissioned artwork featuring joshua trees and other desert vegetation. These plants are all very new to me, but so very beautiful. I love how they are hardy plants, like many of our Australian flora, but yet so very different.

K is for kraft card packaging

L is Leon Pericles

Visiting Pericles’ retrospective exhibition at Linton and Kay last month was a cultural highlight. I have been inspired by his work ever since I was a child.

M is for magpies

I keep coming back to these beautiful birds in my sketchbooks! I must find a way to incorporate them in my textile art too.

N is for new colour pencils,

Because one can never have too many colour pencils, right?

O is for Otis

Otis is the main character I created for a children’s book illustration class I took this year. We were given several manuscripts to choose from, and had to create the main character from our chosen script, along with some supporting characters. We working on making them appealing to children, and giving them a wide range of motion and emotion.

P is for Pindari

Painting a mural at Pindari Restoration House was a fun project, albeit a bit daunting at first (I procrastinated for far too long!)

Q quilts (stacks of them!)

R is for Little Red Riding Hood

I had fun drawing Little Red this year. I wonder which folk tale I should work on in 2019?

S is for Sweet Symphony

This  is a rather bold artwork, completed later in the year. It has a fun colour palette, and I look forward to playing with this style a bit more.

Sweet Symphony is available here.​

T is for ‘The Former Things Have Passed Away’

This artwork was created for the Mandorla Art Award and is based on Revelation 21:1, 2. It took me a long time to but put a composition that I was happy with, but I’m pretty pleased with the final result!

U is for underside

V is for the very many ideas

that I didn’t get around to trying or working on this year. The great thing about this is that I can dream about working on them next year or sometime in the future. Stay tuned!

W is for ‘It’s a Wonderful World’

which made it’s way to a collector in the United States this year. Hopefully it will be displayed in a children’s hospital there! Having my large childhood textile artworks displayed in children’s medical facilities would be a dream come true!​

X is for extra big

‘The Way I Like It’ is the quilt that got a bit out of hand this year - it ended up far bigger than it was supposed to! (I have certain maximum dimensions that I try to stick to - often I push past those boundaries, but this time I went way over!)

Y is for yellow wattle blossoms

Z is for zzzz

and sleep. I have spent far more time resting than what I would like, this year, as we continue to deal with adrenal fatigue and other related health issues. However, we are also extremely grateful to note that my health is much better than it has been in the past few years!

In all my creative pursuits I am conscious that all this is possible by God’s grace, and I am thankful to Him for these opportunities. I am also deeply grateful for, and in awe of the beautiful world that He has created, and which inspires my creative journey. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for 2019.