I am happy with the fact that I never want to grow up! I think 'child' is the nicest state to be in.
 


Ned and best friend Soli at Marrawah.

My ideal is eternal childhood. I live to play and laugh. Have you ever noticed how much children laugh...... I try to exist in a state of possibilities, unknown answers, endless questions. Life is my playground, work is my playground, my house and family are my play-mates. How exciting it is to get up each day and make it up! What interests me today, what will i collect, where will i work, what skill do i want to learn, how will all these things come together? A childs life is full of questions, and that is how i like to live my life.

My Ned, wearing his rocker pants.


As individuals we all have a different way of approaching our work. I work by collecting, i surround myself with the things i love a this moment, collecting different colours, or sizes or textures. At some moment(i still don't yet know how to define), all of this collected material comes together and i see 'it'. This 'it' is my new project, my new baby to grow. And this is how i have ended up making such a varied collection of products, from a variety of materials.


 Baskets from recycled beach rope, handmade woollen string, rusted metal and barbed wire, garden leaves, sisal and copper wire.




 


Clothes from vintage linen and dollies, buttons, hand sewn details, machine sewn details, hand printed details, woollen blankets, curtains and sari silk.












Necklaces from raw fleece collected from rare breeds of sheep, woven with shells, beach glass, leather buckles, buttonns, glass beads.




Solar dyed silk scarves with dyes from onion skins, walnut shells, raspberries, blackberries, eucalyptus leaves, protea leaves, carrot tops, red wine, tea, coffee.




Hand sewn toys and sewing kits and purses made with recycled and felted woollen blankets with vintage buttons and dollies.

Nests from dodder laurel and grasses, feathers, mosses, eggs and vintage childrens toys.


Shadow boxes with treasures representing past lives and repurposed wooden items with hand made paper and vintage cigarette card images.




Community projects with sculptural weavings using wool, sari silk, bailing twine, sisal, torn sheets, plastic, shells, feathers, leaves, branches, calico, buttons, dollies and hand sewing.





So each day i get up and play. Playing is without rules and restrictions. When there are rules, they are the rules that i have made up for myself. So, i figure it is okay to break them, after all it is me who made them! I do sometimes put pressure on myself though, and often find myself wanting to make things exactly as i see it in my mind, even if it is the first time i have made this piece. So it has been a really nice experience lately to be part of a collective of creative minds, sharing their love of being creative. The Ya Ya Sisters is a group of people who make and share their work with each other. I was lucky enough to be askeds to join in with this group of lovely people.

I was asked to join in a dream catcher swap. I have always loved them, and have included them in my community weaving workshops. I have always have a very structured idea about how they look, and i am pleased to say, that seeing the work of the Ya Ya sisters, they have blown me away with their individualism and creativity. It goes to show, that even when living in this play like state, i can get stuck on an idea of how things should be and look. It really isn't true, and i am pleased to have a push along when it comes to dream catchers. My mind is now running free with ideas and possibiltties and i can't wait to tackle a giant screen sized dreamcatcher! Here are some of the lovely works that have been inspiring me.