Apples and Pears and Biodiversity

When in France at the end of last year we visited Liz and Peter Maidment (see her blog at http://lizzie-artembroidery.blogspot.com/ and they kindly took us to an apple fair where there was a display of heritage apples and pears. There were over 400 varieties of apples and 200 of pears (I think). The first picture above shows a few of the pears. The picture in the middle shows apples (this one with red flesh - I wonder whether the wicked stepmother in Sleeping Beauty would have liked one of those). The final picture shows one of the tables of apples. After the fair we came back to Liz and Peter's place and had an apple tasting (alright I admit we also tasted some wine) and it was really interesting to taste the difference in the apples. I think farmers who preserve the old varieties of fruit and vegetables are doing the world a real service.

Creative Sketchbooks course - module 2

I have just completed module 2 of my creative sketchbooks course. I learnt quite a lot in this module, particularly about the use of pastels and oil pastels. This picture is of one of the pieces of work I completed for the module. It was done by using an aperature to either as a negative or positive image. I really like the subtle effect you can get with the pastels yet at the same time retaining a very definite image. I can see lots of potential for this in the textile world.

Wise Women 2

As you can see I have found the solution to "side wise woman" as shown in my previous post. This is my second attempt at making a "Wise Woman" - I wanted it to be brightly coloured and I think I have been successful at that. As I fully complete the next two I shall put them up for viewing.

Wise Women

At the end of last year the creative group I belong to had an activity making wild women. Most people did one using the needle felting technique. I of course, never quite being on track, decided to bead mine onto a stiff background. The result was that mine turned out looking more like an owl than a wild women. I really like the idea of wise women and will turn it into a bookmark - more connection to the idea of "wise". Since then I have made 3 other of these and am really enjoying exploring different ways of decorating them. I don't know why this picture is on its side. I turned it around in Picasa but it didn't seem to have any effect. Before I post anymore of my wise women I shall work out how to make them stay upright.

Bushfires and Flooding

Australia is really a tough country in which to live. It has been a terrible time for so many people either inundated with water or terrified by fire. I think most Australians have been traumatised particularly by the fires. The television has shown so clearly the horrific loss of over 1800 houses and so many people affected by losing all they possess. Worse still is the death of over 200 people and still many missing. I don't think life will ever be quite the same again for so many many people. My heart goes out to all.