It was when I was bored and subsequently sick for a few days in Pamplona, in the early stages of our walking the Camino di Santiago, in 2023, I thought I might try dyeing some threads with whatever I could find.
I had bought a reel of fine white mercerised crochet cotton in Burguete and so I decided to dye it with some used tea bags. I knew I would get a result – nothing exciting but something.
I’m absolutely shocked to see that I haven’t posted here since last October!
It probably isn’t fair to blame visiting relatives over Christmas. It’s more to do with having to arrange some major work around the house, not to mention getting lost on other social media places.
Since I last posted, I have had a piece of my work, called ‘Pasture’, hung in the first exhibition of the newly formed Australian Walking Artists group. The piece is based on my travels to the United Kingdom in 2023. I was interested to see what if any connection I had with the country my family migrated from in the 19th century.
The Australian Walking Artists group is a very exciting development for me. It has given me a place where I can develop ideas that started to be realised as I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2023. There will be a further exhibition later in the year in another regional town in New South Wales. It’s such an inspiration to be working with a group of like-minded artists.
Apart from that, I have been working on my latest YouTube videos. I fell down that hole during COVID lockdown, and I have found making videos, frustrating, time-consuming, and rather addictive. I have discovered that I love editing, even though it’s often like wrestling an octopus while trying to organise a fancy dinner party 🥳 (my computer suggested that emoji). I’m not a big fan of sudoku, so I had to do something else.
Here’s a link to the latest video, just in case you need to learn how to use transparent paints with your gelli plate to print onto fabric.
It seems like only minutes since our feet touched home again after being away for four months, but again we have jumped back on a plane to join fellow Urban Sketchers in Suwon, South Korea. This is the location for the Asialink Sketchwalk, where sketchers get together to draw for 4 days.
We have been staying in Seoul for a few days and have been doing a lot of walking and some drawing. Yesterday we went to the National Museum of Korea which holds many treasures. I was intrigued by the space called ‘The Room of Quiet Contemplation’, which holds two statues made in the 7th century of Pensive Bodisattvas. I took the opportunity to do blind contour drawings of both sculptures, remembering to breathe slowly as I focused my eyes on following my way around their forms.
As often with this type of drawing I feel that it captures an essence of what I saw more effectively than any detailed academic drawing would.
We’ve been back from our walk on the Camino de Santiago for some weeks now and I have finally started to sort through the photos. Another thing that brings back many memories is the stitch journal that I took with me.
My stitch journal was made from some cleaning up cloths left over from my gelli printing. Along with some threads I took with me and all sorts of bits of string and a lot of other stuff I found along the way I added to the fabric.
I didn’t stitch on it as much as I had hoped to, but, often at night, if I couldn’t sleep I would work on my stitching.
I have now put a video together of this piece of work which you can see here. I hope you find it interesting.
Ancestral voices unheard. Pervasive shouts of ‘make a silly face’ selfy talk.
Sit on the grass itself. Notice rabbit poo – no rabbits in sight.
Five breaths. Inhale and release.
Offer – nutty bar and paint water.
Unspeaking ravens watch.
Tune in your eyes, a light pass then shadows. Dry faced lichen stones.
The formalities done with. Mix the paint again.
Hands strike across the page. In that place we dance.
[Observations made when painting at Stonehenge, 21 August 2023]
leonieandrews 