5000 Poppies reflection

I was privileged to visit 5000 Poppies  on April 24 and again on April 25.  What an incredible project.  I am in awe of the women who dreamt of the project and supported it and nurtured it as it grew from 5000 to over 250,000.000 poppies.

 

Poppies were draped on the steps of Federation Square and found in the surrounding garden beds, atrium and galleries.  

Try as I might I could not find my poppy however I did manage to find some other lovely lace poppies.

A massive congratulations to the project and I hope the poppies can continue to travel and be seen at various locations long into the future.

Lace in Blooms

Lace in Blooms was an event for City of Darebin's True North Arts Festival which was held 17-19  April 2015.

The three day event aimed to showcase the expanding creative culture in Darebin's North.  The festival is in it's third year and this year expanded to include Preston and Thornbury.

I had wanted to participate in this festival since it's inception and this year seemed perfect as the expansion beyond Reservoir's borders meant I could approach my favourite florist, North St Botanical, as a location.  Emily, the owner, was so accommodating and generous to accept my request to make lace in her window as part of the festival.

Lace in Blooms saw the beauty of lace and flowers merge in the shopfront of North St Botanical.  A personal reflection of my lacemaking since inception, combined with inspirational lace pieces, were displayed in the window.  Throughout the weekend the lovely Caroline and Dawn, of the Banksia lacemaking group, and I demonstrated lacemaking in the window.  The aim was to display the art of lacemaking in a unique location to increase public awareness of this traditional craft.

It was a truly amazing location to demonstrate lace and see the world pass by.  I could look up from my pillow to and see an amazing wall of flowers and look out to see the happenings of High St Thornbury.  Then during the day I witnessed the very talented Emily and Holly make stunning floral arrangements while I chatted to passers by and visitors to the store.

Lace making is alive in the City of Darebin and a public demonstration such as this let the community know about it.

Thanks to the City of Darebin, North St Botianical, The Victorian Lace Guild and the Banksia Lace Group for their support in making this project such a success.

Here is the finished piece of lace I worked on when sitting in the window.  This was given to the amazing Emily from North St Botanical to say thanks for being such an awesome person and welcoming this project into her stunning store.

5000 poppies

The 5000 Poppies project is an amazing public artwork that will transform Federation Square in Melbourne on ANZAC Day 2015.  Between 2014 and 2018 Australia will commemorate the ANZAC Centenary, marking 100 years since Australia’s involvement in the First World War.

5000 Poppies started as grass roots project to pay tribute to and respect Australian servicemen and women for more than a century of service in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.  The project has grown dramatically since inception and will now be a staggering 800m2 in size.

The award winning landscape designer, Phillip Johnson has come on board to assist in developing the design for the hundred of thousand poppies contributed for the project.

I am in total awe of the women who created this project.  Even though the project has grown to a size they never dreamed of, they still treat each handmade poppy, most of which are dedicated to loved ones, with care and respect.  They value and cherish the many volunteers who are piecing the work together and the countless participants who have contributed to this project.  You can see some of the love here.

It is hoped the piece will tour after ANZAC Day and that it will be gifted to the Australian War Memorial for all Australians to enjoy.

In 2010 I made a single poppy and placed it in federation square on Remembrance Ray.  For 5000 Poppies I made another single poppy just like it to join the field of poppies in Federation Sqaure for ANZAC Day 2015.  If I can find it in the field there may be another post about this project.

Next Generation

My last post commented on how the little folk in my life have been keeping me from lace.  This is not entirely true as my eldest child, aged 5, has shown a keen interest in lace.  So much so that last Christmas I gave her a pillow, pins, bobbins and thread.

Much to my delight she seems to really enjoy lace making and her passion and determination makes me feel that this craft may continue in the next generation.

Northern Exposure - Small Works Small Spaces 2012

I must apologise that this blog had been dormant while the little folk in my life have occupied my time.  That does not mean I have not been admiring and making lace over the past few whiles.  Although to be honest, it is less often than I would like.

This post is about works I made for Northern Exposure - Small Works Small Spaces  June 15 - July 12 2012.  Yes, looking back, even I was astonished to find how long ago this was!

The first, a lace tree was made and placed outside The Friendship Tree.

It lasted for the duration of the festival but disappeared a couple of weeks later.  Hopefully, to be enjoyed by someone special.  I like to think it was 're-housed' by the person who hung out with me while I was installing it late one night.

The second piece created was placed higher, above the entrance to A Quirk of Fate.  Three simple pieces seemed to blend in with the facade.

So much so they were painted over when the shopfront was re-painted in 2014.  This photo was taken in November 2014 and to my knowledge the piece is still there today.

Love Lace

Recently I have been busy with family life with the addition of baby number two.  So creative pursuits have been placed to the side for a while.  In February we did manage to get away to Sydney though and while there got to see the Love Lace - Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award.

This is an amazing exhibition that is on until April 2013 at the Powerhouse Museum.  134 lace works by 130 artists from 20 countries.  As the museums website states 'playful and inventive, the works on display present a provocative challenge to traditional concepts of lace. The artists push lace techniques in surprising new directions'.  If you are reading this blog no doubt you are interested in the contemporary use of lace in design, fashion and art.  So if you happen to live or be visiting Sydney it is a must see Exhibition.  If you can’t get there the Love Lace website is amazing with images of the works, video commentary and much more.

No doubt many of the artists will be featured in future blog posts.   Congratulations Powerhouse for a such a vibrant, contemporary take on the use of lace in the 21st century.

Triennial Lace Awards

Australian Lace hold the Tirennial Lace Awards to encourage lacemakers to create amazing designs based on a theme.  The 2009 award was themed Rainforest and there were eight categories.  The images above are only some of the amazing creations.

Britt Fiarchild created the beautiful flowing bodice which she wore with pride to the AGM.  The second image shows the detail of this design.

Olwyn Scott created the amazing pictorial frames, one of which is pictured. 

It would be great to see such amazing works featured on the Lace Guilds Website.  These images were scanned from the Guilds journal so apologies for the poorer quality.