and also from the William Morris Gallery.......the delicious "Peacock and Bird" carpet........
Even from Morris' Kelmscott Press...........
Well with all that excitement I might get back to my sketching while I am still enthused! x
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Can't sit still!
I wish I could just sit and do nothing but I am forever thinking of more things to do and now there is even an excuse to chat to you again too! Just this morning while I had a 'manic moment' and questioned why I was forever creating more work for myself Larry responded with - "you need to be constantly creating just like William Morris"! My late Mum used to tell me the same thing.....so why now? On my recent travels many, many of you have asked me what I am going to do when I stop teaching and so many times I've been asked..... 'please don't stop designing'. Well maybe some of you will be pleased to know that last night I found myself sketching once again (while watching TV at the same time!), with inspiration coming from some of these images.......first of all "Eden" from the Victoria & Albert Museum collection.......
"Vine and Pomegranate" from the William Morris Gallery collection......
Some of these designs are also from John Henry Dearle who became Art Director of Morris & Co in 1898. His career started as a young apprentice to Morris and all he learnt was from Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. So suddenly with all my sketching and notes I found myself with several possible new quilts, cushions and wall hangings.....maybe there is room for a third William Morris book from me.....did I really say that??!!.....so please know when I stop teaching I will never stop designing! There is too much around me for that to ever stop even yesterday when Larry and I went for a walk in Glenelg. These houses are typical of the older suburbs of Adelaide and we love them........
And there are an awful lot of lovely gates and fences too! Reminds me of what I've been trying to do at the front of our humble abode!!......
I have also been meaning to share some sensational news with you all too! A recent National Art Prize - the Ramsay Art Prize was launched right here at the Art Gallery of South Australia. This is a national award made possible by the very generous James and Diana Ramsay Foundation to encourage younger artists (aged under 40), and in any medium of art. Just last week the inaugural winner was announced and the winning work is a QUILT!! Of course we are all so excited with this acknowledgement and recognition of textiles and stitching being seen as art. The winner was Sarah Contos and her award a very generous $100,000! It was lovely to hear an interview with Sarah (who is based in Sydney), and when asked how that kind of money would change her life she said she could now buy a new vacuum cleaner! I am really looking forward to visiting the gallery and seeing the 21 finalists (and there were over 450 entries!) This is the award wining quilt by Sarah titled "Long Kiss Goodbye" and you can read more about this quilt and other entries HERE where you will also find this photo of Sarah in front of her huge quilt.......
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that certainly is a huge quilt at the end that you show -- such beautiful homes and of course the news that there might be another book in the future is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI don't think you will ever be able to say you are bored Michele, and I don't think I will either. Looking forward to your next creations. Pat and I are off to the city today, so about to leave. Glad the car has heating. xx
ReplyDeleteSo exciting that you are working on more WM. Looking forward to when you share.
ReplyDeleteThat's so great to hear you are still so passionate about designing your beautiful projects. Thank you for letting us know about Sarah Contos's quilt. It looks amazing. I hadn't even heard about it and she's a Sydney quilter.
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