Saturday, November 28, 2015

Colour Play

Ruth came to visit and we played a bit with colour. I have an obsession with Chuck Close and his amazing knowledge of colour.

A quick sample and lots more work to do on getting my colours to work the way I want.

Belinda Jessup 2015, Machine stitched colour separation 
Belinda Jessup 2015, Colour separation sampling exercises

Sunday, November 1, 2015

No machine work this week

So this week is back to the loom. I have to weave off the 4 blanket warp I have on the loom. One hour of play a day is not enough for this job. I will have to do at least 3 hours a day hopefully. I am hoping to get some time on the sewing machine. I am excited to play more with my pixelated image. My friend Julie Ryder has come up with a different way of printing the image so will also give that technique a try.

55cm woven and about bout 7mts to go, Belinda Jessup

at the ready! Belinda Jessup

100% wool warp and weft, the draft is a Brighton waffle weave. Belinda Jessup

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Fractured image

Today I picked up a digital print of one of my rose images. ( Thanks to Chris for helping with the sizing and pixelating of the image)  It had to be printed in two pieces as I could not get paper big enough for printing in one. The over all image is 2500mm x 1650mm's. Now to start stitching it square by square.

Collecting my image from Office Works, Belinda

Collecting my image from Office Works, Belinda

Oliver the cat is not sure about all that pink! Belinda

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Just an hour of play...

Sometimes "just an hour of play" sounds so easy.  It isn't.  Most of the time I don't feel like it.  I clean the house, prepare food, talk to the cat and find ways around the hour, circling it. Pinning a result up is like a badge of honour to "I did it!".  Someone posted the latest TedX talk up from a lady whose catch phase, was basically, "you never feel like it", so you better kinda just do it anyway…I listened to this lady, thought about all the cool ideas I have in a day and the then 15 reasons why I don't just try them out.  Fear of failure possibly being on the top of that stupid list, and then directly underneath, fear of what other people will think about my shitsville attempts…On reflection these fears annoy me and are fairly mundane and ridiculous.  And yet…

...and finally, cause I just don't feel like it.  I would prefer to have a glass of wine, eat chocolate, sit in front of the TV, zone out of life or talk shit with friends.  Luckily, I have moments where I tell myself to get off my arse and just do it anyway.  Just go play with your friend…

My play today Bin…

Ruth Hassall, A reason to rise, Oil and Wax on Canvas, 600 x 500

Friday, October 16, 2015

Playing with multiple ideas…

Last week was an intensive week of play.  Although depression plagued me, I find these times somehow are part of a rhythm that plays out and I am learning not to despair at the repeated reappearances of these black dog moments…instead my mind ticks into turning cogs of information and I play with the ideas of possibilities to creatively play my way through...

 Folded lead over rocks...

Ruth Hassall, folded lead
 Washing old masonite pieces in the bath to begin to create a sculpture, leaving tendrils of clay marks that captured my attention...

Ruth Hassall, washed masonite board remains of clay and bath

Paint marks left on the studio wall...
Ruth Hassall, Wall of painting studio
More washed masonite as I work out "what next"...
Ruth Hassall, Painted Masonite, still playing pre-sculpture
 An old piece captures my eye where I played with dropped clay shapes and oxides, and I think of new works to do...
Ruth Hassall, fired clay and oxid, playing with clay
 Leaning near my door a slab of clay canvas with an oil painted landscape bringing a renewed interest in this mix of mediums...
Ruth Hassall, Clay canvas, oil, 500x350

Clay tree like forms sitting in my bath until I get the urge to clean again...
Ruth Hassall, clay washed off in bath

Ruth Hassall, Painted Masonite - pre sculpture play


Monday, October 12, 2015

Some of my one hour of play

This post for some reason was in drafts, it should have been posted weeks ago. 

As I began this project, I worked in a grid to sample and  progressed to circles. The circles are the size they are for one reason, it was the only size hoop I had. I have now purchased a new hoop as I can't find the multitude of hoops I know I have stored some where!


Belinda Jessup, Sampling in progress. 2015

Belinda Jessup, Sampling in progress. 2015

There is something therapeutic about circles but its now time to branch out and play in imagery and bigger sizes. So on to the rose drawing tomorrow.

As I look at your first post Ruth I  think that  painting would make a great embroidery!

Winding bobbins

I was just filling bobbins to start on the quick rose sketch I posted here. ( I know I should be finished by now) There was some thicker cotton wrapped around the old bit of paper in the foreground of the image below. The thicker thread is wound onto the bobbin and the image is stitched upside down. When I wound off the cotton I found the paper was an old envelope ( I can't make out a date)  with a King George V1 stamp on it so I am guessing the thread has been on that envelope from approx 1952 or earlier. Thanks Nancy for the bag of threads. So now I am thinking I need to keep all the bobbins etc that I empty of thread.

Bag of threads given to me for this project

Envelope has to be pre 1952 as the stamp is King Gorge V1 (14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) I have covered the name and address as I don't know the recipient and they or family  could possibly still be at the address.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Pixels

My long term plan is to stitch a pixelated image. I colleague at work helped me play with some images to start the plan. I want to stitch an image approx 2mts x 2.5mts ( well that's what I hope I can do ).

Pixelated rose, rose from my own garden

Rose from my garden

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Bad Back At It

Also back at it.  With a bad back.  However, unlike an hour of play I am full time in the studio trying to finish two canvases for a commission I am doing.  The results are getting there, but then I realised that the canvas had not been stretched properly and was too loose…so now I have to discard the canvas and start again…I am "playing" at staying calm…Still the good thing is I hadn't quite got the face in...

Ruth Hassall, Oil on Canvas, 560 x 1800

Monday, October 5, 2015

Back at it

It's been a crazy week and I have not had an hour to spare to play. My play was with my camera while way on my whirl wind trip.
I am off to work today so will take time to play tomorrow. I am missing my play time and want to try stitching a quick water colour drawing I did weeks ago.


2 minute drawing, Belinda Jessup

Saturday, October 3, 2015

No hour of play

Well no play for over a week and it will be at least Tuesday or Wednesday before I will be able to get back to it. I have visitors from Canada and for some reason people want to eat at the dinning table ( my sewing table)!

Sunset Trangie, NSW Australia

North Bourke Bridge NSW Australia

sometimes its just doodles and ice-cream

Sometimes being creative is just about a doodle in your head.  The idea is floating around there somewhere and then the courage to execute it can come in different guises and forms.  Other times there is nothing there and I just enjoy watching my hand begin to create and then I get interested in what is coming out.  Other times, it's just 'cause its your Dads birthday...

Ruth Hassall, a card for Dad. Colour pencil and pen, 30 September 2015

I used the ice-cream technique as well while on my travels…hashtag eat shit loads of yummy ice-cream with good girlfriend and laugh about the consequences until the morning…then think long and hard about whether we should go for a walk to compensate…or eat more ice cream…you can draw in ice-cream...

A late night purchase with Lynne Shori


Monday, September 28, 2015

Playing with clay

Have to come up to Sydney this week to see Lynne Shori, who is back from PNG.  So my hour a day means I have nothing around me, no studio, no waxes, no paints or anything.

Still determined to find an hour a day to be creative though.  Will take pictures of other things I manage to do or make in my one hour of play a day…

However, before I left to come up here.  John Payne (John Payne pottery, Bingi) and myself worked collaboratively for an hour "playing" and had a great time creating the tea-pot below for a commission to be glazed and fired when he gets back from his holidays…We loved it and enjoyed playing…This is getting addictive!

… Hope everyone else out there is getting the bug too…


John Payne and Ruth Hassall, Clay, 750cmx700cm

Friday, September 25, 2015

Let's PLAY!!!!

Hi! I'm the other artist who wants to play....  Belinda and I think the key to creativity at this point for us is about exploration and play.  It's time to jump over our own shadows and go ballistic on technique and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones.  

I am on a binge of playfulness and have set off in about 15 different directions…I plan to produce ugly and any improvement on this will be a win. (I tell myself this and I admit that it helps to keep the mindset away from end result - which sometimes for me seems to create a killing force for exploration).

I have the wax out and am mixing pigments into a wax mix (beeswax and damar crystals). The encaustic results are so intriguing.  I am using paper, charcoal, pastels, oils and have pulled out some old canvases that have under-paintings on them and I have begun to blow wax over the top.  

Ruth Hassall, 2015, Encaustic and Acrylic on Canvas

in the beginning

This is blog a journey of experimentation in textiles and art, in the hopes it leads to a new body of work. A visual diary of sorts. Using one hour a day to focus our work and, two artists trying new things and lets see where it leads us.

I am exploring  the rose, I am looking forward to where this will lead me.

Belinda Jessup 2015, gold metallic thread, machine embroidery.

Belinda Jessup 2015, machine embroidery, each circle has taken one or more hours to complete.