'Hot Stuff #1' ATASDA Workshop Sep 3, 2011. Learn how to use heat guns, synthetic fabrics, Tyvek, Angelina fibre and Textiva (fantasy film).

I am pleased as punch to announce I'll be running my first Heat Tools textile / multimedia workshop for ATASDAVic in a couple of weeks on September 3rd. We will be painting and distorting Tyvek and then layering synthetic fabrics with Textiva (fantasy) film and Angelina fibres, stitching a resist and using heat guns for impressive (and easy!!) results.

You will leave with your own heat distressed mini quilt and a knowledge of how to incorporate each of those materials and techniques into your own work.

Hot Stuff #1

Date: September 3rd

Time: 11am to 3pm

Where:  

Hartwell Church Of Christ Hall, cnr of Milverton & Highfield Rds Hartwell. (off Toorak Rd)

Cost: $40 for ATASDA members, $45 for non-members.  $5 materials fee if needed.

Materials lists will be emailed to all who enrol.

To book call Barbara: 0419 396 695

You will be making something that could look like this:

And turning it into something that looks like this:

some close ups:

When you're done you may want to turn it into a purse, use it as a background, a book cover or a stand alone art quilt. Here's my demo piece pinned into a purse:

I really hope to see you there! It's late notice and ATASDA Vic's first own workshop, so they've kept the costs down. Take advantage and book in!

Neroli

Interview series: Textile Artist, Neroli Henderson (that's me!)

This week I'm pleased to introduce... well, me! With Easter all the brilliant artists that I have begged, pleaded, bribed, cajoled and blackmailed into filling out questions have been a little busy. I'm happy to say I have next weeks US based artist Jane Davila ready and waiting to be edited now, but for this week you're going to have to settle for moi!

I have some questions from readers and I'll answer those and a few from the list i've posed to others.

'If a lava lamp and a bean bag had a love child' 2009 (POA) 

Click to enlarge pic

Designed during a Gloria Loughman class at last years AQC and assembled with mostly her techniques. Fused, pieced and raw edged applique, cotton fabrics, bobbin work with perle thread, satin stitched, intensively quilted and double batted.

 1. How long have you been quilting and what first drew you to it? 
I thought I hated sewing. As a child I'd attempt a pair of shorts and somehow manage to sew the hem of the leg to the waist band and then be horrible frustrated by all the unpicking. Sadly I wasn't a quick learner and often finished up doing the same mistake again. (I can honestly say I did indeed sew the hem of shorts to the waist band twice in a row! More recently I removed and replaced the wrong piece of organza from a reverse applique piece 3 times... I have a skill!)

My Mum has been into sewing and quilting for as long as I can remember. She lives interstate and came over once a year to do classes at the AQC (Australasian Quilting Convention) and offered one year to pay for me to do classes with her thinking I'd enjoy it. I said yes only to get some mother daughter time, and perhaps accrue some good daughter 'bonus points'. I figured I'd be bored silly but signed up for all artiest classes I could find. I did textile collage and free-motion sewing with Susan Mathews... and blocked up the machine with bobbin thread about 13 times over the course of the day, fused applique with Robbi Joy Ecklow (the less said of that the better) and painting fabric for landscapes (where I painted nothing but did fuse a basic landscape) with Beth & Trevor Reid. The one class that went without horror was free-motion embroidery with Morgan James - and that was due to me having already found out what not to do in Susan's class the day before.

Somehow, even with everything that went wrong I absolutely loved it. I had no idea you could effectively do collage with fabric or that things like fusible web and free-motion sewing even existed. I was already an artist and graphic designer and now had a whole new range of mediums to explore. That was 4 years ago.

'Solcea' 71 x 85cm (28 x 33.4")  $375 

Click all pics to enlarge

Hand dyed and commercial cotton fabrics, fusible web, metallic foil, Shiva oil paint sticks, decorative and metallic quilting. This piece started life in my 3rd ever day of sewing... and was only finished last year. :)

 2. How would you describe your style now? 
As I use so many techniques I used to think I didn't have a set style that unified my work beyond much of it using deep colours and possessing a sense of whimsy. On seeing a lot of it together I realised the main thing that seems to flow across all my work is the theme - the feeling of space and the emotions explored - loneliness, entrapment, confusion, lack of control and or being controlled.

 3. What inspires your quilts? - asked by Fran Cox 
Generally I either have in my head a picture that won't get out - that I get an urge to draw, more often I want to convey a feeling or situation. Often the paper seems to beckon for a particular emotion or image, and many of my quilts start out as sketches.

I had a pretty bad back fracture in 98 and spent a lot of years learning how to walk, spending way too much time horizontal and basically adapting to not being able to sit, stand or do much of what I could do easily before. This lead to a series of paintings where abstracted nudes were trapped within the boundaries of the canvas, and from there on to the themes mentioned above, though many of those are present even in my earlier works. I still have an affinity with the human figure, I guess I value even more now just how wonderful it is.

Soul Fishing (currently on loan) 2008

Ink on fabric, fused cotton, silk velvet, synthetic and metal, quilted, satin stitched and backed onto fabric coated fast to fuse.

 4. Apart from creating art what else to you do within the industry? 
I run this blog, have a line of patterns with (hopefully!) a few more coming out soon, create one off hand painted pictorial fabrics for use as whole cloth quilt tops, teach, write tutorials and participate in lots of online forums and yahoo groups. The later are a great way to both learn and pass on knowledge – and you get to meet some really fantastic people and seeing others work inspires me to create more myself.

Haven't sold any of the hand painted fabrics yet - they've been out for just a couple of weeks... so if you'd like to be the first (hint, hint) check out the link under the Pages heading on the RHS. :D (hey can't blame me for trying!)

'Fused Flower - Poppy' 2007

One of two flowers in my easy Fused Flower pattern - $6 as a PDF

Fused cotton fabrics, machine stitched with rayon threads.

 5. What's the best advice you could give someone who wants to try quilting or textile art for the first time? 

Don't listen to the 'quilt police'! Who cares if you can't sew a 1/4" seam or sew a straight line to save yourself? Or even if you want to work with textiles without sewing at all - that's why fusibles were invented :) It's art, you can do it however you want. My one rule is that it has to be made to last - you can't have someone buying your work and then having it fall apart in a few years. But if you're just making it for yourself or expect it to have a short lifespan then that doesn't count either!

Of course if you want to do pieced work or traditional patchwork that 1/4" seam will come in handy....

 6. Do you exhibit your work? 

Yes. I've only entered 3 things so far - A challenge run by Unique Stitching where I won first prize at the AQC in 2008 for 'The end of beauty', a self portrait exhibition the following year and a traveling journal quilt exhibition with Australian / New Zealander Art Quilters internet based yahoo group.

I've just started to enter juried shows and have fingers crossed until I hear back from the first one. 

'The end of beauty' 2008 

Unique Stitching challenge winner (beginner section) AQC 2008

Synthetic fabrics, Angelina fibre, Textiva, Tyvek, Lumiere paint, heat gunned and solder iron cut and bonded to a vinyl backing. This piece pays homage to my Dad who died of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2001 after 11 years battling the disease. It shows how even with fragility and decay there can still be beauty, and how everything has an end, no matter how much we want it to last forever.

 7. Can you explain why cotton is recommended over synthetics? Do you need to prewash?- asked by Judy Bancks 

For traditional quilting cotton has been used for many years. It's a natural fibre and as such breathes well. Most patchwork shops specialise in cotton too which helps if you want to use many fabrics from the one range. The main benefit for most quilters is knowing that it should all shrink at the same rate. If you do piecing and use synthetics or blends it's possible that some will shrink more then others - causing bubbles to appear in your quilting.

I've also found the least colour fast of my fabrics to be blends.

That said for my own work I use whatever suits - I often mix silk and cotton with a little synthetic for shine or sparkle, and often use synthetics alone for my wall quilts as they enable me to melt and burn, cut and fuse with a soldering iron and distort with a heat gun.

I always prewash, but it's a personal choice. I would hate to do a quilt with a white area that has colours bleed into it when washed, and removing any coatings or sizing means it will both fuse better and accept dye or paint. I prewash every fabric I buy using the hottest water I'll be likely to wash my finished project in. That way I don't need to worry about shrinkage or keep track of which pieces are washed if I do want to paint them.

'Dogwood' 2008  21 x 30cm (8.25 x 12") $220  Email to buy

Layered and solder cut and scored reverse appliqued synthetic fabrics, free-motion stitching and satin stitched edge. Metallic threads.

 8. There's so many choices in textile art these days, how do you decide what to try? - asked by Meg Lancaster
I generally find a material or technique appeals because I like the effect i've seen it give. Some products like Angelina or Textiva I just love the look of so much in the packet I immediately want to give them a go. Other times I will see an effect in a book and love it so much I get an urge to try it as soon as possible. Many other things like water soluble stabiliser, wash out spray baste and glues or reposition-able fusible web beckon because they can make my work so much quicker and easier; allowing me to try things that without them would have been far too time consuming or tricky.

'Seascape' 2009  30 x 30cm (12 x 12") $260  Email to buy

Collaged cotton and synthetic fabrics, overheated Textiva Film, metallic free-motion stitching, satin stitched edge, machine embroidered birds.

 9. Where do your ideas come from? -asked by Judy Bancks 
While occasionally I work from a sketch created with no formal thought at it's conception, I can't say how important I believe it is to have a range of experiences that will give you fuel for creative work. Even if you just go for a walk in the park make sure you really look around - notice any flowers, even if they are just weeds, the pattern and textures of bark on the trees, the way the smog creates haze etc. And if you can: travel, dive, visit new parts of your own town or city, immerse yourself in another culture even if it's just via the internet. The more experiences you absorb the more your own aesthetic will be refined and the more you'll have to draw ideas from.

For me I like to study people, how they interact, how they manage emotion. Often they are the sort of things I prefer to portray in my art.

'The Yearning' (8.25 x 12") $220 Email to buy

Fused synthetic fabrics and organza overlay on felt. Machine needle felted from the reverse and free-motion stitched with metallic thread. Edges have been melted into with a soldering iron and metal hinges etc were used as templates for scoring the surface. This is one of the pieces that explores the confinement and inability to move beyond current circumstance.

 10. Which comes first – the fabric or the creative idea? - asked by Susie Riley 
I often buy fabric with an idea in mind - it sometimes screams 'cushion!' or 'quilt that looks like "this!"'. However when I went to answer this question I realised that I can't think of a single thing were i've purchased the fabric that way and it's been made! I have often ended up using the fabric for other, completely unrelated ideas.

So for some reason I guess that the things that get made are the ones that I feel such an affinity with at the current time that they just press against my head until I start to create them – and those things tend to either be from sketches or an image in my head that while hasn't been ever drawn up is usually firm enough that I can easily visualise the entire thing.

The only exception I can think of is when a material seems to lend itself so much to a particular application it will be used for that - but often not in the way I first imagined. A good example of this is Textiva film as wings. When I first got it I was thinking of making a quilt featuring a fairy with iridescent wings. Instead it got used for this butterfly - a commission for a birthday present. The design is in my upcoming butterfly pattern that will hopefully be available for sale soon.

'Butterfly'

Fused Textiva film on 3 layers of black glass organza. Entirely cut and fused with a soldering iron. 

 11. What sewing machine / threads etc do you use? 
I do most of my work on my Pfaff Performance 2056 which is a brilliant machine. I also have a combined embroidery / sewing machine - a Brother 4000D which I've had trouble with tension for free-motion sewing from the get go, but it does great computerised embroideries. I have a Pfaff embellisher (needle felting machine) which is a lot of fun and a Babylock overlocker which every single time I use it makes me give thanks for not having any tension settings to deal with and the air-jet threading. It really does help having a Mother who owned a patchwork and machine store :)

For threads I have so many brands but my favorites are King Tut egyptian cotton (have never had it break once!) for quilting, Madeira rayons (love the variegated colours they have in their metallic range) and lastly Superior Bottom Line (an ultra fine poly thread designed for bobbin use but strong enough to use for piecing and quilting - the khaki and grey colours seem to dissolve into the background making your stitching virtually invisible).

 12. Do you have any formal art training? Do you think it's necessary? 
I studied a year of Art and Design at TAFE after high school in order to get a folio together for uni, and then completed a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design.

Since then I try and do workshops and classes regularly, whenever I see anything that appeals. I love to learn new techniques and enjoy working in a group and getting ideas from other participants as well as the teacher.

I think there are certainly people who produce amazing work without any technical training but I do think it's helpful. Techniques with materials are handy, but learning about design principles and how others view them can really help your design garner maximum impact.

I love to get feedback! Please comment below if you have any thoughts on this article or what you'd like to see more or less of in future interviews. –Neroli Henderson

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Interview series: Textile Artist, Felicity Hopkins

This week I'm pleased to introduce an amazing, multi talented, avant guard textile artist, Felicity Hopkins. Felicity manages to combine her full time career as a social policy analyst specialising in Aboriginal / Indigenous issues with her passion for creating one of a kind, multi-layered, truly creative pieces of mixed media art. What's even more impressive is that she does this while juggling 3 kids, 3 cats, 3 chooks, a dog and a partner!

Felicity's art reflects feelings and concepts rather then pictorial representations - it has become a vital part of her life and an integral medium to express her world view. Overall winner of the Buda Textile Awards (2008), her influences include Judy Watson, Andy Goldsworthy and Mark Rothko. 

'Glimmer – Such A Shame She Never Married' 71x65cm (28x25.5")  $1800

Blanketing, silk, brocade, pieced ribbon squares, doilies, organza, tulle.

Buda Textile Awards 2008 - Winner of both overall and mixed media sections.

 1. How long have you been quilting and what first drew you to it? 
My very first quilt was a joint effort with my then boyfriend, now husband back in 1989 – I bought quantities of Laura Ashley squares which we manically sewed into long strips on an ancient sewing machine propped on a rickety coffee table. The top was finished quite quickly but wasn't turned into a real quilt until about 2002. 

I was first drawn to art quilting by seeing Susan Mathews' sunflower quilt featured in Quilter's Companion magazine. We were driving home to Melbourne from Byron Bay in 2003 and stopped in Goulbourn for lunch. I went into a newsagent to find something to read and was captivated by Susan's quilt on the cover. 

'Connections' 64x71cm (25x28")  $1200

Indigo dyed cotton, hand torn strips of fabric from old linens, felted wool, copper plumbing connectors, foil, machine stitched then hand stitched with copper wire. Steeked and hand sewn into a triptych.

 2. How would you describe your style now? 
Mine :) experimental, expressive, bold. I like mixing up techniques and playing.

 3. How has your style evolved? 
I soon found I wasn't precise enough to persevere beyond a few traditional bed quilts. I found using other peoples' patterns didn't provide enough of a creative outlet so I started making journal quilts with other members of the Australian and New Zealand art quilters yahoo group. Making A4 sized pieces allows for creativity and experiments without worrying about wasting materials.

I can't emphasise the role of mentors enough – I have met some amazing quilters who have been so generous in sharing their knowledge and experience and who have become friends both in real life and via the internet.  Particular influencers and encouragers include Dijanne Cevaal, Susan Iacuone, Annabel Rainbow, and Arlee Barr.

 4. Apart from creating art what else to you do within the industry? 
I have a blog www.textileseahorse.blogspot.com which I use as a way of keeping myself honest. If I post about a project I have started I need to finish it otherwise people ask!


I have just started to put my quilts up for sale – it never occurred to me that anyone would to buy them until I won the Buda prize and someone said it was a shame my quilt wasn't for sale. My big goal for 2010 is to set up a website selling my pieces.


 5. What's the best advice you could give someone who wants to try quilting or textile art for the first time? 
Just jump in and give it a try – there's no such thing as failure. If something doesn't turn out the way you expected it to turn it into something else.

'Burnt Landscape #1'  46x51cm (18x20")  $350

Layered fabrics of wool, silk and wool fibre, synthetics, tulle and organza stitched and burnt back with a heat gun.

 6. Do you exhibit your work? 
I find sending submissions to quilt and art shows incredibly stressful but also rewarding. 

There is the risk in putting my stuff out there and being rejected but then the thrill when my pieces are accepted and even win prizes :) I am trying to push the boundaries a bit by submitting to art shows under the mixed media or the 'any medium' category/stipulation – so far without

 much luck! It seems to be very hard to get textile work accepted as art gallery-worthy

I put in an entry to the Buda Homestead Textile Award in 2008 hoping to be accepted and ended up winning my category and best in show which was amazingly thrilling. Last year I had 2 pieces exhibited in Victorian Quilters' One Step Further.

Currently I am one of 30 Australian quilters with work showing in 'My Place' an exhibition curated by Dijanne Cevaal – Diajnne called for submissions from Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa for quilts reflecting their creators sense of place and belonging. 

Even more exciting was being asked to participate in an exhibition called Southern Lands, also curated by Dijanne. It's still rather stunning to have my work hanging alongside quilters whose work I have admired for years.


 7. How do you go about finding and selecting exhibitions? 
I usually scan magazines such as Australian Textile Forum and Australian Art Almanac for art and quilt shows seeking submissions.

I think making personal connections with other quilters is vital - participation in My Place was through Dijanne's blog and Southern Lands was by invitation. Similarly I was invited by Annabel Rainbow to join a group of quilters mainly in England who are making quilts to submit for the Birmingham Festival of Quilts.

'Brave New World' 28 x 46cm (11x18")

Felted wool, painted interfacing, ribbon, Textiva film, sequin waste, orange bag plastic netting, organza and tulle. Machine stitched and heat gunned.

 8. Do you belong to any quilt associations? If so why did you join these ones? 
I'm not a very good group person and the first quilting group I went to was a mixed experience... I was accepted by some friendly quilters but firmly snubbed as a newbie by others. I ended up feeling too intimidated to go back. 

I have found online groups a much happier experience – I belong to the Southern Cross Quilters, Down Under Quilters and Australian and New Zealand Art Quilters although I tend to lurk on each of these groups.

One of my most rewarding group experiences has been with the Art Quilts Around the World which sets a quarterly challenge theme and exhibits them on the group blog. Being part of this group has forced me to think hard about topics I wouldn't have chosen and made me consciously choose challenge materials such as paper, lutradur and copper wire. Getting positive feedback from other group members has also increased my confidence as an artist and contributed to me developing my own style.

 9. What would you recommend people do who want to seriously get into textile art? 
Set aside time every day to think, plan or do some textile art – listen to the muse and be open to inspiration from or by anything.

'Land Sea Alchemy' 48x40cm (19x16")  $545

Felted wool, rusted silk, Tyvek, silk fibre, knitted wool hand spun by the artist, copper wire, silk saris, organza, synthetics, beads.

 10. What inspires you? 
At the moment my main inspiration is the spirit of central Australia. I first went there in 2007 and was immediately captivated by the landscape and feeling of the country. I can't see a time when I will run out of ideas inspired by this area.

Other inspirations are ideas, feelings, states of being – I have a series of  quilts planned which will explore ideas of hell and purgatory, including feelings of grief and envy. Ideas are usually stimulated by particular colours or groups of colours working together or violently clashing.  I don't make figurative pieces – for me it's all about the colours and the textures.

I keep a notebook with me at all times to capture ideas for pieces – I often pull over to the side of the road as an inspired idea slides through my brain while I'm driving. If you don't write it down it tends to disappear or lose its potency – it needs to be pinned down and fixed in a notebook before the colour and life leaks out. 

 11. What sewing machine / threads etc do you use? 
I have a Janome memory craft 6600 which I just love although I would prefer it if bobbins could be made a whole lot bigger. I get frustrated when I have to stop quilting to change the bobbin, although it's good to have a prompt to stop, get up and stretch.

I use Guterman and  Mettler threads but have most success with Fujix King Star  which I buy from Embroidery Source in Fairfield. I do have a vast collection of hand stitching and embroidery threads – everything from DMC to Caron and lots in between.

 12. Do you have any formal art training? Do you think it's necessary? 
No and no - with the reservation that I would love to be able to draw “properly” and plan on doing a drawing course when I get the time. I feel this is a great gap in my repertoire and my sketchbooks would be much lovelier and less clumsy if I could draw!

Sometimes I think about doing a formal textile art course but am a bit reluctant at the moment – partly due to lack of time and partly not wanting to corral my artistic freedom too much.

'Mandala' 26x40cm (10x16")  $300

Ink and fabric paint dyed velveteen, layered with felted wool and cotton backing. Machine and hand stitched.

For more information on the construction of this piece on Felicity's blog, click here.

 13. What's the most rewarding thing about your career? 
Making something that expresses something inexpressible – I research and write for a living and having a sideline that is artistic allows me to express myself in a completely different way. I have also developed much more courage in giving things a go – I've got over having to be perfect.

 14. How did you learn the techniques you use? 
I learnt a lot online, noodling around on the blogs or using Mr Google to research techniques. Bloggers are amazingly generous with their knowledge and expertise. I like to look at someone's technique and then work out how it fits with the look I want to get – usually a quicker and dirtier version. I don't often get long stretches of time to create, so I tend to work in bursts – assembling, stitching and burning with a heat gun rarely happen on the same day.  I put a lot of time into thinking and planning so when I do get some time to create I can jump straight in.

 I also have a large and growing collection of books – current favorites are Margaret Beal's Fusing Fabric,  Colette Wollf's Manipulating Fabric, India Flint's Eco Colour and Contemporary Whitework by Tracy A Franklin and Nicola Jarvis.

 15. What are your favorite / least favorite parts of the quilting process? 
 I loathe binding, hanging sleeves and labels – the absolute worst part of the process. Luckily I tend not to use binding anymore – my pieces don't need it and look better uncontained. I can't get out of sleeves and labels though :)

My favourite part is the inspiration through to seeing the piece emerge from the chaos of fabric, thread and stuff that is my sewing space. I'm not usually that thrilled by the finished piece at first – I need to put it away and come back to it before I'm happy with it. 


As always please add any comments for Felicity or myself, or general thoughts on the interview in the comments section below. I love to get feedback and want to hear from you if you have any thoughts on what you'd like to see more or less of in future interviews. –Neroli

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