a woven life

[all images The Daily Purl]

Handwoven fabric has always held a particular fascination for me. The way that the texture of the fiber dances over + under, warp + weft...slub + silk...the hands that select and then weave back and forth until a beautiful pattern emerges...a slow work.

As I've gotten a little older, I have come to see my life a bit like a woven piece of fabric...threads carefully selected and interwoven into a beautiful cloth. Unless the threads are woven, they stand singular and insignificant, but pair them with others and they sing.

I have the tendancy to compartmentalize my life for ease - a single ball of thread - if I just manage this 'ball' today, I can keep all the other 'balls in the air'. Drop one and they all fall. But if I unravel all of the balls of thread a little - risking chaos and tangles - and work them together...a little of this and a little of that, I am fully aware of the impact one thread has on another. I think we were made to 'work all things together for good' rather than work too hard on any one thing. Certainly my family/work balance is much improved if I take this approach.

A beautiful woven work is one that engages all threads in a dance of texture and grace, risks the unravel but is honoring to all threads.

All images are from a new-to-me blog, The Daily Purl. I absolutely adore her work and images - the artistic snapshot of her daily living I find inspirational. and the beauty is endless. Do pop in and take a look.

Winter class sneek peek

Snowy winter magic sets the scene for our winter creating these holidays and both days of creating have been full and focused! Children are concentrating so hard there is often silence - very unsual! The fine motor skill required for penguin painting yesterday and the slow art of weaving today, both required a bit of extra attention - and the results were stunning - the children should be very proud of their new-found skills and beautiful artworks!

:: preparing the beautiful natural branch looms for today's class

:: oil pastels have been used to great effect on grey-winter backgrounds

:: and so the weaving begins...

:: over and under...using the great snow gum trees as colour palette inspiration!

:: age determined the degree of help each required with the younger ones finishing quickly with slightly less accuracy yet still texturally beautiful!

:: the older took to the weaving with beautiful precision and great results!

:: those finishing earlier were asked to draw their tree's, concentrating on the beautiful patterns and colours they had chosen!

:: What a tallented bunch of weavers and beautiful work!

weaving - wow!

Last Monday was one of my favourites!
To finish the Riverbend after school series on a high note was wonderful!
Everything from the 'oos + ahhs' over the table set up
to the raport the children now have with one another
Just delightful!

The children were enthusiastic and jumped right in to the weaving with confidence.

I think the results are stunning!

A heart felt thank you to all the beautiful children who shared Monday (and Thursday) afternoons with me! You excelled in your enthusiasm, creativity and willingness to give everything a go! You are exceptional artists who will use those innovative skills as leaders of the future - great job!

woven wonders

To our final after school workshop at Riverbend!
We have covered four very distinct artistic media - collage, painting, stitching and weaving - it has been a wonderful journey as we explore different techniques for creating and hopefully we have expanded your child's artistic horrizons to experiment with new + unusual materials!
I have really enjoyed our storytime during these classes - the books have been a sensational springboard for creativity - you can almost see the 'wheels of creativity' ticking over in their minds as they ponder the subject, the illustrations, the use of colour, or just loose themselves in their imaginations! Our conversations via off on tangents, related + unrelated to the story - I love that good Literature encourages children to question, imagine and relate!
If your children have enjoyed the books we have paired with our classes, I would encourage you to purchase these through the bookstore - they will be a continual reminder of our creative endevours as well as inspire to greater creativity at home!

And now...on to the final workshop - one that I am excited about - we are weaving this week!! This project is such a wonderful introduction to the art of weaving, in particular as we talk about our Indigenous Australians relying heavily on weaving techniques to create baskets to use in their nomadic lifestyle - we will explore some wonderful work by Indigenous artists!
It is also amazing for children to connect this basic artistic skill with the clothing they are wearing - understanding how fabric is made!
Bring on Monday and the sensational woven masterpieces your children will create!!