One of the things this project is teaching me is not to become too wedded  to your original idea. I love the batik fabric but it is simply too busy for its backdrop. There’s no time to make new birds. Lesson number two: integrate all the elements of the project from the outset. We realise…

We put it all together and stood in silence. It hasn’t worked. We feel so despondent. How to rescue a project when you are on a tight timeline? You can’t rush creativity.

Today we finished the painting part of the project.  A celebration is in order. We are heading down to the Artery Gallery and then on to Warrnambool Art Gallery while the paint dries before we start on the next stage later today. Weather update: Still wet and cold.

Last night we finished hand sewing the birds using black stitching around them. The green bits of the Batik fabric seemed to work best in the colour scheme. We used a woollen blanket from an Op shop as the backing fabric. This will give the birds a slightly raised look on the canvas. If we…

Here’s the initial block in. We decided we liked the textured effect of my Escarpment painting so we are off to the the art shop to buy more paints. Palette work takes heaps of paint but is a great way to go in a collaborative piece. Temperature in Warrnambool, hovering around 11 degrees, more like…

We we will to do a mixed media piece. Robbie is a mixed media artist who loves working with fabric. We plan to make fabric birds as part of the composition. Robbie did a couple before I arrived and we cut two out to see how they might look. The next stage is the under…