National Gallery Workshop

Sunday was the perfect day for a workshop afternoon. It was the coldest September day since some time in the 1960's so we didn't feel guilty about being inside at all. I was incredibly excited to be giving a workshop on making Paper Quilts at the National Gallery of Australia. This workshop was held in conjunction with an exhibition of 5 beautiful antique quilts which are not usually on display. It was a wonderful feeling being at the gallery as a teacher of the craft I practice.

I set up in a large room - the small theatre - so we had lots of room to spread out. We accomplished so much in the 2 hours and everyone who attended created beautiful work which you see in the picture here. A gift tag, aperture greeting card and a bookmark. I was very proud of everyone there and I hope they enjoyed the afternoon as much as I did.

Another busy day

I spent quite a few hours over at “A White Paper Dragon” today packing up the many very generous donations of craft supplies from the people of Canberra – and even overseas – for the people who have been affected by the tragic and terrible bushfires in Victoria. It was incredible to see all the craft supplies appear from bags and boxes. Six women worked at separating the supplies into “like” items and then packaged up bags in the form of kits. We all marvelled at some of the very special things which people had parted with. By about 1.30pm we had packaged up many bags and packed them into boxes ready for collection. I hope the crafters of Victoria who have lost so much will have some things to get them going again. Maybe creating will help the healing process begin.

Later in the day I was able to see the beautiful exhibition of painting, pastels, prints, drawings and photographs in the Degas Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. I have always loved Degas’ work – the layering of mediums, colour and subject matter. Quite extraordinary. The bronze of the little dancer with tutu and ribbon in her hair was really lovely. I could sit and look at her for hours. The gallery is undergoing quite extensive renovations at the moment so I entered from the side of the gallery overlooking the lake. This area includes the sculpture garden, so I was able to practice photographing some of the lovely pieces which live there amongst the trees and water features.