Banksia Serratta "Ocka Puringah"

 
ATASDA's Collaborative Banner
1.2 x 1.2m
Wool fabric, mixed media, various techniques
 
Click on any square for a detailed view of that section, or at the top or bottom of the image for a larger view of the banner.
 

The Banner is a collaborative piece - 25 sections worked by 25 members. ATASDA members Australia wide were invited to enter a ballot and, if drawn, a section of a prepared digital image, a piece of an old 100% pure Australian merino wool Onkaparinga blanket make in Australia, and a colour printout of their section with details was posted to them.

Members were not restricted to specific techniques or introduced materials but their section had to be 15cm square when complete and part of the blanket they received needed to be used somewhere in their section.

The prepared digital image was of an Old Man Banksia (banksia serrata) flower, leaves and branch. The work was inspired by May Gibbs' stories of Banksia Men.

Artists:

Row 1: Val James; Erica Portelli; Gloria Muddle; Gail Stahmer; Di Turner
Row 2: Lynne Sharpe; Kirry Toose; Jill Bingham; Helen MacRitchie; Lynne Taylor
Row 3: Sue Bellantonio; Judy Nolan; Christine Okunew; Norma Warnecke; Sue McCuiag
Row 4: Barbara Schey; Yvonne Eade; Kaite Matilda; Collaboration; Des Foster
Row 5: Judi Crawford; Maz Beeston; Christine Wiltshier; Terry Patterson; Christine Cox

Banner assembled by Kirry Toose.

Requiem for May

Felicity Clarke

 
Requiem for May - Detail
Felicity Clarke
20 x 20 x 38 cm
Textile assemblage, stitched assortment of threads and fabrics (silk tops, etc), various soft sculpture techniques, felted, colourwashed, beaded, ruched, machined, embellished, hand stitched.  I feel an affinity with May having read her books as a child and relating to them as I lived my own 'wild child' life in both Papua New Guinea and country Victoria. I was always exploring and fascinated by nature in all its forms and I became a finder of magical things, with pockets full of leaves, feathers and stones from my walk through life. Even now in my forties you will inevitably find a stone or decaying leaf that 'caught my eye' has found its way into the depths of my handbag.

 
Requiem for May - Detail
 

My work has always been very organic and often pseudo-realistic. Requiem for May was initially envisioned as a box but as it came together it looked more and more like a seedpod opening up to the world. Each panel has aspects of creatures May observed and recorded. I think my seedpod could be somewhere May might have hidden her own little treasures.

Otis Owl

Helen Slocombe

 
Otis Owl - Detail
Helen Slocombe
25 x 25 cm
Machine embroidered wall piece, texture and depth defined by the use of various threads and yarns
 

Can you see the gumnuts?

Rhona Feeney

 
Can you see the gumnuts? - Detail
Rhona Feeney
1.8 x 1.2 m
Natural and synthetic yarns and fibres
scrumbled (crocheted using many patterns)
  May Gibbs' stories make me think of the bush and nature. Using greens and browns I have portrayed bush elements with large gum leaves scattered throughout the shawl. Under their pink hats I think the gum babies slumber waiting for dawn to break.

Gum Blossom

Shirley McKernan

 
Gum Blossom - Detail
Shirley McKernan
Height: 116 cm, Diameter: 44 cm
Wool and silk tops, silk cocoons, dye, embroidery thread, glue, wool, organza ribbon
Cut, dyed, glued, embroidered, needle felted, machine stitched, machine embellished, trapped fibre, felted
  A felted landscape of Australian bush colour replicating trees and foliage was manipulated into an impression of a tree trunk or tree branch. An opportunity to work with bright yellow and hot pink was enough to inspire me. Wow, what colours there are in the Australian bush.

Gum Blossom Basket

Kaite Matilda

 
Gum Blossom Basket
Kaite Matilda
Height: 9 cm, Diameter: 16 cm
Various ribbons, perle cotton, gumnuts
Triaxial Madweave Basket
  As a child I loved my Snugglepot and Cuddlepie book and I only had to go to the bookshelf to find it for inspiration. I was reacquainted with May's love of gumnuts and blossoms I had absorbed into my childhood development. I decided to explore the theme of gumnuts and blossoms lightheartedly in a triaxial or madweave basket in gum blossom and leaf colours. I then embellished the basket with (actual) gumnuts and perle cotton knots to signify the blossoms. The shape of the basket, which is complex, represents the cap or operculum of some types of gum blossoms.