QSWFA open day 2014

I woke up with a start this morning, it was light in the room - but it shouldn't have been if my alarm had gone off when it was meant to! Fortunately I made it in time to help set up for open day an hour before we opened, just enough time to get our Felt group stall set up. The sun shone, the crowds came and we had a really fabulous day, a busload even arrived with a group from up the coast. Short workshops and a fashion show through the day were drawcards, and there were lots of gorgeous things on sale. Lovely feltmaker Phillipa Rooke was clearing out her stash, and now significantly added to mine!  Here are some photos of our Felt stall, very creative work by Jonna, Lili, Kathy and I also had some felt knick knacks that sold well for my first ever sale :-)

BVAC pop up fashion show - autumn colours and eco-dye

I went along to the Brisbane Visual Arts Community (BVAC) 'pop up shop' today as they were having a fashion show by some of the artists selling at the event.  The artists in the fashion show were Pam Hovel, Anne Leon, Gina Mastio and Mfanwy Stirling, who are also showing/selling their work this month at 'Crossing Borders' - Gallery 159 at The Gap, Brisbane.  Here are some of the photos I took of their wonderful creations! 

 

 My favourite was this white dress, sorry I didn't make a note who designed it which is very remiss... I do remember it being over $900 though!  

and here are the lovely artists....

As you can see above, 'eco-dying', popularised by India Flint, is very much still all the rage, with some amazing work on show, including Lili Haas' exquisite prints that I always admire.  So, in the end I couldn't resist making a purchase from fellow QSWFA Nat Billing, who makes beautiful eco-dye prints on all manner of surfaces, in this case a pair of leggings!! She loves the idea of memories and time in art, for her 'eco dying is the memory of the moment when leaves and surface come together in perfect conditions'.  She has an online shop on Etsy called Memory Cabinet.  A walk in the botanic gardens in the sunshine after the show brought to life all the wonderful images and imprints of nature that the artists had captured in their art (and on my new leggings!).