I’m very lucky to live in Bellingen. Amongst its many attractive aspects, is the enthusiastic nurturing of artistic endeavour. Nobody looks down on your amateurish attempts to produce something that might qualify as “art”. Even the real artists offer words of encouragement.
Years ago a work colleague commented that she thought I didn’t have a left-brain, and whilst I accept that I am very focused on process and organisation, I thought that was somewhat harsh!
Over the years I’ve tried a few things – painting, sketching, pottery, etc and not discovered anything that grabbed me until I attended an Eco Dyeing course at Camp Creative a few years ago. I still remember the puzzled looks I got when I told friends that I was doing the course. “No, I’m not going to crochet my own hemp shroud – that’s dyeing not dieing”.
Anyway, I was hooked from the first day, and I’ve been experimenting and hoarding eco-printed paper ever since. The hoarding was becoming a problem until the lovely Cynthia offered me space in her private gallery, and a joint opening with Leonie another budding artist. The opening was a huge success – wine, delicious food, great conversation and best of all … SALES!
I was quite hesitant about exhibiting, but I discovered that framing makes all the difference to an eco-print. Turning it from a scrap of paper to something that you might just want to hang on your wall …
So thanks to Cynthia, Leonie and all the friends and acquaintances who attended the opening, and a special thanks to those who bought our artwork.
I’ll be eco-printing more paper soon, but I’m trying to be patient. I made the decision to use only plants from my garden, and preferably Australian natives, but I fell in love with Cotinus (Smoke Bush) leaf prints, so I’ve been forced to plant one. I’m trying to leave it alone and not strip off all the leaves like I did last autumn
A Bellingen Diary 