Learning from Others

Yes, sigh, I know; nothing for ages and then two posts in one day.  I've spent the day consolidating my list of outstanding posts going back now ONLY to 2015.  I will get there, eventually.  Whilst so diligently engaged, I found this post from a visit to the Portimao Museum, Portugal in 2011 and thought it worthwhile revisiting in light of my OTS (quilts-by-me blog) and other artistic endeavours.   

Portimao: Photo Marathon.  The Portimao Museum had organised a Photo Marathon Competition (2011) and on our visit we were fortunate to see the creative results.  Firstly there were 2 categories – Underwater (serious underwater camera work) and Digital.  Each category was then broken down into a series of themes to which the entrants had to produce 3 A4 sized photos.  Digital for example, had 8 themes and therefore needed to produce 24 photos.  These photos were simply mounted on card (no frames) and exhibited in theme order.

Seeing them made me understand why the winner had been chosen.  His work was essentially the tightest – all photos were portrait, all perfect close-ups that complemented each other, of subjects that spoke clearly of each theme yet related well as a whole.  The colours were bold and dramatic subject lighting was well balanced throughout.  In this way the whole worked as a complete presentation, flowing well as a design, almost mosaic like in quality, which fitted the surrounding old city (and its pavings).

Being a quilter I got a little caught up in this project.  A big part of working in textiles is taking the time to stand back, balancing the “pieces” or blocks into a well-balanced whole.  So, I learned quite a lot about the value of working in series; imagining connections between a single work, a series or indeed of a larger body of work – just like an artistic mind map.  Fascinating.

I sadly don’t have any photos of these photographic works at the Museum (no photos allowed) so I’ve included some general ones from their collection instead to add to the watery theme.

(By the way, I hope the new Tag boxes make searching easier...)

Take the Road Less Travelled: Cats & Romans

Montenegro

26^th July 2015

Warning...  This post has nothing to do with textiles.  But I had such a fun day in Kotor!!

While the lads set off on a very hot day to climb the heights of Kotor’s fortified perimeter, I slunk off to shadier streets of the old town to find the Cat Museum.  I don’t know what I was expecting but it turned out to be a quirky and surprising collection of cat related memorabilia with a soft-hearted (cat loving) owner and staff.  One should put cat/dog prejudices aside and enjoy this curious collection for what it is – a satisfying glimpse of history through a body of work we might never have otherwise seen or even considered. To me, this is what makes us human (& humane).  

View from above Kotor

Across from the Cat Museum and located off a delightfully quiet square, is the Lapidary Museum.  Of course to me, lapidary means rocks & gems, in which I have little interest, but I was intrigued by the little church and went in anyway.  What a great decision.  

The building turned out to be the church of St Mikhail; a very historic 13^th c Gothic shell built over a 7^th c Benedictine Monastery and more.  Following an earthquake in 1979, its underground treasures were “released” from under its floors and now the Museum is loaded with frescoes, stone carvings and relics dating back to early-history and Roman times.  

I know this because the most engaging lady at the front desk took the time and trouble to point out items of significance and interest.  How nice is that?

Narrow streets, too narrow for most vehicles...

By the way, in Roman times until 1918, Kotor was known as Cattaro ; )  Miaow!

Magic Fingers

Burano: Island of Lace Makers

14^th July 2015

Step 1: Take a Vaporetto to the Venetian Lagoon
Islands of Murano & Burano

Step 2. Don't forget to stop off in Murano to see
some real Glass magic too!.

Step 3: The Burano Lace Museum is located in the Piazza
  near the Catholic Church

Skilled craftsmanship. Murano
Glass Table Decorations

Travelling to the islands is such a lovely diversion from bustling Venice.  First, there’s the vaporetto ride across the muddy lagoon bypassing intriguing islands little visited.  

Next, it seems compulsory to undertake a diversionary circuit of Murano with its historic yet bespoke glassmaking furnaces and sparkling showrooms that collide on narrow streets with fellow day tripping visitors. Be amazed by the skilled craftsmanship and versatility of glass.  Little wonder palaces were adorned with it.

Finally, we arrived on Burano to be greeted by the sunshine of colour radiating from Murano’s terraced houses, spreading cheer over cobbled streets and narrow canals. 

Burano’s heyday for needle lace spanned the 16^th to 18^th century, crafts women having been introduced to the skill via links to Cyprus.  In 1872, a school to teach and revive the skill was opened but as with many handmade crafts, its production is time-consuming and therefore costly.  Much of the lace available in those rather too-plentiful souvenir stalls has been made by machine and not on the Island.  It is possible though, to nose about and purchase the real thing - La Perla, Merletti d’Arte Martina & Creazioni Monica have been suggested in my reading material.  What a wonderful way to support a traditional craft and what a treasure to own!

Embroidery & Lace

A well stocked Museum

The Burano Museum and School of Lacemaking is a delightful (and cool) repository of all things lace.  The Museum showcases local talents and a rich legacy that skilled Burano women have created.  It offers examples of the many varieties and uses for lace, explaining that women often specialized in a single stitch.  Apparently, there are seven specific stitches, so I am sure competition was fierce…  Burano’s reputation was so established as a centre for the finest quality lace that Leonardo da Vinci was drawn here in 1481 to purchase a cloth suitable for Milan Cathedral’s main altar. 

How to wear your Lace & Silk with Style

Inspiration Unlimited

I've been sitting on my photos from the Sydney Quilt Show since - when was it - in June 2107!  It was so good to have it back in Darling Harbour.  Our little group made a good day out of the show with some hard-liners going back for another day at least.  

Here are some quilts that I found particularly inspiring...I think I'm a big Jen Kingwell fan too!  Let me say though, the work of Carolyn Sullivan should be inspiration to us all.  

Starting with an Edna Ostrich

Sheep will never be the same!

Carolyn Sullivan

Detail of work involved in Carolyn Sullivan's art works

Who doesn't love a vibrant star?

Scrappy Jen Kingwell pattern

This year, I plan to take a better camera with than just my phone.  See you there...

A Rainbow on Every Corner

Venice, Italy

4-17^th July 2015

Bird's Eye View from the Campanile di San Marco

Riding the Grand Canal in a Vaporetto

Beguiling Venice!  It’s so easy to be overwhelmed in Venice, especially in July – the heat intensified by huge crowds, many in holiday mode.  It’s a frenetic pace, and an island repository of visually stunning beauty housing amazing art & history in every corner, not to mention wondrous structures, old and new.  So, I quite forgot my textile challenge and, as nothing especially reminded me until we stepped off the vaporetto on Burano, I felt quite chastened.

Of course, when I say few textiles, I’m not counting rows of Italian designer boutiques, mansions crammed with all things evocative of wealth and power, religious vestments or art festivals aplenty.  It’s just that it fits in, a hand and glove story if you will, becoming part of Venice’s bold statement about itself, and you don’t want to unravel the strands.

Luxurious Velvet & Textiles on Ceremonial Gondola_Naval Museum

Only the Best Furnishings_Querini Stampalia Museum & Gallery

Mansions are full of great tapestries, lush curtains, upholstery and bedding, complimented by the sheen of silk wallpapers.  Soaring cathedrals and modest basilicas alike are adorned with humble cloth transformed into resplendent precious pieces, heavy in embroidered gold and silver threads. Have I mentioned glass?  Famous Murano is just across the lagoon and its Glass Museum (Museo del Vetro) positively drips with crystalline decadence.  I think I’ve found the modern-day home of Odysseus’s Sirens!

 

Another take on a self-guided tour of traditional fabrics of Venice can be found on this VeneziaSi site.  Yet another site (link) has a brief summary of textile history that I really wish I had read when planning my trip.  This way I might have at least discovered Cà Mocenigo and the Museum of Textiles and Costume.  Grrrr!

Punting the Inner Canals in a Gondola

Remembering The Blue Pearl

Beautiful Sky Blue to remind me of Chefchaouen

Whilst on the subject of handloomed weaving, I wasn’t sure if I’d posted photos of the beautiful, traditional woollen blankets we found in Chefchaouen, Morocco (suitably measuring up to it's nickname, The Blue Pearl).  

Weavers, generally men, sit in bolt-hole shops along the narrow, picturesque streets of Chefchaouen producing blankets, cushions and rugs in the most wonderful colours.  Now, I do use the term ‘woollen’ lightly as I expect there is a scarcity of the real thing in my blanket given how inexpensive acrylic yarns are nowadays.  However, I am only guessing and have no evidence to support such a negative remark.  Further, the pillows I purchased the following year when visiting with friends are standing up well to quite some punishment on our equally well-used settee.  No sign of pilling, on the cushions or the blanket, so I may well have to eat my words. 

And I couldn't leave the cushions behind, right?

A summary of our finds on this tour through Morocco & subsequent stops in Chefchaouen are covered in earlier Textile Tourist posts which can be easily found via the Morocco 2012 link over in the sidebar.  Even more detail can be found on the Windjammer3 site (link here).  I would most happily fill my house with goodies that can be found in any of the souks we visited…but maybe, mostly the Aladdin’s cave that is Fez! 

I've just been re-reading a wonderful travel book by Eric Newby (a Brit), "On the Shores of the Mediterranean", a journey he took in the 1980's with his wife, Wanda.  The whole book is fascinating to read again, now that we've managed to visit some of the many places he's written about.  Without doubt, he captures the essence of Fez; Moroccan to the core and so culturally rich.  Visit if you can, you'll be all the better for doing so...if not a little poorer!!  

I found this photo of an embroidered Horse Cover
from Fez.  Its in Wiki along with other location facts.

By the by, even though it's Autumn here in the Med, it really is Spring (well, only just) at home.  Hence my need to tidy up & refresh the blog a little with a rather sweet, new look.  Even more links to follow when I find them again...

Get Back to Work!

November 2017

Cushion made from a small Portuguese hand-loomed rug

At this stage, it’s been so long since I’ve had the time or energy to put up a post on our wanderings that I’m just going to start with the here and now; and then slowly work back with interesting snippets when I can.  Consider this the equivalent of a cleansing ale at the end of a long and somewhat arduous year or two.

Currently we are in the Algarve; Lagos to be exact.  Our explorations to find supermarkets in Portimao brought us on a collision course with a couple of Chinese shops – positively stuffed to the brim with all sorts of things, especially those you never knew you needed.  I was searching for a yoga mat (impossible to find) to cut up and stuff into my ageing settee cushions for a bit of added ‘oomph’.  What I did find though, was floor mats, hand-loomed (in Portugal, even).  And I’ve found more in Lagos - I'm just so excited!

Blue & White hand-loomed rug

It seems that these mats, made from recycled textiles and woven on looms in villages across the country, are very much part of a Portuguese weaving tradition.  Trying to find any information is difficult due to the fact that they are considered so very utilitarian, but I do seem to recall finding some in a museum in Faro (Museu Etnografico) a few years ago now.  I’ll have to dig out those photos but that’s not going to help me give these woven mats a local name.

Yellow light does not show my blue & white quilt off but you get the drift...

In the meantime, I’ve settled on a rather nice blue & white “shaggy” number to liven up the very dull mat we have now in our bedroom.  It also goes nicely with the small blue quilt I made for the bed this year (just showing off, of course).  Another, smaller red/white & blue mat suited the guest bedroom but I hit on the bright idea of making it into a comfy cushion.  So now I have the perfect opportunity to poke around the shops in old Lagos a little bit more…

And whilst I'm shopping I can admire some
fantastic street art. Did I really find a Banksy?