Creative Fibre Festival 2012 Marlborough

Here are the dates for the National Creative Fibre Festival 2012 in Marlborough. The team down there has set up a blog site that you can visit. Go to  http://fibrefestival2012.blogspot.com/   to find out all you need to know about their planning and activities thus far. The blog also has a link to their face book page if you would rather follow what they are doing that way.

The emphasis of this festival is to Interest, Educate and Inspire no matter what area of the fibre arts your particular interest is in.

The National Festival runs from 12pm Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th April 2012 and will be held at the Marlborough Convention Centre in Blenheim, with the Exhibition on display at the Millennium Public Art Gallery.

THE GREAT COROMANDEL ARTS TOUR... THREE WEEKENDS OF ART

My terracotta tiles set in tunnel

For 3 weekends in a row Coromandel township hosts its annual arts tour. The opening weekend is Friday 30th April, and begins with an evening art auction. Twenty five artists will open their studios for public viewing each consecutive Fri-Sun from 10am-4pm, and tickets cost around $13.00 per person to do the weekend trail.

Although I am not an official participant, I will be minding the studio of local glass artist Mike Barton. The organizers have generously permitted me to join them as a guest exhibiter while I mind his studio on that first weekend, so if you happen to be up that way, call in to his studio on Tiki Rd to see the loom at work and be part of an informative and exciting cocktail of art in action.

If you do happen to be in Coromandel, the Driving Creek Railway & Pottery is a must do visitor treat. The railway winds up through the bush to the viewing platform and it is an experience children will well remember for a very long time....If you are quick, you might just catch a glimpse of these two panels set in the brickwork above one of the tunnels. I made them in 1998, as part of a design process I was using at the time. Initial pastel sketches and drawings were used to form the basis for these two large tiles, which in turn were used to create the final weaving design.

Grass Roots

I have recently enjoyed two weekends of inspiration and support. The first was attending the N.Z. Professional Weavers Seminar at the St Francis Retreat Centre in Auckland, where my work and professional attitudes were acknowledged by the very fact that I was there. The second was spent relaxing with my local small group of Spinners & Weavers at Orua Bay near the southern entrance to the Manukau Harbour. I enjoyed a rare opportunity to play with dye pots and managed to felt a small handmade gift without too much purpose.

For anyone working with fibre, I highly recommend both. There is a genuine passion at both ends of the spectrum to encourage and share knowledge and wisdom, blended with a natural wish to acheive a high level of craftsmanship.

This special psyche extends across countries and borders, and was proven during a recent trip I took to visit family living in Australia last November. With a little bit of forward planning, I was able to visit the Hervey Bay Spinners & Weavers, where I gave an inpromptu presentation of my work during the show and tell session. I was received with much interest, despite their own business and routine being interrupted... and they insisted the spectacular afternoon tea was not in my honour. For me, keeping in touch with the grass roots craft-artists movement is most comforting.