“From Nature” Outdoor exhibition at Gasworks Arts Park Nov 4-12th 2017

The boundaries of my small home studio (i.e. the living room floor) have been tested this last month as I began creating pieces for an outdoor installation at Gasworks Arts Park. The exhibition showcased the creativity of 37 artists forming an arts trail that wound around the bushland of this public park.

The exhibition brief was to imagine:

What would happen next if the energy and vitality of the park grew in self expression so that new forms became apparent, DNA began to change and evolve and surprising structures of transient beauty were made manifest?

Using materials gathered from my local beach environment,  and with generous donations from artist friends I envisaged creating a series of beauty spots arising from the soil or skin of mother earth. I wanted each spot to hold a different energy and to form a mandala or symbol of wholeness. I also wanted the installation to be a circle of reflection and contemplation where viewers could be invited to become centred and calm.

Here are some photos of the process and the finished work.

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Autumnal Shedding

I was away for a couple of days this week. I went bush. Everywhere I looked there were signs of nature’s shedding.. …Seedpods from acacia trees, gum nuts from the eucalyptus and delicate cicada cases perching on grass fronds.The warm glow of the afternoon sun on the small maple tree and  the slowing pace of the natural world encouraged me to reflect on where I found myself at this point in my life.

What had come to fruit and been harvested now the busyness and activity of summer had waned? What did I need to release or shed in order to be living the vision I had for my life? No quick and easy answers.

These are things I will contemplate as we move deeper into the colder months. I will turn inward and begin to write, draw, make more in order to receive the messages I need to hear. Then I will slow-cook and nourish them over winter ready for the next cycle of growth in spring.

So here I offer you an affirmation for this time of transformation and release.

Please feel free to print it out and place it somewhere where you will see it and be reminded of what is important in this season of  life.

Spring into Summer with a healing doll workshop

Go gently

Feeling the gentle spring breeze and sparkly sun on my face today prompted this elemental doll. “Go gently and take the time to pause and breathe in deeply”, she says 🌾🌷.

needle felted elemental doll © Lisa Fam 2016

I am Art- and this is me”.

I recently had the good fortune to exhibit a couple of pieces in the PPHA Artist Collective’s exhibition entitled “I am Art- and this is me”. The Collective consists of a diverse group, with talent in painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography, and writing. Some of us are emerging artists, others are professional or hobbyists but we all have the inner fire that drives us to make and create and to share our vision with the world.

The exhibition was held in a newly renovated space “The Laneway Artspace” in St Kilda run by the inimitable Geoffrey Williams and was the 3rd exhibition by the group.

Below is the doll/sculpture I created called “Wig-Womb of Creativity”. In this doll I celebrate the culmination of the past 7 years of opening to and honouring feminine wisdom in my life.  Through my creative and inner journey, I have come to a point where I am now able to show up in the world, share my wisdom and learning with other women and help them to find their inner power through my Seasons of the Doll work.

Wig-Womb holds within her womb the seed/egg of future creativity, which seems to indicate that the cycle is never finished. Each end point is the beginning of another. This too is feminine wisdom. Her mind is balanced (yin -yang) and although she has no limbs, I feel her to be present and grounded. She is connected to joy and vitality through the rainbow of light and witnessing the way the elements intermingle to create beautiful visions. I birthed her easily!

Thank you to Geoffrey, PPHA and the Artist Collective for their encouragement, support and friendship.

It was a great experience and let’s do it again in 2017!

Wig Womb of Creativity copyright 2016

Detail of felted and stitched womb

 

 

Winter Doll Making Workshop

Visual Journaling Part 2: How to make a simple Visual Journal

Use thick drawing paper. You will need 5 or more sheets. You can also use other papers like brown paper bags cut to size, wrapping paper or newspaper…whatever you have around

 

Create back grounds on the paper. You can do this first or leave all your pages blank and do it afterwards, or a use a mix of both as I have.

Water colour back grounds

More water colour

Collage

Wax crayon and water colour

Make the journal cover from a cardboard box cut to size. Draw a line half way down the middle  and then  mark a line 0.5cm on either side of this line.

Score the outer two lines and fold them. This creates the spine of the book.

Choose the centre page. Measure in 3 cm from the top and the bottom edge and mark with a dot. Measure half way between these points and mark.

Place all the papers in a stack and clamp with clothes pegs

Use an awl to make 3 holes at each dot

The reverse side looks like this

Bring a length of thick waxed thread or string up through the bottom hole and down through the top hole leaving a tail of about 5cm

Turn the pages over and take the needle down through the centre hole. Repeat for the tail end. Both tails will now be on the reverse side.

This is what it looks like .

Tie a knot

Fold the pages in half and press firmly. You can also press the pages under heavy books overnight.

Create the fabric cover. Cut fabric to size allowing a few cm on each edge

Glue down using a glue stick

Place the pages inside the cardboard cover and glue the front piece

Stick it to the cover. Repeat for the back cover.

Finished journal with tie!