Heralding Hogwarts....Original Costumes and Sets from Harry Potter

 I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Harry Potters World near London where the Embassy Language school students from  China -Harry Potter fans since they were babies,proved  an authentically magic experience with original sets,costumes and props.

 I think the feel of the costumes projected  a Quintesessential English Style with a dash of medieval ..

There were very detailed explanation of how the makeup,sets and special effects were created including the animated creatures that inhabit this universe, conjured up by a massive creative  team.

Props were splendid including hand made wands and  hand written maps and books.

The school uniforms brought back old memories....not all good..no wonder I had a raging ambition to be a clothing designer .. 

Textile and terror ,captured in flight by medieval cermanisist

    Bologna,my favourite Italian city ,often overlooked on the tourist drag from Florence to Venice

is proudly red in colour as well as political persuasion, has a masterpiece of medieval sculpture,appropriately in terracotta, the characteristic material of  medieval Bolognas decorative facades.
Sculptured by Niccolo Del Arca ,it is particularly Bolognese as it is sculptured from the "workers stone" terracotta  tucked away in an ingnominious niche of the

Church of Santa Maria della Vita ,speaks to me  every time I contemplate this masterpiece. Below is surely Niccolo himself,complete with his tools,his heavy artisan boots looking stoically at the viewer,in direct contrast to the anguished women in flight ,hands supplicating as they are  struck with the terrible reality of grief-is he saying woman are able to express this more outwardly than men? Do men document and women express?

 The sheer beauty of the fabric captured in flight  and the mastery of the sculpturer makes this yet another hidden treasure that every town in Italy holds.........

Upcoming workshop at Contextart, Australia..think Metamorphic......

 Dear students of my upcoming workshop,

 Really looking forward to meeting you all at Contextart along with my colleague assistant Cathy Moon-and getting that creative energy flowing between us!

Im also celebrating seeing my old friends after so many years and comparing notes about the course our destiny  takes  as life sweeps us along ... 

“Your hand can seize today, but not tomorrow; and thoughts of your tomorrow are nothing but desire. Don’t waste this breath, if your heart isn’t crazy, since "the rest of your life" won’t last forever.
Omar Khayyám, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám-
This was my mothers favourite poem ..

Here is my new series inspired by precious stones and crystals ,using the elemental metamorphic forces  

of heat and compression that transform the cloth......
 See you there
at Contexart under the auspises of our awe-inspiring and sagacious leader Janet.and right hand man Jude...

Nativity in Textiles

This takes my prize for the best nativity scene-in Bassano Del Grappa-all done in Jute over wire with olive trees in the snow

    Happy Befana - Epifany from Italy!

Arrazzi nei Palazzi- Vicenza,Italy showcases its hard... soft architectural jewels

For further information on this festival , or buy the superb catalogue , this is the link-http://www.abilmente.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=3115

 This INSTALLATION had  WOW factor for me ...        The Seven Vices-a monumental work by tapestry weaver Teodlinda Caorlin  .....

from the point of view of  sheer expressive power,with technical mastery such as the shading of the colours and the expressions of the characters which seem visceral in their raw emotions driven by  vices - 

The one that struck me was gluttony.. second right in the photo...expressive and an easy vice to fall into in italy!!


Then, in a nearby palazzo - a surreal baroque fantasyland , contrasted  the understated minimalist wall works by Sandra Maconato, done in the 70s- the " Golden Age of textiles" when monumental works were par-to-the -course.
She is a Padovan weaver of the same calibre as Magdalena Abakanowicz ,unsung as a National Treasure
because I suspect , in Italy, the big divide between conceptual textile practice and fine arts has never been breached .This is evidenced at the Biennale of Art in Venice where are installations incorporating  textiles are nearly always from overseas participants .The Italian art critics ,apart from Philipe Daverio ,still maintain their pass attitude, never regarding textiles as a serious medium and so they have been virtually ignored,

 Creator of  this project is architect Lea de Muzio ,who persuaded the public museums of Vicenza in northeast Veneto, to open their doors to a textile exhibition and series of seminars-workshops..the opening in this over- the- top ,surreal wonder called Palazzo Leoni Montanari ,built by eccentric its namesake,whose wealth was amassed by the  silk and wool industry that flourished in the Renaissance..yes you could get rich with textiles in those days!!!

 Above are large architectural works by Marisa Bandiera Cerantola....these scorched pieces were arresting....echoes of  Australian shibori practioner,  Lyn Zeelander showed her innovative,burnt  take on shibori in the Paris ISN exhibition ....
   
Look ,down there you can see Eva Basile..jacquard expert extraordinaire and founder of FELTROSA, admiring  an installation of Luciano Ghersi. No his work inside the portico,but reclining man in foreground all adds to the power of the installation ....and there is a bike transformed by cycling fanatic Luciano who has a compulsion to weave everything...this is a homage is an active member of cycle-power in Firenze.

 This is a workshop venue in Italy for weaving ..watch out for that priceless Renaissance backdrop!!The bishop lives next door.This Ecclesiastical museum has the most amazing jeweled medieval religious Relic with a gold crown of thowns..this is the most amazing jewellery installation in precious metals  I have ever seen..could be easily contemporary
..I digress..back to softer treasures....








 And the curator -tireless,a walking encyclopedia of knotting knowledge and 110% committed to promoting  textiles- Luca Gori our guide,seen below-an a hurry....despite the exhibition finished being hung...time to gluttonize ... and get stuck into that Baccala Vicentini- the famous marinfish dish of this undiscovered jewel of Palladios playground ...., graciously offered by Dr Muzio ,the brain child of Abilemente, which showcases Veneto textile artists every six months.



                                                                                                    

Back to the Venetian Empire.......


Centuries Old Textile Artisan textile merchants of Venice- Bevillaqua is an Aladdins cave of textiles ,still recreating Renaissance textiles ...a blog post is coming up.....so stay tuned!

BUON NATALE from Lisio Foundation !!!!!