A walk through the old swamp lands

My husband and I went for a really nice walk this morning in the Onkaparinga old swamp land area. Its a very strange area as there is very little signs of life other than a few kangaroo droppings and a few swans on the section of the river that fans out into the swamps.

We did find a tent and campsite hidden under some trees in our trek, my husband suggested we not go too close. I wasn't so much worried about who lived there, I was more concerned that the person might be deceased. We got close enough to see that it had been recently inhabited and there were no unusual smells. All good thankfully.

Below is a general photo of the area we were. From a distance I thought there were lots of black rocks in the water (should wear my glasses more often), I then realised they were actually swans.

I found some wonderful snails living on a dead bush as you can see below.

I love all these pieces of dead sea weed, I might have to collect

 some in the future for paper making.

These holes in the mud intrigued me, I'd love to know what 

made them. Worms, yabbies maybe?

This is the swamp ground below where all the water is drying up.

I love this last photo. I think it is 'lichen' maybe?

Red objects at the Craft and Quilt Fair

I took these few photos at the Craft and Quilt Fair. Do you think perhaps I'm a fan of the colour red?

Adelaide Craft and Quilt Fair

Today I headed off to Adelaide's Craft and Quilt Fair to do some professional development for work and also to enjoy myself of course. I'll put my photos in over two separate posts as the images are quite different. Below is a selection of the products I bought while at the fair. I did set myself a limit, I only went over it a little bit.

Seeing as I have a new job next year I decided I might need 

some new jewellry. These beads come from Indonesia and 

are a type of rock (can't remember exactly) that they hand dye.

These gorgeous beads are made in New Zealand and are 

made from lava rock. 

Gorgeous hand made clay beads from South America.

Great yarn that has little bits of paper attached to it.

Some unusual yarn that almost has a clay like substance in it.

Silk Cocoons

Some very cute ribbon tape

Playing with ways of posting photos.

Below is an experiment in formatting photos for putting on here. They are photos of some of my dyeing work, but it is the format that the images are presented in that I was more interested in.

Exhibition X

I mentioned previously in a few posts the idea of working towards an exhibition of my own work. The work would be nature based and I still haven't said much about it yet other than posting a few drawings.

It is very vaguely going to link to the idea of nature being a form of transportation, a way of holding on to things, etc. I don't want to say too much sorry.

I will however from now on in call the exhibition 'X'. At least it is some sort of temporary name. I know the real name already but i don't want to give it away when the work has to be kept secret until the exhibition opens. And no, I don't know when that will be.

Below are a few more of my drawings and collages that link into some of my ideas. They won't necessarily be part of the final works but they are part of my thinking process.

Above are the collages, below are a few of the drawings.

Exhibition of my students work

On the 10th of November my students put on an exhibition of their work they have completed throughout the year. The exhibition is held at my work place, Marden Senior College.

The types of work include; printmaking, textiles, dyeing, wearable art, ceramics, sculpture, drawing, painting, photography, mixed media, and basically every type of textiles work you can imagine.

My own classes will be exhibiting clay work, mixed media sculpture, dyed fabric, embroidery, printmaking on fabric, drawing, painting, applique, and a few other small bits and pieces.

There is a copy of both sides of the invitation below, the artwork on it is Yr 12 students final work.

It is a great opportunity for students to have their work in an exhibition (often their first) especially when just trying to start their careers. Its a nice stepping stone for them to work on and then have on their resume.