Australian Art & Spoonflower.com

Our member Pat G. just got back from 4 weeks in New Zealand and Australia, she had a wonderful time. One of the art projects she did when she was there, was to put shaving cream on a tray and swirl paints on it to print fabric.

Pat bought two original pieces of Aboriginal art. It is acrylic painted on a heavy canvas, with lots of dots, and the background is mixed colors like a pointillist painter. All the art work is heavy with symbolism, she had a booklet with many of the different symbols in it. The two pieces she got have stories to them to explain the symbolism, and all their art work is as if you are viewing it from the sky. So a horseshoe shape is a woman, sitting on the ground, viewed from above.

The individual artists have their work spread out on blankets, for the tourists to buy.

Pat also got several prints, turtles laying eggs, and a pair of kangaroos.

An assortment of Australian cotton print quilters fabrics were also acquired. They ran about $26 US per yard. Whew! They are made especially for the Australian market, with a lot of Aboriginal designs. She did get some good deals on some fat quarters, and she doesn't know what she is going to do with the fabric yet.

Thank you Pat G. for showing us your wonderful art and fabrics that you got. We look forward to hearing more about your trip at our December potluck.

Spoonflower Demo by Crystal Crystal brought us all a handout on Spoonflower.com they are a website for printing your own photographs or artwork onto fabric. She showed us step by step on her laptop, and said the site is very user friendly. It helps you size your image, choose different types of fabric, how the repeat is formatted, and how to place an order. She has ordered fabric from her photos of an orchid, it came in four panels on the yardage. She sliced and diced, and resewed it, into a fractured flower. If you have questions about the procedure, you can ask her at the December potluck or give her a call. Thank you Crystal for this presentation.