ATASDA Showcase
Stop by the ATASDA showcase and see demonstrations of textile techniques by members over the three days, including:
- Violet Buchanan – Using Teabags
- Debra McPhee – Screen Printing with Thermofax
- Robyn van Holland – Working with Plant Fibres
- Susan Pietsch – Using Inktense Pencils to Colour Fabrics
- Tricia Smout – Designing with Letters
- Betty Bull – Using Lutradur
- Alex Milward – Wet Felted Cup Holder
- Lyn Baxter – Foils
- Felicity Clarke – Machine Embellishing
- Gwen Connolly – Moulded Silk Paper & Needle Felting
- Karoline Cumming – Various Silk Papers
- Ann Allen – Paper Beading
- Sue Ford – Using Shiva Sticks
ATASDA has many talented members who encourage each other and explore various techniques.
Members of ATASDA – the Australian Textile Artists & Surface Decoration Association will hold demonstrations and showcase their work at the festival this year. Visitors will also be able to purchase some of their finished work – a fantastic opportunity to buy some beautiful and unique textiles.
Gwen Connolly creates needle-felted flowers using a single felting needle and wool fleece, silk, fine knitting yarns (merino wool, cashmere, mohair) or a combination. She also works with silk paper, incorporating dyed silk fibres and scanning the silk paper, then printing out on fabric for use in other projects. Gwen is currently exploring moulding vessels – bowls and vases – with silk paper, using a microwave as the heating vehicle. Her main textile interests are machine knitting and felting.
Debra McPhee will demonstrate a variety of screen printing techniques, including permanent and non-permanent screens. Pictured above is a work with a screenprinted base entitled Botanica.
Vivid Challenge
The Queensland branch of ATASDA has thrown out a challenge to members – in a word, 'Vivid'. The challenge is to produce vivid textile art pieces, A4 in size, for display at the festival. Inspired by the musical 'Wicked', the works should depict images of a place, a creature or item of a wild imagination. Artworks can be created using any type of fibre, so of course cellulose fibres (such as paper) are also included in the multitude of textile treasures which are available. For more details on this challenge, visit www.atasda.org.au. See the results at the Textile Art Festival.