Textile Travels

Imagine you were a queen 1,800 years ago in the small desert state of Palmyra in Syria, jewel of the silk road and oasis for the many caravans that cross the borders of your land. Your name is Zenobia and sometimes you are called the Warrior Queen.It is certain that you led armies as far afield as Egypt ,and that you marched with your armies. Geoffrey Chaucer marvelled at your feats in the Monk’s Tale in the Canterbury Tales in 1386. You were said to be beautiful, erudite, gifted in languages and learning, it is also rumoured that you may have been involved in your husbands assasination, but Chaucer makes no mention of this. Your garden, your temple, your roman baths, and your local shopping centre looked like the photo- and amazingly much of it is still standing 1800 years later. What is missing is the daily hustle and bustle of people, traders, merchants, soldiers, camels and horses and children, the banners and colours of a city on the silk road.

Aurelius really thought you had gone too far when you tried to march into Italy and he attacked your lands, captured your lands and ultimately your city. He had you arrested and marched you into Rome where despite being captive, you managed to marry a Roman governor and live your days in Tivoli- playground of the Roman emperors.

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I love it when spring starts to make itself felt with a burst of yellow in the garden. Golden jonquils, daffodils with their heavy nodding heads, yellow daisies and of course golden wattle. But the first flowers to open their sleepy heads from winter slumbers are the dainty little purple violets- their perfume wafting on spring winds.Purple is also the complement of yellow and these two colours create a liveliness together that makes the heart sing.At this time of year the Otways turn golden with many different kinds of wattles (acacia) bursting into flower.
Colours of course have symbolic meaning and the meaning varies from culture to culture. In western culture it is often associated with happiness- phrases incorporating the word yellow have become part of our language eg., mellow yellow. Yellow can also mean cowardly and women tied yellow ribbons around trees and fences awaiting the return of loved ones from war or other cataclysmic events. Yellow submarine ( The Beatles) evokes wonderful images of underwater gardens where every one would like to be!

Many fruits have the colour yellow- lemons, grapefruit ( pamplemouse is such a much more evocative word!), bananas, yellow peaches, mangoes, star fruit, pineapple- in fact many of the delicious fruits are yellow!

Yellow is a colour that many people do not find easy to use, and many artists avoid using it. And yet some of the great artists of the world used yellow to great effect-Vincent van Gogh and my favourite Pierre Bonnard.I especially like Bonnards work as he used lemon yellow,citrien to great effect.

Without yellow there would be no green, orange or brown

Most of my work is created in the medium of textiles, though I have resorted to the odd hand made book and other things. I have been keeping journals since I was 15 but as my textile practice has progressed these have grown to incorporate visual imagery, ideas about working and creating. I will attempt to put some of my thinking in this blog.

I also travel frequently- sometimes to far flung places, and most recently to Syria. I am finding my experiences of Damascus and Palmyra are creeping into my work - Syria is such a rich and wonderful place, the cradle of man and civilisation, of the first known script, of silk routes and trading caravanserai’s, of religions co-existing, of layers and layers of experience. I hope to tell you of some of my experiences.

And after travelling you always come home. Home for me is the little township of Gellibrand deep in the Otway Ranges of Victoria. The view from my workroom window ( I don’t call it a studio because it is the place I work and create) in the summer is a magic backlit view of trees. It is really a bit deceptive because just on the other side of the trees is the dirt road on which we live - but meanwhile I imagine myself journeying into the forest.