Being Launceston (Tasmania) born and bred, I love to go back from time to time to visit the remaining family there.  I always enjoy this beautiful city founded in 1806, with buildings dating from 1824 still in use today.  From the classical Georgian period,  the city is often favourably compared to Bath UK.   I certainly didn’t really appreciate its beauty when I was growing up … and opted out of history classes just as soon as I could to escape a highly boring teacher that I would have done well to heed more.

One of the must-do things is always to visit the Tasmanian Design Centre at the corner of Tamar and Brisbane Streets, tucked into a corner of the City Park.  There are always interesting exhibitions of well designed and  made Tasmanian fine craft, often featuring wood and ceramics, but metal and jewellery making, textiles, paper and other fibres get a good look in, too.  The building began life as a church, but for many years now has housed the centre, and each time the building is renovated (tastefully) more vestiges of the original function disappear from view.

On a visit late in late July last year, I found a stunning exhibition of paper forms by prominent Tasmanian paper maker Joanna Gair, and was hopeful of writing a post that might have been published before the show ended, but alas, permission from the centre to publish a couple of photos I took was so long forthcoming that the time for that passed.  So of course in the intervening months I seem to have lost the notes I’m sure I did make of exactly which two pieces these lovely paper sculptures are; and if the centre or Joanna let me know the titles I will edit them in to this post appropriately – and with apology for that, I present them untitled: 

Joanna Gair - freestanding sculptural form, 16cm approx.

Joanna Gair - low relief sculptural form, framed, title not known. Approximately 25cm diameter

On her website, Joanna describes the exhibition:  “Interleaves” My first solo exhibition, featuring sculptural works which explore themes of provenance, tradition and the minutia of Tasmanian plant life”.    I had a sense she has some scientific background but that just could be the result of focused and long term involvement in her craft and adopted environment, as her work certainly exudes passion for what she sees around her and the forms her inspiration take.  In the exhibition brochure Joanna tells how these appealing, organic- feeling works are of hand made paper that she produces from Tasmanian plant fibres combined with recycled cotton and linen rag.  She pays careful attention to environmentally sound practices at all stages of her production, including ethically sourced timber for handmade frames.  She sounds busy – a visit to her website shows an array of paper products that are marketed through the design centre and corporate and government agencies – a studio visit would be a valuable experience some time.

There were some very clear tracks a couple of mornings this week, partly because of windy conditions that had dried sand rapidly, leading for example to the sharp tyre prints from the beach cleaning machine; and the fact that I was down there a bit earlier meaning that these wonderful prints were not overlain by dogs and people.  The little fish in the centre of the third one down had clearly been picked clean not by birds but some little crabs, probably, that had disappeared after their feast, but not long before I came along, or maybe my approaching steps spooked them.

If you don’t know it, do check the stunning work of Rebecca Howdeshell working in felt and other fibres, which of course lend themselves so magnificantly to earthy textures.  I am thinking of layers and stitch, of building on much earlier work .  A clear day ahead in my workroom , the air is 99% humid after a rainy thundery night,  there’s not a breath of wind and more rain is forecast.  Perfect.

At last, thumbs, full views and some detailsare in a newly added gallery  on my website – at the top of the drop down gallery menu, The Creative Stitch: pre 1988  One example: 

I’ll let you know if I get off this path and onto something totally different!  

And if the spacing in this post has come out all funny – I don’t know what I have done backing and forthing with the editing,  but that’s it for now –  just be tolerant or a little entertained a little by it, I’m off to make some more samples.  cheers…. 

Although DH and I don’t normally ‘do’ Valentines Day he did come in  this morning with a bunch of red roses, which was pretty unexpected therefore, and all the nicer for that.  He learned from chatting to the florist that they were grown in Ecuador and shipped, which is amazing, but roses do grow perfectly well here – we have some (not red) in our own garden.  Out on the beach the past couple of mornings, too, the ‘engravings’ have shown more of the Valentine Day theme, so I thought I’d wish all my readers a happy day wherever you are, and  regardless of whatever you do/don’t do about Valentines Day -and share these pics with you . The beach is interesting, being in itself a constantly changing chart of the mood of the people who use it to loll, walk, sunbathe, swim, run, jog, ride bikes and motorbikes on, make offerings or discard rubbish on (often intertwined imho – it can be hard to tell.)

I can’t  believe that as I was about to photograph this in the top pic, I stopped and talked to a friend who came along, and in chatting a while managed to blur the outline of the heart on it – took the pic anyway…. and in the one further down with big lettering ‘Gaby te amo’ means Gaby I love you – several such declarations on the sand this week.  It’s not just this week, but there are just more than usual.  There were one or two dead chooks yesterday, so although the offerings have eased off a bit, they will appear from time to time.  Avagoodvalentinesday as they might say in  AUS.

Despite the sign “Troya” this suggests a cockroach or some other large, very large, insect.  On a sign advertising a show feb 2009 which I sadly missed, it names two sculptors Roberto Cadenas and Octavio Podesta.  There were some workmen nearby who did not know who made it, and the artists’ studios were closed, so I’ll just have to hope at least one of these people or both produced this, and call in sometime later in the year to confirm this when we return to Punta and points beyond.  In the meantime, if you’re travelling along route 1 and just after the airport, you might notice this in a corner near the highway.  I love it.