2025, the year in review

 I usually use that never-never time between Christmas and New Year to ponder and reflect, to plan and to dream. This year it has not been like that, with all the heft and heaviness of shifting and moving, but I have grabbed some moments to ponder the year of making that was.

I felt like I was an artist almost each and every day last year; but interestingly I didn't make a huge amount of things. What I discovered as I wandered back through the year was that I had done some lovely things; one thing was very involved, intricate and time-consuming; I spent a lot of time in my head writing a conference paper and preparing courses; my making was varied across materials; and that a lot of my art time was thinking about how to move what to where, how to promote and sell art when we don't have a physical shop and generally re-imagining my world as a maker.

As ever, in alphabetical order only and with no ranking of favourites, here are the ten things I made this year that I like the most.

1. Book of Silences

I loved this whole process; the honour of working with the words of friends, and the testing and trialling that came with the challenge of a representing silence... In the end the wee book is a marvellous thing and I cherish it, and its making.

2. Building Narrative

This is a bit of a catch all for me as maker. I included Building Narrative because I enjoyed it and was proud of it. I presented a paper on Building Narrative in Artists' Books at the  BIND25 Conference in NZ; and I presented two one-day workshops on Building Narrative here in Maleny at the studio of my friend Kim Herringe. Both of these things took a lot of work,  a lot of care, a lot of thinking, and both are a creative product (in my mind). Not so much to show and physically hold in your hand - but I am comfortable saying I made them!

3. Silver pebble jewellery.

I continued to make and sell sterling silver pebble jewellery. I did some commissions, I went big, I tried new things. It is a lovely thing to wear jewellery that you have made I must say; and I also love seeing it on others as it shimmers and moves .

4. Nest.

I really enjoy working with Lindsey when we are in Scotland, and this time I asked her if I could try to make a nest. It was such a fun process and I really got into it. The result was a layered, sterling silver nest that could be sculptural, or a pendant. It has inspired me to try and make more.

5. Peace around the world.

We have been making and sharing peace weathergrams for International Day of Peace for many years now. Over a decade at least. This year was no different - the weathergrams are used cutlery holders that my dad and his folk collect for us; and we letterpress print a message of peace on them and make a hole and tie some string. But this year felt different. It felt like there was such a yearning for peace (and care, and kindness) across the globe. And this year, without prompting, folk sent me photos of their weathergrams flying boldy and bravely in oh so many marvellous places. It truly lifted my spirits and gave me hope.

6. Red Card.

I made my first book about Australian women being killed by their partners or former partners over 11 years ago. It is still a crisis in this county and so little has changed. This book is simple. It is loud. It is full of me being so sick and tired of all the talk and still women are murdered with monotonous regularity. I give a Red Card to governments, to the media and to men who kill the women they loved.

7. Resist.

Sometimes your work is significant. Sometimes it addresses national concerns. Sometimes it seeks to encourage gentle and peaceful ways of being. Sometimes it is small, heart felt and simple. Sometimes it is sent as a reminder that people care, and that we all need hope.

I hand stitched these fabric remnants with red french knots, depicting the word resist, and sent it to friends in the US. I used braille as the format language - because nothing is safe with communication and we sometimes need to talk in code. Small. Not much but something, and yet I loved doing them and they are among my favourites of the year.

8. Serviettes.

I did mention sometimes your work is small, but brings great joy, and so it was with these serviettes. The joy I feel is well out of proportion for what they are and what they do, but there you go. I loved exploring the wing needle and hem stitches on my machine and I love that I now have some lovely serviettes to use - and that they look gorgeous!

9. Simply Being.

This book was a long time in the realising. I have played with the words for years and years, finding them in my journal, re-working and re-writing them. Finding them again. And deciding on how to bring them into being - it seemed I had so many options.  And this I hope is the first of a few different ways of making this book. 

10. Square Alphabet.

Again, this isn't exactly a thing you can hold in your hands, but I did enjoy the making of this alphabet so much! It was a recollection of a calligraphic exercise from many moons ago, which clearly has strong connections to the Berber alphabet, and ends up being almost a code I can use to write with.

As ever, thanks for coming along on the wander and for being part of my year - I appreciate each and very person who reads and comments and shares their thoughts. This year's top ten had a lot of variety and I think that reflects that I didn't have a body of work I was pulling together, so instead I got to play in lots of different puddles.

Go well into 2026, and may we all find, and share: love and care; peace and generosity; and hope and kindness along the way.

Bind25 Auckland and back!

 What a weekend it was ! I flew to Auckland early on Friday morning (3.30am pick up) and arrived there mid-afternoon in time to attend the opening event in the evening. A full day on Saturday, dinner Saturday night and another full day and presenting on Sunday followed by another early start 3.45am at the airport, and I was back in Maleny for a mid-Monday-morning cup of coffee with Barry! Phew.

It can only be described as a weekend of wonder - and my brain was fizzing with ideas and thoughts and interest afterwards. It may take some time to process it all, but there will things that grow because of it.

Huge thanks and gratitude to ABCNZ Inc for hosting such a great event.

Some images from my time away.

Flying on a sunny day is so lovely.

Group shot of the presenters, some absolute shining talent in this.

Catching up with so many good people and friends was great.

The amazing Kim Herringe.

Caren Florance aka Ampersand Duck

Kim, Michelle Vandermeer of Shelbyville Bookbinding and me!

The calm before the storm so to speak... the room filling in advance of my talk.

I took A LOT of notes...

And Monday evening, to celebrate, we sat on the deck at sunset and raised a glass...

Teaching and Presenting

 I am excited to be presenting at a Conference in NZ in September - "Bind25". Hosted by ABCNZ it brings together fine binders and artists book makers and all associated variations in between.  Whilst they have prepared an extensive week-long program I will only be dashing over for a long weekend kind of thing...life.

I am presenting on my work and thinking about how to build narrative in artists' books. The presentation is coming along and taking shape as I ponder and meander and crystallise and clarify.

Before I head off I have also been offered the opportunity to run a workshop on Building Narrative - an opportunity for folk to take their artists' book making deeper; to think their way through story telling via the medium of artists' books and to take the reader on a full and satisfying journey.

Through the week I knuckled down and grabbed hold of a heap of artists' books from my collection to start finessing and updating the course.

I brought them home and spread them out.

And sorted through the opportunity moments in the workshop where participants will sit down together and discuss what different stories different styles of artists' book tell...

And I reached a point where I knew which books would work with which books, and in which groupings and why.

Sometimes I joke that there might be two things written on my gravestone:

1. She had neat handwriting; and 

2. She was organised.

The organised thing is always a bit amusing as I am the only person who ever really experiences my head space. My head is filled with thoughts that need connecting or jotting down; or which create new jumping off points for other ideas and... it can be quite the jumble. My sense has always been that my organisational side is just about trying to make sense of all this bubbling excitement!

And so as I kept having a multitude of thoughts and ideas about where to take the workshop and presentation next; I decided each thought could go on a sticky note and get stuck down. That way I wouldn't lose it, and I could watch them all come together.

It got pretty wild by the end of the morning!

Yet the sense of satisfaction as enormous. Despite how it might look here, I knew where to head next, and what needed doing. So good!

And then just to some lovely colourful, jewel-like details of an artwork we recently purchased from our friend Ken Munsie. These delightful moments make me smile each time I pass by, or glimpse over at it...

Conference Review...

Well, I am back home on the mountain after a busy few days in Brisbane attending ABBE - the conference hosted by the Griffith Centre for Creative Arts Research, part of the Queensland College go Arts.

It was a fabulous few days. So much information. I tried to absorb it all, but some of it really challenged my brain (in a good way).

There were some real stand out speakers - Brad Freeman who runs JAB was a keynote, along with Lyn Ashby and Sarah Bodman from UWE in Bristol.  They each covered so many wonderful elements of the book arts - reading artists' books, demonstrating how artists' books link to the virtual and beyond and linking handmade books to their literary legacy.

Other great speakers like Angela Gardner, Caren Florance, Sara Bowen, Tim Mosely, Kim Tabulo and Bridget Hillebrand, all captured my attention and sparked my imagination. I learnt something from each and every speaker and really really enjoyed myself. I am soooo looking forward to it becoming a biannual event (if that is the right way to say once every two years).

On top of the conference there was also a gorgeous exhibition, a Book Artists' Fair and for some, a visit to some major collections and studios in Brisbane. Oh, and a big dinner get together on Friday night which was great fun.

I came home buzzing with new ideas and thoughts about how to look at artists books in an academic and theoretical manner, pondering how to apply this thinking to my own work. This wasn't just a get together of artists' book makers; it was a conference where academics presented their research, and the next stages of their work after completing PhDs (I was one of the few non-academic speakers but did get some lovely feedback from folk).

I met some wonderful people, talked about all sorts of things and generally had a good time.

So, now to the visuals.

Me mid-presentation...

Photo by blogger_dad

A shot of some of the crowd...me up the back with my mates Rose and Robyn. I am not bored! I am intently listening...

Photo by blogger_dad

The exhibition is beautiful. For more details see here or up in my Works on Show tab at the top. 

My sister-in law Lorraine put together this montage of me and my book A Subversive Stitch at the opening...

Barry examining my book...

And Al (brother), Lorraine (sister-in-law) and I looking at some fabulous books.

Photo by blogger_dad

The Fair was another wonderful showing of some of the best artists' book makers in Australia. Simply stunning and many happy hours could have been spent wandering through - engaging with these gorgeous books.

Robyn and I holding her books.

Photo by Doug Spowart

Lots of happy explorers of artists' books.

Photo by Doug Spowart

Caren and Angela at their stores/tables.

Photo by Doug Spowart

So, it's back to making now and less time for thinking, but it was a fabulous injection of thought-provoking material. Well done to Tim and Lynden who did so much to bring together a great bunch of people.

A conference paper

Each and every artist is different and unique in their own way. We all do things differently, we aspire to different things, we want to achieve different things and we want to explore and make and create different things.

One of this things I enjoy doing in amongst my practice, is thinking about what I am doing and why; where my practice fits in the canon of book arts; and writing about it.

I am always happy when somebody accepts an article I have written about something, and am particularly excited at the moment to be putting the finishing touches to another conference paper.

Late last year, Susan and I attended the ABCNZ2014 Conference in Auckland New Zealand, where I spoke about our collaboration and how I had come to think about it in terms of why it worked and what was at play.

Next week (eek) I will be presenting another paper at another Conference.  This times it is nearby, in Brisbane, and a little bit more academic than my earlier one. But it builds on the first one and continues to look at our collaborative practice.

Barry is reading the final draft as I type this...

It is titled " Reading intra-collaborative artists' books". Hmmm. Sounds thrilling huh?

In New Zealand last year, it really came home to me that Susan and I collaborate in a fairly non-traditional manner, and that we are a bit different to many collaborations that are out there. So I thought I would explore our type of collaboration further and then explore if you read a book like we make, in a different manner to which you read other artists books' and other collaborative artists' books.

Of course you'll have to wait until next week to find out the answer!

But just because I have enjoyed putting together the Powerpoint so much, here are some snaps of some of the images involved...

So many lovely memories of these books.

And then the odd random shot of one of my books A Subversive Stitch...

 
Plus a reminder that we'll be on show at Noosa towards the end of the year...

So next Thursday it begins, and Friday's the day for me. I'm in some very august company as you can see. Click here for the full program and all the marvellous speakers.

 A Subversive Stitch is also part of the curated exhibition Books by Artists on show:

9th – 25th July 2015.

Webb Gallery Queensland College of Art 226 Grey Street, South Bank

Gallery Hours: 10am – 4pm, Tuesday – Saturday 

It will be wonderful to catch up with some friends and colleagues at the Conference and at the Artists Book Fair on Saturday 18 July.

Now to make those final edits...