Post cards to embroider

Donna found an intriguing site while trolling for Christmas ideas.


And Linda found these fabulous maps of volcanos.

Finding Antarctica: Mapping the last Continent

This exhibition includes about 100 rare maps spanning centuries of fascination with the great southern land. It draws from the library's collection of 200,000 maps.


On his second voyage in 1772, Captain Cook set out to prove whether Antarctica existed. He didn't find it and decided that if there was land down there it was uninhabitable.


When: Dec 5, 2011 to Feb 19, 2012
Where: State Library of NSW

Captain Cook's waistcoat

I looked it up on the Australian Dress Register:
http://www.australiandressregister.org/garment/160/

And learned that it had been cut down to fit a female owner. Elizabeth would have been horrified.

Art and About

Also features maps:

http://www.artandabout.com.au/projects/kaldor-public-art-projects-number-24-michael-landy-acts-of-kindness

Robin found this installation just out side the old GPO.... interesting. Then on the bus, was the random act of kindness story for clue no 24 on the map.

Another link, kaldorartprojects.org.au

It is a good name

Another artist has chosen "You are here" as a title for his exhibition.

Cartographic quilts

For a like minded quilter go to www.quiltsbyvalerie.com/cartographic-constructions/

Medina Azahara

This is not exactly a "You are here." It is a sign that tells you what number to telephone to get a recorded explanation of the site you are about to visit.

In this connected age, our telephones can tell us where we are.

Catching up

We came across this exhibition in the library at Coimbra university. They would only allow me to photograph the poster of the exhibition.


This map is in the cathedral in Sevilla. It is noted for its opulence thanks to the wealth Spain acquired in the Americas.

This map, and it's label are in the park that used to be an army outpost at the very edge of a cliff at Sagres, Portugal. There are stations with informaton about Portugal's exploration of the world from the 15th century.

Cacilhas (just across the river from Lisbon)

Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon

Pena, an OTT summer palace in Sintra

Castle St George, Lisbon, Portugal

PHM visit

We spent a pleasant hour in the textile storage area of the Powerhouse Museum basement on Tuesday. As usual we took too long on each item so that we didn't see all that we had chosen from their collection of textile maps. But each item we saw was very interesting.

Following our visit to the Mitchell Library, we chose to see a piece of tapa cloth that was collected before 1900. It would make a very striking waistcoat. And it is much thiner than the piece that Elizabeth Cook was "working on."

Her embroidered map of Australia was (dimly) reflected in a doiley that brough back a rush of memories of the printed linen of my youth.

We inspected and discussed a couple of fabrics lengths printed by Jenny Kee.

There was the cotton handkerchief issued to passengers on an Orient Line cruise from Sydney to Japan in 1957. I expected this to be the most ho-hum of our selection but it is delightful.

But the tour de force is an 8 metre long, hand dyed, double woven sequence of sketches woven by Kelly Thompson.

Indomitable Explorers

Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society will present a lecture on Monday, May 16, 2011 by Paul Brunton who is a Senior Curator at the Mitchell Library, NSW. There is a $20.00 fee for lecture which will be held at the Wentworth Falls School of Arts theatre, Great Western Highway at 10.30 for 11.00am.

Help Save Fairfield Regional Museum and Gallery

Sgn this petition which is trying to convince Fairfield Council to reconsider its decision not to fund the appointment of a Director and a Curator to the Fairfield City Museum & Gallery. Without these experienced staff the place will just wither away. Fairfield City Museum & Gallery is one of the few regional galleries which regularly exhibits textile arts. The online address of the petition is www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/directorforfcmg
Please forward this to anyone else who might be interested?

Mapping the Future: Where are You Now?

More than just a conference, Textile Forum South West is hosting a whole day exploring textile territories – looking, listening and participating in mapping the future together.
We will survey ideas from traditional geographical and textile maps to virtual mapping now; view current personal textile practice using journey as both inspiration and process; demonstrate new routes to networking with like-minded makers and have the chance to participate in making fabric markers for mapping further textile journeys.
Speakers include, Peter Merrett, land surveyor, Dr Hilary Turner, historian specialising in tapestry maps; Kirsty Hall, expert blogger and navigator of the internet; the keynote speaker is Dail Behennah, celebrated maker who is both a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and the Royal Geographical Society.
When: Saturday, March 26

Where: Conference Centre, Somerset college of Art and Technology, Taunton.
Cost: Tickets including lunch and all refreshments : TFSW members £50, Non-members £60, Students £40
Info: Julie Bowyer, jabowyer@btinternet.com or contact@tfsw.org

Base Line

Yesterday, Beth Hatton gave a very interesting talk to the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of NSW about her exhibition Base Line at the Fairfield Museum and Gallery which will open on Feb 1, 2011. The exhibits explore the surveying, settlement, degradation and revival of the grassland of Weereerwa or Lake George.

Beth has learned much about the ebb and flow of this body of water, its mapping and exploitation. She expresses her perceptions in sculpural forms made of native grasses that she sews into tools and vessels.

The exhibition will run until March 13 at the corner of Horsley Drive and Oxford Street, Smithfield. Open Tues - Sat, 10am - 4pm, Sun 1 - 4pm.