Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Night Too Quickly Passes
Annual Review

Marie-Therese Wisniowski


Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below the annual reviews that span the life of this blogspot.
It's Been An Exciting Year (2010/2011)
Another Cheer - Another Year (2011/2012)
Where Did The Year Go? (2012/2013)
The Year of the Horse (2013/2014)
Cold and Windy - But on the Dawn of Renewal (2014/2015)
A Time To Reflect - A Time To Select (2015/2016)
A Time to Remember (2016/2017)
To Be or Not to Be (2017/2018)
The Night Too Quickly Passes (2018/2019)
The Year of Living Dangerously (2019/2020)
Attempt The Impossible Since Failure Will Still Be Your Success (2020/2021)
A Year of Climate Extremes (2021/2022)
I Love A Sunburnt Country (2022/2023)
Australian Rules (2023/2024)


Introduction
I began blogging on Thursday 26th of August 2010, some nine years ago. Within this time I have published (including today) four hundred and fifty-two posts. It is no wonder that one of Henry Lawson's poems (an Australian poet) has suddenly rushed into my mind.

The night too quickly passes
And we are growing old,
So let us fill our glasses
And toast the Days of Gold;
When finds of wondrous treasure
Sets all the South ablaze,
And you and I were faithful mates
All through the Roaring Days!

To all the followers of this blog, I now give you one year warning! Next year will be my tenth year of blogging and for the first three of my followers to respond to my clarion call in the last week in August of 2020 on my tenth anniversary of this blogspot, each will receive one of my fat quarter ArtCloth textiles. Beware and be prepared!.

The Night Too Quickly Passes
The number of categories on this blogspot keeps growing. They are as follows: (i) ArtCloth Textiles; (ii) Art Essays; (iii) Art Exhibitions/Installations/Talks; (iv) Artist Profiles; (v) Art Resources; (vi) Art Reviews; (vii) Book Reviews/Interviews; (viii) Craft and Quilt Fairs; (ix) Fabric Lengths; (x) Glossaries; (xi) Guest Artists/Authors; (xii) Guest Editors; (xiii) Opinion Pieces; (xiv) Resource Reviews; (xv) Prints On Paper; (xvi) Technical Articles; (xvii) Wearable Art; (xviii) Workshops and Master Classes (i.e. my students outputs).

Not all of these categories are present in any given year (e.g. Artist Profiles, Fabric Lengths and Opinion Pieces etc did not make an appearance this year). Also judging a post by the one criterion - most amount of views - is not necessarily the smartest approach, since the length of stay might mitigate the former statistic. How often have you heard yourself say - oops I really didn't mean to google this hunk of a man when I searched for "loincloth!" Nevertheless, this one statistic makes matters so much easier for me and so it will be used as the final arbitrator, except when two post differ by less than two views - I will then declare both as winners!

ArtCloth Textiles
There was only one post in this category in 2018-2019 period and that was Man-Made Fish Kills My New Hand Printed ArtCloth
 Dyptich
. My ArtCloth dyptich is my tribute to the fish of the Murray-Darling Basin whose lives were cut short by this man-made ecological disaster in 2019. One species, the Murray cod is the largest exclusively freshwater native fish in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. Many live beyond 40 years of age and yet we managed to destroy them because our management of the river systems is diabolitical.

Title: Man-Made Fish Kills I (Full View).
Artist: Marie-Therese Wisniowski.
Techniques and Material: Multi-layered interfacing silk screen prints employing transparent and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 70 x 74 cm.

Art Essays
This was a hotly contested area since there were more posts in this area except for the Art Resources series. The two most popular were - Contemporary Japanese Textile Creations and Western Culture Categorization of Gender - with the latter being a winner by a long margin.

Ben Quilty’s Margaret Olley (2011 Archibald Winner).

Art Exhibitions
There were two posts on exhibitions namely, 2018 CrossXpollinatioN "Journeys" Exhibition and my exhibition at the same venue, namely, Timelines: An Environmental Journey with the latter doubling the number of views of the former. It is clear my fellow ArtCloth artists wanted to know what I was up to and so I hope I did not disappoint them.

View of the installation, Timelines: An Environmental Journey, from the right hand side of the ‘Black Box Theatre’ (Colac, Victoria).

Art Resources
Once a month an Art Resource is published on this blogspot. The Art Resources that are published just after the Annual Review are always the favourites to win, because they normally have a year to gain an audience, whereas the art resource published in the month of the review only has a fortnight and so normally gains a much smaller audience.
The two contenders for this category were: Additive Finishes and Knit-Sew or Stitch Through Fabrics with the latter being a comfortable winner!

Malipol process.

Art Reviews
There were two posts in this category and they were Hawaiian Quilts - Part III and Yuzen Arabesque Patterns (Part IV) with the latter having more views. This was the fourth post in the series and viewers cannot get enough of these intricate and subtle Japanese designs. They just capture the imagination and make you want to go into the studio and do your own stuff!

Pattern number 422.

Book Reviews/Interviews
There was only one book review/interview this year and it was my review of Kalle Gayn's novel, 4 Steps To Freedom

Kalle Gayn, 4 Steps To Freedom (Front Cover).
Recommended retail price: AUD $24.99 (plus shipping).
ISBN 978-0-9873013-2-1

He dedicated his novel to me, which hardly makes me an unbiased interviewer!

Craft and Quilt Fairs
There was only one post in this category and that was Art Quill Studio@2019 Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair
. These venues are a lot of hard work since prior to them you are producing copious amounts of ArtCloth Textiles (from fat quarters to fabric lengths to wearable art etc.) You are standing on your feet for hours on end, and so at the end of the day you are totally exhausted. Why do it? It's not just for the money or for the exposure but when you have a grandmother buying her granddaughter a scarf you have made that the grandmother knows is expensive because of its uniqueness ($150) but nevertheless will outlay that sum of money to thrill her granddaughter, it makes you feel like you have become a part of a special connection. I say to the purchasers of my ArtCloth textiles: "They started out white but white is not my favourite color and so I changed them! Once you purchase this scarf and you wear it, you will never see the same scarf walking towards you!"

Marie-Therese adding some more hand dyed and hand printed unique one-off ArtCloth scarves to the display rack.

Glossaries
There was only one glossary published on the blogspot this year and it was the Glossary of Scientific Terms

Alum: Name give to certain double salts that crystallise readily as octahedra; e.g. KAl(SO4)2.12H2O, common alum. {Latin alumni meaning "bitter salt".}

Glossaries always attract a lot of interest since they provide a wealth of information and so are often favoured by search engines when internet users are making enquiries within their realm. There are now eight glossaries/data bases on this blogspot for you to explore.

Guest Artists/Authors
There was only one post in this category and that was Irene Manion: My Take On: Western Culture Characterisation of Gender which was a response to my Art Essay - Western Culture Categorization of Gender.

Artist: Irene Manion.
Title: Feathers I 2017 (Detail).
Technique: Monofilament on perspex.

Guest Editors
There was only one post in this category and that was guest editors Judy Newman and Clare Mooney who wrote a post on: ArtCloth Textiles Created by Marie-Therese Wisniowski.

Artist: Marie-Therese Wisniowski.
Title: Ginninderra (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist's signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation technique employing disperse dyes, native flora and low relief items on delustered satin.
Size: 60 cm (width) x 120 cm (length).

Prints on Paper
There were two posts that were ahead of the rest in this category and both centered on Japanese prints namely: Japanese Prints (Part II) and Japanese Prints (Part III) with the former receiving the largest audience.

The actor Ishikawa Ebizō (1794) by Tōshūsai Shark (active from 1794 - 1795). The Ishikawa were one of the great acting families of Japan and can frequently be identified by their distinctive red costumes decorated with concentric white squares.

Resource Reviews
There were three posts in this category with A Textile Tour of Japan. Part I - Tokyo and its Surrounds and Tarndwarncoort (Tarndie) with the latter being the most viewed.

A partial view of the coffee shop/wool shop/gallery complex at Tarndwarncoort.

People just love old homesteads that have been converted into galleries/coffee shops.

Technical Articles
There were four posts in this category and the two most popular were: Designing an Art/Craft Project (Part I) and Designing an Art/Craft Project (Part II) with the former being the most popular.

Effective use is made of curved lines to enclose shapes and form design styles.

Wearable Art
There were two posts that dominated this category and they were within such a small margin (one post the difference) that both must be declared equal winners. I love this post Australian Aboriginal Printed Clothing which displays some wonderful designs.

Shirt - Ernabella Trading Company.
Screen-printed Cotton.

The other post featured some of my wearable art, namely My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed: 'Rainforest Beauty' Pashmina Wraps Collection.

ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap in Autumn/Salmon hues (Full View).
Techniques: Multi-colour dyed and silk screened employing dyes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment on viscose.
Size: 74 cm (width) x 195 cm (length).

Workshops
The most popular workshop this year was Melding Experiences: New Landscapes Using Disperse Dyes and Transfer Printing (Two Day Workshop), which was organized by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists (NCEATA), Newcastle, NSW.

Group photograph.
Standing at the back from left to right: Carolyn Clausen, Judi Nikoleski, Treena McArthur, Tara Mann, Maria Rofe and Narelle Sheahan.
Sitting in the front from left to right: Robyn Brown, Jo Green, Wilma Simmons, Sue Brazier and Helen Tolhurst. Absent Catherine Bremmell.

Go and visit this post and you will experience the wonderful output of these talented artists.

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