Gallery

Australian Bush

This piece was worked for the challenge section of the Ballarat Embroiderer's Guild's Beaches to Bush Exhibition in March 2006. It is worked on a hand dyed habutai silk background with painted mulberry bark applied for the trunk of the tree. The leaves are embroidered in double sided brick stitch and are then applied to wired branches made also of mulberry bark. The Emperor Gum Moth has detached wings of silk highlighted with spangles and coloured purl, a body of purl and antennae made from emu feathers.

The Seadragons

The Seadragons (detail of) were commissioned by Dr Susanna Herd in February 2004. Dr Herd launched the Royal Australian Navy's latest frigate HMAS Ballarat in 2002, and presented the Navy with The Seadragons at the commissioning ceremony of the ship in June 2004. A symbolic piece of embroidery, it was embroidered in goldwork to represent the history of gold in Ballarat (my home town). The Weedy Seadragon is Victoria's marine emblem and so tied our state in with the Navy. The Leafy Seadragon was embroidered to represent Australia. Both Seadragons are indigenous to Australian waters. The background is hand dyed silk and the seaweed is made of machine embroidered yarn.

Banner

This banner was embroidered in 2001 and won Best in Embroidery at the Royal Melbourne Show in the same year. It is worked on a shot purple silk dupion ground and the monogram has fifty lengths of soft cotton padding underneath the smooth and bright check purl. The pomegranates have two layers of felt underneath them and feature garnets as the seeds spilling from the fruit. The banner hangs from a blackwood stand with beaded tassels in the same colours as the piece hanging on either side.

Azalea and Jezebel

This piece is a completely three dimensional piece that lives under a dome in my hallway. It was completed in 2008 to exhibit in the Embroiderers’ Guild Annual Exhibition – it had been started in 2001 – yes, that’s right – I finished a UFO!

Turkish Scuffs

These little turkish scuffs are doll shoes.  I mades them using a Pearl Moon doll shoe pattern which I enlarged to be able to make them large enough to work the embroidery.  they are approximately 5 inches long.

Bek's Cushion

This is my Rebekah and her cushion which she designed herself.  After Bek designing the cushion and painting and steaming the silk herself, I stretched the frame for her to work her embroidery.  She then made it up into the cushion on my sewing machine.  It was then exhibited with the Embroiderers' Guild of America Youth Exhibit and the Royal Melbourne Show.

Detail of Bek's Cushion

Clematis

The Clematis was designed for my friend Liz for her to work for our Embroiderers' Guild branch exhibition 'Vines Entwined' quite a few years ago now - I was still living in Ballarat at the time!

It is a large piece, with the actual size Clematis blooms six inches across.

Tropical Flower Collage

This piece was designed and stitched while in Brisbane in 2006.  It was inspired by a walk through the beautiful Roma Street Parklands which are the most gorgeous gardens full of tropical plants (that we southern states dwellers cannot grow).

This piece was exhibited and sold at an Embroiderers' Guild Victoria (Melbourne) exhibition in 2007.

 

Madame Raspberry

Madam Raspberry was worked for the challenge for the Embroiderers' Guild Victoria annual exhibition 'A Feast of Embroidery'.  The challenge was 'Tiny Tarts and Petit Fours' and this was my jam tart - although not very lady-like with her skirt about her ears!

She is a petite 10cm x 10cm and a whole lot of fun.

 

 

Group Project

This piece was a group project worked on by eleven designers to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Koala Conventions in 2010.  It was co-ordinated by Jan Kerton and myself - the designers were given a size option of 10cm x 10cm or 5cm by 15cm and a piece of fabric - the design was to be of their particular style and the colour choice was completely up to them.

Row 1:  Jenny Bennett

Row 2:  Jenny McWhinney, Lesley Turpin-Delport, Gary Clarke

Row 3:  Catherine Howell, Denise Bakes, Alison Cole

Row 4:  Jane Nicholas, Robyn Alexander, Debbie Mercer

Row 5:  Jan Kerton

Butterfly Study

This piece features a highly detailed Stumpwork embroidered butterfly worked in silks on silk and three studies of sections of the wings worked in Goldwork embroidery using gilt and coloured threads.

It was worked for the Butterflies, Bugs and Bees Exhibition at Kozminsky Jewellers, Melbourne in August, 2010.

As yet unsold, it graces my walls.

Price $700.00

 

 

Butterfly Study

Closer details of previous piece

 

 

Embroidered Treasures

These little treasures are available for sale.

The Aqua Dragonfly is worked in Stumpwork and sits atop a music box - SOLD

The Purple Dragonfly on a brass trinket box is worked in Stumpwork and Goldwork techniques and features an amethyst set in a 9ct setting for her body (approx 0.5 ct stone) - SOLD

The little Pink Butterfly is sitting on a brass hinged pillbox (plastic lined).  She is worked in Stumpwork and features detached wings of Angelina fibre - SOLD

Golden Peony

Golden Peony was embroidered for the front cover of Stitch magazine's 50th issue.  It was lovely to receive so many comments from people saying how lucky it was that the project made it to the front cover - but in fact it was specially commissioned for the front cover - I was lucky to have been asked to create it for them.

Cordelia - Jewel of the Sea & Neptune, King of the Sea

Cordelia - Jewel of the Sea and Neptune , King of the Sea are early projects of mine that have been discontinued.  I was asked to teach a Stumpwork class for the Geelong Branch of The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria (Australia) and as it is a beach city I thought that I would work up a mermaid for them.  The members enjoyed her so much they asked if I could teach a merman the following year.  Everyone's design started off the same, but the wonderful part of a face to face class is encouraging everyone to make their design their own.  One mermaid ended up with a stunning head of blonde curls!