When the idea was first put forward to spend a day in Rushworth working on a textile piece of art together as a group, I found the idea interesting as I realized this idea was something I could be involved in and had an interest in. Most of the events planned at Splinter Contemporary Artists Group I am unable to join in with as I am not an active artist.
This winter has been a particular cold winter and I had a little belief that by the time our day would arrive to spend in the bush at Rushworth we would have some nice weather, but no. The weather forecast was for a particular bleak day. But I guess someone was on our side because the weather though particularly cold at least was sunny and we did not see the rain that was possible except for a very few drops. Out came all our winter woollies to cope with the day. During the week, my daughter produced her first ever handmade crochet beanie as a surprise to me; she was unaware I was looking to purchase one before our day in the bush but had little hope of finding such an item in Shepparton before the day as I was seeking an “arty beanie.” The beanie was exactly what I had envisaged I wanted.
What made this day special for myself to spend in the “bush at Rushworth” was the day was my first “day out” in approx. 18th months. During the last couple of years I have had limited mobility and hence restricted social life; I was not an active member of “Splinters” during this time. These issues are all behind me now and it was great to have my day out normally.
On arrival at the venue we gathered at the front of this quaint rustic home, only small but beautiful, set out amongst the bush environment, so much to see and absorb. An ideal setting and camp fire set up with rustic seating, right at the front of the house, easy to imagine the occupiers of the home spending many a long hour partaking in the joys of life there. The dog “Molly” had her own bed set up on the verandah in the warmest place.
In time the saucepans, pots, jars, bark etc. all appeared to begin our journey of turning our silk scarves into a piece of art work. It was great to see the concept of dye being produced from just a natural source. Different folks had brought different items to contribute to our creative task.
My end result was taking 2 scarves home that had been dyed with ironbark dye and a wattle bark. I tried tying some knots in one and beeswax on another. Carried my 2 jars home that contained a scarf soaking in the dyes and a couple of days later washed them out. The scarves had taken to the dyes but no pattern as such was achieved by my knots or beeswax. They are too plain for my liking.
Over the next few days I attempted to add to them with some spices in the cupboard but this idea failed. There are no suitable plants in our garden to use so as a last resort I tried the house spices. Now I believe I will need to try out some of the fabric dyes I sell; it is my job to test the products I sell. The rustic iron drawing wall was a special feature. Fancy drawing with ochre! I only wrote a small message due to my lack of drawing skills. My message was “Hello ironbark country.”
The ironbark country has always held a special place for me. I remember days when my mother and our family would travel to Rushworth and explore the country for native vegetation and I have memories of the “orchids” that were unique to the area. The display of gold panning equipment and mines. At ‘Whroo’ there was an auction once, selling the earlier settler’s belongings. The auction was crowded and I only managed to buy a very small ceramic specimen vase, very old. One house I owned had an ironbark tree at the front door which was too large a tree for a small block of land.
We all shared a lovely lunch and generally it was just a relaxing day surrounded by our Australian Eucalypts & fauna and out the front gate going home were kangaroos to be sighted, over the road.
Photographs courtesy of Meg Doller
