collecting feathers

It has been seven days since I last blogged...I feel I should go to  confession!

I am finally on the road to recovery after about a month of being confined to the couch, remote in one hand, cup of tea in the other. During that time I have felt like Katy (What Katy Did), or worse, her long suffering Cousin Helen. On reflection, I can't draw any comparison to Cousin Helen, she was an angel in her suffering, so good and self-sacrificing in her fortitudes. I, on the other hand, when faced with illness, turn into a diva/drama queen, and could put Garbo's performance as Camille to shame.

Anyhoo, yesterday was my first day at Bangalow Markets in the Moller Pavilion. (Yes I know, it is like closing the gates after the horse has bolted, but it can be a kernal of thought for next month)

Situated in an old showground building just above the oval, it is a local consortium of artists called Art on the Move, who feel that art shouldn't be confined to galleries,  supervised by artist Marika Bryant. They are a wonderful supportive group of people. It is so comforting being up in this building as it is high and dry...no problems if it rains and my paper products getting wet and flying around in the breezes.

My 'Potager' jewellery went very well. Of  everything I make, this is the most rewarding. I use vintage doilies, the kind that are contain different colours and separate flowers, to make hairclips, brooches and necklaces. When I make them, unpicking every doily, I enter into a kind  mediatative state and imagine the women before me who have laboured over the doilies to create something of beauty for their homes and to satisfy the creative urge that I believe that everyone has. I consider this "womans work", this craft,  to be a form of artwork in itself.

It is wonderful that other like-minded people appreciate the skill and time it took to make these doilies and are happy to adorn themselves with my little creations.

The Bangalow Markets are every fourth week of the month.