My collection of Still Life original paintings and and prints will be on exhibition at
The Boroughs Store 345 Lygon St, Brunswick East VIC 3057.
March 18 to April 15
Open Thursday to Saturday 11- 4 pm
Show opens on Thursday 18th March with a small celebratory opening at 6:30pm.
It has been such a pleasure to be back at the print table. While I had been teaching for so many years, finding time for creating work had been at a premium. I now find that with the establishment of the Sunshine Print Artspace I can actually start screen printing again. Setting up a screen print studio is no mean feat. Firstly, you need lots of room especially if you are interested in printing lengths of fabric. Then you need all the rest of the equipment like exposure units, wash troughs, light boxes, ink mixing benches and if you have concerns about water and waste you need to install all your filtrations systems. Not necessarily suitable for a domestic studio.
It’s surprising how quickly I found myself returning to the rhythm of the squeegee pull.
Now for a collection of recycled cotton scarves and the ever useful tea towel.
I am so fortunate to have the opportunity travel. My favourite place is textile heaven – India. Apart from the most extraordinary range of textiles in the world, everything a textile designer could possibly desire is there – India is a visual feast.
The colours are mesmerising and full of joy, texture and pattern abound – everything from the architecture to fragments of debris scattered on the street or the remains of posters layers on the walls bordering major roadways, beautifully painted trucks and finely painted henna to celebrate a wedding , huge bundles of flowers at the flower markets ready to be strung together and taken to the temple. I find it so inspiring. The images below were taken in Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur.
Orange, fuchsia, turquoise, purple joy ! Take me there………………
Today I have finally done a workshop on how to use WordPress properly… Phew that took a long time. The workshop was through Creativelive… awesome.. https://www.creativelive.com/ .
What great courses they offer. So be prepared world for a whole lotta new things.
Best news of all. Had such a great time learning and being with folks – students and teaching colleagues in the land of incredible textiles – India
Images of printed textiles exhibited at Craft Victoria, Melbourne Victoria, From the two sides to every story collection.
It is the end of semester andI have to tell the world that I have had such a wonderful time teaching two first year groups drawing and textile design. What a delight – great work, enthusiastic and creative students and 16 weeks of fun. I hope to share some of their designs with you, but will need to get permission first.
Today I have been reworking and recolouring some designs for the next Tigerprint contest . The theme is florals – my favourite. So here they are….
Here is another version of the motif development project.. a very simple design – two motifs and all-over layout . Could work as a print for summer dress….. we are not talking about trends here,just about what a design might look like on a product…..
It’s March…long time between posts and what a lot has happened….. I can only say I am relieved that 2013 is over. It was one of the most challenging years I have ever had. It was full of sadness and loss – on so many levels. But, in December I travelled to India to attend the Samaanata Round Table which was the final leg of the Sangam Project, another inspirational project initiated by Kevin Murray. ‘Samaanata’ means ‘equal respect’ in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. What a joy Samaanaata was ! I met some extraordinary people, doing extraordinary things undertaking creative projects that engage communities on a range of different levels. There was such positivity and enthusiasm amongst the participants who were keenly interested in creating collaborative partnerships, developing hand made craft items and then finding a way to get them to market.
Another highlight of visiting Bangalore was the opportunity to catch up with Graduates NIFT Textile Design Diploma – Kakoli Das, Partho Sinha, Rakesh Kumar and Vani Kannan who I taught in Delhi in 2001. They are all successfully working as Textile Designers and it was great to share their experiences working in the industry…and with Kakoli exchanging ideas about Textile Design teaching practices. So as I roll further into 2014 I look forward to having a creative, collaborative, sharing, engaging and enjoyable year as I return to teaching textile design… I think it will be so much more fun.
Painted wall ( above) in the Tipu Sultan’s Palace Bangalore looks very similar to this wall a chapel on a hill side on southern Spain near Jerez de la Frontera
It has been too long between creative breaks. I am now in the very fortunate position of being able to take some time out from my full time job. I am taking this opportunity to return to painting, drawing and manipulating imagery using Photoshop and Illustrator and to reflect on textile design practice and teaching.
I have also made time to join the Moreland Community Garden, which has enabled me to fullfil a dream of having a decent space in which to have a garden (but also all the enormous benefits of sharing and meeting new people) . I am also a volunteer with the Tree Project which again is helping me fulfill my desire to grow things. And will most likely squeeze some travel into this short space of time. I am so happy to be able to mix all these passions together and see what comes out the other end.
So, for my first post. I picked these berries on the way to the garden last week.
Here is one of my first sketches… Winter Berries
A sketch using gouache and watercolour
Julia Raath 