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Lover, Mother, Fibre Artist and Flowmad

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After growing up as the youngest of seven children in the fundamentalist cult of mormonism, life was never going to be ordinary was it.  I got out as soon as I could and hitchhiked and back packed around Europe for a year at 18, happening to be in Berlin when the wall came down. 

 

Then back home I gave it a go to be a part of and observe, as many different minority groups and belief systems as a white woman could.  I learnt about paradox and projection, and how the most important thing I could pursue, was being my deep down self and telling my truth. 

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Conceived my first daughter at the age of 21 whilst selling Life Insurance on the North Shore in Sydney, and birthed her in Katoomba of the Blue Mountains as a single mother.  Which was an opening into whole other worlds, of goddess worship, feminism, attachment parenting, bisexuality and then lesbianism. 

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At 28 I decided it was time to start fresh, moved to South Australia and met the love of my life and 'strong hairy man' Currawong, on a trip back to the Mountains.  We courted for two years, our biggest commitment to each other being complete honesty, and then spent our thirties conceiving and birthing seven babies,  in deep love and lust. 

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At 30 I got my first spinning wheel from my mother, who also got hers at 30, and a brand new obsession was born.  And not long after that, we also birthed the second farmers market in Australia, in Macclesfield, S.A, which was an explosion of community and creativity.   We traveled twice around the country with our growing family, learning to live in our Toyota Commuter, and visiting many famous markets and festivals along the way.  We called ourselves Flowmads - Nomads that go with the flow.

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At 40 we decided to move to the Northern Rivers area of N.S.W, and fell in love with Nimbin, being asked to run it's monthly market and getting deeply involved with the local farmers markets and festivals and communities.  It was the most local, organic, sustainable and off the grid we'd ever lived, and all was going swimmingly, till one of our children got Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in 2016, and we moved to the middle of the city in Brisbane,  and embarked on nearly three years of chemotherapy.

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This time was a massive test of every form of mindfulness and meditation I'd ever learnt about in the textile world, and also of my strong belief in the law of the equal and opposite reaction.  So the people and places and ideas that showed up in this traumatic time, were equally epic and amazing.  I found myself making huge sculptures and creating textile representations of Birth, Sex, and Death.  And got involved in a community run gallery and had my first ever solo exhibition. 

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And more recently we've moved to acreage on the outskirts of Brisbane, and are living as sustainably as possible, while searching for community further out. 

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This was our family in 2016,  just before leukaemia hit

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Our Family in 2016
Handmade Rope Labyrinth

And Just Lately.....

I've been really into labyrinths, cotton growing and utilising, and creating sculpture gardens.

I drew myself a chalk 7 circuit labyrinth on this circle one day, and realised that there was a cross in the middle, and two distinct lines that could be laid out with rope.  So I got busy making rope and using the rope I'd already made, and laid out my very own labyrinth on the grass.  Imagine my delight when I realised I could use the same ropes to also make a narrower 11 circuit labyrinth as well!

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I've also been growing and making with the Gossypium Barbadense Cotton plant, which is only 1% of the cotton grown in Australia, with 99% being Gossypium Hirsutum in a toxic arrangement with mono-culture and the industrial complex  Barbadense offers exciting opportunities in sustainability and cottage industry.

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And I have many multidimensional yarns around fibre sculpture gardens that just have to come out.....

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Spinning at Nimbin Monthly Market

Where I've Been

2001 - Got my first spinning wheel and taught myself how to spin.

2003 - Started the second Farmers Market in the country in SA, and my fibre

           creations exploded.  During our 5 year stint as managers, we created a

           number of mini festivals, including 'Hippies, Hotrods and Horsepower'

           and the 'Freedom Festival'.

2005 - Engaged in a group wearable arts SALA exhibition in Willunga

           organised by Evelyn Roth.

2005 - Participant in Beanie Festival in Alice Springs.

2005 - Installation at Rainbow Serpent Festival, VIC.

2005 - Participant in Gobbledegook Festival in Kuitpo, SA.

2005 - Performance Art at the Tent Embassy in Canberra, ACT.

2005 - Organised the best Strawberry Fete ever in Macclesfield, SA.

2006 - Created an installation at a Fringe group exhibition in Macclesfield, SA. 

2008 - Owned and operated a Studio/Gallery in Peterborough, SA.

2008 - Recipient of special mention from Scarf Festival at Craft Victoria, Melbourne.

2009 - 2010 - Asst. organiser of Tribal Fibres for Adelaide Fringe Festival, Hahndorf.

2010 - Participant in group exhibition, 'Unravelled', at Red Poles Gallery in Willunga.

2013 - 2016 - Market organiser and host of a fibre installation at Nimbin market.

2013 - Created an installation at Dragonflight Festival in QLD.

2013 - Created outdoor yarn bombing fibre installation at Angels Rest, NSW.

2014 - Did a book launch for my self published book - Post Phyber Philosophy -

           at Sustainability Alley at the Nimbin Show.

2014 - 2018 - Participant, MC and guest of honour at the annual

           Blue Knob Farmers Market Fibre Festival.

2015 - Exhibited two wearable art outfits in the Nimbin Mardi Grass Parade.

2015 - Conducted a Spinning and Fibre workshop in a yurt in Byron Bay, NSW.

2015 - Participated in 'Small Things', a group fibre exhibition at

           The Channon Art Gallery, NSW.

2016 - Asst. organiser of the Weave and Mend Basketry Festival in Nimbin, NSW.

2016 - Instigator of community garden and weaving garden beds in

           Mingle Park, Nimbin, NSW.

2016 - Instigator of Stitch and Enrich crafting circle every saturday at

           Blue Knob Farmers Market.

2017 - Participated in West End Markets for three months.

2018 - Became part of the artists collective at Urban Paradise Gallery in Brisbane.

2019 - First ever solo exhibition at Urban Paradise Gallery from the

           15th March till the 5th April.

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