Grow – Create – Relate
Inside the studio, mind and art process of Lilliane Wilde
June 2014
Last weekend I headed up to Sydney for the Staedler Yen Art Awards at Gaffa. It was a great opportunity to see the other finalists work in person and enjoy the celebration of female talent. There was an incredible diversity of work. If you are in Sydney it is worth a look before it closes on June 23.
May the EARTH element nourish you.
May you surrender your weight and worries to her.
May you honour her in return.
This precious home.
One morning, he woke up and considered – if everything truly is connected then she was that moon, that star and the earth upon which he hopped. And sitting in that moment, as he fell in love with it all, down to his tail and up to his ears, he relaxed.
May the moonlight guide your way across the sea of stars that is you.
I have recently been using short prose to unlock the unspoken experiences that accompany death.
I see you before me
I know you as me.
When the path meets.
She didn’t look like the others
with their long wing span
nor could she echo their song.
But each time they met on the wires –
she puffed out her chest
and allowed her heart to
gently rock
as they landed then lifted
off once again.
How do we define our sense of belonging?
And what happens in those moments when an absence is felt or a new presence enters?
The death of my grandfather who blessed me with afternoons spent painting in his shed drew these questions into sharp focus. I suddenly became aware of the preciousness of seemingly mundane objects and ordinary moments shared, which later inspired the composition of Self Portrait (oil on canvas).
The notion of belonging re-emerged when I moved from my home town of Melbourne to pursue the long held dream of living in ‘the country’.
Suddenly everything was unfamiliar and the long process of taking root began through moments of repetition and re-tracing experience until they became familiar; a street corner that was visited every morning on my way to work, a favoured route on my bike, the slow familiarity with shop keepers and neighbours.
During this time, almost daily, a group of birds began to visit the electrical wires outside my window. For the next 9 months I began recording their visits. I wanted to know what their interaction would sound like if their movement across the wires was translated into notes on a page.
What was the effect on the whole when one left or came, when they jumped about, gathered in groups or sat patiently out on their own?
More and more, I have begun to treasure the fleeting and mundane moments.
Sharing a cup of tea, a walk or a meal.
In order to explore this idea I asked those people who have been birds on my wire to choose objects of significance to them and used these as inspiration to continue the series of still lives, each offering a portrait of a treasured soul in my life. Through these works I have attempted to capture the value of simple objects, symbols of how we come to understand ourselves and express who we are to the outside.
Ties that Bind will be on exhibition at Segue, Stratford Courthouse until Saturday 21 November
There’s nothing like a deadline to get the creative juices going! More and more I am finding the ability to sit and be present with the creative process is more important than the technique and application of painting itself. For me, sometimes the sense of forcing to sit and paint is physically painful and yet if I were to wait for inspiration to strike, to linger until that sweet spot presented itself nothing would get done. I think every individual is different about how they approach this, but here’s what I find works for me when I have a deadline and also face resistance:
1. Acknowledge the block / resistance
Take some time to actually feel it. How is it presenting itself? Pain the body? Foggy in the head? Distraction or craving based?
2. Open up to the idea that there is more
It will pass, be open to the shift … otherwise surrender to it – what does it want? A nap? A walk? A sit in a café? A sit in front of the TV to zombie out for a while with the awareness that when its done, its done and then move on.
3. Prepare
For the Japanese calligraphy artist, lovingly grinding their ink was the time to get their head in the right space. For me, my brushes and paint have never been lovingly cared for I have to admit. But I do like to have a good environment so that I can switch my organising head off and turn my creative head on!
5. Define what you want to achieve
Beginning with parameters in place allows the left side of the brain to have a plan and feel like someone is in charge!
4. Breath
The importance of breath came up in conversation with a friend who has recently commenced fire arms training. She described how she was being trained to coordinate her breath with accurately firing a weapon and I realised that I do exactly the same thing when I paint. It is also an indicator of when to stop!
5. Know when to stop
Before you get over tired and over work a piece, always end on a high – nothing is set in stone. You can re-visit it in the morning! Create some momentum in your practice by finishing with still a little something to achieve next time! I always need another project lined up before the one at hand finishes for this reason.
Moving from Melbourne to Gippsland two years ago in October has altered the way I perceive people, place and the fragility of what we perceive as permanence and the present moment. This exhibition will mark that journey by exploring the threads and ties that bind us through video installation and a series of paintings depicting our connections to each other and the temporal nature of our place in the present.
Segue – Stratford Courthouse
26 October – 19 November
Last week I sat down for a morning meditation and looking out the window noticed a group of birds on the electrical wires outside. As they moved about amongst themselves, some coming and some going, they began to resemble the notes on a page of music. I filmed them to later translate their movement into a composition and while sitting down to view the footage at the piano was struck by how fleeting a moment in time and particular combination of elements (be they family, friends, feelings) are. The void that was left as one bird flew off, left a space for something new to emerge and the various connections and disconnections as they jumped from one wire to the next released the monotony that would have ensued if they had sat still and isolated in their own little world. Now each time I look up at birds on the wires and wonder – what music are you creating up there?
The Nutrition Pod in Sale is the latest stockist to support locally made, bespoke products from the Lilliane Wilde range. This general store in the main street of Sale offers the old-school service of whole foods, bought in bulk and sold for individual consumption in the tradition of the co-op! What a relief to see these stores popping up and offering an alternative to the super-markets! Thanks Nutrition Pod!
The first cold night in the new studio! This design was sketched in the deserts of the Kimberly last year. Unlike painting, silk screening pushes me to condense an object/image into its most concentrated form. Stripped of tones, and shadows in the conventional sense, how do you convey these things to the eye while forcing the paint through the lens of a template? I experimented last night with marbling the paint to create movement in these otherwise flat objects and the design uses negative space to offer relief, and the suggestion of reflected light, from the outlined shape. In the cold of the art cave it was good to reconnect with the warmth of the Kimberly!
Had a lovely lazy Sunday down at the local bowls club followed by some still life set up time – working with the themes of object, weight and the experience of time and memory. Why do some objects gather soo much value while others we are happy to leave by the side? These kitchen scales were used by my sister, cousin and myself to bake scones at Nana’s. I often see similar sets of scales in op shops – and somehow think – although identical – they’re not the same as mine!
I heard a saying this week while listening to a talk by Tim Cope; If you have to rush, rush slowly.
It has resonated with me.
When I read the phrase ‘Slow Textiles’ recently on social media, my initial reaction was a quick turning of the eyes skyward – another slogan to be added to the Hipster Dictionary. Images of fermenting linen danced across my mind. Putting my inner cynic to the side, I let the words linger a little longer.
In so many ways life is on a fast track like never before. We crave convenience to such an extent that we have become not only willing, but eager consumers. Searching out the latest, shiniest, what is trending, being hit, shared, liked, pinned.
Slow, from a conditioned point of view, is tainted with negative interpre
tation; behind the eight ball, not up to speed, yesterday’s news. And yet there is such value in the ability to pause, breath a moment longer, make space for another way, an alternative thought, or if you are brave enough to relinquish the control of inner dialogue, allow just for a moment, no thought at all.
To rush slowly, evoked in me that inner balance. Cope described it as the midway point between passion and patience, between the need to have ambition, to feel propelled forward, to have a goal and yet to be gentle, to tread lightly as you move forward and find the way that honours yourself and others simultaneously.
This creative process, between action and inaction, can take you into the places that are alive and beyond your imagination. It happens when you are living in cooperation with something that is greater than the small version of yourself. It takes an inner bravery that is very quite, very still. It doesn’t have slogans or a tag and is far too often missing from our lives today.
To rush slowly. What a lovely combination of words to cross my path this week.
A sneak peek of a new shirt design that is just about at completion! The inspiration for the silhouette of this design came from the female fashion of the 1920s, when women were exploring a freedom of expression that, for me represents strength and femininity combined.This top is constructed with fabric from my vintage collection, with a modern detail for the exposed yoke detail.
I heard a quote today (and I am usually fastidious about referencing all quotes- a habit from University days), but tonight I am content to paraphrase;
It is what people make, not what they say or do, that tells you about humanity. Study what they make.
I have made a
study of what people make and never had much patience for what people say and a terrible memory of what they do. It was an extremely gratifying TV bite and was one ingredient of today that got me back to the canvas. The others were rain, the prospect of the working week and that indescribable sense of anticipation, which sometimes masks its self as anxiety that come when an artist has spent little time expressing herself and too much time avoiding.
This week has come to an end with a great deal of reflection. Having lost a dear friend.
She made something of her life and it was a privilege to have been a small part of it. As in the last still life (Self Portrait), this piece features objects 
of significance to my past; my grandfathers camera I inherited, a tin can – the same my grandmother would put on the stove to boil an egg and limes from the garden where I last lived. Peg, my friend who passed away last week, was my next door neighbour. I gardened for her and she nick-named me Green Boots, for the bright green Crocs I would wear when I spent time in her garden. We treasured every minute and didn’t waste a crumb or sip of cuppa tea together. She was everything a woman of her generation was meant to be.
Silk screened denim, patch-work pieced vintage wool and velvet, a sampling of hessian and a vintage button to fasten these lined purses brings together all that is delicious is the world of textiles. Available in three sizes, clutch, case and purse at Etsy.
Last weekend I headed up to Sydney for the Staedler Yen Art Awards at Gaffa. It was a great opportunity to see the other finalists work in person and enjoy the celebration of female talent. There was an incredible diversity of work. If you are in Sydney it is worth a look before it closes on June 23.
With much delight I have noticed the Peasant top making a come back.
This variation was made with B4686 Butterick (A).
I strayed from the pattern slightly and found the instruction for the collar useless.
To create the contrasts, I reversed the front inlay to make a feature of it (see detail photos below) and added a lace edge.
I used a dark navy blue cotton for inside the collar and also hand stitched the collar (inside edge) and used calico to re-enforce both the collar and the front panel.
B4686 Butterick (A)
This weekend took me up a mountain to see a house build into a mountain. The full submersion of the roof appears to have not been completed and the owners were yet to move in, but the pizza oven was fired up and people came to admire, more than anything the views at the top of the rather slippery drive way. It gave me a sense of what this design which, I have admired for many years actually feels like. Away from the screen of Grand Designs I was surprised by how claustrophobic the back rooms felt, despite sky lights and if money permitted would have gone with a wrap around and more frontal aspects. However such great admiration for this couple who have spent the last 25 years planning and are now living their dream.
A little sneak peak, mvoing from underpainting to colour layering:
At this stage I’ve completed most of the shadow work and under-painting, with some detail started on the camera, string and bowl.
This camera was inherited from a collection that my Grandfather had build over many years. The collection moved from shelves inside his house to needing its very own outhouse at the back of their old property.
He worked as a projectionist and later a technician at the local Tech. He could fix anything. Speakers, electrical circuits… you name it. His love of gadgets and waste not want not attitude of both my Nana and Popa have inspired this series of still life. The upturned bowl was one of a series that were used for the Christmas pudding each year. The granddaughters inherited them in hope of keeping the tradition alive.
I recently combined the Bunny and Moon Silk Screen Design on two quilts. One for a full size single and the other a Baby Quilt. The hill that the bunny is sitting on provided the perfect space to embroider a blessing for bub.
I combined Vintage Fabrics with a collection of Kimono scraps from Made in Japan which they sell at a pretty reasonable price. The piecing was done by hand and the finished quilts hand quilted and kept simple by sticking to the square edges.
Very excited to have been selected as one of the 2014 Yen Art Award Finalists.
For a full list of the finalists see:
This lovely pair of meditation cushions were custom made with fabric sent to me by my customer. I added the handle from my collection. When creating any item, an important part of the process for me is having the person wh
o will be using it in mind. My motivation for making something out of nothing comes because it addresses a need. Loving intention begins, from cutting the fabric, sewing the seams to filling and stuffing. When I put a knitted jumper or pair of socks on made from hand their is a different affect that it has on me than a store bought item. This is the stuff of relationship. It was a little hard parting with these two …they ended up looking soo soft and cuddly!
The town of Stratford on the river Avon is home to the Stratford Courthouse and Segue Art Cafe where you can find a small vegetable garden, theatre, coffee and arts/crafts Cafe. You can also now purchase the Patch range of Hemp Tea Towels here. For more information about the Courthouse Theatre see:
http://www.stratfordcourthouse.com.au/index.html
You may have heard of Buckwheat, perhaps in a Japanese Restaurant while ordering a plate of Soba noodles. Buckwheat hulls are dark outer shell of the buckwheat husk and are ideal as a weight bearing cushion filler due to their durability and strength. It is also noted that due to the amount of air circulating in and around the buckwheat husks, and as they do not collapse underweight, these air pockets allow for a lower degree of body heat to be absorbed by the cushion, making for a much cooler and comfortable meditation session.
The plant is an ideal weed redundant due to its fast growth season and is a successful wheat alternative in Japan, Tibet and China due to its ability to grow in harsh environments. If you are in Japan and looking for an authentic Soba Noodle experience you cannot miss the town of Izushi, in the Hyogo Prefecture. Buckwheat flour is used more commonly in the West as an alternative for wheat allergies and make a lovely nutty flavoured pancake, however consider using more milk, or in the case of bread, water when using buckwheat flour due to its high absorbancy rate. Buckwheat Crepes with blue cheese and a glass or white wine are just about the most perfect combination either in France, or if you can find an authentic Crepery. This delicacy is also shared in Russia, and is known as blinis.
In Japan buckwheat husks have been used for many years to fill the tradition zafu cushion. Lilliane Wilde meditation cushion have used 100% Buckwheat husks for filling for 8 years and cushions that have been used daily during this time have not required re-filling.
Most of the work in a still life is getting the right set up.
I have recently been working with objects as narrative and wanted to share the set up process.
I start with a collection of objects and usually put too many together and slowly take them away until the right combination comes about.
Then I use at least three lamps to get multiple shadows. Consider the warmth or coolness of the wall and the shadows and remember photoshop of filter software can assist in creating the desired affect.
If you don’t have coloured lamps then simply paint some acrylic colour onto the top of the globe.
Soil to Stars 