Lime (Mary Edna Fraser) and the Coconuts (various talented musicians) reach to the past for swing standards and tunes that make you want to tap your feet. Guitarist and vocalist Roger Bellow plays almost anything with strings other than a puppet. In the circle of superlative pickers he is a cherished music man. On the ukulele is Sandy Hines who sounds like the female lead singer on a scratchy old time record and Noodle with his magician fingers on the frets. Jeff Narkiewicz plays doghouse bass and David Hinson’s vintage drums round out the sound. Adding to the jocularity are the velvet voices of Berita Martin and Anne Goold as well as Keith Namm’s sexy sax and clarinet.
My dear friend De, her mother Mrs. Grebner, and daughter Autumn and I went in the rain to the Kazari www.kazari.com.au warehouse called Ziguzagu in Melbourne. I rummaged through 5 boxes of vintage white kimono silks each 13.5″ wide. My purchases were two bolts and 3 yards of damask silks.
De’s home is a walled garden of fruit trees, flowers and seedlings she is growing to replant in Australia, often for places burned by devastating fire. (The images above capture just some of her beautiful plantings.)
WILSONS PROMONTORY BATIK
There is a 14 hours time change from Charleston, so it felt good to let jet lag subside before teaching for the TAFTA Forum, The Australian Forum for Textile Arts, Ltd. www.tafta.com.au
The Geelong Forum is on a campus about an hour and a half from Melbourne on the water where Antarctic winds blow in cold air across Tasmania. The cafeteria looks like Harry Potter could fly in any minute. This is the kind of school that Prince Charles attended. Beautiful grounds are the path to my class of 11 housed in a huge woodworking classroom with lots of tables and high ceilings.
Sunday night was the opening of my exhibition with three other textile artists at the Sinclaire Gallery followed by our 15 minute presentations in the auditorium. There are 350 textile lovers here, the forum is like a magnet for women who love surface design.
I have many good friends from my workshops in 2007 and already arranged a trip to teach in England and also travel to Darwin and fly the northern Australian coast. So exciting to be here. There are folks here who sell to the trade, and I can buy rare vintage Kimonos… One was purchased for my grands and one for MEF! Also, hiding was a bolt of exquisite white damask kimono silk, which I will dye when I get home.
Mary Edna is on a great adventure to Australia, one of her favorite destinations. While touring Australia she will visit with friends, shop for Kimono Silk, lecture, teach and exhibit her Kimono Silk batiks.
Her journey begins…
Dear Friends,
I am in the Sydney Airport after being delayed a full day in travel by the flooding in Atlanta and dust storm halting all traffic here. Looks like Mother Nature is getting a little climate change revenge.
Tonight I land in Melbourne where my college buddy, De Grebner, will take me out to hear music, visit nature and regenerate my system. She works to replant trees www.treeproject.asn.au. We went to East Carolina University in NC together 1970 – 74. Maybe De will give me an interview of some of our escapades.
I shot some interesting aerials over the Rockies approaching LA and will try to get them posted over the next few days. The blue sky contrasted with the orange earth and dark mountains were engaging.
Mary Edna Fraser is a master of the ancient art of batik on silk. With the largest batiks in the world, she illustrates her bird’s eye view of threatened landscapes.
Captivated by the complex patterns from the air, she’s been photographing France, Indonesia, Australia, and most of the coastal U.S. for more than a quarter century. She often illustrates the immense undeveloped coastline of her South Carolina home, where beach, marsh, and mainland entwine. She works from her creek-side studio on James Island, where she exhibits her silks and monotypes.
She has been collaborating with Dr. Orrin Pilkey since 1993 beginning with a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum exhibition. In 2003, they published A Celebration of the World’s Barrier Islands (Columbia University Press), which included about 50 batiks. Their current book and exhibition about global warming will be put out by Duke University Press in 2010.
Exhibiting and lecturing internationally, she has been featured by Duke University, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and National Geographic. Private and public collectors include, most notably, the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, the New England Aquarium in Boston, the American Embassy in Thailand, and NASA. She has many commissioned works, including a collaboration with master blacksmith Phillip Simmons at the Charleston International Airport.
