Fashion Babes, 2014
41 x 41 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, hand stitching – The weedy sea dragon is my favourite animal and is very elegant. Its elegance and fashion is analogous to fashion models. 

Fashionista, 2012–13
112 x 53 cm, silk chiffon, hand stitching – I see sea dragons (my favourite animal) as creatures of elegance and elusive beauty which may echo haute couture.

Figure Out (The Horror of Confinement), 2006
106 x 100 cm, hand dyed cotton, painted polyester taffeta, heat cutting, hand stitching – The figures have broken out of the constraints of the past as well as the present ones. They have their freedom. Since we are pack animals, confinement of any kind especially solitary confinement is a horror. 

At present there is no visual record of this work.

First Light, 1992
121 x 91 cm, cotton, satin, machine stitching – The subtleties of darkness as dawn breaks, using a variety of blacks.

Flood Plane, 2005
75 x 111 cm, hand dyed cottons, polyester, coarse cotton thread, synthetic, fusible web overlay, hand stitching – Exploring layering.

Flotsam, 2005
121 x 88 cm, hand dyed, heat cut, hand painted polyester, cotton, cheese cloth, hand stitching, hand tying – Stuff found at low tide.

Four Weeks in Europe, 2013
94 x 60 cm, linen, hand stitching.

Full Fathom Five, 2015–16
102 x 62 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, hand stitching – Sea matter in the deep. The title is a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. Acquired 2019 Janet Holmes à Court Collection.

G’Day Gaddafi, 1989
90 x 202 cm, cottons, polyester cotton, rayon, machine piecing, hand appliqué, hand quilting – The sense of dazzle and swirl inside a traditional tent common in the Middle East. Colonel Gaddafi’s is spectacular. Is there the suggestion of blood drops and bullet holes? 

Gingin Summer, 1981
142 x 142 cm, cotton, hand piecing, hand quilting – This is an attempt to explore, in pieced work, the shapes and colours of some of the indigenous plants of the Gingin area, Western Australia… kangaroo paw, banksia, xanthorrhoea, Western Australian Christmas Tree (the largest mistletoe in the world: a tree up to 10m), a grevillea, a purple bell and leaf forms. The colours reflect not only the plants but also the bright light and deep shade of summer. The design is within the constraints of concentric circles or segments of such. 

Got Ya, 2022
71 x 78 cm, satin, cottons, polyester on synthetic silk back ground, hand stitched –  A progression of shapes being captured into the central shape.  

Go With The Flow, 2022
22 x 44 cm, nylon organza, rayon –
I started messing about with transparent fabrics and one thing led to another.

Golden Shadows, 1980’s
164 x 122 cm, cotton, machine stitching, hand quilting – Traditional technique explored in non-traditional fabrics. 

Golden Soil on Fire, 2019–20
53 x 68 cm, hand dyed, screen printed cotton, linen, hand stitching – At the time the golden soil was on fire 2019–20.

Grevillea, 1980’s,
140 x 142 cm, cotton, appliqué – Personal design in Hawaiian style for Australian native plant.

Grishkin in her Garden Considers Mr Klimt, 1991
147 x 108 cm, hand drawn, heat transfer dyed rayon, silk, nylon, cotton, hand and machine stitching – I am very drawn to the work of Gustav Klimt, especially his imagination with and passion for the female form and the use of textile-like background. At the same time, lines from TS Elliot often pop into mind and Grishkin probably would have intrigued Klimt and vice versa. "Grishkin is nice, her Russian eye is underlined for emphasis. Uncorsetted, her friendly bust gives promise of pneumatic bliss". I have forgotten how the scansion goes and which of Elliot’s poems she is in (Sweeny Agonistes?). She has become a more elegant, proper lady than her gypsy self. It is unclear whether the garden is real or made of the fabrics which enfold her.

Gumnut Blossom, 1980's
74 x 79 cm, cotton, machine stitch, raw edge appliqué – Personal design in Hawaiian style for Australian native plant

Heart Trace: #1 Five Acres, 1996
138 x 125 cm, shellacked muslin, dyed calico, linen and cotton threads, hand stitching – Many people yearn to work the soil, live with the land, its fruits and grasses. As well as satisfaction, there well may be heartbreak. There are limitations to ownership, and climate is a hard taskmaster. In this piece there are the dry curls of summer and fences… Nothing suggests ease of growth and juiciness. I live in a water-short state where only the southernmost tip is lush and juicy. 

Heart Trace: #2 Grass Mother, 1996
137 x 125 cm, shellacked, painted, fused cotton muslin, linen, hand stitching – This quilt is to do with my work medium - textiles. The grasses play a large part in the production of fibre and textile. 

Heart Trace: #3 Sacred Sighting, 1997
160 x 110 cm, shellacked, painted cotton, silk, hand stitching – This piece expresses a sense of the sacred. The glimpses are often fleeting, ephemeral, but at times, piercing. Layers often have to be peeled back.

Heart Trace: #4 Generation, 1997
160 x 132 cm, shellacked, painted, glued muslin, calico, linen and silk thread, constructed forms, hand and machine stitching – This piece concerns the link which is between all forms of life. Every thing alive depends on every thing alive.

Hide and Seek, 2016
83 x 27 cm, dyed silk, embroidery threads, hand stitching – Patterns and colours. A combination of stitching and drawing on fabric.

Hi Paul (They All Twitter Now), 2016
40 x 40 cm, linen, cotton embroidery thread, hand stitching – Reference to Paul Klee’s “The Twittering Machine” and extending on to electronic twittering.

Holiday Spirits, 2001
72 x 53 cm, dyed fabric, drawn, heat sealed, embellished, fabric gluing, vestigial quilting – Drawn to express freedom and high spirits and nice things. 

Homage at Dusk, 1992
90 x 88 cm, cotton and synthetic, appliqué, reverse appliqué, hand stitching – I am fond of a male wattlebird (a ‘wattler’) which feeds in a grevillea outside a window. It delights in teasing the cat and clacks and squawks and generally lays down the law to everything in sight. Nevertheless it is gentle with the blossom and feeds with great elegance. It is especially active at dawn and dusk.

How Are Your Rugs Going Mrs C?, 2007
94 x 59 cm, hand spun wool, stitch
– A response to comments by Noel. 

Ice Creams, 1978
150 x 95 cm, cotton, Suffolk Puffs, hand stitching – Made for Angela’s 18th birthday.

Innocent Menaces, 2021
25 x 45 cm, satin stranded cotton embroidery on silk – Without realising it’s import, gidgies, fishhooks, spears, nets and people walking casually all threaten the wellbeing of the native sea dwellers.

Interface, 1989
133 x 102 cm, cotton, transfer printed synthetic, hand and machine appliqué, machine piecing, hand and machine quilting – The relationship between plants, prints. Where different ideas come together.

It's All Moonshine, 2022
73 x 99 cm, satin and blue organza against synthetic silver background covered by a variegated net. Various figures, hand dyed fabrics – Do not take oneself too seriously. The shimmer of moonlight reflecting on grounded figures.

*James is 1, 1991
52 x 49 cm, cotton, lurex, polyester, fused raw edge appliqué, machine stitching. *Listed in Marjorie Coleman–Lyrical Stitch as Timmy is 1.

Kangaroo Paw, 1980's
109 x 110 cm, cotton, polyester, hand appliqué, machine piecing – Personal design in Hawaiian style for Australian native plant. 

Landscape (God works for Monsanto), 1990's
68 x 49 cm, hand dyed silk, cotton, hand and machine stitching – Irritation at Monsanto’s philosophy.

Leaf Litter, 2002
135 x 110 cm, hand dyed and commercial fabric, machine and hand piecing, machine quilting – Foliage, blossoms, seeds and detritus jumble in colour and shape on the forest floor. A return to an old theme of mine: the native plant form. This one is a stylized E. Pyriformis, a large fruited, gutsy mallee.

Lest I Forget, 2015
98 x 68 cm, woollen blanket, cotton, cotton thread, hand stitching – Memories and activities to do with my Father. A Gallipolli man and later a pioneer surveyor covering a great deal of Western Australia. He did the original survey of UWA. My Mother and I occasionally stayed with him on survey camps, though we usually lived on our farm in Denmark

Let the Cloth Speak: #1 Of Pioneers, 2000–01
110 x 46 cm, textile, newspaper, acrylic, twine, hand appliqué, hand and machine stitching – An attempt to let the medium (textile) alone express an idea instead of adding form. To tell through a single medium something of the life of pioneer women, that of hardship and make-do, of tents and whitewashed bag walls and simple cloth.

Let the Cloth Speak: #2 Of Princesses, 2000–01
110 x 43 cm, silk, cotton, hand appliqué, hand and machine stitching – This panel carries on the attempt made in a previous panel (Of Pioneers) in which the cloth alone speaks of a life, this of a soft, privileged life, whereas that of the pioneer woman was one of hardship and make-do.

At present there is no visual record of this work.

Lifeline, 2007
79 x 50 cm, silk, cotton, hand stitching – The image represents life on land, sea and air: all are interconnected.

Lifeline: #2 Land, Sea Air, 2015
113 x 46 cm, hand dyed linen, cotton threads, cotton tape, hand stitching – Land, sea and air – all lives connected.

Like, Crazy, 1986
 210 x 225cm, cotton, polyester, machine stitching, hand tying – A modern version of a crazy quilt.

Like, Don’t Like, 2015
71 x 54 cm, linen, various fabrics, cotton thread, hand stitching – I like native plants and find roses a cliché. 

Little Histories, 2016
160 x 18 cm, mixed media, glue, stitching – A series of 8 small panels connected vertically. Glamour, leavings, traces of silk, useful leftovers, finery, old politics, shoe accessories.

Littoral Piece, 1991
204 x 163 cm, assorted cottons, machine stitching – An expression of ocean reef shallows.

Log Cabin, (Front Side) 1990’s
213 x 230 cm, cotton, machine piecing. 

Log Cabin, (Reverse Side) 1990’s
213 x 230 cm, cotton, machine piecing.

Martha's 21st Quilt, 1984
237 x 210 cm, cotton, rayon, machine piecing, hand appliqué, trapunto, hand quilting – Made as a 21st present for a vibrant daughter. 

Memento Mori, 1989
109 x 95 cm, polished cotton, rayon, hand appliqué, machine embroidery, hand quilting – To mark the native plants overtaken by introduced crop plants. A personal memory.

Memo to Solomon, 1995
152 x 135 cm, painted and printed organza, lurex, hand and machine stitching – To see the beauty of fish when snorkelling reminds me of “Behold the lilies of the field; they sow not, neither do they reap yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these”. So how much more glorious are the fish?

Memory, 2014
150 x 50 cm, cotton, hand stitching – Note the division in the brain (right and left brain).

Menaces (Series): #1 Land (fire), 2007
63 x 59 cm, hand dyed cotton, polyester, stitching.

Menaces (Series): #2 Sea (longline fishing), 2007
67 x 65 cm, hand dyed cotton, found fabric, cord, stitching.

Menaces (Series): #3 Sky (cyclone), 2007
64 x 56 cm, hand dyed cotton, silk, polyester, stitching.

Menzies Banksia, 1980's
65 x 65 cm, cotton, hand appliqué, raw edges – Personal design in Hawaiian style for Australian native plant.

Moonflower, 1981
242 x 210 cm, cotton, hand piecing, hand quilting, decorative hand stitching – Expresses the delicate colour of a night-blooming plant which is strong and self-confident.

Moon Gaze #A, #B, #C (Vertical Triptych), 2018–19
116 x 51 cm, lamé, yarn, hand stitching – Text on artwork: #A ‘I gazed up and the moon was star-ing at me’, #B ‘The moon had an opinion’, #C ‘And…left’.

At present there is no visual record of this work.

Moore River, 1988 
15 x 23 cm, cotton, hand stitching
– A view from our house in Guilderton. 

My Grandmother's Garden, 1992
115 x 105 cm, cotton, heat fused, raw edge, machine stitching – The design inspiration was my Grandmother’s kettle and other familiar objects. It was made with distortions: distortions of childhood perceptions and memory. My Grandmother did not have a flower garden. Her real garden was the kitchen in which she grew in pots and jars. The copper kettle, I remember from childhood and just such a coffee jar. Reality distorted by childhood perception and memory.

Nailing the Memories, 2003
56 x 84 cm, hand dyed, burnt polyester, stitching – Remembering 7 very good years - Caloundra. Memories can be ephemeral. A reality check with regards to Seven Good Years. The image is the same but memories become dimmer and even the ties which hold the piece become somewhat detached. The base which supports the memory is quite misty (transparent). The image has to be “nailed” in place as it were.

Neighbourhood Watch, 1990
102 x 60 cm, hand printed cotton, hand and machine stitching – A climbing plant keeps an eye on the neighbours.

Nick's 50th, 2006
40 x 50 cm, cotton, polyester, stars, machine stitching, fused raw edge appliqué – Made for Nick’s 50th birthday.

Nick's Birthday Quilt, 2011
50 x 40 cm, hand dyed polyester, cotton, lurex, appliqué.

Noren #1, 1990’s
139 x 82 cm – For son Ben.

Noren #2, 1990’s
Dimensions unknown
– For son Ben.

Noren #3, and reverse side, 2020
Dimensions unknown– For son Ben.

Nursery Piece, 1994
54 x 54 cm, cotton, other fabrics, machine piecing, hand and machine appliqué, decorative stitching – This is a fun piece, made for a dear friend, without paying attention to logic, perspective or scale. The inspiration came from the arpilleras of South America. 

Pattern Pending, 1995
109 x 120 cm, cotton, heat transfer dyed fused polyester, drawing, stitching – One cannot but be startled when snorkelling, by the variety, colours and inventiveness of the patterns on reef fish. Ideas for decorating fabric could come straight from their colours, patterns and shapes which have a great deal of the kind of inventiveness which seems like whimsy. The reference in ‘Pattern pending’ is to dressmaking and fabric manipulation: sequins, colour register, pins, tailors’ tacks, cut fabric (from which fish images loom).

Picnics by the Creek, 2012
80 x 53 cm, polyester, satin, used teabags, hand stitching, hand appliqué – You take your tea down by the creek.

Pieces of Gold, 2022
21 x 27 cm, embroidery thread on nylon fabric – Some of my treasures.

Playing Favourites, 2010
46 x 59 cm, cotton, hand stitching – The great Crested Grebe is my favourite water bird which I follow throughout the seasons on Lake Monger. They can carry their hatchlings on their back if they choose. I have been experimenting with the image presented against a background of stripes which reflect the water and its plants. Perhaps there is reference to the San Blas molas. This is not a mola either in construction or intent.

Portrait, 1987
112 x 90 cm, cotton, hand appliqué, trapunto, hand quilting. Collection of The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Object No. 96/319/5 – Continuing the Australian native plant theme. 

Postage Stamp, 1978
253 x 255 cm, cotton, hand stitching – Exploration – early learning piece.

Postcard from Cottesloe, 2004
20 x 15 cm, taffeta, heat cut, hand painted, fused raw edge appliqué, hand stitched – The pillar, the trellis, the climbing plant and the bird (a ‘wattler’) are all elements from my back garden.

Prospectus, 1991
157 x 138 cm, handprinted cotton, rayon, nylon, hand and machine stitching – Images in fabric which indicate the influences which Asia and Pacific nations will have on Australia over the next few decades.

Quiet Menaces, 2021
60 x 110 cm, stranded cotton embroidery on silk – Single crops replace many diverse native plants.

Ring A Rosie, 2022
21 x 37 cm, organza on synthetic satin, hand dyed foliage pieces – I started stitching and it developed itself.

Referred Splendour, 2014–15
67 x 40 cm, linen, rayon, cotton threads, hand stitching – As pain can manifest quite far from its source (this is known as referred pain), so the bird’s splendour is experienced.

Retronet, 1998
128 x 106 cm, taffeta, cotton, silk, man-made fibre, hand and machine stitching – The contemporary quilt networks with its folk art ancestry. Modern dyeing and fibre concerns resonate with the normal fabric of an older time, hand with machine stitchery, informality with formality: the elements fuse.

Romancing the Outback, 2002
77 x 63 cm, hand dyed cotton, appliqué, hand stitching – A challenge to celebrate the outback of Australia in the Year of the Outback. 

Running Postman, 1980’s
55 x 24 cm, cotton, polyester cotton, appliqué, machine piecing and quilting – Native plant, kennedia prostrata.

San Blas Study #1, 1983
56 x 61 cm, cotton, silk, mola technique, appliqué and reverse appliqué, hand stitching – Using the theme of the wattlebird (a honeyeater numerous throughout Australia) and banksias, this is a beginning exploration of some of the possibilities inherent in the san blas technique.

San Blas Study #2, 1989
58 x 44 cm, cotton, reverse appliqué, hand stitching – Banksia flower and wattlebird using san blas technique.

San Blas Suggestion, 2010
58 x 59 cm, cotton, synthetic, embroidery and machine thread, reverse appliqué, appliqué, hand stitching – I collect molas (from the San Blas Islands). This is not a mola but I wanted to explore the effect of a striped background behind a water bird in
its familiar territory. 

Satin Lollies, 1970’s
162 x 123 cm, various fabrics, square Suffolk puffs, hand stitching – Exploring Suffolk puff technique.

Sea Shadows, 1988
55 x 84 cm, hand painted cotton, synthetic, embroidery and machine thread, raw edge appliqué, hand stitching – Exploring the sea dragon theme.

Seedburst, 2005–06
112 x 111 cm, cotton, hand dyed polyester, machine appliqué – The energy in germination.

Self Portrait, 2014
88 x 88 cm, organza, various fabrics, cotton thread, hand stitching – All that lives is connected. Everything alive is connected to everything alive.

Setting Off, 2019
104 x 60 cm, hand dyed and discharged cotton, hand stitching – The way, the truth, the light

Seven Good Years, 2003
56 x 79 cm, hand dyed and commercial cotton, burning and over dyeing, vestigial stitching – To celebrate 7 very good years in Caloundra. A montage of life, objects and activities which represent my seven years spent in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Shape Shifter, 2018
114 x 53 cm, linen, cotton, hand stitching – Musing about different stages of a banksia.

Sir Joseph's Ashes, 2000
71 x 71 cm, cotton, fused polyester, silk, hand stitching – Made from two of my patterns of banksias and a banksia border. Prionitis, grandis, menzies banksias. Called Sir Joseph's Ashes as a tribute to Sir Joseph Banks. 

Sister, Sister On The Wall, 1989
122 x 93 cm, nylon, satin, lurex, cotton, dacron, machine and hand piecing – A celebration of the beauty of dark skin and a statement about common sisterhood. It is NOT about culture. 

Snorkel Time, 2021
19 x 42 cm, embroidery thread with linen fabrics – Unwater characters explored with a mask.

Sophie's 16th Birthday, 1976
280 x 167 cm, cotton, hand stitching – For Sophie’s 16th birthday.

At present there is no visual record of this work.

Spring Tide, 1979
71 x 77 cm, synthetic, appliqué, hand and machine stitching

Starburst, 2022
25 x 30 cm, silver embroidery thread and various stains, poplins – The interest and patterns which are bequeathed as a result.

Star Scape, 2022
77 x 75 cm, satin, organza, hand stitched and knotted – Representation of night-time star scape.

Storyline, 1994
139 x 94 cm, mixed media, with various techniques – Some elements in the development of a contemporary quiltmaker. Mattress ticking was chosen because it is a mattress which lies beneath a quilt’s history. The red lines are sections of the DNA molecule as seen under a scanning electronic microscope.

Study for a Landscape, 2011
58 x 68 cm, cotton thread on linen, hand stitching – A garden plan, semi abstract.

Summertime: #1 Sugartime, 1993
110 x 70 cm, cotton, rayon, appliqué, hand and machine stitching – The basic notion of totally covering a background with a fairly ‘primitive’ scene comes from the arpilleras of Chile and Columbia. This is made in my terms and without scale, perspective or logic. Made to interest a child.

Summertime: #2 Summertime, 1990’s
Dimensions unknown, cotton, rayon, appliqué, piecing, hand and machine stitching, trapunto – Made to interest a child. 

Summertime: #3 Naive Piece, 1990’s
87 x 55 cm, cotton, rayon, appliqué, piecing, hand and machine stitching, trapunto – Made to interest a child.

Summer Pattern, 1986
95 x 99 cm, silk, cotton, hand stitching – A piece of brocade suggested the brassiness and blueness of the sea and sky in high summer. These qualities are often before me, because I swim at the beach most days for seven or eight months of the year.

Sunshaft (detail), 1989
99 x 87 cm, cotton, polycotton, rayon, machine stitching – Shafts of light make similar shapes look different. 

Swan River Colony, 1985
200 x 137 cm, cotton, polyester, hand piecing appliqué and quilting – Shags turn into swans which turn into pelicans. The negative left is the shape of the Swan River between Perth and Fremantle.

The Aria Awards, 2018
93 x 62 cm, linen, rayon, cotton threads, hand stitching – Bird-song out-performs human song.

The Axe Murderer, 2019
110 x 77 cm, linen, polyester, cotton thread, glued paper, hand stitching – Stitched words are self-evident.

The Beautiful People, 2000’s
67 x 49 cm., silk organza, embroidery threads, hand stitching – My favourite animals.

The Colour Party, 1994
125 x 90 cm, hand dyed cotton, raw edge appliqué, needle turn appliqué, machine stitching – Made to a brief ‘Colours of Australia’. I chose to play upon the notion of colours as in “banner, ensign, standard”. Hence a display of the flags that have signified Australia at least in this century. They are not represented literally either in form or hue so as to indicate the changing nature which these symbols can take over time, as politics and sentiments dictate.

The Embers and the Ashes, 1990
53 x 62 cm, hand printed cotton, hand and machine stitching – Bushfires and their aftermath are always in our national consciousness.

The Fishers, the Swimmer and the Beauties, 1996
75 x 117 cm, impasto on cotton, lurex, man-made fibres, lurex thread, fusing, hand and machine stitching – What are “beauties” to the fisherman have beauty for the snorkellers. Furthermore, both fish and snorkeller may seek to avoid the fisher.

The Galah, 1970’s
130 x 88 cm, cotton, hand appliqué.

The Galah 2, 1992
73 x 54 cm, cotton, hand stitching – The pink and grey galah – indigenous to Australia.

The Garden Jar, 1992
75 x 75 cm, cotton, polyester, machine stitching – A garden scene, a twenty-eight parrot, the Port Lincoln parrot.

The Gifting: Fire, Rock, Water, Seed, 2003
128 x 104 cm, hand dyed and bleached cotton, synthetic, drawing, machine appliqué, fused raw edge appliqué – Four plates to muse on some of the gifts that come from Earth: Fire – Rock – Water – Seed.

The Honey Tree, 1986
165 x 120 cm, cotton, polyester, hand appliqué and quilting, decorative machine stitching – A version of a scrap-bag quilt, it represents the flightpath of a New Holland honeyeater into a banksia bush. I am fascinated by banksias because of their diversity in shape and colour and their extravagant foliage, which form intriguing patterns and effects, against the sky. 

The Language of Creation, 2016
40 x 40 cm, linen, cotton, cotton thread, hand stitching – Sees the action of various ways of bringing into being.

The Onlooker, 1985
160 x 115 cm, cotton, polyester, machine and hand stitching – This piece was done to illustrate a somewhat minimalist approach …four swatches give the scene on which a bird is hand-applied (hand-quilting gives lines of shadow, machine-quilting gives obvious lines of stitching). This is machine-quilted to show the difference. 

At present there is no visual record of this work.

The Parrot, 1982
200 x 162 cm, cotton, hand piecing and appliqué, hand and machine stitching, hand quilting – Learning how…

The Patterneers, 2016
96 x 58 cm, rayon brocade, paper, drawing, stitching – Inspired by patterns on fish while snorkelling. There are astounding patterns in sea creatures – as though they were planned. These are cuttlefish whose patterns are amazing.

The Pelican, 1984
138 x 102 cm, cotton, drawing, hand and machine stitching – Teaching sample.

The Pool, 2010
48 x 54 cm, various fabrics, appliqué, reverse appliqué, hand stitching – An experiment with raw edges...the fish swim over a sand patch. The raw edge slashes suggest the ‘twinkle’ of the water.

At present there is no visual record of this work.

The Pool at the Bottom of the Courthouse Steps, 2006
35 x 36 cm, cotton, hand and machine stitching – Inspiration: self. I do not like straight lines and always work with curves.

The Rellies, 2010
72 x 71 cm, natural and synthetic fibre, rayon, silk and polyester thread, hand stitching – Everything alive is connected with everything alive.

The Scenic Route, 2020
65 x 53 cm, lurex brocade, stranded cotton, stranded cotton; straight stitch – Playing around with straight stitch in thick threads.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #1
In the Light, 2007
103 x 62 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, interfacing, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #2
In the Dark, 2007
100 x 59 cm, silk organza, embroidery thread, interfacing, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #3
In the Mists, 2007–08
98 x 61 cm, various fabrics, embroidery threads, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #4
In the Village, 2007–08
101 x 62 cm, hand dyed cotton, cotton threads, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #5
In the Past, 2008
104 x 86 cm, cotton and threads, hand stitching. 

The Search for the Tree of Life: #6
In the Mirror, 2008
91 x 58 cm, silk, various fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #7
Within, 2008
68 x 60 cm, silk, cotton, various threads, fused appliqué, hand stitching.

The Search for the Tree of Life: #8
In Discards, 2009
120 x 57 cm, mixed media, drawing, hand stitching. 

The Search for the Tree of Life: #9
Across Time, 2009
71 x 73 cm, organza, cotton thread, drawing, hand stitching. 

The Search for the Tree of Life: #10
Here, There, Where, 2009
98 x 83 cm, synthetic, embroidery threads, hand stitching.

The Tenants, 2012
131 x 50 cm, linen, embroidery threads, hand stitching – Ruminating on what happens over time on a limestone wall in a public walkway. Note the wall's tenants: butterfly, grubs, flowers, leaves, snail, notice, lattice, spider.

The Time When Heaven Was Shut, 1991
120 x 110 cm, linen, cotton, synthetic, photocopy, hand and machine stitching – I was horrified by the Gulf War: its political and economic expediency, the manipulation of public sentiment and the suffering consequent to it. I had in mind the women and children and powerless men whose lives, not to mention their bodies and homes, were rent. 

The Wheel of Fortune, 2020
83 x 59 cm, synthetic, embroidery threads, hand stitching – Flame and pestilence of 2019–20.

Thirty Quilt Years, 2006
65 x 50 cm, polyester, hand appliqué and stitching – Images from some of my quilts over the last thirty years made to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the WA Quilters’ Assoc.

Through a Lens Darkly, 2019
105 x 54 cm, polyester organza, lamé, hand stitching – Snorkelling in dark waters.

*Timmy is 1, 1991
52 x 49 cm, cotton, lurex, polyester, fused raw edge appliqué, machine stitching. * After a later review of this work, it has been  re-titled as James is 1.

Timmy is 2, 1992
110 x 60 cm, cotton, polyester, fused raw edge appliqué.

Toby is 1, 1997
86 x 62 cm, cotton, fused raw edge appliqué, machine stitching.

Tools of Trade, 1999
94 x 113 cm, hand dyed cotton, hand stitching – Made in a simple manner to remind myself what are the basic tools of art and craft, and hence, knowledge. A luddite whimper.

Townhouse, 1988
128 x 106 cm, cottons, hand and machine stitching – Flashes of a ‘Paddo’ (Sydney) terrace house, with glimpses of architectural style and garden – black and white tiles, a courtyard plant. The plant – a callistemon – has flowers, and the remaining seedpod and leaves are a dominant feature.

Transition, 2021
63 x 70 cm, hand and commercially dyed cloth, stitched on linen – The transition is from squares of cloth to images of plants and creatures. Ideas in simple stitches on cloth. (Photographer: Wendy Lugg)

Tray Cloth, 1939
Dimensions unknown, cotton fabric and thread, hand stitching.

Tree of Bountiful Life, 2006
Dimensions unknown, dyed cotton, hand stitching – The pattern of the tree is hand stitched, then dyed, then cut, raw edges left to show how the loose threads and their softening of the dyed colour produces an effect. The figures are then stitched on.

Tree of Life, 1973–74
225 x 197 cm, cotton, hand stitching –
My earliest quilt, made from a kit bought in Hawaii for $12US. I appliquéd and quilted it by hand, following the design marked on the quilt top.

Tree of Life #1, 1999–2000
118 x 112 cm, hand-dyed taffeta and cotton, found fabric, hand stitching – This one is aware of the interconnectedness of everything.

Tree of Life #2, 2000
104 x 80 cm, hand-dyed polyester and cotton, hand stitching – Life on land, sea and air is represented within the tree. It is a different personality type than Tree of Life #1. This Tree of Life speaks for a showy, full-blown type of person. 

Tree of Life #3, 2000
105 x 76 cm, discharged cotton, hand stitching – Land sea and air life abound. To represent yet another personality type than Tree of Life #1 and #2. Here is a formal constrained elegance. 

Tree of Life #4, 2000
114 x 68 cm, hand dyed cotton, hand stitching – To represent a ‘modern’ carefree type of person with a conservation perspective. The fish has been caught, the fruit canned, and the bird caged. All of which would upset a nature lover.

Tree of Life and Death, 2001
102 x 85 cm, hand painted linen, mixed media collage, sewn leaves, matches, chop sticks – Trees turn into wood chips, paper bags, matches and skewers, disposable chop sticks – all gone in an hour.

Tree of Life Biography, 2000
152 x 177 cm, hand dyed cottons, hand stitching – Tree of Life to be read as a progression of a person’s life through youth, middle years and on.

True Blue, 1987
215 x 188 cm, polyester, hand stitching – A whole-cloth quilt with a pattern of Mt Morgan wattle and banksias.

Two in the Bush, 1991
148 x 106 cm, cotton, machine piecing and quilting, hand appliqué and decorative stitching – Two honeyeaters flutter in a bush. An image of this quilt was reproduced as a UNICEF card and stationery set, released in Europe in 1994 and Australia in 1995.

Unthinking Menaces, 2021
19 x 39 cmstranded cotton embroidery on silk – Slingshots, cages, guns, nets hold captive the native
bird life.

Urban Bird, 1991
33 x 67 cm, cottons, ring can pulls, plastic tabs, drink straws, found and pieced fabric, hand appliqué, machine stitching – The shapes and textures which surround a city bird are not what one might expect.

Value Adding, 2017
143 x 60 cm, various fabrics, cotton threads, hand stitching – Stitchery added to, or over drawn using previous images.

Walking the Bush, 2012
55 x 55 cm, linen, various threads, hand stitching – Encounters in the bush expressed in stitch.

Walking the Thread: Land – Sea – Air, 2014
78 x 56 cm, linen, cotton, linen, cotton threads, hand stitching – I think it was Paul Klee who talked about taking a line for a walk and this notion engages me. My thread is wandering through things of land, sea, air. The notion that everything is alive is linked is a theme I have used in other works.

Wanderlustre, 1991
142 x 108 cm, silk, satin, nylon, cotton, organza, machine stitching – Expressing diversity and restlessness.

WAQA Celebration Quilt, 1986
Designed by Marjorie for the West Australian Quilters Association 10th Birthday, dimensions unknown – Every member stitched it.

We all Carry Baggage, 1999
150 x 51 cm, mixed media, plant dyes, hand and machine stitching – To express the personal mental baggage we all carry in our private trek, by referring to saddle bags, primitive saddles and bed rolls. Stuffed with various fibres: wool, straw, shredded paper, wadding, chaff. My early years had to do with a farm, country towns, survey camps and the depression, when everyone made do with what they had. (I had a home made saddle made of stuffed and laced chaff bag shapes which sat in the hollows each side of the horse’s spine.) 

Wetware, 2006
106 x 82 cm, hand dyed polyester and cotton, silk, taffeta, raw edge, heat cut, hand stitching – The soft substance houses thoughts which surge, find barriers which flow around and then combine for more ideas.

When the Chips are Down, 1980’s
35  x 47 cm, cotton, hand stitching – Annoyance at logging of old growth forests for paper.

Where have all the Flowers Gone?, 1984
204 x 185 cm, cotton, polyester. machine piecing, hand quilting – Made as a ‘palate cleanser’ after too much nature in the ‘Dullflower’ quilts. Hardly a flower in sight, and the hand-quilted pattern is suggestive of high tech…circuit boards and micro-chips. (No…Mondrian didn’t use green!)

Who’s Magellan?, 1989
110 x 159 cm, cotton and over-dyed cotton, hand appliqué, hand quilting – The wandering sea creature that is oblivious of Magellan’s wandering.

Wild Flowers Green and Cream, 1981–2
250 x 244 cm, cotton, hand appliqué, hand piecing – Personal design in Hawaiian style for Australian native plants.

Women's Business, 2010
114 x 100 cm, hand dyed polyester chiffon, netting, fused appliqué, hand stitching – Women’s work can go unnoticed, be undercover, half hidden. It is to do with the assembling of the jig-saw that is self and fitting pieces together. Industry and fecundity and clichéd colour. 

Yilgarn Postman, 1987
112 x 70 cm, cotton brocade, rayon, machine piece, hand needle-sweep appliqué, hand quilting – This wall quilt uses the ‘Running Postman’ (Kennedia prostrata) on a shot, pieced background so that the colour changes according to whether it is hung vertically or horizontally.

You Choose, 2017
145 x 50 cm, silk organza, linen, hand stitching – The weedy sea dragon in various aspects.