It's just one week until the official opening of Natural Abstractions,  the solo exhibition of Brenda Gael Smith's textile paintings and sketches. 

I mentioned a few posts ago that I've been given the honour of doing the opening. Well, I've written my speech, picked out a fabulous dress and am looking forward to a wonderful day. I'm hoping to see lots of textile artists, quilters and art enthusiasts there to help Brenda celebrate and to admire her amazing work.


In addition to the display of Brenda's year long project of 52 textile sketches there will be large textile paintings that haven't been exhibited before. 

Brenda has published a catalogue of her 52 textile sketches along with inspiration photos. They'll be available from Brenda's website here .



The opening is at the The Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Center which is so big it's hard to fit into a photo. 

So do come along to the opening if you can or visit the exhibition from the 13th January until the 14th February. 

Brenda is also giving a lecture called "Driven to Abstraction" on Tuesday 23rd January. This is a lecture she has given internationally. I'll be there for that one.  

To find out more about Brenda Gael Smith here are the handy links:

Visit Brenda's website here to see more of her work. 

Visit her blog called Serendipity and the art of the quilt to read about her adventures in quilting and her travels as a teacher, exhibition curator, lecturer, quilter and artist.

Follow her on instagram @brendagaelsmith

facebook - Serendipity Patchwork & Quilting

Gosford Regional Gallery website


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And now for a show that I have some quilts hanging in. Summer Exposure is an exhibition of works by supporters of Braemar House Gallery, including previous exhibiting artists and gallery volunteers.

Braemar House is an historic home in Springwood in the Blue Mountains.

It was converted into a gallery in 1988 and has become known for exhibiting a high standard of art  with a focus on Blue Mountains artists.

I've snuck in and taken photos of quilts on this balcony in the past. 

The building has beautiful tall ceilings, period features, wooden floors that have a warm echo sound as you walk on them...

and light filled rooms.

Summer Exposure is an exhibition with an interesting mix of different mediums and styles. There are photographs, paintings in watercolours, oils, drawings in pencil, pastels, different forms of textiles, collage works, glass sculpture and more.



This piece by Petal Davies is inspired by stag horn fern on a tree trunk. Petal is a Blue Mountains textile artist and teacher who takes her inspiration from nature. She uses all sorts of interesting and clever techniques to build up the texture and bring her designs to life. 


Another favourite piece called Everything is Nothing by local artist Daniel Baranowski.

It's a tricky piece to photograph due to reflections on the glass but you can see how his work is so full of motion. Upon viewing, one minute I feel as though I'm riding through a wave, the next moment I'm flying over clouds. Someone I was talking to could see branches of trees, another saw an arm moving. The vertical lines he has rendered add yet another level of illusion and fascination. In addition to all of this, as someone who likes to work with a lot of colour I am reminded how much strength there can be in just 2 colours. 

And finally in the last room of the gallery, opposite the doorway, on the far wall is my colourful work. 
The entry requirements for the exhibition were either 1 large piece of a certain dimensions or 2 smaller pieces. I went for the 2 smaller pieces that work well together so that they could be interpreted as 1 piece. 

I've called them This way and That Way, because all the triangles look as though they're pointing, well..  this way or that way. 

Sometimes reflections in photographs can work to your favour.

I've had a very lucky year with exhibiting work in art galleries. This was my fourth exhibition I've been part of in 2017 (sending out much gratitude to the universe). I'm not sure I'll have much time for my art pieces in 2018 as I increase my teaching but we'll see, I enjoy that they give me room to be creative in a different way. 



It's hard to tell from the photos but I've used delicious shot cottons. They felt like a different colour palette from my usual clearer colours but then I'm always jumping around in my colours, trying various things.

The colours are reminiscent of the stain glass windows that can be found throughout the gallery. 

Some have beautiful painted details of native birds, 



Which leads us into my random photos of the week... From glass birds to a metal bird I spotted at our local garden center.

This watermelon with grumpy faces made me laugh.

I'm pretty boring with my shoes these days, preferring comfort over glamour, but the festive season brought my party shoes out.

While my shoes are mostly plain I love, love, wild, colourful socks. I've converted Mr Daisy too so we're a happy sock household. This is one of those moments when I noticed how wonderful our socks looked on my favourite rug.

A quick snap of a sunny sunflower, a church and fluffy cloudy sky taken last week as I ran around doing errands. 

And some photos I took a few years ago but just came across again recently.  

Canola fields are the most glorious shade of yellow,  how perfect they look with blue skies and fluffy clouds.

A little quote to finish with :

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.” 
― Joseph Addison