The Wildflowering by Design touring exhibition has arrived at the Warwick Art Gallery, running until May 4. Curated by Dr Sue Davis and Dr Lisa Chandler.
The tour is made possible by funding from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Another Unsuitable Replacement
My work ‘Another Unsuitable Replacement’ was shown as part of Le Plastique, a proud participant in the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Independent Programme 2024. Shown at Ladro, Melbourne.
Peppermint Magazine 60th Edition
It’s an absolute delight to be included in the 60th edition of Peppermint Magazine, on shelves now.
The piece profiles my work as a surface pattern designer, focusing on the learning I’ve gained through my PhD research, exploring response to place. All work shown is available now through Spoonflower.
Thank you Peppermint and Spoonflower for your support.
Sea and Seeing exhibition 2023
I am delighted to share these images with you from the 'Sea and Seeing' exhibition held as part of 'Wild Hope' at RMIT Design Hub last weekend. The immersive event refashioned single-use plastics into fashion garments. My work, 'Another Unsuitable Replacement’, depicted a repeat pattern of dune flowers applied to plastic produce bags that were sewn into fabric.
Thank you to Dr Denise Sprynskyj and Dr Peter Boyd of S!X for including my work. Model photography by Tiahne Frederic.
As seen on Gardening Australia
Tonight I was overjoyed to watch Gardening Australia celebrate the work of Dr Sue Davis OAM.
It was incredible to share the practice of wildflowering with Sue and the work of Kathleen McArthur.
The episode is now available on iView and the Gardening Australia website.
Thank you Gardening Australia and ABC TV.
Coming soon to Gardening Australia
Last year I was delighted to be invited to join in the filming of a Gardening Australia segment celebrating Dr Sue Davis OAM and her work honoring the legacy of Kathleen McArthur.
It was pure joy spending the day in the Kathleen McArthur reserve watching the Gardening Australia team at work, shooting and producing the segment.
The segment goes to air this Friday on the ABC, replayed on Saturday and will also be available through iView. I think if you watch closely I may appear in the scenery.
The art of wildflower walks: Understanding place through creative practice
It’s a sheer delight to share the publication of the journal article “The art of wildflower walks: Understanding place through creative practice” co-authored with Dr Sue Davis.
The article, published in the International Journal of Education Through Art, shares the embodied experience of walking and creative enquiry as means of informing and stimulating art and design processes and practices.
Stuart, M. & Davis, S. (2023), The art of wildflower walks: Understanding place through creative practice, International Journal of Education through Art, 19:2, pp. 213–21, https://doi.org/10.1386/eta_00127_3
Abstract:
Art and design processes and practices can inform and stimulate knowledge building in powerful ways. Artist/designer Marni Stuart and artist/curator Susan Davis have employed creative practice to inform their own seeing and knowing of the natural spaces that surround them in South East Queensland, Australia. Through art and design practice they seek to share ways for others to ‘see’, appreciate and value these natural habitats and wildflower heritage.
Two new titles
2023 has started strong with the news that I have achieved two of my 2022 career goals.
Much of last year was spent writing two documents about my teaching practice. The first was an application to advance to Senior Learning Facilitator at Torrens University, and the second was to become accredited as a Fellow for the Advance Higher Education fellowship.
I am ecstatic to announce that I am now a Senior Learning Facilitator (Senior Lecturer) and AHE Fellow. Now I must tuck my head in and return to work on my PhD.
Iluka Flannel Flowers
The making of the Iluka Flannel Flowers has been a slow, winding journey, but I'm so happy to introduce her to you. The flannel flowers have been depicted in charcoal, soft sage and yellow. I originally met these flowers on a walk through the nature reserve near Iluka, NSW. The drawing of this piece took many months, with multiple breaks. After a long year, I needed a break. After a restful Summer, putting her into repeat was a breeze, completed in a single morning.
The Iluka Flannel Flowers are now available for licencing projects. Please visit my Patternfield page or contact me.
Torrens University INTRO graduate exhibition
Last night I had the privilege of attending the Torrens University Australia INTRO graduate exhibition at our Brisbane Bowen Terrace campus.
It was incredible to see the amazing designs and photography created by our hard working students during their studies.
Thank you to all of the industry representatives who came along to see the incredible work.
Well done to the staff and students who went above and beyond to put the exhibition together. The image shown here is a surface pattern design created by our student Felixia Agatha for the Torrens University x Miss Shop ‘Introduces’ project.
Welcome Pattern Pulse 2
Pattern Pulse 2 by Rachael King is launching soon. The publication promotes the work of 100 talented Australian surface designers; it is the follow up to Pattern Pulse 1, that I was proud to be featured in.
This time around I was honoured with the task of writing the foreword; It tells the story of first meeting Rachael as a newly graduated designer who was ready to take on the word of surface pattern design.
Trimester 3 at Torrens University
And the time has come to begin another trimester at Torrens University. I’m very happy to be delivering two great subjects, Digital Print Design online and Fashion Vs Clothing on campus.
Thank you again to Applik for your help printing fabric for this course.
I’ve just received the latest batch of strike offs from my Trimester 2 class. I just love getting the chance to see how their works print out and sending them off to the students.
Torrens University Presentation
On Monday 5 September I presented the workshop “Enhancing online delivery of studio-based subjects” at the Torrens University Learning and Teaching Symposium.
The workshop shared my approaches to engage the senses when writing the surface patterning subject Digital Print Design and how this can be used to enhance learning outcomes through online delivery. Including this great video we made touring through Applik Digital Printing with the fabulous Rameez! (Thanks Rameez)
Sharing my teaching practice with my fellow teaching staff was an absolute privilege, that I look forward to doing more of in the future.
Nerida Hansen Wholesale
The new Nerida Hansen wholesale website is now live with some FANTASTIC designs available by an amazing group of designers, including me.
This design, A Spot on the Track had so much love when I posted it so it’s now available for wholesale orders!
But don’t fret, it won’t be too long till retail orders are also ready to roll.
The site is password protected, so contact me or Nerida for a password.
Colour wheel
I absolutely LOVED the idea of a personal colour wheel suggested by Lisa Solomon in her interview for Windowsill Chats.
I was a bit lost today, and the memory of this popped into my head and it immediately reignited my energy.
The idea is that you make a colour wheel out of all of your favourite colours. Your favourite red, your favourite green… so when I got into it I instantly hit a snag. What if I have 3 favourite greens and no favourite purples?
Well it’s my wheel and I can do what I want, so 3 greens it is!
Then there was one spot remaining. I knew it logically should be a purple, but I hadn’t included my favorite spring yellow, so it went in instead. Because, you know, my rules.
RMIT PhD Milestone 2 (half way)
Over the weekend I flew to Melbourne to deliver my second milestone for my PhD research through RMIT university.
This milestone marks the halfway point of my research. For this I submitted a summary of the work I’ve completed so far and delivered a presentation to a panel with a question and answer session.
After three years (part time) of work, it is wonderful to know that I passed the milestone. And I’m really excited to see where the research heads to from here.
Photograph by Thom Stuart. Kathleen McArthur Reserve, Post-fire
Walking-with: A study of the use of walking, noticing, observing, and drawing as method, in the creation of botanical as place in design and the unearthing of the notion of walking-with, through the lenses of phenomenology and ecofeminism.
ABSTRACT
This practice-based research explores the act of walking, noticing, observing, and drawing as method in the creation of botanicals in design through the lenses of phenomenology and ecofeminism.
Through this research a series of bushwalks alone or accompanied by artists, makers and researchers tred the path of inquiry through the habitat of the Wallum coastal heathland in Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. These walks have informed depictions of botanicals endemic to this habitat for a surface patterning practice.
In doing so this research asks the question; how has observation and walking as method been explored in my surface patterning practice to contribute to the notion of walking-with, a method of walking alongside others in real or imagined spaces, as a means of informing, examining, and sharing experience.
Digital Print Design at Torrens University
Each trimester when teaching Digital Print Design at Torrens University my students submit a file to be printed into fabric. It’s a great way to celebrate the knowledge gained by the students within the class.
These are printed but the amazing Rameez at AppliK Digital Printing.
I love seeing the overarching change of vibe between each class. These two are from the end of 2021 and the start of 2022.
This week I started class with a new group and I can’t wait to see the work they create.
Fashion and Social Media subject writing for Torrens University
It’s been a huge year and I’ve just made it to the end of the process of writing another subject for Torrens University.
This subject is called Fashion and Social Media and engages project-based learning to build the skills to create social media campaign strategies. Through a student-led process, the learners will engage in research and reflection to build their own social media marketing strategy
I can’t wait for the students to try this subject out.
Wildflower Women IV; Wildflowering by Design.
Over the weekend I was invited to join in the opening celebrations at the Hervey Bay regional gallery, for the opening of Wildflower Women IV; Wildflowering by Design.
My artworks, The Paths. The Women. and Fraser Coast were included in the exhibition. The Paths. The Women were again chosen as the hero image and featured in the exhibition signage.
The gallery was celebrating the launch of their first two exhibitions to be held in their newly built space.
Wildflower Women IV; Wildflowering by Design is curated by Dr Sue Davis OAM and hosts a collection of talented artists. The exhibition was previously shown at the Bundaberg Regional Gallery in November last year. A new feature of this iteration of the exhibition is four additional first nations artists, who display their exceptional skills through the art of weaving and printing.
To help launch the exhibition Edith Rewa Barrett and I hosted a workshop on 'Drawing and Mark-Making in Response to Nature'. The workshop hosted a fabulous mix of people of all ages, engaging with flora endemic to the Fraser Coast region.
If you're in the Hervey Bay region between now and the 29th of May be sure to visit.
All The Banksias for Rattamatatt
All the Banksias! This one has sat with me for quite a while.
I drew this one way back in 2019, about the same time as my Wallum Banksia. It wasn’t quite right so I tucked it away for years, until Kathryn from Rattamattat saw it and convinced me to set it free. I’m so happy she did, because it looks so beautiful printed by Next State.
