Hey Hey Heyfield – an artist residency in Gippsland.

by with No Comment the journey

 Shortlisted. Phone interview. Laughter. Connection. And a welcome email. Yay!  A week in Gippsland for me. 

Gippsland, Victoria? I’ve never been there before. Brrrr, it sounds cold, but my heart is filled with joy… What a bonus – a chance to travel and do what I do best – weave, play and share. 

Well I’m on the train on my way home after a magnificent week of intensive teaching, garden scouring, fibre twirling and tribe gathering. The residency, funded by creative Gippsland and Wellington shire council, was all about community engagement. And that we did, and we did it well. 

An amazing group of weavers has emerged. All addicted… To plants and using them for creative purposes 😊. But even more than that, this little group of new friends have decided to keep the momentum growing and to meet up regularly for weaving together, and for sharing their journeys in life, for real connection and community. A true container of joy for me. 

I contemplate my relatively solitary childhood and ponder the wisdom of the workings of universe, unfolding in perfect divine flow. My life is now spent gathering tribes together – from little pockets of weavers near me, and far from me, to sitting in circle with groups as far away as the African Kalahari. Gathering the sisterhood, weaving, weaving, weaving the fibres of our lives together.

Weaving the masterpiece of life together, one revolution at a time. Thank you Heyfield, for inviting me to sow the seeds of another revolution in our collective basket. 😊

   
   

Inside the outside.

by with No Comment the journey

She was created for Floating Land environmental art event at Boreen Point, Lake Cootharaba, Noosa, Qld. Who is she? You might ask. Well her name is Nemesister. Caressa Nemesister. She is a reflection of me, of you , in fact , of all of us who look deeply into her eyes. She lives through us and through the connecting forces of nature, reflecting back meaningful aspects of ourselves. She sits on the shoreline, under the trees, contemplating the distant river inlet through the funnel of the eel trap, as she contemplates the inner workings of life and self. ‘Inside the outside’. Installation by Rene Bahloo, Palm inflorescence, 2015. 

             

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Weaving at Cooroora Institute

by with No Comment the journey

Weave Heal Connected – to our community

Funded by a community creative development grant from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council

It was my last day of the last funded six-week workshop series, at Cooroora Institute, today…
I feel sad to see it end, and really happy to have had the privilege of sharing the journey with a bunch of amazing women. Each so different, but each so willing to share of themselves.

It was mutually agreed that the most significant part of the experience was the sense of connection to each other and to the group as a whole, the part where we all wove our lives together, one stitch, one conversation, one minute at a time. And then there are the baskets we created…!

Weave Heal Connected, no doubt about it!

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Finally the next post…!

by with No Comment the journey

So, yes, it’s taken me a while, but finally I have found the space to learn more on how to continue this blogging journey. Did you notice that my site is now organized a whole lot better? That’s the power of the CES network (community exchange system) – one quick email and a fellow CESer helped out to do it for me. I still haven’t figured out how to resolve the issue of the shadow over the Weavery header at the top of the home page, though!
I have a few blogging ideas to get into in the next six months- stay tuned for details. However, maybe ‘raw fibre research’ might tickle your interest…
Or an ‘Artery’ to parallel my ‘Weavery’. Yes, and a gallery for this website… But for now, continue to check out the pics which I regularly post on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/weaverywork

See ya again soon!
Much love, Rene

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