Member Gallery - Alex Schaefer

Winner - Outstanding Student Award 2008.

Secret Life of Wisteria

This completely original designed quilt was my Textile major work in the Higher School Certificate in 2008.

Each raceme took 4 full days to do. I enjoyed designing it on EQ6 and designing the leaves and racemes from the 800 photos I took. My folio was very extensive with many diverse experiments undertaken in the final section.

"As the days warm, and the nights become longer, the delicate, whimsical buds start to bloom. Splashes of purple lay against the bare brown vines of the wisteria plant. When all other plants remain dormant, Wisteria begins to bloom brightening the day. This idea of the magical essence, that the wisteria could when no one else could, is what I wanted to capture in my quilt. I want the colours and lines to represent this idea of magic. The colours are light and have a slightly mythical presence, the organic wavy lines also have a whimsical essence."

Techniques - Fabric painting (all backgrounds), machine appliqué (racemes), self made bias strips, strip piecing, paper piecing, hand appliqué, hand couching, hand embroidery and free motion quilting. This completely original designed quilt was accepted into Texstyle.

ArtExpress photo

I made this fibre work for my Visual Arts major work. It consists of a bodice, a skirt, a chocker necklace, 9 A3 colour photos, 3 A4 black and white photos and 6 B5 black and white photos.

Living all my life in a rural environment that is being rapidly being overtaken by the urban spread of Sydney, I wished to show the importance of my local environment. Even the smallest of details intrigue and fascinate me. To communicate the relationship between these, the rocks, moss, fungi, vines and water, I used the tactile medium of fibre art and then photographed the result in the natural environment that inspired me. Positioning the fibre works within this special environment allows these relationships to be seen and shows that even the smallest feature has value and is worth preserving.

Techniques - proper construction of a bodice with lining including boning and proper fitting. Rocks were made with silk using a modified Ken Smith technique of "mossing". Machine felted water and clusters of crystals. Self made pattern for skirt of 30 layers of tulle to represent bracket fungi, with the second layer couched in a circular fashion. Throughout the first 5 layers Angelina fibres are added to give a little sparkle. The top layer of tulle has a white cord couched around the outside of it. Chenille was made to represent moss. Caroline Sharkey's method of making fabric, as well as silk paper was used to add depth to the moss. Construction of a necklace to represent vines. I was accepted into 2 ArtExpress venues.

Winter Draw String Bag

I made this bag as a year 11 textiles project. The bag is to represent a season, I decided to choose winter.

I made my own fabric for the outside of the bag using various clipping on organza between 2 pieces of Romeo then free motion quilted over the top with sliver and matte polysheen thread.

I then designed the draw string bag myself, in a hexagon shape. I beaded snowflakes on the outside.

Jacket front collar detail

Jacket back collar detail

Jacket

Another year 11 textiles project. This was my first garment I ever made. I used a Vogue pattern and followed the instructions.

I learnt so much in making this garment and this knowledge lead onto the creation of my HSC artwork. I embellished the collar and down the back to add interest and flair to it.

Greywork

I made "Greywork" in a workshop with Tita Leach. It was originally a redwork set of 4 quilts. I decided to do it in hues of greys and make one large quilt using her blocks and some I designed myself.

I entered "Greywork" into NSW Quilters Guild Show and won first in Junior B (13-18 year) category. My quilt was then selected to go down to the Australasian Quilt Convention Best of the Best Quilt show, where 5 quilts are selected from each quilt show around Australia.

Black, white and everything in between

Year 9 was my quilt "Black, White and Everything In Between", an art quilt depicting the pollution in the sea. I entered it into Castle Hill show and won Campion Junior Textiles.

This was my first art quilt and I love how it reflects my concern for the ocean but at the same time it taught me to be more carefree and experiment with idea and notions.

Summer Flower Vase

This was an experiment using clippings and organza with free motion stitching over the top to hold the layers together. I then used Shiva paint sticks to get colour on the tulle.

This piece reminds me of summer days.

Sunshine

This was another experiment but I used visoflex on the felt to hold the clippings down, then free motion stitched over the top. I also used Shiva paint sticks to add more colour. I love how this reminds me of the mystery of the sun contrasting with its predictability.

This is my favourite experiment and I love the end result.