Blog – Monique Day-Wilde

Anything is Possible

21 Mar 202221 Mar 2022

There’s a lot going on at the moment – both personally and in the rest of the world. This begs the question as an artist: do I mirror that in my work or do I look for a little diversion? A diversion almost seems like putting my head in the sand ‘ostrich style’, but on the other hand using all the external triggers may well tip me into the black hole. Personally, I feel like using colour, lots of it – not something I usually do, my general palette choices being fairly muted. It’s fortuitous then, that a slot given 18 months ago happens to be now and given me my answer. I have teamed up with a number of artist friends and we are exhibiting at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville until the end of March. The exhibition is entitled ‘Whimsy’ and is lots of fun, and frankly a breath of fresh air. Escapism for sure, but with an edge to it. We all need to escape every now and then, it’s good for the soul! See the Catalogue here

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TextileArtist.org Stitchclub

14 Jan 2022

Early in 2021 I was delighted to receive an invitation from TextileArtist.org to do an online workshop for their online membership stitchclub. I happily agreed and was told I could do anything I wanted to. I had to get a proposal together to give them an idea as to what I wanted to do and there lay the difficulty! I am a serial experimenter and love to try all sorts of things so it was tricky to whittle it down. In the end, I had to ask myself what is at the core of everything I do and therein lay the answer – botanical printmaking. There are many, many ways to make prints, so I chose the simplest way I could think of with the least amount of equipment, which was easily accessible across the world. As most of the members work in stitch on fabric, I used fabric paint/fabric printing ink as the medium and my preferred substrate – paper. As a mixed media artist, I use collage in a lot of my work, so there was step two and then of course, nothing is complete without stitching! A workshop was born. Read more “TextileArtist.org Stitchclub” →

Artists Interview

10 Jan 202210 Jan 2022

My interview on Textileartist.org is up on their website – read more about my process and details of some of my work. I’m so excited to be presenting an online workshop for the members of the Stitchclub. Unfortunately membership is closed for the moment but subscribe to their really interesting newsletter which will give you a heads-up when membership is open again. There is a subscription box on the interview page. Leave a comment here or there and I’ll do my best to answer soon.

Portrait

30 Dec 202130 Dec 2021

Even taking the dreaded lurgy out of the picture, it’s been a tough year – the toughest. I’m not always sure how I manage to keep making work but somehow it’s what saves me, time and again. It’s a valuable lesson to keep creating, in spite of circumstances – it’s very definitely therapy. I may not be creative every day but there is generally something on the boil to keep me moving forward. I have found in the last couple of years that I am stitching into my work more than I ever have – perhaps an analogy for keeping things together.

The South African portrait award was held again this year, hosted by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville, despite losing their major sponsor. All kudos to the team for keeping things going under very difficult circumstances. I took the plunge and entered my stitched self portrait with the title “Every Woman in me is Tired!” Read more “Portrait” →

Brunsvigia orientalis

8 Apr 202130 Dec 2021

What fun I’ve had in the last while, discovering where the Brunvigia are flowering locally! It’s been a good year indeed, but in the end I opted to sit under a tree in a friend’s garden and draw and paint a paler specimen. There are just so many colours and movement and the shade on a hot day was most welcome. I used watercolours, water soluble wax crayons, coloured pencils in a Hahnemühle Carnet de Aquarelle Journal. It’s a heavy weight 400gsm Cold Pressed Watercolour journal and perfect for outdoors as there’s no paper buckling and quite secure in our wind.

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Flight of the Bumblebee

1 Mar 202130 Dec 2021

A valuable part of my process is walking. Besides being good for your health, it’s good for the psyche too – and Scout, our dog would never say no! I’ll often sit and do a quick sketch or watercolour but collecting samples is also an important part of my practice. I pick up all sorts of things, from dried leaves to rusty bits and pieces and Fynbos too from which I make monoprints. Most of my work starts with printmaking, whether it be a print with stitching, a collage, or painting – and I’ll often experiment with different papers, including teabags. Read more “Flight of the Bumblebee” →

Fynbos and Fantasies

29 Dec 202030 Dec 2021

Every year or two, I gather a group of artist friends together and we mount an exhibition at our local Bistro over the festive season.

There are six of us this year and a wonderful exhibition it’s turned out to be too. Our opening was sadly cancelled due to Covid restrictions (how I look forward to the day when the word Covid is a distant memory!), but not to be too daunted we’ve put together an online catalogue. I’ts an eclectic exhibition of painting, pastels, printmaking, ceramics, fibreart and woodcraft. Read more “Fynbos and Fantasies” →