Featured Craft Artist at The Gallery, Mogo: Noelene GIBBS

Currently featured at The Gallery in Mogo are textile artist Noelene Gibbs’ experiments with eco dyes and indigo on silks and cotton voile.

Noelene grew up in the Eurobodalla, returning to the Bay from Noosa in 2015.

When she was just a girl her mother was always sewing, so it seemed natural to Noelene to make her own clothes, and she went on to win prizes for her own sewing and embroidery.

Since returning to the Bay, Noelene has dabbled in acrylic painting and was active in quilt making. But it was when she visited the ‘Dynamic Dyers of Bodalla’ three years ago that she discovered what she calls her passion—eco printing and dyeing fabric without chemicals. She says, “It is safe for me and safe for the environment, and that is very important to me.”

She uses natural fibres, namely wool, silk and cotton voile—fabrics that respond well to eco printing and indigo. Noelene says, “I love the softness and draping qualities of the cotton voile and the strength and delicacy of the silk”.

Noelene travels widely to collect different types of leaves for her eco prints, though eucalypts feature prominently. She says,” I have learnt by trial and error the colours released by different types of leaves. “My favourite colours are the neutrals, and while I am not into brighter colours I will use a touch of colour here and there to brighten or give an emphasis in a piece.”

For her eco print scarves she arranges leaves on the silk, uses plastic as a barrier, rolls it up, ties it tightly and steams it. The heat releases and fixes the colours into the silk. She says, “Unwrapping a bundle is like Christmas—you are never quite sure what the foliage will produce.”

In some of her silk scarves featured at The Gallery, a pattern of clearly defined leaves in olive green, charcoal or rust stand out against a muted background of neutral colours; in others she has used stitching called Sashiko to emphasise the design.

Eighteen months ago Noelene discovered indigo, a deep blue dye derived from the leaves of the indigo plant that has been used for hundreds of years. Noelene says, “I find it a little more predictable to use but just as exciting as the strong, deep blue contrasts dramatically against the white cloth.”

Noelene’s indigo designs are created by hand stitching to create the desired pattern before submerging the fabric into the vat of dye. The technique enables her to emphasise a delicacy of line and subtlety of tone within her overall bold and simple designs.

Noelene is the featured craft-artist until 3 November.

The Gallery is a retail exhibition space for members of Creative Arts Batemans Bay Incorporated (CABBI), a society open to local arts and crafts practitioners. People interested in finding out more about CABBI should drop in to The Gallery, Mogo, phone 02 4474 2243 or visit our website www.creativeartsbatemansbay.com.au.