Helamen's Blog

We have settled in a Retirement Community in Melton. Dawn has accumulated a lot of fabric though her weaving and spinning. Please visit her new Fibre Art website to catch up with what she is doing.

@ Rare Trades Centre Ballarat checkout the new websites about Fibre Art After a hard struggle with AI, I feel I have done built the site the way I wanted it. Take a look and let me know why and what you like about the site? You will be most appreciated! Thank you!

We have updated the new website This morning, we updated the new revamped website which had a run in with AI. dawndavislimfibre.com.au We are keeping it minimal but the AI seems to trying to muscle in. Again, I find AI tries to embellish things that I have written. I suppose it keeps on my toes. I will watch carefully. I have discovered overnight that the AI has already overwrite some of things…

Beginner Spinning Workshop (Victoria Australia) Discover the timeless craft of spinning in this beginner spinning workshop at the RareTradesCentre in Victoria, where you’ll learn how to transform raw wool into beautiful hand spun yarn. This learn to spin class is perfect for beginners, knitters, weavers, and fibre arts enthusiasts who want to understand yarn from the very beginning. Through a…

Looking back, this experience taught me more than I expected.  Not just about AI—but about how we work with it.  If you are exploring AI website builders, automation tools, or content translation workflows, here are a few lessons I’ve quietly gathered along the way.  1. AI Is a Powerful Assistant—But Not a Reliable Authority  AI can build, suggest, and automate faster than we can.  But it…

The story behind the AI website builder Read this story about my experiences with AI A real story about using an AI website builder, automation tools, and content workflows—and how small errors, false data, and system limitations led to an unexpected turning point.  The war in Ukraine and drones with AI.

Due to the failed transfer to the new website for Dawn by using AI, we have shut it down We dipped our toes into the water to try the all new AI building website. However, it was too cold but we bravely plunged in and nearly drowned. We had heard so much about AI, how it enhanced productivity and saved time and money. So, we decided to use it to create and separate Dawn’s Fibre Art from her…

Preparation Day at Rare Arts Centre Before the spinning workshop began, Dawn spent time carefully preparing each wheel so the day would begin smoothly and calmly. She checked every spinning wheel one by one, making sure the drive bands were sitting properly, the treadles moved freely, and the flyer and bobbin turned as they should. She tested the tension, looked for anything loose or out of…

Handwoven Heritage Meets Modern Style Dawn’s first handwoven coat experience At the kitchen table, with a single skein of deep purple and an idea that would not let go, Dawn’s first woven coat began to take shape. There was something familiar in the making of it — slow, careful, and comforting — like opening an old family recipe worn soft at the edges. It recalled her Scott and French Huguenot…

A closing reflection on the Cameo Comrades exhibition at Gallery 10 — what has been learned, and where portrait and abstract painting are heading next. Celestial Glory Summer Blush These two abstracts are two of Dawn’s strongest Abstract painting with layered colour and expressive mark-making. When an exhibition comes to a close  Every exhibition has a quiet ending.  There is no dramatic…

A reflection on the questions people ask during an art exhibition — and what those questions reveal about how we see and understand painting. The value of a simple question  One of the most rewarding parts of showing work is not the painting itself.  It is the conversations that happen around it.  At Gallery 10, people have asked thoughtful, curious, and sometimes unexpected questions. Each…

Exploring the turning point in abstract painting — the moment when one decision shifts the entire work and defines its direction. The moment you don’t plan for  Every painting has a point where it changes.  It doesn’t happen at the beginning, and it doesn’t happen through careful planning.  It happens in a single decision — often unexpected — that shifts the entire direction of the…

A New Online Home for Handwoven Stories  I’m so pleased to share the launch of Dawn’s website dawndavislimfibre.com.au — a new online space dedicated to handweaving, fibre art, workshops, and the quiet beauty of making fibre by hand.  This website brings together the many threads of Dawn’s fibre practice: woven works, creative learning, and a deeper connection to materials, process, and story.…

A reflection on how abstract paintings change when they leave the studio and meet light, space, and people in a gallery setting A question for you  Have you ever seen something in person — a painting, a place, an object — that felt completely different from how you expected?  When a painting leaves the studio A painting is one thing in the studio.  It is something else entirely once it is…

A reflection on balancing structure and movement in abstract painting, using colour, space, and rhythm to hold the work together.  Holding something steady while letting it move  Every painting needs something to hold onto.  Even when the work feels loose, spontaneous, or intuitive, there is always an underlying structure — something that keeps the painting from drifting apart.  This piece…

Exploring how abstract paintings can suggest human presence without depicting literal portraits — through form, space, and memory. As We WalkPortrait likeness without the actual face When a painting begins to feel like a presence  There are times when a painting seems to hold someone — even when no face is painted.  This work sits somewhere between abstraction and portraiture. There are no…