GUILDFORD artist Di Ditcham has recently opened her Take the Journey exhibition in the Guildford Village Potters’ building on Meadow Street.

The exhibition focuses predominantly on Ms Ditcham’s work as a textile artist, and showcases pieces including wall hangings, books, brooches, and clothing.

Take the Journey, the wall hanging that inspired the name of the exhibition, is inspired by a village in India, which Ms Ditcham visited on one of her many travels to the country. She said her wall hangings often represented places she has seen or travelled to.

“They take months, sometimes years to make because of how intricate they are,’’ she said.

Each part of the hanging represents a part of a landscape that exists in real life.

“They remind me of some of my favourite places, and the experiences I’ve had there, and I think that’s really special.”

Ms Ditcham also creates brooches which are crocheted and then stitched and beaded over the top to make animals both wild and native, as well as natural-dyed clothing and fabric scrapbooks in a rainbow of colours and techniques.

Many of the works utilise found or recycled materials from coffee pods to gumnuts. Each has a different effect on Ms Ditcham’s art and saves unused items from going to landfill.

The works on show are vast in form, material and artistic technique, but collective in their vibrant colour and intricate craftsmanship.

She uses the dirty pot technique of dying fabric, meaning the end result is a surprise when the fabric comes out of the dying water. Ms Ditcham said she finds something whimsical in not being able to control every aspect of her art.

“A lot of it is pretty experimental,” she said.

“I never know what kind of effect I’m going to get until I take the fabric out, and by then I can only add to it, I can’t change what’s there.”

An artist from her teenage years, Ms Ditcham said creating art has always been part of her life.

“I’ve always loved art. I knew it was what I wanted to spend my life doing. That’s why I went back to university, because I felt I still had so much left to learn.”

First studying at Forrestfield and then Midland TAFE in the 1980s, Ms Ditcham taught art in the Forrestfield area for many years after receiving her diploma, and later went to university to receive her Bachelor of Art majoring in textiles, graduating at the age of 68.

She said it’s never too late to learn more and build artistic skills.

“Many of my classmates were only 19,” she said.

“So I was kind of their granny. They thought it was great that I was back to studying and doing something I was passionate about.”