Back In The Studio

The first week in April until now I have had a physical issue that has basically kept me out of the studio, at least creatively. I did check e-mails on occasion. But yesterday, even though the last vestiges of the physical issue are still a problem, everything changed.

Those of you who are artists probably know what I'm talking about. Yesterday I felt driven to get back to the studio. It was an actual physical, gut level, tangible feeling!! Like hunger pangs are physical. It felt like I would burst if I didn't get out here today and begin something creative. And here I am.

The first order of creative business was to assembly my new easel!! Yep, since so much of my work now involves painted canvases, I was thrilled to find this adjustable easel for an amazing price a few months ago. This morning my husband helped me assemble it and I will be pulling out the paints the minute after I publish this post!!

I know I have a number of series pieces that are running behind schedule but I feel the need to do something not "required" of me....something a bit simple but it is important. It is a piece that "came to me" recently and I'm so excited to get it started!!

Here's my new toy!! (the little table beside it is for my brushes, paints, palettes, etc.) I'll keep you posted on the new piece as it progresses. It feels SOOOOOOO great to be back in my creative environment and have the energy to actually make art!

Today is the BIG DAY!!

This afternoon....5pm - 7pm will be my first solo show!!! It will be at the Pine Center for the Arts in Pine City, MN.

I'm so excited and full of butterflies!!  I'll be presenting my newest series on "Pecans"  Here is one piece from that series.

THE  SAPLING

30" X 30" 

Mixed Media 

Not time to write much more now.  But I'll fill you all in the beginning of next week! Stay tuned!!

"Transitions" - Light and Dark

One of my online groups chose the theme challenge for the month of June - Light and Dark.  It had me for a while. Couldn't get inspired.

I had previously done a piece on white paper with black printing ink, white paint and Pigma pen called "Directions."  This piece was inspired by that artwork but in the opposite.  I used black fabric, white molding paste (which gave it some texture), Pigma pen and white paint (just for the white dots). The title of this piece is....

Transitions

Directions

(the piece that inspired the art above)

What a week!!

This has been a strange week really.  Very sick so that was the downside.  BUT, at the same time, I found out that I was accepted in 2 more exhibitions!!

So in addition to Art on Main (my first public art exhibition) in the previous post below, I will also have pieces in the Fiber Arts exhibition at the Poudre River Gallery in Ft. Collins, CO, April 4-27, 2013. They accepted my small 12" X 12" art quilt entitled "Snow Tree".

"Snow Tree"

Then shortly after that, I received word that my two pieces entered for the Celebrate African Grandmothers were accepted.  These two pieces were made especially for this exhibition that will tour Canada this spring. Both are Mixed Media Textile art on canvas. The tour and subsequent auction of the works will raise funds for Royal City Gogos. It is a very worthy cause that, being a grandmother myself, I am  privileged to support.  For more information on Royal City Gogos, click HERE.  "Wall of Courage" was inspired by one of their promotional pieces in which the African Grandmothers were described as a wall of protection for the generation of grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. I imprinted the wall AND the clothing of these women to signify their solidarity in standing as protectors and support for the grandchildren they have chosen to raise. The symbols on Wall of Courage signify bravery and valor. The fabrics for their clothing are from Africa, as is the bark cloth in the background.

"Wall of Courage"

The second piece for Celebrate African Grandmothers is entitled "Tears of Joy" inspired by another comment in their promotional video that says these grandmothers prefer to look with joy and hope toward the future of their grandchildren.  Again the fabrics are from Africa as is the bark cloth. The many tears surrounding the main teardrop of a grandmother holding her baby grandchild, are crystal beads. The symbols in this piece signify unity, safety and security, and learning from the past.

"Tears of Joy"

Have to say...all this good news helped me feel better! Now I'm physically on the mend although still without a voice. 

More News!!

Received an e-mail this morning that my piece, "The Sapling" was accepted for Art on Main in Zumbrota, MN!!  The original art work had to be 12" X 22". Then, when accepted, it will be photographed and blown up to 24" X 44" vertical for banners to be placed on the lamp posts on Main Street in Zumbrota, MN!!

This is my first acceptance for Public Art!!

This is a very special piece for me. It became a kind of test/inspirational piece for my upcoming series "Pecans" that I'm doing in honor of my dad...who LOVED pecans and had planted his own orchard.  When he passed away, his ashes were buried under a HUGE pecan tree in what used to be their front yard.  While there for his memorial service, I took (with permission of the new owner) several twigs from that HUGE pecan tree and had thermofax screens made from them. Those are the screens I used for printing the "branches" for The Sapling.  The "trunk" is made from bark cloth from Africa (Thanks, Wil!!), a place my parents still held dear in their hearts after living there for a while.

So, Dad, this one is for you.....

Here is the piece that will be on Main Street -

THE  SAPLING

All fabrics are my own hand-dyed and surfaced designed fabrics. (except for the painted silk in the ground. That was a gift from a friend Canada. Thanks, Maggie!) The dark brown strip through the ground is hand-dyed yarn from a company run by my neice, Faith, and her business partner, TactileDactyl Fiber Art. Be sure to check them out!! Their yarn is luscious! And yes...those are real pebbles.

Finished!

And here is the finished piece! The binding was a bit of a challenge on this small piece but I still like the way it turned out!  Because to me the "bubbled" organza piece looks a bit like green grapes and the beads remind me of the posts that vineyards train the grapevines to....I'm entitling this piece.....

Sour Grapes

So now for the question....will I be doing more intuitive design.  Yep!  I had a blast with this one. Just the freedom to let a scrap inspire me and finding other bits to go along with it.  I think I'm hooked.

When Life Hands You Lemons

A few years ago, I was working with a group on an art journal doing a study series on any subject we wanted.  I started with figs and have several pieces on my website which resulted from that journal. Then I started on lemons.  Got a couple of pages done and life being what it is....got derailed.  BUT....I always remembered one of the challenges from this journal experience.  The challenge was to do a piece that interacted with more than just the sense of sight.  hmmmmm...... interested me very much.  I thought and thought and decided I wanted to do a lemon piece that also appealed to the sense of taste!! Now...how to do that.  At that time I purchased  lots of various shades and textures of yellow fabric.....and it sat and sat.....waiting for inspiration.  Knew what I wanted it to look like, just wasn't sure how to get from here to there.

One day just recently it all came together.  I had always envisioned a large tear drop crystal at the tip (big drop of lemon juice). THEN there were these wonderful blog posts (at ...And Then We Set It On Fire) on beading and I saw the final piece in  my mind!! Found the crystal opalescent beads in various sizes that were perfect. Then the problem was the big tear drop.  None were big enough.  Then.....there is was....hanging on a hook.  Not a tear drop at all...but a more organic shape and I LOVED it....and bought it, of course.

Using some of the guidelines offered by Beth in this fascinating stroll through all things beads, I started out.  Got some great suggestions along the way, and here is the final result.  My goal was to get those little taste buds that register sour to start watering.  Don't know if I accomplished just that, but I have to admit....I had a ball giving it a go!!

A lemon yellow satin makes up the "meat" of the wedge, white mulberry bark for the pith and a darker yellow satin that has small dots in it for the peel.  I stitched the lemon yellow satin to muslin, manipulating it to get the puckers I wanted. Added the peel and then the mulberry bark. The next step was to add all the beads to the lemon wedge for the droplets of juice. The whole lemon wedge was then stitched to a 18" X 24" stretched and painted canvas. Finally, I stitched on crystal beads to the canvas itself.  I hope it makes your mouth water!!!

When Life Hands You Lemons

When Life Hands You Lemons - detail

My First Gallery Exhibit!!

I'm so excited! My first Gallery Exhibit!  Five of my pieces from this year are included in the show. (click here - http://www.crossingsatcarnegie.com/page0002.html - to read more about it under the heading Fabrications Nine). Some of you might recognize another name listed in the promotional piece.

While I know most of you won't be able to attend the exhibit, I just wanted to share this with you. But if you COULD attend...do let me know how you like it!!

The Finished Piece

Just completed it....binding, sleeve and all.  Even added some real watch parts.

The Sands of Time

10" X 20"



Burned For a Purpose

This saga began almost a year and a half ago.  We were visiting NE Minneapolis art district for the annual Art-A-Whirl.  Some amazing art caught our eye.  Very ethereal....haunting almost.  Imprints of leaves mostly.  Breath-taking.  We asked the artist how she achieved this beautiful effect.  The answer....gun powder.  What????  Yep...gun powder. The prints she produced stayed with us all day.  As textile artists....and risk-takers in general....our natural inclination was...."I wonder what would happen if we did it on textiles?"  We didn't get to it that summer....but this summer we HAD to try it out.  We gathered our supplies.  Bought the gunpowder (I'm always amused by people's reaction.  These two women asking the clerk where to find gun powder. "What kind do you need?"  ummmmmm we don't know.  We are artist and are using it in our art.  "Ahhhhh"  - like that explains everything!!  Too funny!)  So anyway, after we found out that we for sure didn't want the kind that exploded....just burned, we were on our way.

We got one or two good pieces out of it....well, my friend did anyway.  We worked with the leaves...it was a windy day....enough said.

I've been so wanting to try it out myself and just waiting for a project that could benefit from this technique.  Then I had it. The 10 X 20 group - I still have 2 pieces to complete for this year.  One was due Oct. 1 so yes....I'm a bit behind.  The difficulty wasn't the gun powder bit....but finding an appropriate background.  Finally I found a piece of what felt like a twill.  Liked the subtle dyeing that had already been done to it. Only one problem....didn't think about what the fabric make-up was.  I mean I hardly have any textiles in my studio that aren't cotton or silk or linen.  So I go merrily on my way to experiment.  POOF!  The gun powder went off and the cardboard on top was burning a bit around the edges still....not uncommon.  I picked the cover up and the fabric itself was burning and melting.  Can you say synthetic fibers???? Put it out right away so no horrible damage was done.  But....as they say....you learn something new every day. 

Still...I got the results that worked for this particular project. There will be additonal experiments - on cotton - but I'm happy with the results for this time.  Below are photos of the process along the way and the final results, of course.

Screen printed clocks in Latte acrylic and ironed on the masks of freezer paper

Taped the fabric to the board and applied the gun powder

Set the gun powder on fire (and the fabric as it turned out)

Resulting fabric with masks removed (you can see the burned edges)

Another layer of screen printed clocks, this time in Lumiere Old Brass - and a few stamped clocks as well

Now to do the stitching.....and probably adding a few watch parts as well.  Hope to have it done by Monday if not before.



 

Weekly Creativity - Week 2 - WonderUnder Image Transfer

The 12 X 12 group that I participate in has a new theme for September - Road Map.  So I figured I would work with actual road maps! Hey, why not! I had seen this method of transferring images to sheer fabric and wanted to give it a try. So I'm doing something for my Weekly Creativity Goal and at the same time accomplishing an art quilt for the September Road Map Challenge Theme! MULTITASKING!!!

I happen to LOVE maps so I collect them from all kinds of publications. Glad now to have such a diversity. I picked out my favorites and arranged them to the size I need. It is larger than a 12 X 12 because I will need that extra for the technique I'm going to use in Step 2.

Then I covered it with a sheer silk. No idea what kind of silk it is...just found it in my stash and checked to be sure I could see through it.  First I ironed WonderUnder onto the maps, peeled off the paper and put the silk down onto the top covered in WonderUnder and ironed to down.



Next step is the big messy part. I turned the piece silk side down and thoroughly wet the back side of all the maps. Then the labor intensive process of carefully peeling the backs off the paper so only the images remained on the silk.

A final rinse to remove all the tiny tiny bits of paper still clinging to the back, and hung it up to dry overnight.

This morning, it is dry and while a bit more opaque than I had preferred, you can still see the maps through the silk. Hopefully this afternoon I'll get started on the next step of this art quilt!!  Got ya curious???





I Miss the Snow

I know I know....many of you will think I'm crazy (well this might or might not dispell that concept) but I LOVE the cold and the snow!! A bit strange for a Texas girl transplanted to the frozen tundra of Minnesota. But it is true.  This piece was born this summer when we had WEEKS of upper 90s. Thought I would die. Thank heaven for A/C or I just might have. I so LONGED for the cold and snow. I know it is a lot to ask of an art quilt...to bring back vivid enough memories of several feet of snow and temps below freezing to vanquish the oppresive heat...but I had high hopes. And to some extent it does give me hope. At least living in Minnesota (aka the Frozen Tundra) I know winter and cold WILL come eventually. I long for the first nip in the air, the promise that fall brings of the cold, refreshing winter beauty soon to come. So I wait..........


The background is white dupioni silk quilted in a snowflake pattern with silver metallic thread. The snowballs are circles of muslin with layers of scrim, lace, cording, knotted fabric and mulberry cloth hand-stitched onto it. Then the circles were appliqued to the quilt and then painted with White Pearl Lumiere and white acrylic paint. The finishing touch was to stitch some white iridescent beads onto each snowflake. Is it just me or is it getting just a bit chilly in here??????

I Miss The Snow

10" X 20"

I Miss the Snow - detail



Junk Junkie

OK...I teased you with the previous post (Can this be art....AND art quilting??).  Here is the result and yes...it is an art quilt!!

Again for one of the online groups I participate with - the theme for this year is WHO I AM - Like everyone, I'm quite a few "things". But one for sure is a Junk Junkie. I dumpster dive if I see something that catches my eye, pick up free things off the side of the road, LOVE Freecycle, thrift stores....that about says it. My poor long-suffering husband is at last used to piles of what seems to most people as useless stuff. Both he and my 4 year old granddaughter don't throw anything away unless they ask me first if I need it for an art project. I'm not altogether sure why old junk appeals to me and helps define what kind of person I am or at least what interests me. Probably a bit of the same reason I love falling down buildings. It's like I feel a sense of history and presence from another time. I try to imagine to whom it belonged in the past. Was it loved and cared for or just a utilitarian piece. I have a pile of rusted junk on the side of my house that I'm sure my neighbors question but if they could see this piece they just might understand.

I rusted white cotton fabric and then dyed it a bit with some cerulean blue procion dye. The large border/binding is a hand-dyed cotton of very close to the same blue. Both are from my stash. I wove rusted wire, including various rusty bits and pieces as I went along. Rusted some cotton heavy duty thread to attach the weavings to the quilt. The piece is 10" X 20".
 

JUNK  JUNKIE

JUNK  JUNKIE - detail



I have to say this was a very interesting quilt to make. Metal weaving is a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated but I do have to say...it was worth it!!

And So Begins Another Year!!

And now to begin the year with posting some art.   I belong to a small group of art quilters that work in 12" X 12" (remember the hot air balloon?) and the current theme is  "Size Is Not Important". And here is my art quilt for that theme.


Title: Five Smooth Stones

Concept: This was the first idea I had when I read the theme for this quarter. (OK, the second idea!) Anyway, I thought of David and Goliath. Truly size was not the determining factor in that confrontation. So I decided on the five smooth stones that David took to take to the battle along with the type of slingshot the used back in those days (and still do in the Middle East I believe). All the fabrics are my own hand dyed fabrics, the slingshot is made of a very soft leather, the leather straps I've had for years (no clue where they came from now). The straps by the slingshot are bound with a speciality yarn I had in my stash. I did minimal quilting because I used the two colors of "sand" fabric to create the undulation of the sand. Also, I sprayed the two sand fabrics with a textured spray paint called "Stone" Not sure if you can see that in the photo.

Five Smooth Stones

Now I'm ready to find out what the next theme is!! Hopefully this time it won't take me so long to get it done!
Oh and BTW -- HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you! Hoping 2012 will be artful and creative and fulfilling!

Fig Number Four

Here is the photo of number 4 in the Fig Study series.  The title is Dried Figs. I finished it this far some weeks ago. Not sure exactly where it is going but I know it needs something else.  Just haven't been inspired by it as yet.  Some ideas but they didn't look like I wanted.  But, in the meantime, here is Dried Figs. The background of the quiltlet is a handdyed piece. The figs are done in painted and melted Tyvek. The finished piece is 12" X 24".

Dried Figs - the quiltlet

Dried Figs - quiltlet detail

Dried Figs on canvas



The fifth and final in the series is just about completed.  Then on to the next project!!

Back to FACES Journal

At long last (and now that I had some pages ready to work on) I came back to work on my Faces Journal. 

To begin, I had done page 3 months ago and just never posted it so that will be the first photo for today.  I had decided that I didn't want to take classes or anything to learn to draw faces....just planned on a lot of trial and error.  OK....you can quit laughing now! It made sense at the time.  So here are a few examples from various drawing instructions that I planned NOT to use!  Don't worry....I moved on from there.

Faces Journal - page 3

Then somewhere I found this free series on How To Draw Faces. It made it all look so easy I decided it just MIGHT be worth looking at. Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive study but rather a beginning place. Which is just where I am.  The first lesson was on how to draw eyes. So, that is where I began my journey as a student.

One more caveat - I practice in my sketchbook to learn to get better and better.  This journal is just to chronicle my journey....NOT to be a place to draw perfect eyes. So, don't judge my efforts by the drawings in this journal. I read a quote from a mixed media artist in the CPS newsletter just this morning.

“Journal style drawing is meant to be fresh and casual. It's meant to capture a specific time—you do it and then turn the page.” Jane LaFazio

That is where I'm at currently. So here are pages 4 and 5 on Eyes - fresh and casual

Faces Journal - pages 4 and 5

Faces Journal - pages 4 and 5 - details

So...am I on a roll again?  We'll see.  I do have pages 6 and 7 prepped so who knows when the muse will strike!

My Altered Book Journey

I've never done an altered book before but wanted to give it a try. A friend sent me some ideas and I decided that it would be a new avenue of art to explore.  So I'll be posting the steps of this journey as they happen.  Sometimes there might be a bit of time in between because I'm still doing other things as well (and it will take DAYS if not weeks to get all the pages gessoed!!!!.....is that a word???) So....that being said....let's start the journey!

You know they say that each journey of a million miles begins with the first step.  Seems like a logical place to start then. BTW, this is not meant to be a tutorial by any means.....I'm just recording the fun I'm having on this new adventure.

Step One

Well, first I had to choosea book.  All of us in our house are book fanatics so I knew it would be difficult to find a book I would be willing to "alter"!!  Certainly I could find a boring book in my husbands study but I'm thinking that would not be a smart move!  So....I found a hard cover book I had purchased at a garage sale some years ago and never used.  It is a hardcover cookbook called "The International Cook".  I love it because it is a tall, thinner book and besides recipes it also has history and descriptions and glossaries of countries and the foods of that country.  There are also some very interesting pictures to highlight!

Step Two

Deciding on which pages to combine to create thicker, sturdier "pages" was not as easy as it sounds. I did lose some lovely picures just because I couldn't combine then any other way.  But I still have enough to work with.  I got out my trusty glue stick and went to work gluing pages together.

Step Three

Now to take the "new pages" and stitch the edges of them to be sure they stay together.  About this time I'm wishing I had stuck more pages together!!  Oh well, I'm on NO DEADLINE so I'm doing it as it stands and just enjoying the process....

Interesting Recipe Pages

  Other Pages with Beautiful Pictures

Step Four

The next thing to do is to take all those glossy pages and smear gesso all over them so they can be altered with wet applications if desired.  Oh and they WILL be!!  Paints, watercolors, etc.  So many ideas and with the gesso I have all options open to me.  However, for those of us with very little patience....now I'm REALLY wishing I didn't have so many pages (haven't actually counted them yet.....probably ignorance is bliss???)  It doesn't take long to get the gesso on...it's the waiting for it to dry before I can do another page! But I've started now and will just go with the flow.  However, due to drying times.....you won't see the next step posted for about a week or so....unless I get out the heat gun out of frustration and lack of patience!  LOL!!

Adding Gesso to Pages - Highlighting Some Interesting Text

So, unil next time (whenever that may be) I'll be watching gesso dry........

Third in the Fig Study series

Went a bit smaller for this little quiltlet.  The finished size of this piece on canvas is only 14" X 11".  The title is Three Little Figs.  Even though there is now a fourth fig, the emphasis is on the three together so I'm keeping the name of the original quiltlet.

And this time I actually got photos of each stage of the process!  YEAH! Although the ones of the painted piece are a bit shiny....the background very closely matches the quiltlet color as seen in the first photo. ENJOY!!

The beginning quiltlet

The quiltlet stitched onto the canvas

Background painted

Three Little Figs completed

Three Little Figs detail

I used a purple ink on the border of the painted fig to copy the stitching around the quiltlet ones and green ink to give some shading to the quiltlet figs.

I already have the first three stages completed on the next piece so hopefully will have that one posted the first of the coming week! So stay tuned!

Second in the Fig Study series

I know...I said I would take photos of the process this time.  I just have so much fun I forget.  Third times the charm???? I have the canvas now for the third in the series.  I'll try to do better with the camera this time.

This second piece is called Figs of Gold.  The background is hand dyed fabric, the figs painted with metallic paint.  The shading is pen and ink. And here it is!

Figs of Gold - the quiltlet

Figs of Gold - stitched on canvas



Figs of Gold - Completed

Figs of Gold - Detail 1

Figs of Gold - Detail 2

(This one looks a bit different because I had to turn off the flash. The reflection was wiping out the details. I wanted to carry through the stitching around each fig so the ones on the canvas are "stitched" around with pen and ink.)

Now...onto the third in the series!!!  Here's hoping I remember the photos this time!

Back now - Hopefully!!

Yep dark days....survived to tell about it. THEN I get sick....yes....AGAIN!!  But now I'm back for what I hope is a good long time!!!

Time has not be totally wasted however. I've started on a new project that I am quite pleased with.  I was inspired by a couple of techniques a friend shared with me.  I modified them a bit, combined them and found that I really like the results.  The origianl idea is to use this technique for my individual manhole cover projects but I wanted to try it out first to see if it would turn out like I envisioned.  So, I had a series of little quiltlets that I had done for a class. Why not try it out with those and see what happened???

So here is my Fig Study series as I begin to complete them with these techniques. I was so excited and having so much fun that I didn't take photos of each step (drat!!) on the first one but I'm trying to do that on the second one. I do have one confession.....it was difficult making that first brush stroke with the paint onto the fabric!  But I'm glad I did!

First is the branch with little figs growing on it. It startes with the original quiltlet.

Fig - Branch (quiltlet)



Then I stitched it to the canvas (didn't get this photo).  Next I mixed acrylic paints to get the color I wanted and then painted the canvas.  Also extended the branch and the tip of the leaf. (I did later adjust the color on the leaf tip....looks much better later on.)

Fig - Branch (stitched on painted canvas)

Next I painted with acrylics to add an additional branch and leaves.  All branches and leaves wrap around the canvas on the sides as well.

Fig - Branch (completed)

One last step.  I added shading with pen and ink on the fabric as well as the painted leaves and branches. Just making little dots with the pen and ink. Here are a few detailed photos.

Fig - Branch (details of pen and ink shading)



So, that's what I've been up to lately. I just stitched the next quiltlet onto canvas and when that one is completed I'll post the photos of the steps on that one.