Production!

My good friend Melanie came up on Friday and stayed through last night. Her agenda was to aid in getting me working. And it worked. We painted, felted and hand stitched. Completely narcissistic pursuits and utterly delicious. The top piece is a glimpse of a felted work in progress that I envision stitching to heavyweight cotton paper and encasing in a cradle frame. The bottom piece is an acrylic painting that seems to have been inspired by the spectacular full moon from the weekend. It measures 23 x 30"

And....from scratch hot cross buns are rising right now....keeping the train moving along that creativity track....

Back to the Roots....

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my friend who had just returned from taking a class with Dorothy Caldwell. Melanie showed me this marvelous hand bound book of some exercises they had done during the class. I was inspired! It has been awhile since I've messed around with textiles but this morning I grabbed some previously dyed organza, plunged it into a coffee/tea bath (to further stain and earth-i-tize it), then burned it using a candle and incense stick. It remains to be seen where the journey will go from here...perhaps some handstitching...perhaps some more embellishments...we shall see...but isn't it tres organic and rustic looking?

People have told me that the art I create...whether in fabric, mixed media or pastels is filled with a sense of emotion. The first time I was told this I was a bit taken aback and considered it a lone remark. By the 3rd expressed observation in this same vein I started to believe it. Then I started to analyze it. I like earthy. I like organic. I like real. I like heartfelt. I like substance. I like deep thinking. I find these qualities attractive in people and in art. The work in progress above is constructed from my own surface designed fabrics. It may not be a masterpiece but a lot of real work, effort and feeling went into its creation.

This is finished - I guess. It's hard for me to know when enough is enough, when enough is too much, when it's not quite enough. I've read other art blog postings and heard the same lament at art classes so I know it's a common theme that plagues other creative souls. Sometimes when I'm working on something I have in my mind that if I just do A, B or C it will transform the piece from boring to not. The problem always lies with figuring out...what is the A, B or C perfect touch? Is that something that is pure inspiration or does it come with knowledge, education and practice? Perhaps it's a combination of both of these things? If anyone out there has the answer please share it....or sell it via PayPal on your blog - you'll make a million dollars.

Dropped in a bit more handstitching last night.....more to come!

A photo for inspiration! Seedlings traveling their path....

Fertile

I haven't been very creative lately - the desire has been there but...for some reason...the will has been lacking. Anyone ever struggled with this? I found myself thinking of art I wanted to create but didn't seem able to get myself up out of the chair to do anything about it. Seemed like too much effort.

But yesterday I sat down at the machine and free motion quilted on a piece of cloth that I had previously dyed and painted. I then overdyed it in black. As the last step I added pigments and more paint . The word 'fertile' keeps coming to mind when I look at it.

Organic

I fiddled around with fabric this afternoon and came up with this. The base is deconstructive screen printed cloth with dyed and painted silk organza pieces laid over top. I have just discovered Misty Fuse. Why did I not listen to all the other artists who use it...like before now? It's wonderful stuff.

Trial

I put together the piece above last night using some of the fabric I had dyed, discharged and silk screened.

Then I stage it on top of another piece of cloth I had created. Do you think it works with that background cloth? I kind of like the unexpectedness of the colors and the overall tribal type of feeling it has. I'd love to hear your opinions.

Respite Saturday

What have I been up to this past week? Besides trying to maintain a semblance of sanity while at my day job? (and the jury's still out on how successful I was at that). I was messing around with silk and silk organza that I had dyed over the past weeks. I created this base and plan to enhance it (well...let's hope that's the result) with hand stitching. This is such a complete departure from my usual work that I'm very intriqued and excited. It's also a larger than typical piece, coming in at about 18x13". Change can be good.

Script Images

When I made the screen for these images suggestive of ancient scripts my husband tried to read it. I think he came up with some sort of Dick and Jane type story but the main characters were called The Man and The Woman and were involved in the pursuit of everyday tasks - maybe preparing food? cleaning up the house? laundry? Do you think he was using my art to suggest the need for a bit of domesticity over here? Ha, ha, ha....

Painted and screen printed cotton cloth with overlaid hand dyed organza and hand stitching. Finished off with a bit of sparkling pigments.

Postcard Mosaic

Here are 13 (lucky?) 4x6" textile postcards that are finished except for edge stitching. If you're interested in seeing some of the details click on the photo is will get much larger. I hope to have them completed and in the mail this weekend. The Danforth Museum of Art is reopening for the fall season this week and these are destined for their gift shop.

Have to run....that day job is calling....good Wednesday everyone!

Budding Textile Artist?

My daughter's boyfriend's daughter (did you get that?) came to visit with them over the weekend. Emma spent hours making beaded earrings, helping us dye fabric and creating the art quilt above (with some free motion quilting additions from moi). Do you see her artist's signature in the lower right corner - EC '08? She signed it without any adult prompting, which made me smile. Didn't she do a fantastic job on her first ever work in fabric? She got the hang of that needle and thread in no time flat.

Celestrial Impressions

In last week's art class I replicated one of Van Gogh's self portraits in an exercise designed to help us expand our use of values. The piece above reminds of me of Starry, Starry Night and I wonder if I was inconsciously influenced by Mr. Van Gogh. It was created from hand painted cloth, foiling, painted Lutradur, and pigments.

It's been a busy weekend so far...lots of company, cooking and general mayhem. I haven't been able to do much art except for the piece above and some incredible hand dyes that my daughter and I did on silk, cotton, organza and chiffon. I'll try to get some photos of those up in the day or so.

Enjoy your day everyone. Eat, drink and be merry!

A Special Gift

I received this wonderful gift from Jan of Laughing Dog Arts yesterday. Jan also included some lovely dyed cheesecloth that provided the perfect back drop to highlight her gorgeous textile art. Thank you so much Jan!

Here is a link to Jan's Etsy shop, for your viewing pleasure...and now it's time to get back to work on the textile piece I'm doing for Jan....

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5087421

Work in Progress

Another 4x6’er in the works. The photo isn’t the greatest but you get the idea. This is painted & inked hand dyed fabric with foiling and hand embroidery added. It will also have embellished fabric rods attached – maybe with some of those tres cool, vintage, clear sequins I found.

You know, I wish there were a huge demand for 4x6 textile art. For some reason these measurements & I get along really well. I could make this little gem size all day long. But I know that in order to reach my art goals I need to start working bigger more often. I don’t think I’ll ever produce really large work but geez…I might need to at least get into the double digits!