I’m excited to announce that next week I’ll be posting the Photograph and Fiber pieces. There is a little something for everyone – great ideas and, I think, they’re very inspiring.
I’ll be showing some of the fabrics I’ve been painting lately in futures posts but for now, here is the most recent sky painting video…
I’m happy so many of you entered for a chance to win a piece of hand painted fabric. And the Giveaway/Sweepstakes winners are –
Lynne K.
Chris W.
Christine B.
Naomi M.
Joy Q.
Please email your mailing info to me and I will mail the fabric ASAP.
If you make anything with the fabric I hope you will share photos, I’d love to see what you come up with.
I was thinking about making some winter cards so I was playing, with sun-printing (again) using leatherleaf ferns and Setasilk and then painting with Neo Color wax pastels. The first three are from the same large piece, I’m floating a card stock “window” over it to find an area I like.
I’m not sure where I’m going with those but I know the Neo Color pastel poinsettia is crying for some thread play. The pine cone was really an experiment and it’s just okay. I may have to fix the stem because the branch looks like a stem shadow (more pine needles?). I should have done a wash around it too; I don’t like the white area on the right. Maybe that would be a place for some white (tone on tone) embroidery or maybe free motion quilting.
And below is a poinsettia card I made for my aunt. I posted a card similar to this in the past but this one is a little different in that the leave/petals hang beyond the edge. I like this one better and I think my fabric quilled beads with French Knots make the perfect flowers.
As I was writing this post my daughter gave a little holler saying “Sky!” and if you know anything about my family you know that is the signal to go upstairs and out on our bedroom deck. It was to see this…
We have had some Santa Ana winds recently, which are always scary because we are so prone to wildfires. Our Redbud tree has been wind stripped of most of her leaves. I walked out the other day and on the patio next to the tree saw this circle of leaves and asked my husband if he wanted me to put them in the greens recycle can and he said “I don’t know what circle of leaves you are talking about.” He thought I made it, I thought he made it, we knew our adult kids hadn’t made it, and so it has been determined that the wind made it…that or there are some leaf elves hiding out in our garden!
I’m not a trained painter but enjoy trying my hand at it on fabric, which I believe is even more challenging than painting on paper. I see a lot that is not “correct” about this leaf but the shadow area, at least, will go under my quilting machine needle and hopefully I’ll be happier about it then. One thing I know but too often forget – Painting a drying leaf, in little bits of time, over a few days is not a good idea. Drying leaves change!
I think I work better in the abstract… it is more forgiving (or is it that I’m more accepting?!) and I find it much more relaxing. The below leaf was painted using Neo-Color II Wax Pastels and water and will have more quilting around it. Both of these leaves were painted on a scrap from my A Clear Necessityquilt (which is scheduled to be exhibited at the New England Quilt Museum in 2017).
I don’t know why it is but I just have a thing for leaves! How about you?
I lifted the lid off a cast iron pan after allowing it to cool for cleaning and discovered this…
At first I thought – Oh, that’s cool, in a rusty, creepy sort of way, and then I looked again and thought, it looks familiar. I remembered coming across an old painting while I was organizing the new studio space… I’m not sure if you can tell from these photos but the texture and some of the shapes look much the same!
The watercolor was done on paper and the technique was more – just let the paint flow (pour) than actually brush painting. I’m not sure how the tiny dots were made but I really like the textured appearance. After it dried I rotated it 180° and it made me think of coral below the sea. Cast iron, paper… next, get out the fabric and textile paints!
I was looking through my art supplies and discovered an old box of watercolor tube paints that may have been my dad’s or maybe mine from high school!
They were pretty far gone, seeing as they were made sometime between the 1960s to 70s, but I managed to get some out of the tubes and decided to paint a little painting. It has been a really long time since I painted watercolor on paper and I’m rusty to say the least. It is very different from painting on fabric, which is more my thing but I’m happy with the painting. I think I may try to work it into a printed fabric design.
Now my creative juices are flowing and I’m ready to water down my textile paints and paint a watercolor on fabric… Looking at that painting makes me want to layer it and add detail using thread play and quilting. Would you rather paint on paper or fabric?
I have been have fun in the studio creating a this new piece. Soon I will be offering the online step by step lessons for creating this pretty poinsettia wall hanging (painting, stitching, and more) . I’ll teach how to make the flower center fabric beads too. The techniques could be used to make any flower or most any design…. For any season!
I’m working on a commissioned art quilt that is a little larger than anything I have made recently and it has many pastel colors which is a palette I don’t often use. I’m enjoying the process and the challenge! It was requested that the piece have monarch type butterflies and birds, specifically bluebirds. I am painting and then stitching them which I have never done on such a small scale and never using the technique I’m trying… I have stabilized the fabric with Terial Magic spray and I’m not using a hoop when I free motion stitch/embroider. I’ll have more about the in a future post.
One thing I like about this method is that if the painting isn’t quite right (sparrow’s beak e.g.) I can correct it during the stitching.
Birds before stitching
On the butterflies only the black is stitched and the colors were just left painted. I’m okay with the white fabric being wrinkled because these elements will be cut out and appliqued on to the sky and flowers. But I’m trying a few changes to see if the fabric will always wrinkle when not placed in a hoop. I’ll keep you posted and I’ll post the finished quilt when I get there.
I’m behind in blogging but I have been spending happy hours (days actually) in the studio. I remember earlier in the year when I fell into a bit of a slump but now I have more ideas than I could ever have time to create (must be a spring thing). I have enjoyed a few weeks of tile mosaic work but now I’m very happy to be working in fiber and paint again…it is so much lighter than tile!
Here are a couple whole cloths. I’m not certain how they will be finished yet but I know I’ll think of something!
