Work in Progress

I’m looking forward to sharing the photograph and fiber/fabric pieces, that other artists have given me permission to share, in an upcoming blog post. For now I’ll give you a little look in to the piece I’m working on for that blog post. I’m not going to show it with the photograph until the piece is finished.

After a good bit of time examining the photograph that will be a part of this piece I decided the direction I’d take my design.

I started by painting a sky using Jacquard Textile Colors (JTC).

After I ripped the fabric I realized it was too small for my frame and so I used pins to stretch it.

I painted a woodsy hillside using JTC and used NeoColor ll wax pastels for the lower half. I pulled off some silk threads from a piece of raw silk fabric to audition where I might add tree trunks. If this had been a collage without stitching I would have glued those silk threads using gel medium. I really liked how they looked.

A rough layout…

I embroidered knots. First I pulled threads from a piece of dupioni silk fabric because I wanted the simmer, shine, and the threads were thicker than the actually silk spools I have. Unfortunately, the knots weren’t looking good so I switched to regular floss. In the end, in the big picture, it isn’t really going to matter.

They hardly resemble a French Knots so I just call them knots.

More painting – this time a plastic edge tapped in JTC and pulled horizontally across the NeoColor area. After that I brushed a blue paint wash over that area to darken it. When it was dry it was still a bit light for what I was going for. At this point I have myself convinced that quilting it will make it right.

Pulled paint using sharp edge over NeoColor ll

I used the same sharp edge, (it was just a piece of plastic advertising that was a bit thinner than a credit card), to make the trunks. I was going to just quilt the trunks but was playing with the paint and couldn’t help myself. I think I will still quilt them or maybe not!

This was taken when it was wet, the lower area dried much lighter.

I always learn something when making any Photograph on Fiber piece, sometimes many things. They’re always a challenge but a fun one. We will see where this one takes me and what I learn.

A Reminder – Next post, June 16, I will announce the winners of the painted fabric.

By Ann Scott

I started sewing and designing using fabric, thread, and paper when I was a child. I taught myself to make quilts, at first not following the "rules," then watched some experts, learned the rules, and made many hand quilted and appliqued quilts. I spent years focusing on miniature landscape quilts. Now I am a fiber and mixed media artist and that encompasses everything I have a passion for. I have taught, lectured, and my work have show nationally and internationally, some pieces have been published.

6 comments

  3. I really like the tree trunk texture and admire your stretching the fabric to fit. I probably would have seen on a hunk of fabric which you have looked so obvious.

  4. Joanna, You are a great one for experimenting and trying new techniques. I have learned much from your artwork and I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

Comments are closed.