My sweet, gentle man passed away after a courageous eight-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease and the Parkinson’s disease dementia that ensued. Our hearts are broken. He was dearly loved and admired. We will miss him terribly.
Rest in peace Alan.
Acrylic Painting to Textile Piece
Last time I showed you this acrylic painting on panel.
I then digitally printed the image several times on both silk organza and cotton satteen. After additional painting, pencil work and stitching, this is the finished textile piece. The vertical lines were created with silk ribbon that has also been painted on a bit. Finished piece measures 15” x 30”
Here are some detail shots
Just do the Work
These days I find myself often reverting back to what I used to tell my students. “Just go do the work. Time will bring it all together.”
My dear mother passed away a little more than a year ago. And even though I am still grieving for the loss of her in my life as well as caregiving for my husband, work in the studio is indeed going on. All the work I do on the house, in the laundry room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom have their different rewards but nothing grounds me like being in the studio. Nothing else brings my spirit back like the work of the studio. Even walks down the wooded paths that lead from home to the natural world no longer lighten my load or show me the way to my spiritual path. And although caregiving for Alan fills my being with love, it does not settle like contentment in my soul.
Time in the studio comes on unpredictable days and hours of the day. Often, because of caregiving a trip across the garden to the studio won’t start until noon and then might end suddenly at 3. Or it may start at 10 and go through until 5 with breaks for medication and meals. Because of this I no longer work with medias that require set up times or clean up that must happen on the spot and could take 45 minutes or more. I have learnt to compensate. I mostly use textile paints again, while also dying with tea and coffee which can be left indefinitely in the pot and requires virtually no clean up. Stitching is of course an easy one. I have also been painting small works on cradle boards and then using them as a springboard for textiles pieces that begin with digital printing on fabric of the original acrylic painting.
I now have a small cart with art materials in the house to work with in the morning. That time spent painting and drawing in my sketchbook has been amazing for the growth of my larger pieces once I get into the studio.
I am slowly updating my website and now reaching out to you in this format again.
In the meantime follow this link to view the paintings on cradle board and I’ll be in touch again soon. http://www.cherscapes.com/new-gallery
xoxo Cher
Studio from the north side.
Acrylic painting on panel
Checking In and Painting Curtains!
Most of you know that my life is very much taken up these days with caregiving for both my Mother and my husband. I have blogged about it here. But after a bit of time I removed those posts. I struggle with writing about my husband and his illness on line. I think that he might feel that it is an invasion of his privacy. Actually, I know in my heart that he would feel this way.
So even though the actual role of caregiver and the emotions and thoughts I have related to my husband’s illness define in large part who I am right now, I feel that I must refrain from sharing about these subjects here on my blog. It will be hard and confusing as the boundaries between who I am and his privacy will often be blurred.
Lack of time and this confusion have kept me from posting here very often. But I have worked out a work schedule (of sorts) for myself that may be something I can keep up with.
Anyway – the deal is that I like things to be linear. I like things to flow from beginning to end – leaving little out that comes in between. This too has kept me from posting. Simply because so much time, so many events and so much work in the studio have gone by. Do I recreate the past from the beginning? Do I start in the middle? Do I start now and go back – then move forward again - moving fluidly back and forth through the timeline of my life as it is today?
And how do I approach posting? I used to think of the blog – my blog – the same way I thought of my column - back when I wrote a weekly art column in my daily printed newspaper. It was a piece of writing I worked on for the better part of a week – thought about, wrote, researched, wrote again, reviewed and edited. Any piece I wrote for magazines was of course approached in this manner.
But most people blog in much the same way they journal. Just write – don’t edit – just write. Okay, so maybe they edit a little bit. I understand now that because of the lack of time, this is how I should approach writing for my blog. Writing and publishing in this way will be another hard thing for me, as I like what I put out into the world to be polished, professional, well-crafted and perfected. I am counting on the fact that my lack of sharing very much at all over the past two years has perhaps actually been harder. We’ll see.
Anyway – here we go.
Curtains hanging in the dining room.
Last year we spent the better part of the year actually living in my new gigantic studio while we had the house worked on. We hadn’t done much of anything to it since we built it 27 years ago. Money was always tight and we were busy with work and raising the kids. But now the youngest child is in college. We are getting older – and his health isn’t great. It just seemed like now or never. So, we moved out – had the place painted, had the wood floors and ceilings sanded and refinished. We put in a new kitchen and handicap master bathroom and finished off the walk-out basement into a guest room. It was a great undertaking. Once we moved back in I started making and sewing things for the house. I had actually never done that! Oh, I had decorated but I had never sewn curtains and pillows. I had never even made a bed quilt before!
I must say it has been fun. And my husband has loved it! Really loved it!! It felt like we were young again creating a living space together – newlyweds nesting.
I started with curtains for the French doors in my living room and dinning room. We live in the middle of the woods and don’t really need curtains for privacy. But I like the way they look hanging on the wall at the sides of the doors. They kind of dress them up a bit and add color and texture. Plus, any opportunity to live with more cloth always makes me happy. But the truth is that I am terrible with measurements and really, really didn’t want to actually make curtains.
I found some lovely 100% cotton sheers. I bought white ones and set about painting them. I have a 4-foot by 12-foot table in my studio for painting fabric. I used Jacquard Dye-na-flow in spray bottles for the yellow. The images were made with my stencils and stamps using Pro-Chemical and Dye Pro-fab textile paints. And I might add that it took forever to paint all four panels!
One curtain panel on my painting table in the studio.
Three stamps I used.
One of the stencils I used with a palette of paint and the stamping brush I prefer.
Close up
One panel hanging on the studio clothes line.
In the living room with Julian.
Art Pillows and View From the Loft
Art pillows have become my new go to project for fun and relaxing creative play. Some of the pillows are one or two of a kind, while others are made from digitally printing my fabric designs onto cotton sateen. I started digitally printing so my customers would have the option of purchasing several identical pillows. Plus, I end up having many more options to fool around with as I am not using the original hand painted fat quarter. And I get to print images from my art journal onto fabric!
Sometimes I do a little hand embroidery on them. Whichever way I get to the finished product the process has cleared my brain and given me some respite from the more difficult work of creating wall hung, fine fiber art.
This is my latest art pillow. The original image was created using Jacquard Dye-na-flow and Textile Color textile paints and my hand carved stamp. For the pillow I digitally printed on Jacquard cotton sateen fabric that has been pre-treated to run through an inkjet printer. The fabric comes on a roll and is called Fabri-Sign. It has a paper backing to help it feed through the printed. Once the fabric is dry you can remove the paper. The fabric is water resistant but not washable. However I then spray it with a coat of Scotch Guard making it hand washable in warm/cool water.
Remember that these are art pillows. They are not pillows that are meant to be tossed around the floor or given to you pet! :)
I have an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer that prints up to 17" wide. My art pillows use a 16" wide pillow insert.
This is the hand carved stamp I used. A very simple yet effective image. I'll be teaching a 2-day workshop on hand carving stamps along with techniques for printing them on fabric here in my studio. Click on the subscribe button if you'd like to have my blog posts come directly to your email so you don't miss my workshop announcements.
All pillows are for sale from my Etsy Shop. Click here for a direct link to the art pillow section.
Sometimes I do a little hand embroidery on them. Whichever way I get to the finished product the process has cleared my brain and given me some respite from the more difficult work of creating wall hung, fine fiber art.
This is my latest art pillow. The original image was created using Jacquard Dye-na-flow and Textile Color textile paints and my hand carved stamp. For the pillow I digitally printed on Jacquard cotton sateen fabric that has been pre-treated to run through an inkjet printer. The fabric comes on a roll and is called Fabri-Sign. It has a paper backing to help it feed through the printed. Once the fabric is dry you can remove the paper. The fabric is water resistant but not washable. However I then spray it with a coat of Scotch Guard making it hand washable in warm/cool water.
Remember that these are art pillows. They are not pillows that are meant to be tossed around the floor or given to you pet! :)
I have an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer that prints up to 17" wide. My art pillows use a 16" wide pillow insert.
This is the hand carved stamp I used. A very simple yet effective image. I'll be teaching a 2-day workshop on hand carving stamps along with techniques for printing them on fabric here in my studio. Click on the subscribe button if you'd like to have my blog posts come directly to your email so you don't miss my workshop announcements.
All pillows are for sale from my Etsy Shop. Click here for a direct link to the art pillow section.
AND HERE IS A VIEW FROM THE LOFT!
All the electrical wires and the plumbing are now in. The building inspector came today. The next thing up is the roof. We had such great results with the metal roof on our house that we decided to put it on the studio as well. Winters here in New England can be unpredictably harsh with lots of heavy snow that can stick to your roof. With a metal roof it all just slides right off. No more roof raking for us! Been there, done that. Plus we are simply too old! :)
Finished Student Work From My Batik with Soy Wax and Textile Paints Workshop
These last photos are really great examples of how well my students at the Fletcher Farm School for Arts and Crafts grasped the concepts of batik work as well as the use of the tools and paint.
We used a variety of resist tools found in my kitchen and garage as well as those found in hardware stores and my beloved dollar store such as potato mashers, metal napkin rings, bolts, metal spatulas and more!
We used brushes and the traditional tjanting tool for drawing and writing with the hot soy wax.
For color we brushed and sprayed Jacquard Dye-na-Flow textile paint. To learn more about the techniques and products we used simply scroll down for the last 2 postings or click here for day 1 and here for day 2.
By Hallee
By Adele
By Linda
By Adele
By Marilyn
By Maddy
By Sookie
By Marilyn
By Cynthia
By Maddy
By Jeanne
By Jeanne
Jeanne's full name is Jeanne Marklin. She is an exhibiting fiber artist who traditionally dyes her own fabrics. She often works with commercially printed black on white fabric like her second piece above and uses circles as a common element. I just love the effect of the black and white fabric painted and batiked! To see more of her work click here. It was great fun to have her in my class and see how she incorporated her artistic voice into a new medium!
Don't forget to click on the images for a larger view.
Have a great day - Cher
Batik with Soy Wax and Dye-na-Flow Textile Paint - Day 2
Here are some pictures from the second day of my batik with soy wax and textile paints workshop. I was up at the Fletcher Farm School for Arts and Crafts in Ludlow, VT.
We were using soy wax flakes for batik and Jacquard Dye-na-Flow textile paints. If you want to read about how this technique is executed click here to read about the first day. Or simply scroll down.
We were using soy wax flakes for batik and Jacquard Dye-na-Flow textile paints. If you want to read about how this technique is executed click here to read about the first day. Or simply scroll down.
This is a great example of how the layering effect is achieved. This is Dana's piece. In the above photo you can see her first layer on the right hand side. Using the Dye-na-Flow in spray bottles she sprayed pale yellow and a bit of coral on the white fabric. she them laid down her first layer of wax. On the left hand side she is beginning to paint the second layer of paint. The wax will resist this layer of paint preserving the original colors of the fabric. When the paint dries she filled in all the areas she wanted to stay that second color with wax and so forth. Below is the finished piece.
Everyone thought it looked very Indian.
Here is someone beginning to remove the wax by placing her piece between layers of plain newsprint and then using a dry iron over the piece. She'll keep replacing the paper and keep ironing until almost all the wax has been removed. The last little bit will be washed out in the washing machine set on hot.
Drying the paint but being careful not to let the sun remelt the wax!!!
Above is one of Hallee's pieces. She works on small pieces of fabric to use as pockets on her tot bags.
If you click on the image to enlarge it you'll see that some of the wax has a milky color to it. that means that for a variety of reasons the wax did not fully penetrate the fabric. This will allow the paint to lightly seep under the wax. Generally thought of as a mistake it actually works to Hallee's advantage here.
With the wax ironed out you can readily see the areas where the wax resist fully penetrated the fabric and where it didn't.
This is another one of Hallee's. The image above shows some of the early stages of the wax and paint applications. In the image below, the piece is second in from the left. You can see how with each application the piece gets darker and darker as she very successfully worked from light to dark.
Sookie worked with silk scarf blanks.
Really beautiful this scarf is loaded with texture and depth.
This is Maddy with her silk scarf. She just tore off a piece of silk from her stash and plans to hem it later.
Created by Marilyn the above image shows a great use of color and the traditional batik "crackle".
Linda also worked with a variation of tones and tints of the same 2 colors. She free hand "drew" the flowers using a tjanting tool. The three shapes on the bottom with a leaf motif was made with a metal cooking spatula dipped in hot wax then stamped onto the fabric.
This is one of Jeanne's pieces. She created a beautiful color palette and a wonderful overall sense of movement in the piece. You might recognize the main circular image. It was created by loading a metal potato masher with hot wax and then stamping it onto the fabric.
I think that is enough for today. I'll share the last of the images with you tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone and don't forget to click on the images for a larger view.
Batiking in VT and Studio Progress
The first day of my Batik with Soy Wax and Textile Paints workshop at the Fletcher Farm School for Arts and Crafts was great. I had a wonderful group of students, all eager to learn a new technique.
In some respects batik is relatively easy. We used hot soy wax (formulated for batik) as a resist and in this case we used Jacquard Dye-na-flow textile paints instead of dyes. Soy wax is a great replacement for the traditional paraffin wax as it's melting point is much lower then paraffin, thus reducing the risk of fire. Also, it is non-toxic and once you iron out most of the wax the rest will easily come out in the washing machine set on hot.
Jacquard's Dye-na-flow is the consistency of dye with beautiful, deep penetrating colors. But in contrast to dye it is non-toxic and washes up with soap and water. What's not to love?! So in other words this technique with these materials is what I like to call "kitchen friendly"!
The difficulties lie not in the use of the materials but in the technique itself. For one thing you have to work consistently from light to dark. Once you have used a dark color paint you cannot go back into it with a light color or tone. Also, you fill in the images with wax where you don't want paint to go. So it feels like you have to think backwards when you are working. You keep adding layers of paint and wax until the fabric is completely covered.
My students were so awesome that everybody got the knack of it by the end of the first day.
The small spray bottles you see have been filled with Dye-na-flow. I might mention here (just in case you go out to buy some) that Jacquard has changed the bottles Dye-na-flow is packaged in now. I have transferred the new paint to the old bottles because that's what fits in my boxes. :)
In some respects batik is relatively easy. We used hot soy wax (formulated for batik) as a resist and in this case we used Jacquard Dye-na-flow textile paints instead of dyes. Soy wax is a great replacement for the traditional paraffin wax as it's melting point is much lower then paraffin, thus reducing the risk of fire. Also, it is non-toxic and once you iron out most of the wax the rest will easily come out in the washing machine set on hot.
Jacquard's Dye-na-flow is the consistency of dye with beautiful, deep penetrating colors. But in contrast to dye it is non-toxic and washes up with soap and water. What's not to love?! So in other words this technique with these materials is what I like to call "kitchen friendly"!
The difficulties lie not in the use of the materials but in the technique itself. For one thing you have to work consistently from light to dark. Once you have used a dark color paint you cannot go back into it with a light color or tone. Also, you fill in the images with wax where you don't want paint to go. So it feels like you have to think backwards when you are working. You keep adding layers of paint and wax until the fabric is completely covered.
My students were so awesome that everybody got the knack of it by the end of the first day.
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| The supply table. |
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The electric frying pans is what I use for melting pots.
This image shows a person applying the wax to a stretched piece of fabric with a tjanting tool. This tool allows one to draw with the hot wax.
Here is a piece of fabric completely covered with layers of wax and paint.
This is another piece completely covered with wax.
Okay. More on that tomorrow!!
Here are the progress pictures of my new studio.
This picture was taken from my front deck. What looks like a second floor is really a loft on the inside. The overall dimensions are 28 feet by 40 feet. The greenery to the left and in the foreground is my flower garden. Once the construction is over I can get back to gardening!
This picture is taken from the north side looking south. You can see my house through the doorway.
You can also see the loft. The space under the loft is the painting/dyeing area. The loft itself will be for storage of finished work, a shipping area and my computer/office stuff.
This is looking north from the painting area just under the loft. The big triangle space above the doors and windows will have 3 stationary windows to let in all that wonderful neutral, northern light.
This is the west wall. There are very few windows because I wanted a really big design wall. When it is all finished the design wall will be 18 feet wide!
I am planning on making big pieces but it also gives me lots of room for student work too.
I was standing in the north west corner to take this picture. You can see the loft and part of the east wall. The windows arrive on Monday!
Have you ever worked in Batik? If so I'd love to hear about your experiences.
If you haven't but always wanted to, I'll be offering this 2 1/2-day workshop this fall here in my new studio. So stay tuned for the details!
Batiking in VT and Studio Progress
The first day of my Batik with Soy Wax and Textile Paints workshop at the Fletcher Farm School for Arts and Crafts was great. I had a wonderful group of students, all eager to learn a new technique.
In some respects batik is relatively easy. We used hot soy wax (formulated for batik) as a resist and in this case we used Jacquard Dye-na-flow textile paints instead of dyes. Soy wax is a great replacement for the traditional paraffin wax as it's melting point is much lower then paraffin, thus reducing the risk of fire. Also, it is non-toxic and once you iron out most of the wax the rest will easily come out in the washing machine set on hot.
Jacquard's Dye-na-flow is the consistency of dye with beautiful, deep penetrating colors. But in contrast to dye it is non-toxic and washes up with soap and water. What's not to love?! So in other words this technique with these materials is what I like to call "kitchen friendly"!
The difficulties lie not in the use of the materials but in the technique itself. For one thing you have to work consistently from light to dark. Once you have used a dark color paint you cannot go back into it with a light color or tone. Also, you fill in the images with wax where you don't want paint to go. So it feels like you have to think backwards when you are working. You keep adding layers of paint and wax until the fabric is completely covered.
My students were so awesome that everybody got the knack of it by the end of the first day.
The small spray bottles you see have been filled with Dye-na-flow. I might mention here (just in case you go out to buy some) that Jacquard has changed the bottles Dye-na-flow is packaged in now. I have transferred the new paint to the old bottles because that's what fits in my boxes. :)
In some respects batik is relatively easy. We used hot soy wax (formulated for batik) as a resist and in this case we used Jacquard Dye-na-flow textile paints instead of dyes. Soy wax is a great replacement for the traditional paraffin wax as it's melting point is much lower then paraffin, thus reducing the risk of fire. Also, it is non-toxic and once you iron out most of the wax the rest will easily come out in the washing machine set on hot.
Jacquard's Dye-na-flow is the consistency of dye with beautiful, deep penetrating colors. But in contrast to dye it is non-toxic and washes up with soap and water. What's not to love?! So in other words this technique with these materials is what I like to call "kitchen friendly"!
The difficulties lie not in the use of the materials but in the technique itself. For one thing you have to work consistently from light to dark. Once you have used a dark color paint you cannot go back into it with a light color or tone. Also, you fill in the images with wax where you don't want paint to go. So it feels like you have to think backwards when you are working. You keep adding layers of paint and wax until the fabric is completely covered.
My students were so awesome that everybody got the knack of it by the end of the first day.
|
| The supply table. |
|
The electric frying pans is what I use for melting pots.
This image shows a person applying the wax to a stretched piece of fabric with a tjanting tool. This tool allows one to draw with the hot wax.
Here is a piece of fabric completely covered with layers of wax and paint.
This is another piece completely covered with wax.
Okay. More on that tomorrow!!
Here are the progress pictures of my new studio.
This picture was taken from my front deck. What looks like a second floor is really a loft on the inside. The overall dimensions are 28 feet by 40 feet. The greenery to the left and in the foreground is my flower garden. Once the construction is over I can get back to gardening!
This picture is taken from the north side looking south. You can see my house through the doorway.
You can also see the loft. The space under the loft is the painting/dyeing area. The loft itself will be for storage of finished work, a shipping area and my computer/office stuff.
This is looking north from the painting area just under the loft. The big triangle space above the doors and windows will have 3 stationary windows to let in all that wonderful neutral, northern light.
This is the west wall. There are very few windows because I wanted a really big design wall. When it is all finished the design wall will be 18 feet wide!
I am planning on making big pieces but it also gives me lots of room for student work too.
I was standing in the north west corner to take this picture. You can see the loft and part of the east wall. The windows arrive on Monday!
Have you ever worked in Batik? If so I'd love to hear about your experiences.
If you haven't but always wanted to, I'll be offering this 2 1/2-day workshop this fall here in my new studio. So stay tuned for the details!
Batik in VT
Construction!!
In the meantime I am going to be organizing and purging what I can, so I don't waist time moving stuff I am only going to be eliminating anyway.
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| West wall - only one window as this will be my design wall. |
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| All hands needed. |
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| View from inside the studio looking south to my house. |
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| View from my front deck. |
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| Those are my boys |
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| Working on the floor of the loft space. |
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| Posing for Mom. |
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| A crane was needed to hoist the ridge beam in place. |
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| Ridge beam up! |
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| Starting on the roof. |
Moving right along!!
Okay. So I haven't been really good about staying on top of things - like posting photos as the project moves along. "So what's new about that?" you might ask. Clearly nothing is new about that and moi!! LOL
That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll post about the construction! Have a great day.
But here we go on the new studio progress report.
Drum roll please!
 Here they are laying down the 2" thick, pink insulation foam on top of the ground. You can see that the water pipes are already installed. I will have a very teeny, tiny bathroom and a washer/dryer hook-up for dyeing fabric. |
I wanted a few electrical outlets in the floor. And since I will have a poured concrete floor, the outlets have to go in first. They measure out per my drawing for the center of the outlets, then they extend a plastic tube to the wall.
Radiant heat in the floor!
After being in my cold, walk out basement for a few years now I am going to love being toasty warm in the winter!
Hot water will run through the tubes under the concrete floor.
I am going to heat the hot water with propane.
All ready for the concrete!
For some reason this was so very exciting for me.
Seeing that giant cement mixer come up my little dirt path.
They have to work kind of quickly here to spread the concrete out before it starts to set.
After just a few hours they can smooth out the top with the machine you see there.
It has 4 long paddles that spin around. The other guy sprays a bit of water on the surface so the machine spins smoothly.
Excavating!!
It seems that there is always a surprise when starting any project, no matter how small or large.
This is true for the building of my new studio. We didn't have any surprises when we took down some large pine trees to clear the area. But when excavating began the surprise unfolded with each pass of the excavator. It appears that the far back end of where the studio will be is a whopping 4 feet higher then our front yard which is only yards away.
The excavators have this handy device that throws a lazer beam from one part of the device to another part in a different location. So it can accurately measure the ground height in 2 separate locations.We all stood around and read the results and still none of us could believe it!!! Our eyes just couldn't see it. Amazing really.
Because of this revelation a concrete retaining wall had to be poured for the front end of the studio. Dirt and gravel needed to be trucked in to fill in the difference. We also had to consider how the guys would level off the ground from the retaining wall. If they simply tapered it off the dirt would run half way through my front yard which also happens to be my garden. It would also direct running water from rain straight into our basement. Yikes. That would just not do.
Jay, one of the excavators and the main guy operating the back hoe had some vision. Between the two of us we decided that he would creatively fashion a stone wall using the rocks I have collected over the years for mapping out my garden beds. I didn't want a polished or expertly executed stone wall. After all, this is in the middle of the woods. I wanted a more wild, unkept look.
Then they had to dig a trench for the septic line to attach to our existing line from the house to our septic tank.
This is true for the building of my new studio. We didn't have any surprises when we took down some large pine trees to clear the area. But when excavating began the surprise unfolded with each pass of the excavator. It appears that the far back end of where the studio will be is a whopping 4 feet higher then our front yard which is only yards away.
The excavators have this handy device that throws a lazer beam from one part of the device to another part in a different location. So it can accurately measure the ground height in 2 separate locations.We all stood around and read the results and still none of us could believe it!!! Our eyes just couldn't see it. Amazing really.
Because of this revelation a concrete retaining wall had to be poured for the front end of the studio. Dirt and gravel needed to be trucked in to fill in the difference. We also had to consider how the guys would level off the ground from the retaining wall. If they simply tapered it off the dirt would run half way through my front yard which also happens to be my garden. It would also direct running water from rain straight into our basement. Yikes. That would just not do.
Jay, one of the excavators and the main guy operating the back hoe had some vision. Between the two of us we decided that he would creatively fashion a stone wall using the rocks I have collected over the years for mapping out my garden beds. I didn't want a polished or expertly executed stone wall. After all, this is in the middle of the woods. I wanted a more wild, unkept look.
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| Measuring out the parameters of the studio |
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| Getting started |
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| Rock collection for stone wall |
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| View from my front deck |
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| Compacting it nice and flat |
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| Measuring the depth to make sure it is below the frost line. |
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| Ready for the pipes |
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| Insulation as an added precaution. |
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| The finishing touches. |
Interludes #2
This is the second piece in a series that is currently handing at the Salmon Falls Gallery in Shelburne Falls, MA.
A large component of all the pieces in the series was taken from a montage I made from the results of a days work of monotype prints using a gelli plate and leaves. The prints were made on muslin so the cream color-way came from that. I also digitally printed on cotton sateen and silk organza the images below. The first is a simple sketch and the second is from a page in my art journal.
Below are the details shots.
The techniques I used were image transfer, monotype printing, direct painting, drawing, machine free motion stitching, hand embroidery and stenciling.
The materials I used were textile paints, Golden fluid acrylics, pan pastels and acrylic markers. I also used pearl cotton embroidery floss and hand over dyed wool fat quarters from Weeks Dye Works.
Don't forget to click on the images for a larger view.
I am linking this up with http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
Ladies Lunch at My Mother's
Opening Reception / New Work / New Studio!
The opening reception for my one person show was great fun. Of course all my family and supportive friends were there as well as some new people from the gallery. Because I am the picture taker in my family, and because I forgot to ask someone else (ie. my son) to take photos of the event there are none to share! So funny and I am totally fine with it.
One thing that was really special for me is how many people felt that the overall feeling of the exhibit was calm and peaceful. As many of you already know the show was a tribute to my father and my time of grief over this past year since his death. If you want to read more about that click here
There are six pieces in the show. I'll start sharing them in this post, but will use subsequent posts to share them all. Except for one triptych they are all called "Interludes."
Here is "Interludes #1" along with some detail shots. Remember to click on the image for a larger view.
The image above is how it all began. This is a collection of leaf images that were either mono printed and/or digitally printed then layered and fused to a piece of muslin. The overall dimensions were about 45" square. Here you see it stretched on my hand quilting frame. I did most of the hand stitching first, then cut the piece apart to form the 5 pieces in the show.
Another great bit of news is that we have started building my new studio!! It will measure 28" x 40" and will include high ceilings, a painting/dyeing area, a dry area for sewing and a storage/office loft space. Over the last hand full of years my work has been progressively getting larger. Since I have totally out grown my current space in our walk-out basement, I am so looking forward to a big open space. Just the thing my work needs to propel it forward!
I will also be teaching very small group classes and workshops in the new space. This year will more then likely be the last year I teach in other locations.
To get started we had to bring down four massive pine trees. My husband loves pine trees. So we have allowed many of them to grow very tall right next to our house. Bringing them down was an amazing thing to watch. However, truth be told I didn't watch for much of it. But the guys from Jim's Tree Service were nothing short of amazing!
To get into the property they had to drive their trucks around the back of the house next door and down a path through the woods.
Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"
One thing that was really special for me is how many people felt that the overall feeling of the exhibit was calm and peaceful. As many of you already know the show was a tribute to my father and my time of grief over this past year since his death. If you want to read more about that click here
There are six pieces in the show. I'll start sharing them in this post, but will use subsequent posts to share them all. Except for one triptych they are all called "Interludes."
Here is "Interludes #1" along with some detail shots. Remember to click on the image for a larger view.
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| 40.5"w x 12"h |
The materials I used were commercially dyed raw silk, hand over dyed wool from Weeks Dye Works, Pearl cotton embroidery floss also from Weeks Dye Works, Golden Fluid Acrylics, Montana Acrylic Markers and Jacquard Textile Colors fabric paint. I also digitally printed one of my drawings/paper collages onto Fabrisign cotton sateen and silk organza. The center panel is needle felted along with hand stitching and machine free motion stitching throughout. Many of the images were mono printed leaves on muslin using a home made gelli plate.
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| Add caption |
The image above is how it all began. This is a collection of leaf images that were either mono printed and/or digitally printed then layered and fused to a piece of muslin. The overall dimensions were about 45" square. Here you see it stretched on my hand quilting frame. I did most of the hand stitching first, then cut the piece apart to form the 5 pieces in the show.
Another great bit of news is that we have started building my new studio!! It will measure 28" x 40" and will include high ceilings, a painting/dyeing area, a dry area for sewing and a storage/office loft space. Over the last hand full of years my work has been progressively getting larger. Since I have totally out grown my current space in our walk-out basement, I am so looking forward to a big open space. Just the thing my work needs to propel it forward!
I will also be teaching very small group classes and workshops in the new space. This year will more then likely be the last year I teach in other locations.
To get started we had to bring down four massive pine trees. My husband loves pine trees. So we have allowed many of them to grow very tall right next to our house. Bringing them down was an amazing thing to watch. However, truth be told I didn't watch for much of it. But the guys from Jim's Tree Service were nothing short of amazing!
To get into the property they had to drive their trucks around the back of the house next door and down a path through the woods.
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| YIKES!! |
INTERLUDES
In the late spring of 2015 I helped to care for my dear
father as he made his final journey from life here on earth to the unknown
world beyond. The loss was a great one for me.
“Interludes” is a collection of works that speak to the
moments of understanding and peace that came to me in between the
crushing and painful bouts of grief. Over time and with patience I have come to see the dark,
hollow of grief pale in comparison to the vision of all he gave me.
My Dad and I shared a great love for the complex beauty of
the New England landscape. The imagery in these works was taken from the time I
spent over the past 12 months wandering the woods near my home in search of the
meaning of life and love.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, May 7
4 pm - 6pm
If you are in the area please join me!
Click here for the gallery website
and here for directions
And just to tease you here are a few detail shots of some of the pieces:
Recent Art Journal Entry
This is a copy/paste from my art journal blog. I thought I would post it here too.
My last entry in my art journal was February 21 of this year. On February 24th my dear father was diagnosed with primary liver cancer. Since then much has happened in my life. I've been teaching, visiting colleges with my youngest son, welcoming my middle son back from a semester in India, visiting my father in Boulder, CO, attending the commencement ceremony at University of Maine that presented him with an honorary doctorate degree for his work establishing Hospice care in the United States. I gave the keynote speech at the Michigan Hand-weavers Association's conference at Hope College. And alongside my step mother I helped my father step over to the other side. Since June 16th I have been grieving. They tell me it will take a long time before I can even begin to not miss his weekly phone calls, his stories of the past and predictions for the future, his advise, his care and his love.
But I can start to step away from the darkness by making an art journal entry and posting it here to share with you.
This spread started when I decided to try using one of my detailed stencils with pan pastels. It worked so much better then I had thought but of course it changed and morphed in such a way that those initial images are now completely cover.
This is the stencil I used. For materials I used pan pastels, Golden fluid acrylics, pages from an old telephone book and a Montana acrylic paint marker. The paint marker is new to me. I only bought one to try it out. So hence the blue lines. I loved using it and love the results.
My last entry in my art journal was February 21 of this year. On February 24th my dear father was diagnosed with primary liver cancer. Since then much has happened in my life. I've been teaching, visiting colleges with my youngest son, welcoming my middle son back from a semester in India, visiting my father in Boulder, CO, attending the commencement ceremony at University of Maine that presented him with an honorary doctorate degree for his work establishing Hospice care in the United States. I gave the keynote speech at the Michigan Hand-weavers Association's conference at Hope College. And alongside my step mother I helped my father step over to the other side. Since June 16th I have been grieving. They tell me it will take a long time before I can even begin to not miss his weekly phone calls, his stories of the past and predictions for the future, his advise, his care and his love.
But I can start to step away from the darkness by making an art journal entry and posting it here to share with you.
This spread started when I decided to try using one of my detailed stencils with pan pastels. It worked so much better then I had thought but of course it changed and morphed in such a way that those initial images are now completely cover.
This is the stencil I used. For materials I used pan pastels, Golden fluid acrylics, pages from an old telephone book and a Montana acrylic paint marker. The paint marker is new to me. I only bought one to try it out. So hence the blue lines. I loved using it and love the results.
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| Stencil |
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| Full page spread |
Don't forget to click on the images for a larger view and thanks for looking. I am thinking that because each individual page I make goes through so many changes before being completed that I will try at some point soon to start video taping the process.
Fletcher Farm School of Arts and Crafts
I am in Ludlow, VT teaching at the Fletcher Farm School of Arts and Crafts. This is my first teaching gig since my Dad passed and although it was hard to be away from my family it has been good. In all honesty though, I did manage to sneak away in the late afternoon to be home this evening.Today I finished a sweet 2-day monotype printing workshop. I had only 2 students! Here are some photos of their great work.
Tomorrow will be the first day of another 2 day workshop. This one will be Hand Painting Fat Quarters Students will learn about painting watercolor backgrounds and carving, cutting and using their own stencils and stamps. We'll also discuss composition and designing their own fabric collections.
Stay tuned!
Posted with Blogsy
The Winner Is??????
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| All your names |
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| Folded in half and randomly placed in the bucket |
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| This is my friend Bruce Kahn. He stopped by the studio at just the right time! |
Drum Roll PLease!!!
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And the Winner is??????
Tesuque!
Thank you everyone for making this fun! If you didn't win the DVD I hope you consider buying Lyric Kinard's great new DVD on making and using Thermofax Screens. Click here to make that purchase.