You’re My Inspiration

Earlier this week I posted some of the ink paintings that I’ve been doing in my journal, and I mentioned that I may look into taking them “off the page”.

 

This piece is the first iteration.  It is based on the kantha embroidery technique I learned from Dorothy Caldwell.  I chose a 9” square of my hand-dyed muslin.  The piece was layered with two other pieces of fabric (for this one I chose a happy orange polka dot print from Robert Kaufman Co.).  To secure the work, I stitched around the outside with a regular length seam, then used a longer seam to sew an “X” from corner to corner. 

I used several types of pencils to draw the image, starting with a pencil designed to mark on fabric for the leaves.  I noticed the image was fading before I even got to the end of the leaves, so I tried a prismacolor before finally settling on a good old #2 pencil.  I knew I would stitch over the lines, so it didn’t matter that I couldn’t erase the lines.

The lines were stitched using three strands of DMC embroidery floss.  I removed the basting as more of the image was stitched, making the fabric more stable.  Currently I am stitching in the mountain area with purple floss.  It always amazes me how stiff fabric becomes when you do nothing more than add multiple lines of stitching.

I also taught a private class this week, and needed to make a sample.  Several years ago I took a class with Glenys Mann, and each morning she gave us a photograph to recreate, postcard size , in fabric before we could work on anything else.  I thought this would be a good exercise to demonstrate to my student, and I found this beautiful photograph in a gardening magazine I picked up at the free pile of the library.

I chose to recreate the tree trunk, starting with a base of my hand-dyed twill from the dyeing extravaganza of earlier this month.

The green lines are zigzag stitch over satin rattail cord.  I then layered a piece of red organza on top of the whole piece and stitched around the cording.  The trimming was a real pain, but I stuck with it and trimmed off the excess organza.  Then I re-learned the first rule of sewing: if the machine is acting up, first you rethread the machine.  I had taken the main thread out of the tension disc to run a bobbin of some metallic thread, and when I started to sew, I ended up with the fuzzy loops of threads you see above.  I figured out my mistake when I changed the bobbin to see the lines on the far right and far left.  Pieces like these are go with the flow when I do them, but I will remember for next time!

Inspiration can be found everywhere.  The question really isn’t “where can I find ideas”.  The question is “which ideas do I pursue?”

Bon appetit!

Just Playing Around

Sometimes it is important to take some time for yourself, to just relax and not worry about outcomes. I was stressing over the purses I’ve been making, among other things, and realized it was time to take a “me” break.

One way I do this is through working in an art journal. I have worked in many over the years, choosing different books depending on the media I was using at the time, or my preferred format for the image surface. When done “right” (which is just the way I do them, your way could be completely different and just as “right” for you) these books are a catchall of random thoughts, occasional quotes, grocery lists, cataloguing works in process, and more.

I had let the process go by the wayside over the past three years of working on freelance design, feeling like every minute needed to be devoted to something productive. Since these books are generally not for outside consumption, I could not justify spending any time working in one, even though I missed it dearly.

That changed last month when I signed up for Lisa Sonora Beam’s summer camp for visual journals and started working through her book “The Creative Entrepreneur”. I was reminded that working in such books is an important part of my process, and was necessary for me to get out of this place of stuck I’ve been wallowing in.

So first I purchased this, a 9” x 12” Aquabee Super Deluxe blank sketchbook, filled with heavyweight paper that is designed to take wet or dry media. I began working in it with no rules, and no expectations, just me and the page. I gave myself permission to put whatever I wanted on the page, and allow myself to go back in and work over pages if I wanted to hide something I had written earlier, or if the situation/my perspective on it had changed.

I also found Shelley Klammer at Expressive Art, and began doing a collage a day using old magazines from the library free table. The rule with these was that I would choose 2-3 images which caught my eye, and one phrase. I did this for about two weeks, with some eye opening results.

Finally, and this is where I am at the moment, I decided to pick up my copy of Lynda Barry’s book What It Is, which is about writing, but is a great inspiration for creativity of all kinds. I also checked out her book One! Hundred! Demons! after reading several of the interviews linked on her website.

In that book, she described her drawing process. It involves ink and a brush, on any paper which is available. It looked so fun I had to give it a try. My inlaws had visited China several years ago and sent me an ink set, which I promptly retrieved from my studio. Then I went to town in my sketchbook.

The results so far:

A bull and a seahorse, inspired in a way by the Percy Jackson novels my son insisted I read. I used some metallic pan watercolors on this one, and went back into the drawing with a white Sakura paint pen.

Hollyhocks and bees. The quote came from a large print Reader’s Digest I picked up at the library free table.

More sea life, and a tiger peeking in from another page. The big quote is from a story about an unusual fish. I wonder what secrets he can tell. Maybe the tiger knows.

My weekly grocery list/running tally of expenses. Makes meal planning easier for me when I can see it all in one spot. And it is more fun to shop when you have cool art to look at while you’re shopping, don’t you agree?

I started getting a little silly here. Is the spaceship taking off or landing? The yellow dots symbolize fireflies for me in this series. The fox looks like he is having a conversation with the mushrooms. I also love how the watercolors blended on the mountains in the distance.

Trumpet vines are all over town here in Athens. I decided to memorialize them in ink and watercolor.

Finally, a frog riding on a lily pad. I don’t think he’s trying to eat the fireflies, but I’m not sure. He looks like he’s having fun, though.

I did change from just using the ink stick and ink stone to using India Ink so that the watercolors wouldn’t make the drawing run, but other than that these are drawn straight from my head onto the page with no pre-drawing in pencil or anything. I added the quotes on some, and may go back in and journal on them. I’m also going to dig out my airpen and try drawing on some of the twill I have around here, to see how I like these in fabric. Some of the characters may also show up on the purses.

It was an odd, circuitous route, but I think my mojo is back. Sometimes a small detour is just what we need.

Uses for Hand-Dyed Fabric Part I

I am not guaranteeing a “Part II”, just saying in the header that there are many uses for the wonderful fabrics we created last Monday, and here is one way I put the fabrics to use.

Many years ago I bought a bolt of 60” wide PFD twill from Dharma Trading Company.  That fabric has come in handy for multiple uses, from using it as the  base and backing on the pillow shams I made

(“Sunshine”  airbrush and hand painted on twill.)

to a base for hand-embroidery

(That 70’s Fish, hand embroidery on hand-dyed twill, patchwork “frame”.)

(“Giraffe” hand and machine embroidery on hand-dyed twill.)

and even backings for larger quilts (sorry, no images of those).

This week I’ve been using the hand-dyed fabric on something new, handbags.  I’ve been needing a new purse for a while.  I’ve been carrying around my blinged out turtle from Target so long that one of the rhinestones I glued on 4 years ago finally fell off.  And I didn’t know what else to do with all the luscious fabrics we dyed last week.  I was also looking for something a bit more affordable and yet fun (look for a 1000 Markets shop update around August 15).

Presenting:

Sun, octopus and snail purses.  Each comes complete with a heavy duty snap closure and a generous inside pocket. 

I love this octopus with his ‘tude.  The inside of this one is a bright orange with white polka dots, and I sewed sequin suckers onto him before adding the backing.

Each bag measures 9.5” high by 7.5” or 8” wide before seaming, and the straps measure approximately 72” around, including the body of the purse.

I have several more designs on the drawing board, including an owl, a chihuahua and a turtle, plus more variations on the three seen above.  They are a nice respite in between working on the huge quilts for the big shows.

Dye Party

Back in May my friend Anna mentioned that she wanted to change from working with commercial prints to using hand-dyed fabrics.  I suggested that our group could meet and have a dye party, and if we each made yardage, we could possibly swap afterward, and we’d all have a bunch of new hand-dyed fabric to work with.

Today was that day, and though things didn’t work out quite the way I thought, they worked out so that fun was had by all.

First, a few pictures from part of Anna’s wonderful gardens, which are filled with plenty of surprises, including a labyrinth and frog pond.  I took these while June and Lynda set up the tables in the garage for the printing part of the day.

A delightful perch for a frog and a woodland friend.

A little pink pig hiding out by a giant toad stool.

Once the tables were set up, the fun began!

Lynda and June were working with this “Aztec engine block” a wonderful machine part which Lynda brought for us to use as a printing image.

 

Izzy with our table of dyes and chemical water, ready to go.

Izzy going all Jackson Pollock on a piece of fabric.

June working on her shibori totem pole (fabric wrapped around a PVC pipe and tied with heavy twine).

We had all pre-soaked our fabrics in soda ash, and also had a  little extra soda ash solution in a bucket for any impromptu dyeing.  Anna over-dyed a piece of batik fabric she had, and Lynda generously donated some t-shirts for us to decorate as well.

Here’s Lynda helping Izzy print a tshirt with the Aztec engine block (using Deka screen printing ink).  Lynda made a really cool piece by printing a length of fabric using the engine block and other shapes, letting it dry, then sponging thickened dye onto it after lunch.  I wish I’d gotten a picture of it, but I was too busy dyeing my own fabrics, including these:

 

Thickened dye, painted and splattered on.

A detail of the red passage. 

This piece looks a lot nicer in person.  It came out really Monet-esque with the misty lavenders and greens.  Anna donated this linen/cotton blend with a nice nubby finish.

This looks like it’s out of focus, but it’s not.  The dyes were applied by sponging.  By the time we were wrapping up, everyone was sponging their fabrics.  I got the idea to use the sponges by reading Ellen Anne Eddy’s “Thread Magic” (thank you Ellen!).

One of my favorite combos, Sunset Red and Deep Yellow (I bought these dyes from Dharma Trading Company ).

And,  finally, my favorite favorite favorite, because I’ve had tigers on the brain:

I accordion/fan pleated the fabric, holding it together with clothespins, then squirting the fabric with orange dye and then brown dye.

I don’t think any of us dyed pieces large enough to share, but we all had a great time and are already planning a batik day sometime this fall.  Making art in the studio by myself is fun, but it is great to occasionally get out of the studio and make art with a bunch of great friends like these!

Tyger Tyger

Let me start by saying that Boogie on the Bricks was fun as always. We did a little less than last year, but the rain stayed away and the crowds were good. The day went by very quickly and was a fun time for all. Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes in the comments, I really appreciated them!

Several years ago, I picked up Rice Freeman Zachary's "Living the Creative Life" and was inspired by the artwork of Kelly Buntin Johnson. In particular, I really loved her Tiger Intercessor. I emailed her about a possible barter, but as we were both kind of skint at the time, it wasn't in the cards. I still jonesed for something tiger, having loved them since I remember the clay tiger my dad made for me from an art kit we bought when I was 7.

Fast forward and several false starts later (beading projects gone awry, tiger colors but I just could not get the mojo to work for me) and I have made one iteration on the tiger theme:


















"Tyger Tyger", completed in late 2007 or early 2008. It's about 54" high by 57" wide (I am so precise sometimes. Apparently if it hasn't gone to a show I don't know the specific specifics). Each tiger face was reverse applique on Pellon 40 weight interfacing, then appliqued onto the pieced background.















Detail of one face. I used all kinds of fabric in this piece, from Dutch wax batik prints from St Theresa Textile Trove to the marbled fabric seen here by Marjorie Lee Bevis in this tiger's nose. I based my pattern off the wonderful embroidered tiger hats from China, and went from there. Each tiger is different, and though they are made from the same drawing, each has his own personality due to the different fabrics I chose.

The blue and white stripes separating each panel were inspired by the striping on the selvedge of one of the Dutch wax fabrics, and were my favorite part of all at the end. The quilting and the stripes reminded me of the stitching on a baseball. And on the back I used some yardage I had bought of Detroit Tigers licensed fabric.

Sometimes, like the Rolling Stones said "You can't always get what you want/But if you try sometimes, you get what you need". If I had been able to acquire the Tiger Intercessor, as wonderful as he is and as happy as I would have been, I may never have made this piece, and that Detroit Tigers fabric would still be languishing in the art closet.

Ain't We Got Fun

Here's a sampling of some of the necklaces I've made this week. I'm really liking the graphic quality of the Mexican ceramic. I've been reading "Learning by Heart" by Corita Kent and Jan Steward, and the glaze on the ceramic beads reminds me of some of the serigraphs pictured in the book.

I've also been digging deep and using some of my button collection as well as some of the more unusual African beads that I've been hoarding for over ten years. I figure it's time. If what I make doesn't make me happy, what is the point after all? Another lesson I'm taking away from this week's explorations.

If you are in Athens OH tomorrow, we will be vending at Boogie on the Bricks. I will have jewelry and other small works, both old and new, and Izzy will have his awesome polymer clay work. After that, I will be posting more of the jewelry to my 1000 Markets shop. Fun times!

Have a great weekend, wherever you are!

Jello Necklaces and Polka Dots

Day three of madly making things for the Boogie on the Bricks event on Saturday, and today I am playing with some old Mexican ceramic beads we bought when we first opened our bead shop way back when.

This piece just tickles me.  It reminds me of that “Mad Max” style from videos like “Synchronicity” by The Police back in the day. 

Detail.  The round yellow beads are the Mexican ceramic, while the black discs are coconut shell and the yellow discs are old Czech glass (I love rondells as a design element, I just can’t get enough of them).

Inspired by that piece, I went on to make several more (we bought a LOT of those beads, though most of them are tubes).

This one is the green and aqua range, with size of the beads around 12mm –14mm.  I used some faux ceramic 6/0 seed beads to fill out the piece, as I don’t like to hide fun beads near the top of a necklace, where they may be hidden by a collar or long hair.

Detail of the green beads.

Another one, in the pinks, reds and oranges range.

This one is with larger beads, 16mm-18mm.  I used rondells in between each donut, and two of the smaller tubes at the end.  For some reason this series reminds me of Jello, so they are the “Jello necklaces” of the post title.

I am also using other beads in stash:

Choker, made with old horn beads (the long tubes), polka dotted lampwork from India, and wood and glass rounds.

This one is made with sandcast glass beads from Africa, aqua white heart pony beads from India, and more of the Moroccan ceramic rounds.  I love the teal-ness of it. 

And, finally, the polka dots.  These glass beads were from Java, I got them at a really cool wholesaler called “Elephant Talk” when they were located in Charleston, West Virginia.  They had all kinds of really cool stuff, from intricate lampwork beads, pendants shaped like corn, leeks, mushrooms and more, and those wonderful carved flying dragon puppets that you can see in funky boutiques.  The other beads were ceramic discs from stash and more of the 6/0 seed beads.

The lesson that I took from all of this is that I need to remember how much abundance I have, and that I only need to open my eyes to see it.  None of the beads used to make these pieces are new, they have all been sitting in my studio the whole time, just waiting for me to wake up and realize what I have.