Some Recent Pieces

   It's been a while since I've been blogging regularly, mostly because I managed to escape life for a while and hide out in the quiet and solitude of the great Canadian north.  There is nothing like being surrounded by trees, water and wildlife to help one relax and focus on healing.  In addition to cycling, kayaking and dog walking, I did take along my art supplies and sewing machine so that I could enjoy 'art therapy' too.
   Here are a few of the pieces I've finished over the last few months:

Rorschachian View

What Lies Beyond?

The Galley

I also made an alphabet crib quilt to celebrate the birth of my newest great niece.  Isn't she adorable!

A is for Abigal.  

"Play" Published in Quilting Arts Magazine

I'm excited to announce that a piece I did, entitled "Play", was published in the Oct/Nov issue of Quilting Arts Magazine!  I entered it for the 'Tag, You're It' challenge.  You can see it on page 53.

My philosophy about fibre art is that it's all about playing and having fun.  I like to let go of my inhibitions and just enjoy the process.  If all goes well I end up with a piece I love, and if not I've learned something in the process.

close up

close up

Salamander's Shadow

This piece began with fabric that I made using acrylic paint and stamps to create the surface design.  I then created a stencil of a stylized salamander which was done using Shiva oil sticks.  Inktense pencils where used to create the salamander's shadow.  To add some additional interest and texture I embroidered within the echoing quilt lines using a variety of hand dyed flosses and threads.

Summer Garden

     

I called this piece 'Summer Garden' because of the rows of different textures and colours.  It reminded me of when I was a child and my Mom had a big vegetable garden filled with various rows of colourful vegetables.  

     I loved adding the many different textures using a variety of fabrics, ribbons, yarns, beads and embroidery.  I especially had fun doing the row of colonial knots!  

     The background quilt on which I mounted it is hand dyed fabric that I made this summer while some of my friends were up at the cottage with us.  I've quilted it with random diagonal lines using a turquoise metallic thread to give it a bit of sparkle.  

Hand Dyed Fabric and Threads

This week my friends Heather, Doeteke and Ann came up to the cottage and we had some messy fun dying a bunch of cloth and threads.  We ran into rain, so we ended up working inside the cover of the woodshed but all in all we had a great time and managed to have enough good weather to be able to hand our treasures out on the line to dry.  We all ended up with really beautiful things to add to our stash.  I can't wait to get busy playing and creating with my new fabrics!

(L-R: Doeteke, Heather, Me (Linda) and Ann mixing the powdered

dye and getting ready to play!  Either that or preform surgery!

Smiling for the camera.  Honest, there are smiles under those masks!

Drying on the line.

Some of our treasures drying on the line.

My new hand-dyed stash!                    

Rock, Paper, Scissors

My fibre arts group's latest challenge was to incorporate some small rock pieces that Ann brought back with her from Arizona.   In addition to using the rocks in the piece, we had to include the word 'rock' in the title.  What immediately came to mind for me was the old game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Here's the resulting piece.

I first created the background by using my embellisher and adding various scraps of rovings, hand dyed cheese cloth, organza, silk scarves, etc. to a piece of felt.  I then wrapped the rocks with copper wire embellished with beads.  The large beads are made of various decorative papers and strips of newspaper and some were also wrapped with copper wire.  The scissors are were thread sketched onto the background.  The piece was finished off with hand wrapped cords, hand embroidery and beading.  The final touch was to get out in my kayak and find a piece of driftwood to attach for hanging.  I had a lot of fun creating this piece!

Birth Announcement on the Lake

I've been keeping busy doing a lot of cycling (30 km per day), kayaking, and photography (but sadly almost no fibre art).

We had 2 new baby loons hatch on the lake the other day and I was lucky enough to get a wonderful photo of papa feeding one of the babies.  The other baby is between the parents and therefore can't be seen but I think it's a wonderful photo (I can just hear my husband's voice in my head as he says, "Self praise is no praise.", but oh well!)

Meet Nikki

I'm up at the cottage and I've met a new friend.  His name is Nikki and he's the friendliest little chipmunk!  As you can see, he comes up on my lap to get peanuts when I'm sitting out on the deck.  My dog Casey has learned to leave him alone because he's "Mom's friend".  She just watches but doesn't bother Nikki at all!

Zen Day at Sandra's

I enjoyed a much needed 'Zen Day' at Sandra's Open Studio on Thursday.  We made these wonderful little journals and I had a chance to just relax and regroup after a tough few days.

front

One of the inside spreads.

GOE (Group of Eight Fibre Artists)

Back in 2006 my friend Heather and I started up a fibre arts group and this afternoon I set up a blog site for us.  Come on over to the GOE blog and see what my fibre arts group is up to.