Excitement Returns...

I've got to confess, it's been a long time since I've been excited about a piece of fibre art. I seem to have been in some sort of a slump and I just couldn't seem to find motivation or excitement to produce.

Yesterday I showed you the beginnings of this challenge piece and I was initially pleased with how the brick wall was progressing. However, on further reflection I wasn't happy with how flat it looked. Out came the Inktense pencils and my water brush, as well as some music to listen too...I literally spent hours doodling and shading and I am so excited about how this is working out that I just had to pop in and show you the wall I've 'built'.

I started out with a lot of thread sketching/doodling, using a variegated gray/brown thread.











Using Derwent Inktense pencils* I began to add some shading to give my bricks more dimension.

*If you don't have these in your art supplies, you really must get some!







All that remains is a crazy amount of hand stitching...I can't wait to show you the finished piece after our group reveal on June 10th!

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Street Art Challenge...

The next challenge for our Group of Eight Fibre Arts group is 'Street Art'. It seems this is an especially challenging challenge for the members of our group! After several false starts, I have finally found something that is going to make me happy, and I've come to the conclusion that if every street artist first had to 'build a wall', there might be a lot less graffiti around. LOL

So far I have killed a few spools of thread in the making of this art quilt, from the brick wall to the lettering, there is a lot of thread sketching/doodling going on! 

The reveal for this challenge is at our June 10th meeting, so I've got to get busy finishing this piece before I head off for a week long workshop with Amanda McCavour next week. Fingers crossed (you cross yours for me please...I have a lot of hand stitching to do) I get finished!

I'll tell you about the Amanda McCavour workshop when I get back, but until then, enjoy visiting her website.

Another Look at a Work in Progress...

A while ago I showed you a few shots of a new piece I'm working on. Life (and puppies) are keeping me busy, but I am still working away at it, so I thought I'd show you a few more images. Today I've been working on some machine stitching before I get back to the rest of the hand stitching and beading...

I should be able to show you the finished piece before too long!

Another Sneak Peek...

Yesterday, while looking for something in my stash, I came across a wonderful piece of hand-dyed fabric I had dyed quite some time ago. And to quote my friend Leah..."SQUIRREL!"

Yup, that which I was working on was forgotten as I started on a completely new piece! The moment I saw that hand-dyed fabric, an idea for something came into mind and I just couldn't let it go.(Partly because Leah's voice was also in my head saying, "One month! One month!" LOL.

Here are a couple of sneak peek images I can share with you so far. I'm off to an encaustic workshop today, so I probably won't have time to work on this piece again this weekend, but hopefully I'll have more to show you soon.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend too...I know I will!

A Sneak Peek at a Challenge Quilt...

In case you thought I had given up totally on my sewing machine, I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at a piece I'm working on for our Group of Eight quarterly challenge. 

I'm using fabric that I had marbled about two years ago. You can see the posts about that here and here.

All going well, I'll have it done for our meeting Wednesday when we have our challenge reveal, and of course I'll post the finished images here too.

Wish me luck. There are still many hours of quilting left to be done!

Seriously Behind...

My fibre art group, Group of Eight, has our next group challenge due November 12th. The challenge is "behind" and I am seriously there! Although I have ideas floating around, one after another is not panning out. And to make it worse, I've been finding lots of things to keep me busy and out of the studio (read procrastination...).

However, yesterday's distraction turned out very well so I thought I'd share these cupcake creations. I took them to our family Thanksgiving dinner and they were a hit.

There were two dozen, so I made two each of the various mums, nine pumpkins and the rest were the ones with the leave piles.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family!

Secrets Revealed...

You've seen lots of bits and pieces as I've been working on this piece, from the sketches back in the fall, to the thread sketching and lettering so I'm excited to finally share it with you. This piece was done as a GOE challenge, although I had started the sketches before the challenge was issued.  As soon as I hear that the challenge was 'secrets', this quote popped into my head and I knew what I wanted to do with all the eyes I had been working on!

Presenting...(imagine a drum role here)...Secrets Revealed

Ann's Rusty Sewer Grate...

I've been working on the next GOE challenge piece, which required us to use the inspiration of a rusty sewer grate that is on a golf course in Mexico.  My friend Ann was busy taking photos of the grate while golfing...is this why she never made the Women's PGA tour???

I started by manipulating the photo in Photoshop Elements so that I could create a unique collage of the many rusty lines in the grate.

 I used machine stitch to create some of the grass, using long free motion stitches.  I also thread sketched in all of the black areas between the grate lines to make them recede further back.







Hand stitch was used to create bolder grass lines in some areas and then I used French knots and some simple straight stitches to further encrust the rusty grate lines.  I intentionally let the rusty areas rise up from the surface to create the 'bubbling' texture that rust creates on metal.

It has been framed in a 12" x 12" frame.

Another Piece of Rust...

The current GOE challenge has me working with rust again, but this time I'm approaching it in a whole new way.

Ann, one of our GOE members took these photos of a rusty grate while she was on a golf course in Mexico (perhaps this is why she never make it on the Women's PGA Tour...just saying...).

I can't reveal too much yet, but I thought I'd give you a peek at the machine stitched grass I've been working on.  I've layered some tan thread under the green to give it the texture and colour of the old, dead grass that's under some of the healthy green grass in the photo.  Instead of using rust dyed fabric (which is too hard to work with right now with the cast and all), I've edited the original images in Photoshop Elements and then trasferred it to a piece of cotton using Transfer Artist Paper.

This image shows a bit of the hand stitching I've started to accent the larger blades of grass.

I'm having fun with this piece, but it's  frustrating me that the hand stitching is causing me pain. I've decided that in the interest of my hand I'm going to have to lay off all hand work until I've healed.  I can't wait to get this cast off!

Without Light There is no Shadow...

Bonnie's challenge this week over at Photo Art Friday is 'shadows and/or light' so I had to use an image which I had taken a couple of summers ago.  I had been out walking the dog in the late evening (although I'm not sure where Casey is...?) and my long shadow just caught my attention.  Thank goodness for iPhones!

 Here are the components I used:

         Original image        PDPA-Antique Farewell        PDPA-Gauze Sheers                 PDPA-Ma Belle 2

This next image is of an African Hammerkopf that I shot while visiting the Toronto zoo back in October.  This is straight out of the camera.  I just love the light and shadow in this shot and knew it didn't need anything else.

Forced Break...

I've been working on a monochromatic piece for our next GOE challenge and I'm at the machine quilting stage.  I went down to the kitchen to get a coffee, which I had planned to sip on while quilting, but when I returned to the studio I saw that Arbour, our cat, had other ideas. Obviously I couldn't quilt with her there, and I hated to disturb the spoiled brat... so I enjoyed a bit of a coffee break, checked my email, and just relaxed for a while before getting back to my quilting.  I did have to move her though because if left alone she would have likely slept there all day.

Arbour seems to have 'new bed' radar.  Any time there is anything new, whether it's in my studio or else where in the house (i.e., a freshly washed towel that hasn't been put away yet, or a new shirt my husband bought and left on the newel post to remind him to take it upstairs, etc.), if she perceives it to be comfortable  it becomes her new favourite sleeping place until it is moved or something newer shows up to replace it!

My husband Bill has been recently pointing out just how close the words pets and pest are...  (see my final comment in this previous post LOL)

Work in Progress

It's been a few days since I've posted so I thought I'd give you a peek at a tiny part of a piece that's a WIP.  It's a piece that I'm planning to enter into a juried show in April, so I'll hold off showing you the entire piece (once I finally finish it) until after I find out whether or not it's accepted.

I started by machine needle felting hand dyed scraps of batting with various layers of rovings, hand dyed cheese cloth, yarns and other bits and pieces of fibres.  I've added a lot of hand stitching as well as free motion machine work on top.  I'm now adding some beading and a whimsical little surprise embellishment.  I've been working on this piece, off and on, for two and a half years.  I've never considered it a UFO though.  It's always been on my mind and sometimes just had to rest for a while as I considered possible next steps.

From Photograph to Art Quilt...a sneak peek...

Back in April of last year, I took a photograph of a monarch butterfly and I digitally altered it in Photoshop.  You can see both the original photo and the altered one by clicking here.

I loved the colours in the altered photo so much that I wanted to use it in an art quilt.  I transfered the photo to fabric, went through my stash of fabrics and selected a number of pieces that I thought would work with it, sketched out a couple of ideas on paper, and then got busy with other things...

Finally, in October I got back to it and actually started working with the fabric and the image.  I wasn't happy with what I was coming up with, so again it was put aside so I could let my ideas 'simmer'.  Then came Tracey's GOE challenge for us to finish a UFO...which I turned into a personal challenge to try to finish all of my UFOs (or at least as many as I possibly could).  I've been working at the quilting of this piece for a few hours today, so I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak.  It still needs a lot more machine work and then some hand stitching, but I'm hoping to have it done by Wednesday evening, when our little group meets.

Gorilla Love

Bonnie's photo art challenge this week is to create an art image using her texture 'Signed & Sealed'.  Yesterday my friend and I were at the Toronto Zoo and I got a great shot of a gorilla's hand.  My image today was simply a matter of adding four layers of Bonnie's texture, 3 using a soft light blend mode (100% opacity for all three) and the forth was added using a pin light blend mode at 73% opacity.  Simple but fun!

Thanks for the great texture Bonnie!

This photo is being linked to This or That Thursdays, and Photo Art Friday.

Acceptance in Seven Words

Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art posed a fun challenge for Photo Art Friday this week:

this week you can use the prompt to compose a seven word sentence that describes your life or experience or process as an artist (be it a photographer, painter, mixed media artist, digital artist, whatever...) and marry your sentence to a piece of photo art that somehow illustrates your sentence.

This photo collage is being linked to Photo Show Off, Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, This or That Thursdays, Photo Art Friday, Shoot, Edit, Submit, Fabulous Friday and Photo Friday Link Party.

Seven Word Sentences...

Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art posed a fun challenge for Photo Art Friday this week:

this week you can use the prompt to compose a seven word sentence that describes your life or experience or process as an artist (be it a photographer, painter, mixed media artist, digital artist, whatever...) and marry your sentence to a piece of photo art that somehow illustrates your sentence.

I've used part of that challenge to play with a photo that was emailed to me yesterday.  Unfortunately, I don't know who took this wonderful shot (as is so often the case with the photos that get emailed around), but I just had to share it with you.

I am working on completing her challenge in its true spirit, but that's not finished yet. I'll share it when it's done...

These photos are being linked to Photo Show Off, Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, This or That Thursdays, Photo Art Friday, Shoot, Edit, Submit, Fabulous Friday and Photo Friday Link Party.

GOEs Newspaper Challenge

This week, my fibre arts group, the Group of Eight, had our Newspaper Challenge reveal.  I love seeing all of the wonderfully creative and different interpretations we all have when given the same jumping off point.  One member, Judy Makinson, even included some body art!  I love how she puts her whole self into the artistic process!  You can check it out here.

You can read more about my piece (pictured here) and how it evolved, by clicking here.

Faith is...

While travelling with our 5th wheel trailer last week one of the windows was broken.  I loved the pattern created by the safety glass so I had to snap a couple of photos.  I've used one here as a layer over this image that Kim challenged us with in Beyond Layers.  

I thought this inspirational quote by Helen Keller finished it off well.  Hope you're having a good start to your week.

Breaking News

I'm sorry to say that computer gremlins have reeked havoc on some of the images on my blog and I have not been able to correct the problem.  In this case, the process shots are missing, but I was able to restore the image of the finished piece, and some close ups of the stitching which are at the end of the post.

No, I don't have anything particularly exciting to report other than I've finished a piece I've been working on rather extensively over the last few weeks.  'Breaking News' is the title of my newest mixed media piece.  It started with a cup of tea...

Last summer Doeteke, a friend of mine, was saving tea bags to use in her art and as I was drinking a cup of tea a couple of months ago I remembered this fact and started to save my own tea bags.  Then,  in April, Heather presented our GOE group with a challenge that involved using newspaper and the wheels started turning.

Sorry this image has gone missing and I can't
restore it...computer gremlins reeking havoc!

My first idea was to create a collage using wine labels and an article in the newspaper that talked about Copula's vineyards in California.  I decided to get my colour palette from the tea bags: mostly browns with some reds (from the herbal fruit teas).  I started with a piece of muslin, some acrylic paints mixed with gesso (thanks to something Leah, another friend and member of GOE, had said about a piece she was experimenting with) and my old driver's license, which I used to apply the paint.

Sorry this image has gone missing and I can't 
restore it...computer gremlins reeking havoc!

My next step was to use some matte medium to collage the wine labels (searched on-line and printed 'cause I just don't drink enough. LOL) and newspaper pieces (torn from the article mentioned above).  I then layered on some random pieces of hand-dyed cheese cloth to give it more texture.  So far it was going nowhere and I was feeling discouraged.

Sorry this image has gone missing and I can't 
restore it...computer gremlins reeking havoc!

I pulled out more paint, this time adding various metallics in coppers and golds as well as the original colours I had started with.  I also collaged some of the tea bags on at this point to try to get more of a subtle effect with the wine labels.  The tea bags are great for this because they have some opacity to them.  I was beginning to see hope at this point.  Ironically however, the more paint I added the less of the underlying collage I could see.

I have also been experimenting with rust dying lately and thought that some of the rust dyed fabric would work well on this piece.

Sorry this image has gone missing and I can't 
restore it...computer gremlins reeking havoc!

I cut several random circular pieces (freehand so they wouldn't be perfect), and I started laying them on top of the painted piece, auditioning their placement.  I settled on a gentle curved path that rose up from centre left and then curved down toward the bottom right corner.  The piece was looking too monochromatic at this point so I added some bits of a sheer black fabric to break it up a little.

I then grabbed a paint brush and some white paint to give it some pops of accent colour.  I started by painted the three circles near the centre left and then I created another random pathway, using straight lines and adding a few square shapes.  I also did some stamping using an old potato masher.  As I was adding the white I was sort of wishing I hadn't because it was just too glaringly bright.  

Seeing as the paint had for the most part obscured the newspaper and wine labels, I wanted to bring in some more newsprint (Remember the GOE challenge!) so I started tearing narrow strips and collaged them overtop of my white painted lines.    It was perfect to knock back the starkness while still keeping some accent.  A few more teabags were collaged over the potato masher stamps to knock them back a bit too.  By the way, at this point, the vineyard article was long gone and I was using newspaper from the front page of the paper.  That's when the name of the piece came to me.  Breaking news.  I was literally breaking (or tearing) news stories, and I was seeing words about killings, blood, etc.  That and the random areas of red paint, the footprints (or are they finger prints?) created by the potato masher stampings, and I began noticing 'evidence' appearing as if at a crime scene.

The next step was to layer it with batting and a backing and take it to the sewing machine for literally hours of intensive thread sketching/quilting.  I used a coppery red colour thread to highlight some of what I now saw as blood stains, as well as doing the pebbling effect on the rust dyed circles for some added texture.  A gold thread was used to bring out some of the areas that had been painted with the metallic paints, and the rest was stitched with a subtle taupe colour to create texture while at the same time pushing those areas back a bit.

Here are a few close up photos showing the stitching.  Click on them to enlarge, if desired.

And finally, here again is the finished piece, trimmed and ready for hanging.  I photographed it on a black background so that you can more easily see the shape of the finished piece.