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.

Keeping Very Busy...and a Little Sneak Peek...

For those of you who think I may have fallen off the edge of the earth, I've been keeping very busy lately, but unfortunately not much of it has been in my studio.

Yoshi and I have been babysitting Lana, another future dog guide puppy, until a foster home can be found for her. Although Yoshi just turned 6 months old today, she's being a real little momma to Lana!  She's sharing her toys, grooming her and always staying close. Of course there is a lot of puppy play going on too!

A Special Happy 1/2 Birthday Cookie!

Lana, could you eat any slower???

Mom, Yoshi got my head wet!

But, I have managed to do a bit of art.  Here's a sneak peek at a little piece I'm working on during puppy naptime. It currently involves a lot of machine thread stitching and later will have extensive hand stitch added. Hopefully I'll be back in the not too distant future to share my progress.  Until then, have fun and stay busy!

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

Machine Quilting Has Finally Begun...

I've had a lot of distractions lately, but I've finally got down to some machine quilting on this WIP.  Thanks to Anita at Cotton Mill Threadworks*, I was able to get the perfect variegated thread that had the warm grey tones I was looking for to compliment my hand painted fabric.
(*It's the best place to get thread!  If Anita doesn't have it, you probably don't need it.)

Here are a few photos of the machine quilting in progress:

I Needed More Eyes...

In Friday's post I had begun to put together the faces I've been thread sketching for the last few months.  However, as I was working on the piece this weekend, it became evident that I needed a couple more faces.  So, out came a stack of books and magazines so I could find some inspiration.

After doing a few rough sketches on paper I was ready to trace my drawings onto dissolvable stabilizer and then sit down at the sewing machine and thread sketch.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Fun of Working Intuitively...

Over the last couple of months, among other things, I've been sketching and thread doodling close up images of faces, focusing on the eyes.  It's now time to start putting together the vision I have in mind for this piece.  

The thing I love about working in the intuitive manner that I do, is that it becomes a bit like a giant puzzle.  I have a rough image in mind, but no real plan of attack.  I've cut each of the thread sketched faces out so that when sewn up they will have a 1/4" clearance between the seams and the thread sketching.  As such, none of the pieces has square corners.  This of course is in keeping with my mental image of the piece.

The fun comes in laying the pieces out in a rough layout and then attaching various strips of the hand painted grey fabric so that I can make it work and all fit together.  As you can see, I've also added some narrow black bits here and there just to give greater contrast and keep the eye moving.  Did I mention how much I love this processes?!

I'll keep playing with this over the next few days and hopefully I'll come up with an arrangement I'm happy with.  Back to it...bye for now.

A Few More Thread Sketched Eyes...

I know I said I was going to get started on the piece I'm planning with all of these eyes, but I decided I needed a few more...

Besides, they're just so addictive!

I've also been painting some more fabric to use in this piece.  Lots of messy fun in the studio!

Eye've Been Thread Sketching...

Okay, enough with the misuse of the word 'eye'!  But as you can see, I've finally got back to my machine and I've been thread sketching some more of the sketches I shared here, here, here and here.

Now that I have several of them stitched, it's time to start working on the piece for which I've been making them.  I'm not sure how long it will take me to put it together, but I'll be sure to show you when it's ready...or maybe even some sneak peeks in progress...

Eye Think Eye'm Addicted...

Here are a few more sketches of eyes...

...this will be it for a while so that I can actually get some of my favourite drawings done in thread sketches.

Oh Baby, You're Hard to Capture!

As I said in last Wednesday's post, I think I prefer drawing older, wrinkled people's eyes, but I wanted to capture some babies and children too.  I'm finding them so much more challenging with their perfect, smooth skin.  I just don't have as much to draw to get their mood on the paper.

Sometimes Wrinkles Are A Good Thing...

I'm back today with a few more drawings of eyes...

As I continue drawing these close up sketches of eyes, I'm finding that my favourites are the older people with all of the lines and wrinkles in their faces.  They've got such interesting character, and all of those lines seem to make it easier to capture their expression and mood.

It's All In The Eyes...

In addition to all the doodling I've been doing in my art journal lately, I've been doing some drawing in preparation for machine doodling of more eyes. If you're interested, you can see some of the eyes I've already machine sketched/doodled here and here.

Have you ever noticed how many fascinating faces there are out there?  I find myself looking for interesting faces everywhere...in my own collection of photos, in magazines and newspapers, and online...

I can't tell you how much fun it is to sketch close ups of eyes, and then just sit at the sewing machine and draw them in thread...it's becoming a bit addictive!

Here are a few more sketches I've done:

I can't wait to make some time for sewing so I can get these done in thread!

More Thread Sketched Faces...

I am having so much fun with these eyes/faces.  There's nothing as fun as doodling with a sewing machine!  Here are the next few faces I've finished.

I can't wait to get back into the studio to do more!  An idea is beginning to brew in the back of my mind for how I might use these in a larger piece.