I have been doing some prints and mounting them on deep canvas, but haven’t had time to get the photos put up here on the blog. Here are a couple of my favorites. I do enjoy using construction fence patterns.
Wax and Collage
What I’ve Been Doing…
Last week, inspired to play…I got out some watercolor ATC cards and began to re-create some of my doodles from the past year with ink and then to color them with gouache watercolors. I had sketches of apples falling into a bucket or a basket, bird families on an outing and even some on a “picnic”. My mood and aim is playful, whimsical, something I don’t usually engage in in my fiber work. I think I will reserve that for my watercolor sketches.
At The Gallery Part 2
Here’s a couple more pieces of my exhibit that have not been seen on my blog before.
Rust dyed cotton sateen, silk screening, stenciling, applique, hand writing, paint, ink, dyes, stitching with polyester thread.
Rust dyed feed sack, discharge dyed cotton sateen, silk screened, stenciled and stamped, paint, dyes and automatic dish washing liquid and other discharging products, hand writing, inks, stitching with polyester thread.
Working Like a Madwoman
Ever have those times when you wake up in the morning and something starts talking to you? I woke up yesterday morning very dissatisfied with how the mounting technique for some mixed media work was coming along. I have gone to great lengths to order everything to do it in this particular method, even ordering acid free coreboard which then needed the edges painted because I couldn’t find it in black. But I awoke with a nagging dissatisfaction about it all. I got up, looked at the work again, and said, oh, it’s ok…but then later the nagging unhappiness came back. So because they measure 14″ square and of course, no canvases are made that size, I found my self shopping for a new idea, then shopping online and ordering more stuff and spending more money. But at least I have peace now…these composition pieces are going to look much better, I think. And they deserve to.
The time until I hang the exhibit is going fast. Today I feel I made much progress. I worked on Black and White Compositions #2, #3, and #4. These are compositions on canvas, made with cut pieces of cloth but they will not be stitched. I don’t know if anyone realizes this or not (surely I’m not the only one!)…our type of work is much more time consuming than the average painter. For me, there is the creation of the cloth, then the composition, and lastly, the layering and stitching part. It is slow work. In the interest of time, I am creating a few like this that will fill in my exhibit in a different color palette.
I also finished the handwork on the back of “Fading Glory” during tv time!
Tomorrow I will get up and do more of the same. More mixed media Compositions are in the works too. Can’t wait to get started on them.
This ‘N That
I haven’t blogged for a while. I guess it’s because I haven’t been doing that much. I visited with some friends last week, but I haven’t had much time for artsy stuff, although I do try to keep working steadily for my exhibit in October.
I have all 7 pieces of the “Flow” series now mounted on canvases covered in ash grey cotton. They look very nice. The only work left is to finish the back side of the canvas.
Work on Sticks and Stones #3 is finished. All that is left is to get the hanging slat cut. I have several pieces layered and basted; I’m ready to start the stitching. Sticks and Stones #4 is started. I am studying where I am with at this point and where I want to go with it.
It’s time to get serious about getting work finished. October will be here before we know it. July is almost over. I need to design my postcards for the exhibit so that they can be at the gallery in time for the August gallery stroll. I will only be working a couple of shows this fall and no quilt shows since I will be working on the exhibit.
In other news, I had two textile pieces accepted into the MoFA exhibit that will run during Innovations in Textiles in the St. Louis, MO area this fall. There will be an opening reception in early October at which time I will travel to the area and also go see Quilt National in St. Charles. I can’t wait for that! I wish I had several days to hang around and see all of the exhibits and lectures and demonstrations going on, but this time, duty calls! I’m sure I will be too busy and too nervous to take any more time out. My exhibit has to be hung during the week of October 23.
Scarlet and I have scheduled another play day next week. We are going to work on special Christmas ornaments for the gallery…this should be interesting and fun!
New Series in Paper
Last week I was working on getting some things ready to sell. I often do events in New Harmony, IN and have a lot of photographs from that historic tourist town. I decided to start a series of collages from photographs that might be appealing to visitors to the area.
Stories of New Harmony: Brick, log cabins mixed with modernity.
Need Help Please
I went to the SAQA website today to post a plea on my Visioning page and while I’m there I am currently deleting 478 emails in my inbox. Do you know how long that takes doing 20 at a time? It’s taking a while. So I decided while I’m doing that I will post a blog post here and ask for YOUR help too!
I have my first solo show in October this year. I have a series of small (5″ x 7″-ish) works I will be mounting on deep 12″ x 12″ canvases. I will be painting the canvases before I mount the fiber work. I personally did not wish to paint the canvases a solid, flat color, but rather wanted to do swipes of color that had movement, feeling that this was more in line with the fiber work. But now my question is: what are others going to like? I really want to sell at this show and am now wondering which method will make the work more sell-able. Here is how the canvas looks at this point. Sort of wispy, worn, like the side of an old barn. But is this what people will want? Eeek! I really need help with this. And I know people can only give me their opinion and in the end, I still have to make the choice. But I still want to hear from you. And I will ponder any suggestions anyone has to make too.
And if you need a little distance….