Not Much News, But a Little

September 11, 2013 by 2 Comments

I haven’t posted for quite a while. My father-in-law reminded me this past weekend at our family reunion. He said he checks in from time to time to see what I’m up to! Well, I work a lot now and get very little done creatively.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at a yard sale and purchased 14 old t-shirts for cheap because I want to make this. It just looks like fun.

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Isn’t it the cutest? Can’t wait to wear one, but it’s too hot here right now.

I entered this is in a show and it was rejected. 🙁

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Still a Collage

TriState Artisans will have a new name this year and a new brochure for our studio tour in December. We are losing a few artisans on the Illinois side and adding a couple of new ones. You won’t want to miss it! Here is a photo of my work that will be featured in the new brochure.

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More news: I am working on moving into a REAL studio space! A 20 x 80 foot building has come open across the street from where I work. The biggest portion of it will be my workspace and classroom for teaching. I am planning to put a small shop in the front part. Although I can’t be open every day, the shop will have my art for sale as well as consigned items by other artists/artisans. I am looking forward to getting in and getting some work done!

Another piece of good news…I was going to order another Square swiper yesterday because the one they sent me didn’t seem to work in my Android tablet. On a lark, I thought I would stick the one I had back in and check it. Lo, and behold, it worked! I could actually SWIPE the card, so I made two $1 payments to myself. Besides, I need to practice so I know how to use the darn thing. I guess the fees I paid were worth it! I think I’m going to love this little tool.

Filed Under: art shows, collage, Contemporary Art, hand dyed silk scarves Tagged With: , , ,

Indigo!

November 14, 2012 by 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I had a play day with Lynda of Bloom, Bake, Create fame. We had been planning for some time to try out indigo dyeing.  I finally had a day free!  Here are my cotton cloth prints.

I also tried three kinds of silk scarves in the vat but did not leave them in long enough. I attempted to re-dye them the next day in the vat, but it had oxidized too much. I then over-dyed them with a procion dye which actually turned out similar to the indigo dyeing.

On the left, silk chiffon (yummm!), then a silk crepe, and a silk habatoi.

A productive day!

Filed Under: dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, indigo dyeing Tagged With: , , , ,

Progress!

July 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Working out in the patio yesterday, I dyed 10 of these…Sweet little onesies for sweet little babies.

Between Monday and Tuesday, I finished 8 new silk scarves and have 3 more waiting to finish.  I need some time to decide how to finish them.  I want to do more wax designs.  There is only one in this group using my new “BIG sponge” stamp. I love the BIG sponge.

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Filed Under: breakdown printing, creativity, dye paint, dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, screenprinting, shibori, silk scarves, stamping Tagged With: , ,

Life At My House

July 27, 2010 by 4 Comments

I’m so bad…I haven’t blogged in forever.  I guess I can just take you through what I have been doing the last couple of weeks… in pictures.

I went to Terra Haute to an exhibit that a friend of mine was in.  We went to a place she had once gone to school and I saw interesting things to photograph such as this structure.

Interesting glass close to where we parked…

Then made lots of fabric beads and made earrings from them…this pair sold…

I’ve been making liner bags to go in Kay’s basket purses…a little collaborative effort…

I made ciabatta bread for the very first time…it turned out great…I love it…

We went to my  family reunion…outdoors at a state park on the hottest day of the year…

That’s my brother…he was not a happy camper…

We left on Friday to go home for the reunion and were having AC problems at the time.  Well, it’s Tuesday and we are still waiting for the repair guy.  Lucky we are staying cool though.

Back to the “dye studio” and scarves and onesies this week…

Took this while the scarf was drying…

Pole-wrapped and dyed, stamped and a rubbing applied.  The rubbing plate design was made on a piece of cardboard with hot glue.  Great way to make rubbings.

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Filed Under: creativity, dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, printmaking, screenprinting, shibori, silk scarves Tagged With: , , , ,

Working, Working, Working

July 6, 2010 by 8 Comments

Last week I took advantage of the wonderfully mild weather to get out in the patio and work on silk scarves.  I screened on most of them.  I used deconstructed screen designs, glue designs, and paper resist designs.  Some of my breakdown screens didn’t print very long.  The new silk screens that Julia and I made worked well, but I see mine are starting to stretch a little.  Perhaps that is because I didn’t review Kerr Grabowski’s instructions before we  made them!  This throw together scarf design turned out to be my favorite.  Since I ran out of good breakdown prints, I used other screens and partial designs on it.  Another idea has emerged for me to use for future screening.  I love the contrast of a large bold design over smaller prints.

The other side of this scarf is a bit different, just because with printing by hand you can get lots of variety. This scarf was printed using all three of the types of printing I mentioned earlier. I’m having a great love affair with chartreuse and turquoise this summer, as well as all the blends in between the two that happen when one does not wash the screens between printing.  This scarf is printed on silk charmeuse.

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Filed Under: breakdown printing, dye paint, dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, printmaking, silk scarves Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sold

May 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I also added some small beaded fringe on a couple of corners…a new signature idea.  The lady that bought this loved the bead fringe.

Three screens were used to make these designs.  One was made with blue glue and two were made with soy wax.  Screen designs are easy peasy to make.

Filed Under: collage, color, creativity, dye paint, dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, new art, screenprinting Tagged With: , , ,

Printing Silk Scarves

April 27, 2010 by 4 Comments

I am printing scarves today, getting ready for an art fair this weekend.  I am using three different silk screens.  Two are created with soy wax designs and one has been created using Elmer’s glue.  I am amazed at the longevity of the glue screen.  I have been using it for some time now.  Here it is all messy with dye.

I made a soy wax screen with stripes and it is lasting a long time too.  Here are some of the scarves I printed this morning.  I think I am going to have to invest in more screens!

I did use another screen that I stamped circles on with soy wax, but I actually got the wax too heavy on it, so there is not a lot of dye put down when you do a pull.  I only used it on one of these scarves for a variation in the print.  When I get them washed out…I will post the finished look.

Filed Under: artist's thoughts, Arts in Harmony, creativity, hand dyed silk scarves, printmaking, screenprinting, silk scarves

My Life in Pictures…

April 9, 2010 by 3 Comments

I’ve been so busy and have not posted for awhile…shame on me!  I think I will show you what I have been up to rather than tell you….

Decatur, IL – Tree Huggers Exhibit in front of the Decatur Arts Council–On my way to the quilt show one morning, I shot these pictures.. this was interesting  to see!

Back home….loading new stencils from the Crafter’s Workshop  in my etsy shop...these are totally fun to pattern cloth with…

Tea dying and color dyeing silk ribbon for a doll show….

…and dyeing doggie hoodies….

…and working on some artistic silk scarves for upcoming art fair…these have been dyed a base color, then stamped with soy wax, then painted with dye paint and are batching…

Silk scarves are my “practice” work…not only do I get to know the different types of silks, but I get to “play” and practice with designs and colors.  Still have lots of different things to do and I will show you as I go along while I get ready for the art fair.  But…today I think I want to make some paper/cloth…after I go to town and run some errands…later!

Filed Under: art shows, creativity, dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, New Harmony Tagged With: , , , , ,

It’s The Holidays

December 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Life has been incredibly busy around my house lately…but I don’t think I’m alone in this…it’s the holidays!
The first weekend of December was the Art Fair at New Harmony. Sales were good. This past weekend was our first Tri-State Artisans Studio Tour. I set up a “shop” in my garage. My friend Kay, who weaves baskets, joined in with her wonderful baskets.

The weekend warmed up to the 40’s so we stayed warm enough with a big heater and a small electric heater.  We had fun, visited with people that came by,  and had good sales.

Now it’s time to get started on Christmas baking…one week from Friday the party is on!

Filed Under: art sale, hand dyed silk scarves, holidays Tagged With: ,

A Bit of This ‘N That…

November 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged…I have no excuse…just busy doing other things.  Last week it seemed like I spent the whole week working on silk scarves.  I needed to deliver some for consignment on my trip to Evansville, so I was dyeing a few, making a pile for consignment and a few for my stash as well as photographing, then listing my stash on etsy.  I am trying to be regular with etsy since it is the holiday season and sales will be happening.  I sold several scarves last year out of my etsy shop and I would like to be ready for shoppers!

Here is a silk chiffon I dyed.  It is a 44″ square.  I usually do more than one layer on these, but I think it’s beautiful the way it is and I’m not sure I want to add more to it.

I also joined the Visioning project on SAQA this past week.  The project is supposed to help me get organized, aim for goals and hopefully reach them.  At the same time, there are artists more advanced than I that will check my page and give me helpful hints. Yesterday I spent some time writing on my page about my goals just for this week.  While I was soaking in the tub yesterday morning, I had several ideas float through my brain, so writing helped me to get it in print, which helps me focus better. I also didn’t want to forget those ideas, so I write.  I have a solo show in late 2011, and I am hoping that the Visioning project will help me get prepared for that, if for no other reason than I will make commitments and stick to them.

Silk Charmeuse

Silk Charmeuse, deconstructed screen printed and thermofax screened

Filed Under: dyeing, hand dyed silk scarves, silk scarves Tagged With: , ,
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