A blog about making art and other things using cloth, paper, paint, colour, stitch, and all sorts of exciting techniques, some of which I'm sure I still have to discover! I hope that the joy all this gives me is visible in what you can see here.

Monday 18 April 2011

Time to experiment

The first time I experimented with the paper lamination technique, was on the Wet n wild workshop run by Committed to Cloth. Well, it's one of those techniques which I have really taken to and enjoyed, and have attempted to play around with at home on a couple of occasions. I've written about it on a previous post. I'm enjoying some extra time at home, because the schools are now closed for the Easter break, so a good opportunity to experiment even more! With this piece, I decided to use the 'paper' side instead of the polyester sheer side. I decided that I wanted to doodle on the rough papery surface with a fine permanent black liner. I love pattern, and decided to let my imagination loose with some ancient Greek decoration. I sketched these across the surface, and then added some of my own doodles, before cutting back in a few areas to expose the colours of the backing fabric. Lots of quilting in some copper thread to outline some of these shapes came next, and then I also appliqued some old pieces of lace, and interesting fabric scraps to add more texture and patterning. I like the way that some of the newspaper text is still visible, albeit backs to front!! I have really enjoyed making this piece, and would be interested to hear any thoughts you may have about it. 

Sunday 10 April 2011

Magnolia blossoms, cats and Magpies!






Two Cats
 

Two for Joy
 
Magnolia in blossom are one of my favourite trees in spring. I photographed this one today in a local park. It has been wonderfully warm, hot even over the last week or so, and everything is bursting with fresh spring green growth. I just hope that we don't suffer any night time frosts to spoil it all!
These two pieces were commissioned by a friend, they are both paper laminated, appliqued and heavily free motion machine stitched with some hand stitching on 'Two for Joy'.