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 25 March 2019

The Magic of the Back Burner!


That disappointment when something hasn't worked, so you shove it in a drawer and forget about it! I'm sure that most of you reading this will know exactly what I'm talking about., Then, a few months later, you open that drawer and think, hmmm, that doesn't look so bad after all, so you get it out and feel hopeful that it can be rescued after all!






To begin with, I had stitched together a few scraps of brown, white and black cotton into a strip. There were marks on some pieces, so I used them to determine the start of my stitching, some by hand, and some by machine. This led me to make more marks, quite randomly, using some bleach on the black and brown areas, and some paint on the white. A small amount of applique has also been added, mainly to soften across some of the seams from one background colour to another.

It may not be the most successful piece of work, but sometimes, it really does help to put what might be considered a complete failure, away somewhere. Viewing with fresh eyes after a period of time may prove to have worked its magic to something worth salvaging.

Thursday 14 March 2019

Postcards and decorated train tickets.




Five postcards made for an exhibition of postcards at the DC1 Gallery and Cafe in Seaside, Eastbourne from the 4th April 2019 for three weeks. Click on the above link for more info.


Two have been painted, inspired by the underneath construction of the pier, and three more are a combination of appliqued and quilted fabric, with added paint for colour.





Below is an idea I've started to think about recently. I seem to have collected quite a few train tickets, so I've decided to see if I can decorate them in some way to make into a tiny book. After painting the back and front, I'm now considering adding some caricatures of the many passengers I observe on my journeys.




Conversations can be fun to listen into to, or not, especially when trying to concentrate on reading!


And then there are always those nodding dozers!!

Thanks for joining me yet again, and watch this space for any further developments.