Birds and Books!

My journal quilt for November is called 'Crow in a meadow'.  Same techniques as the previous two for September and October. I've really enjoyed doing these crows, so much so that I decided to make a concertina book which you can see below.

There are five prints of my mixed media crows, folded into the 100% rag paper cover which you see above. I have printed an image from my sketch book for the cover, and secured it with a black satin ribbon

I enjoyed making the crow book so much, I decided to make a few more!

This next one (above) contains butterfly images....

This one is all about robins, very seasonal of course,

...and this final one is a reproduction of some of the art I have made depicting the old boats on the beach at Dungeness.

All of these are listed in my etsy shop here

I hope you like what you see. I've certainly enjoyed making them, and thanks so much for reading!

See you next time.

  

Fish, leaves and grasses from my gelli plate.

Below is the fish I printed from my gelli plate onto some cotton fabric, and above is how it looks now, after stitching into it. The colours have changed, mainly because of the threads I have used, but I think it is more defined with the stitching.

These are a mixture of leaves and grasses, the little butterflies on the one above were printed from a stencil.

I experimented more by overprinting with a lighter paint, and I like the effect this has given.

Some of them are quite subtle, but I'm still playing really, and my next plan is to start printing more on fabric, ready for stitch. These have all been printed onto photocopy paper, so apart from maybe using them in collage work, there isn't really anything else I could do with them. 

I have taken photos of all of these, they need to be cropped, and then I could always print my favourites onto canvas, which would give me the opportunity to embellish with stitching, which is what I did with the seahorse in my previous post.

That's it for now, we've been away, and I have been busy most days sketching and trying to capture the sunrise over the sea in watercolour. Hopefully all fodder for future work with my textiles. You can read all about that on my Facebook page, Cath Stonard Textile Art.

Thanks for reading, and see you again soon!

Gelli printing, seagulls, crows and robins!

A day out at the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally, (Alexandra Palace) resulted in my buying the book above, 'The Gentle Art of Gelliping' by Hilary Beattie, and naturally, a Gelli, Gel Printing Plate, so that I could have hours of fun printing on paper and fabric!! I did buy a few other bits and pieces too, but these were the two most exciting purchases!

I cut out a few of my own stencils, some shells and a seahorse, above on paper, below on cloth.

Then I experimented with leaves, bits of string, elastic bands, and some of my own stamps.

More of the seahorse.

Some of my more successful leaf prints.

Just so much fun, I'm looking forward to experimenting lots more with this brilliant new tool for printing my own papers and cloth.

I have also finally finished the seagulls above, and I decided to make some amendments to the crow below, so I feel happier with that now.

Two robins, I think I must be getting in the mood for Christmas! They were both printed from a collagraph plate that I made, and then embellished with machine stitch on the one above, and hand stitch on the cheeky one below.

Well that's all for now, but hopefully I will have some further work to show soon, based on my gelli prints! Thanks for looking in folks!

Works in progress, and some London views.

Work in progress. Still keeping with the bird theme, a couple of Gulls above, and a Robin below. They both need lots more work, but especially with the free machine stitching, which is very intense, it's good to take a break!

Octobers journal quilt, a second crow. I know it's not quite October, but as it's finished anyway, I thought I would add it o this post.

Having been up to London on Monday to visit an exhibition by Alice Fox, followed by a walk around the Tower of London, I couldn't resist photographing these two birds. A Cormorant, drying and sunning himself after a dip in the Thames, and a rather tame Starling, no doubt hoping for a titbit!

Then of course, the main reason for visiting the Tower, to see this most poignant and moving display of ceramic poppies. Each one represents a life lost during the first world war, they are still being added to, and will continue to be so into November.

The old and the new! The Shard, towers over the Tower.

The view from across the Thames. Somehow, it seems such a shame that part of our heritage and history, is being dwarfed by these modern glass and concrete structures. I would love to be able to come back in five hundred years time to see what it will all look like then!

We have had a wonderful September weather wise, I wonder what October will bring!

We are now officially into Autumn, so Happy Fall everyone! (Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere of course!)

Felted and Free.

Small felted panel that I started on Saturday at a felting workshop with Angela Dewar. I have included three close-up sections below. I have really enjoyed playing around with this since I got home, adding bits of fabric, knitting wool and machine stitch. I decided to just be very free with it, and to allow my imagination to go a bit more wild!

A total contrast below! My journal quilt for September, and my next three will also be crows. Paper lamination, applique, paint and lots of stitch.

Hope you are enjoying this late summer sun, it's the perfect temperature for me now, so long may it last! Bye for now.