A bit of mixed media and photography!

 This is a bit of an experiment in mixed media, which started off as a black and white photocopy of a watercolour painting I did a couple of years ago. I folded the copy in half, and used the top half during a day spent with some friends from the KAIROS group I belong to. I didn't have a particular idea of what I was going to do, but just played around with odd bits of paper that I scrunched up, smoothed out, tore into rough leaf shapes and stitched onto the photocopy. I continued like this, also adding bits of sheer fabric, stitching or sticking the pieces down, and then drawing into some of them with a black pen and some crayons. Later, when I was at home, I decided to cover the whole sheet with some watery white paint. This gave the effect of a foggy day, and the leaf shapes took on the look of trees in the foreground. I cut up yet more bits of paper, this time in tall straight shapes to look a bit like buildings on the horizon.  I also added some scraps of lace which reminded me of clouds, and sketched a bit more with my black pen. It certainly isn't a great piece of art, but I enjoyed the spontaneous aspect of the process, and it was fun!

Finally, here are two photographs that I've taken with my phone! Just a point and shoot effort, but I'm very pleased with the results.

A few more creepy crawlies!

A few more additions to my small book of Fantasy Beetles! I don't know what is giving me more fun, the sketching and stitching of these weird creepy crawlies, or making up their names!

Above and below are two samples that I have altered with acrylic and fabric paint. The bottom one started out as a photograph I took of a lobster pot on the beach at Ferring, then manipulated in photoshop, printed onto some cotton fabric, then added the paint. The piece above was taken from a length of fabric that I had breakdown printed in a teal colour, and have also overpainted in acrylic/fabric paint. Not sure what I'm going to do next, but I'll post more pics when I've finished with them.

More Moths!

 I seem to have a bit of an insect theme going on at the moment, but I have to admit that I do find them really interesting, especially visually with their gorgeously subtle colours and markings. I've been looking at moths wings again, and the patterning on their wings is just so wonderful, I think I may be heading for a 'moth series'!!

This piece above is also partly inspired by some cloth that I snow dyed last winter. Well, we did have rather a lot of the stuff, so I thought I'd have a go. I have just used the one piece on this occasion, and I've relied on some lines sketched in with a water soluble crayon, the edges softened with a wet paintbrush, and then mainly free motion machine stitching with some hand stitch, (seeding) to finish.

Below are some closeups of different areas.

This and That!

A sneaky preview of a small portion of my entry for the EQA 'Circle of Friends' quilt that has been selected for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham this August. I can't show it all, not until after the exhibition, but I was so thrilled to hear on Friday that my entry had been successful. Each country has 12 quilts selected, and each country has a different colour combination. The UK entries have to be in black and white, with up to 30% in any shade of blue. They also have to be a circular measuring between 8" and 12"(inches). The small area of black and blue fabric that you can see here I dyed myself, and the spiders are all free motion machine stitched.

These are drawings and paintings I've made of some fantasy beetles. I made up a small booklet from an  unwanted leaflet that I first painted with white gesso, and then folded into a concertina. I folded it once again, and stitched through all the layers to hold the book together, The photo above is the cover, (unfortunaely upside down),  but hopefully you can see what I mean. The remaining photos are of the pages that I've done so far, but I hope to complete them all very soon. Just a bit of fun really, but I do enjoy doodling, especially insects, and it's something to do when I'm waiting for the potatoes to cook, or when I have a few minutes to spare and don't want to twiddle my thumbs!

My Journal Quilt for July has been inspired partly by the 'Out of Australia' exhibition at The British Museum. I made some sketches while I was there of some of the wonderful baskets on display, and printed two of them onto some fabric. They are on the right. I also really enjoyed seeing the Aboriginal art, and felt that some of them could be the starting point for some handstitched textile art. I had a simple sketch in my book that I made in April on Ferring beach, and decided to translate it into a simple handstitched sample which is on the top left. The print from my sketch is underneath. I just love the way that the artists use such simple lines and marks to convey land/seascapes, and their surroundings.

Well, that's it for now folks, enjoy whatever it is that you like to do, and see you next time. Thanks for reading.

Small detail from a detail!!

I've been pondering for weeks about an idea for a quilt challenge that I want to take part in. I'm not sure if we are supposed to put them onto our blogs or websites until after the event, so for that reason I'm only showing a small part of it here. In fact, the whole quilt itself is inspired by a detail from a Moth's wing. I spent a few evenings looking at different images of British Moths, and sketching the shapes and details of the their intricate and fascinating markings. I also love the subtle colours, and managed to dig out some fabric that I had dyed in subtle shades of grey and blue grey. I haven't finished it yet either, but so far I'm feeling pleased with how it's coming along. I started it during my Independent Study Day with C2C on Friday, it is so much easier to lay out cloth and pattern pieces on a  large table, with plenty of space to be able to stand back and see the progress.

On a different note, I went along to Sandown on Saturday for the Quilt Championships, and spent a few very happy hours studying the different categories of quilts, and also browsing the vast selection of books and other goodies! As usual, I spent too much, but came home with some embroidery and machine threads, wadding, and two books. The Found Object in Textile Art by Cas Holmes, and connecting art to stitch by Sandra Meech. Both are absolutely full of inspirational ideas for textile artists, and I'm sure I will be using lots of the ideas from each of them. All I need now is MORE TIME!!!!

See you next time!

When in doubt, PLAY!!

 I've not been feeling very inspired lately, I'm really struggling with how to move forward, so decided to have a day of playing with my fabric paints instead!

I didn't want all the fuss of dyeing, I wasn't in the mood for all the effort involved in that, so just tore up a few small pieces of white cotton, and had some fun.

I spread the paint onto a flat plastic tray, and then made marks into it with a variety of objects. I used some of the cotton fabric dry, and some I dampened down. With the piece on the left here, I placed elastic bands down onto the paint first, and then pressed the fabric down on top. When it was dry, I used silk paint to fill in the white areas.

The photo above is one that I took last week by the River Mole near Leatherhead in Surrey. I'm rather pleased with this, and may try to feel inspired enough to make a small piece of textile art from it. If there were lilly pads on the water, it could almost pass as a Monet!

June Journal Quilt.

My Journal Quilt for June is a Paper Lamination. I decided to use the paper side on this occasion, because I liked the texture, and wanted to draw into it with black ink. Again, I have used tribal art as my inspiration, and sketched patterns from cloth, matting and wood carving from the Pacific islands. Using this side also meant that the text was backs to front, but this isn't important, as long as there is text somewhere. This is the criteria for the next four months, to use text somewhere on the quilts. I also cut away some of the paper from the letters, so that the backing fabric showed through. I finished off by quilting with some copper thread.

Unfolding The Quilts

PLEASE VOTE NOW
You can vote for this project between the 31st May and 20th June 2011, and all you have to do is click on the button in the column on the right! Then go to the 'Heritage' link, click, and scroll down to 'Unfolding the Quilts' Easy! To find out what all this is about, just visit http://www.quiltersguild.org.uk/ and all will be revealed. Oh, and Thanks, in anticipation!

Paper Lamination Workshop

 I've just spent four brilliant days on a Paper Lamination Workshop run by Sarah Welsby, at the newly re-furbished, Potters Barn at Bovey, home of Committed to Cloth. It will definitely remain in my mind as four of the most enjoyable days I've spent in a long time, and is to be thoroughly recommended.

The process consists of using papers, preferably laser prints/photocopies of your own photographs, or newsprint. These are arranged under polyester or silk voiles, and then a matt medium acrylic is screen printed over the top, which is dried, and then heat set before being soaked in cold water for five minutes. This allows the paper that has not been treated with the medium to be removed, and you can see from the photo above, a piece of treated voile hanging to dry. After this, the piece can be layered, or not, depending on what end result is desired. The layering can use small pieces of fabric, or just one large single piece, and wadding and backing can also be added, ready for stitch.

The bird images on the left, and the longer striped piece are two polyester voiles that I made during the workshop, and I have plans on how to take them forward. I also laminated two images taken from a photograph that I took of some pebbles and seaweed. I played around with them on photoshop, and then laminated them onto some calico. The results are in black and white, and the hand of the calico gives a stiffer, less floaty result. However, I am looking forward to experimenting with paint and stitch on this piece.

Finally, I did manage to complete a piece of work, and this is the result. I'm very pleased with what I achieved in the four days, and am really looking forward to further experiments with this fascinating technique.

Sampling an idea.

This started out as a sample to try and decide what to do with some fabric I have dyed and dischared, (apart from the black ovals). I still have the majority of it left, but having made this piece, I'm not sure I want to repeat myself. This has turned out to be a bit more substantial than I intended, although it isn't quite finished as yet. I may do some more quilting on the background, and I still haven't decided how to finish off the edges yet. It reminds me of an African design, and also a bit zebra-ish!!

Journal quilt for May 2011

The last of my aboriginal art inspired Journal quilts. I used a cotton and silk mixed fabric that I had previously mono printed. Different areas were then painted in a variety of coloured silk paints, and then embellished with white acrylic painted dots. The blue butterfly has been appliqued onto the background, with further appliqued decoration, free motion machine stitching and more white acrylic paint. I have really enjoyed this technique, and am planning something similar, but on a larger scale. These four JQ's all measure 10"x10". Now I have to start planning my next four for June, July, August and September, and they all have to contain some text. Mmmmmm, I have an idea already, and my last post may be a clue to what that is going to be!

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. 

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'.

                               

April Journal Quilt

Inspired by aboriginal art. I had a piece of mono printed cotton/silk mix fabric, so I decided to over paint it in sections with silk paint. I added the black and white dots with acrylic paint, and then appliqued the black egg shapes on top. I decorated these with free motion and machine embroidered stitching in white thread, and also added some more white acrylic painted dots. At least these Easter eggs are calorie free!!


For some reason that I don't understand, a large gap has appeared between this post and my previous post. If you want to view my previous posts, please just scroll down the page a bit, and it will appear!! Thanks. ;0)

Taking a line for a walk.

I have been thinking about a couple of projects that I want to be involved in. I started by looking through some of my older sketchbooks, and came across a page with the above ink line drawing. I don't remember why I did it in the first place, but on studying it again, it reminded me of hair. I started to play around with the shapes, and my following doodles show how I have developed this idea, finishing with a piece of work that used free motion machine stitching .This is really just a first trial for an idea that I hope to develop further.

  

 

This is the second piece of work that I am developing  for a different project. SPIDERS!!! I can't as yet reveal any details, but if my idea works out I will eventually be able to show the finished piece. I stitched these by my favoured free motion machine stitching technique, using an embroidery hoop, white cotton fabric, and black thread. I think they look almost real!!!!!!