She Asked! I Told!

This fabric collage was in a local juried exhibition recently and won an Honorable Mention. A friend who saw the show asked me about my process for the construction and this is my reply:

The piece Arc of the Day is indeed very abstract. For this one, I was itching to use some of my hand printed (deconstructed screen printing) fabric that I have been making for the past several months. Two printed small pieces were joined and I added the yellow commercial fabric for the upper half. I needed two things from the yellow: 1) contrast with the lower section and 2) a way to make a piece of the size for which I already had the perfect frame. (A lame way to design, but I am always driven at least in part by necessity.) The several yellow squares were needed to unify the top and bottom sections visually, as was the tall purple column in the middle (which also covers the seam that joined the two small pieces on the bottom). The placement of the squares also provides movement across the piece, as the sun moves across the sky each day. They looked too plain, so I added the hand stitches on those nice bright little boxes. And I really can't help adding some embroidery on nearly everything I make lately.

That's my story! Probably not as complicated or esoteric as you might think. Thanks for the opportunity to be a bit analytical :-)

Thinking of Susan

One of the finished pieces

 Using only the rug pad and
the tail end of the paint.

Yesterday I worked on a small fabric collage that called for a unifying layer of paint. (More about that one soon.) The leftover paint got me thinking about the fun I had with Susan Andrews printing in her outdoor studio. Not quite the abundance of plant material to play with while the snow was flying outdoors, but here are my results. More of this!!!

Basic tools, 3 paint colors, rubber rug pad as stencil and printer

Fabric pinned to my wonderful print board made of foam insulation board, thin foam padding, and clear vinyl.

The twig was used under the fabric for texture with the roller

... and on top of the fabric as stencil and for printing.

Mixed Media en Plein Air

These two looked on while Susan and I did more printing at Oiseaux Studios South yesterday. Susan was sprucing them up for a doll exhibit. Gorgeous dolls that she made many years ago.

View of Oiseaux Studio

Putting acrylic paint on the plastic palette sheet.

Rolling paint on cotton sheeting over grids, raised letters, plant material, etc.

Leaf placed over previously rolled fabric, using a red roller with the leaf as a mask.

Our friend Angela focusing as she learns a new technique.

Fabric monoprinted with Golden acrylics mixed with art paste for more body. The color is much more subtle than with the straight acrylics.

Back to the rollers and straight acrylics, with ferns and beach debris for texture, under the fabric then on top as masks and monoprints. We didn't care that the fabric got a bit more stiff. In fact, Susan likes the way the paint lends longevity to the pieces when they're hung outside. Some of these will become flags on my new porch.

I learned so much from playing with these techniques, and we didn't even get to print with the styrofoam plates! But Susan and I made a commitment to make more flag-like work in our far-apart studios as a joint project. Loving the warm and sunshine but my studio is calling me ...

Imagination or Reality?

Yesterday at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, many of the plants seemed as fanciful as the Chihuly pieces. Maybe some work is coming soon based on these photos and way too many others.

Escape!

The other day, I left the icy barren landscape of my home for humid breezes, green plants, and welcoming friends.

It takes awhile for my mind and body to catch up with my surroundings. To loosen and open. To thaw and breathe.



Last week, I made this little shoulder bag to bring along as reminder of what I love to do (and to hold the few basics I need for my explorations). Made with my deconstructed screen printed fabric, silk ribbons, and some other goodies.

The Blobs and Dots

I drew on a couple of my screens with thickened fabric dye and a plastic syringe. It seems almost impossible to control the lines, as the dye blobs out at its own free will at times! Another aspect of this printing process that is usually delightfully unpredictable, and I love working with the resulting prints. Today I'll do some deconstructed screen printing after this dye dries on the screens. Holy Smoke! I have so much to learn!

See Judith's posts this month on "And Then We Set It On Fire" for her work with this technique (among others). The link is in My Blog List at the right.

Lynne with Wax and Dye

My finished pieces on Lynne's frame.

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled through a blizzard and minus degree temperatures to make good on a long-planned visit to the studio of my friend Lynne Taylor. She paints, she woodworks, she sculpts, she dyes. She is an all round fantastic artist!

The Lovely Lynne

The focus of this play date was to have Lynne teach me how to paint on silk with fabric dyes, as she does when she makes her beautiful scarves. So, I helped her set up the fabric (several types of silk, also some rayon and cotton) on her large frame.

Then Lynne showed me how to paint on the fabrics with liquid Procion dyes. I loved watching the dye spread across the fibers differently on each of the fabrics. Next she got out her wax and related tools, and things got really interesting! A new way of thinking about surface design developed as I played with what dye and wax could do as partners. Some experiments worked better than others. My absolute favorite is this raw silk with several shades of turquoise. The texture of the silk was wonderful to work with - very nubby but soft. I want to wear this one.

I'm loving all this fabric play. Next: do something wonderful with them!