Just about there!

All of the collage work is finished on my two 12 by 12's.  Next comes beading.  For these pieces the beading will be minimal, rather than the encrusted beading I love.  The circles are created by painting the glue side of fusible webbing, that is attached to paper.  When dry, it's supposed can be just fused on, but I found it wasn't that easy.  I had to remove the paper and make sure that the paint side was closest to the iron.  I also wanted to warm up the pieces a bit.  So I used a copper metallic thread to attach the circle--admittedly more decorative than functional. Then I put the copper metallic in two other places on the piece.

My next step is to figure out how to attach the pieces to the wrapped canvas.  I have always wrapped the piece around, and stapled it down, but this is rather bulky because it's backed with industrial felt.  So, my options are to cut it exactly to 12 by 12 and finish the edge--always a difficult chore, for me. Then glue it to the canvas, after adding a layer of paint to the canvas.  This would mean not having to finish the back to hide the stapled edges.  But I'm really not confident of my skill in doing it this way.  A third option would be to remove the canvas before wrapping the edges of the piece around--which is the direction I think I might go.

I plan to link this to The Needle and Thread Network, and maybe to Nina-Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Fridays.

Still trying to figure it out

After doing a lot of thinking, I suddenly realized that in trying to plan hand embroidery, I'm trying to work with old skills--things I can no longer do.  Why not go with my current skills?  Than means getting down to machine work.  So, instead of giving up on the 12 by 12's, I've put together two backgrounds for collage and machine embellishment.

During my recent "purge" several things that could potentially be used in this were thrown out.  Most of what is left works well in a white/gold colour scheme.  I've used some cotton hand dyes, but also several scraps from silk kimonos.  The pictures aren't good, but the pieces all work together, and I look forward to starting the machine embellishment tomorrow.

Frustration

We've experienced a severe snow storm the last couple of days, and since any sort of travel is discouraged, that means lots of studio time.  I decided to start work on some 12 by 12 pieces I wanted for my gallery show in May.  I had no firm idea of what I was going to do, but figured that the smaller area required hand stitching as opposed to pieced work or FMQ'g.  Borrowing a technique described in a recent Art Quilt Studio magazine, I used Inktense blocks to make marks on several small pieces of damp cotton, and then diffused those marks with more water and elbow grease.  I was thrilled with the result, but the backs of the pieces were often more appealing.  I still didn't have a clear idea of what I might be doing, but decided to try using several pieces of fused glass that had been gifted as focal points. One piece had an amazing orange-y pink/brown colour that I just loved. I doesn't photograph well so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I did a bit of rubber stamping, as suggested in the magazine article.  Maybe not a good idea.  Then I selected thread and such for the embellishment. After quilting it,  I found I wanted to accent the stitched area a bit more, so needle felted a wisp of roving into it, the colour of which just about matched the darker lines of the InkTense blocks.  Glued on the glass, and stitched it down with invisible thread.  Started stitching, and worked on it, slowly, for about an hour.

I'm not thrilled.  As I said the colour is not true.  The background is an orange-y/pink with vague brown streaks.

This has sent me into a "blue funk".  My creative skills appear to have diminished significantly over the past couple of years.  I haven't produced anything that really "stirs my blood", in all that time.  I wonder if this is a part of aging, or maybe the first echoes of diminishing brain function?  Maybe a function of poor preparation?  Regardless, I am frustrated.  Creating an image and puzzling out how to a achieve it, used to come easily to me.  Have I boggled my mind with too many new and different techniques?  My two most significant mentors were aunts who remained creative well into their 80's and 90's.  Does this mean that I'm aging that much more quickly than them? This is certainly the longest period of creative block I've ever experienced.

Many years ago, I started a "prompt" jar, by writing down bits of ideas on paper, as they occurred, and putting them in a jar for use when I didn't know how to proceed with a troublesome design.  I also have a couple of pages in my sketch book containing similar notes.  Maybe it's time.  And maybe it's time to abandon my plans for the 12 by 12's, and find something else for my show.

Re-visiting Shibori

Today was the monthly meeting of my fibre art support group, who call themselves The Fibre Art Divas.  Under that name they are recognized a a group to watch.  They currently have one travelling exhibition, Prairie Perspectives, and a second one, Home Is..., currently being organized.  Our meetings are a lively exchange of ideas, as well as a genuine critique session that the members trust.

Today the question came up about how we use the fabrics we create with Shibori, or Eco-dying and printing, or anything else where we make significant changes in the appearance of the surface of the fabric.

In response to that discussion I would like to discuss a couple of the pieces I have created with my Shibori dyed fabrics.  I had a wonderful "how-to" book that I used as a resource in all by Shibori dyeing, but can't find it, nor do I remember the title and author.  Also missing is the correct terminology for some of the techniques I used.  My apologies.

My first effort consisted of overdyeing some previously dyed fabrics using a basic Shibori clamping technique.  I then added leaf prints to some areas for focal interest.There is one piece of pole wrapped Shibori, but at the time, I really wasn't sure how to use it in a piece.

The next piece was made using nothing but hand-stitched Shibori pieces.  I had far more than I could use, so chose pieces based on a colour scheme.  This piece has a great deal of hand quilting to complement the stitch, based dyed areas.

The third piece was made with pieces selected from my "stash" purely on the basis of colour.  It includes some stitched, some pole wrapped and some folded and clamped sections.  It is completely machine quilted.

Lastly, I put together a lot scraps from the previous efforts, using a colour scheme again.  Do you sense that I have an affinity for a blue red or blue green analogous colour scheme?  This piece was quite "blah" until I added the purple circles.  This addition completed the analogous colour scheme and totally changed the finished effect.  It is machine pieced, machine quilted and the circles are fused applique.

Now I'm worried that this whole trip down memory lane may result in more Shibori work.  Whoops!

I plan to link this with The Needle and Thread Network, as well as Nina-Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Friday