Mouse Factory Designs

Back to Lee Valley

2012-02-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

got more bead containers, but we also went a little further and bought a second hand office chair to use in the studio. My old one was bought many years ago at a garage sale for $25, but is now quite broken and really quite dangerous. We went to a reputable store that specializes in used office furniture and paid a good price for this, but it is by a well-known reputable manufacturer. Since I broke myshoulder last winter, I've had trouble working for any period of time on my sewing machine, mainly because of the height of the table amd machine combined. With a height adjustable chair one again, the problem should be solved.

More Beads

2012-02-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Drove across the city to buy more containers for beads. Bought 3 times as many as I had thought I might need. I get them at Lee Valley and find that the price is right and they fit and work well together. Got the left over beads put away, including the ones in the shoe box. That took a couple of hours as there were four slightly different colours of seed beads that needed to be sorted. After getting everything in the corner cabinet ( 6 feet high and 24 inches wide and FULL of beads), I discovered yet another shoe box full of beads! I must have been out of my mind when I bought or acquired all those damn beads! Anyway, this means yet another trip to Lee Valley--but not today.

No title yet

2012-01-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

I finished the most recent "quiltlet". This is the piece that drove me crazy with tieing off and burying the ends of the machine quilting. I ended up putting two hanging rings on the back as it turned out more rectangular than square. This started as a gelatin mono-print, which was cut apart and pieced back together again, including the curve of red. Every line is machine quilted with invisible thread, some machine embellishment and then the beads. It isn't bound but has been finished off with satin stitch.

Order out of Chaos

2012-01-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

The beads are all safely put back in the corner cupboard. I won't say they are sorted because I approached it a different way. Since I usually work in colour families, I put all the glass beads within one family together in a huge bead soup. The chip beads were stacked together in my stackable containers, again with one colour family per stack. I was stunned to find out how many different chip beads I have in shades of green. The number of colour families was a surprize as well. Blue quickly separated itself into two very distinct families--darker royal blues and the more teal ones. While gold a silver were pretty easy to tame, I also found orange, red, pink, purple, black and white families. Another surprize was the stack of seed beads containers in metallic colours other than gold and silver. The biggest surprize was a large colour family in yellows, beiges and browns. These worked very well together, so ended up in the same bag, and just looking at them and fondling the bag has sent my creativity soaring.

The work took part of yesterday and most of today. Once finished, I took a nap, then came to sweep the floor ( yeah, some of them got away during the sorting). What did I find while cleaning up, -- a large shoe box full of containers of beads that had been completely missed in the sorting--a whole new colour family--and I can't even give it a name. Grey/green/khaki?? Sounds awful, but it's one I really enjoy working with, and have couple of projects on the go using it--which is why they were segregated in another part of the studio.

Well, nothing more will be done until I can buy more containers.

chaos

2012-01-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to find the bead soup I will need to use to assemble some kits for my beading class at the end of the February. I like to have everything ready ahead of time, in case I have to buy something, especially if I might have to buy it over the internet. Well, one thing led to another and this is the result. Not only is the table covered, but the sruface behind the ironing board and the bottom shelves of the corner cupboard as well. Maybe the whole thing just needs a complete clean-out. My Ravenesque group will be meeting next week and maybe I can take the discards there, or save them for my grandaughter--my daughter would love that!

The Doubts are back

2012-01-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

After my complaining the other day about having to tie off and bury hundreds of thread ends, the question was raised " Why do you bother?" Since then I've been questioning myself about why it's so important for me to demonstrate attention to detail and technical skill. During my musings I found out that a quilter, known to me, with many undeveloped technical skills, has had work juried into a high profile show. Then, today the latest Quilting Arts Magazine arrived,complete with Robbie Joy Eklow's column, The Goddess of the Last Minute. Amongst other things she mentions some newer and younger quilters who may not pay a lot of attention to detail because they really don't care. (To be charitable, I would like to think that they don't care about technique because they are getting such a thrill out of the creative experience.)

So back to the original question--why do I care about detail and workmanship? Is it because I believe in my heart that this is all I have to offer? Is it because when my work receives attention and even sells, it is the pieces into which I have put the most effort, both creative and technical? Is it because, as a former quilt judge, this is how I evaluate all work? Or is it maybe because that is all that I can control. The creativity is a gift that is to be enjoyed and shared, but is not something that I have developed for myself. When it shows up, it is a gift.

Today I finished the beading on my newest piece--number 2 in the Milky Way series--titled "Too Far Away". This has taken five weeks of almost daily work to do. Every bead larger than a seed bead is stitched twice, and the beading is solid for about 40 inches and about 3 inches wide. Do I really think anyone will notice, or care? Thank Goodness, I know that this is the stage of every piece when my doubts kick in. When the basic work is done, and only the finishing remains. This is when I measure my original vision with the finished result, and because I've been so close to it for so long, it seldom measures up. Probably a good example of "familiarity breeds contempt" (Since this is for exhibition, I can't post any pictures--sorry)

But this also means that I can move onto another piece. I have several in mind, and the drive to make my visions come to life, never fades, even in the face of perpetual doubt.

Line study

2012-01-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

I wasn't happy with how my small 12" by 12" piece, "Line Study" turned out. So on the suggestion of a friend, I've added some beads, and here is the result. Obvously, I had a little problem with the lighting, but this is a better image than the one that was all washed out because of too much light.

Never again!

2012-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

I have given my husband instructions. If I ever suggest again, that I do intense machine quilting, with hundreds of tied and buried ends, using invisible thread, he is to institutionalize me immediately, because I will have gone insane.

Trying too hard

2012-01-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

I needed some hand work to take to a LQG meeting on Wednesday evening. I sorted thourgh my stack of gelatin prints and found a likely candidate, sandwiched it, and took it along to add hand quilting. Luckily, I also took a doodle cloth to test out various quilting threads to use. Tried an overdyed #12 perle, #12 silk perle, and a variegated tatting cotton. Ble-e-e-ch! After much frustration, I realized that I'm just trying too hard to make things work, and I really need to sit back and let the inspiration come. This is so hard for me, but it's a skilll I really need to develop. So, as I was falling asleep, I had a sudden idea about another one of the gelatin prints--and actually remembered it the next morning. So that is in progress, but it promises to be a long time in production.

Then, Thursday evening, while discussing an entirely different thing with a friend, I had an idea about how to fix the piece that is shown in the last post. The quilting just doesn't show enough to influence the design. So I plan to add dark purple seed beads along some, but not all, of the quilting lines, to accentuate them. This, of course, meant a trip to the bead store. Too bad!

Most of my work, right now, is hand work. There were two events this week that called out for some hand work, so, as well as the gelatin prints, I sorted through a box of old counted thread embroidery projects, that I found in my store room. (Not cross stitch!) This fairly large box once held a fortune in evenweave linen fabric and a healthy collection of overdyed cotton floss. This floss is a specialty thread that is no longer manufactured, so is even more valuable now, than it once was. Over the years, I've sold off most of the fabric, and a fair bit of the thread, but kept anything that I had once started to work on ( my UFO's). At one time, I was very good at counted thread work and even won awards for it. I also taught the techniques, specializing in counted thread ethnic embroidery techniques. This was a big part of my life that I had to give up when my hands and wrists just couldn't take it any more. Well, there were two half finished tray clothes and a small Christmas ornament--not started, left in the box. Sad remnants of over 20 years of loving and dedicated work.

Okay! Enough of that! One of the tray clothes has 18 separate motifs, of which 15 were done! Well, they're all done now, and only the hemming remains. I need to read up on hemming before I start, as it's been quite awhile! The other tray cloth is about half done. The pattern I had in mind didn't really work out well--which is why it's not finished. So, simplify the pattern, and I should have it finished in a few days--once I get to it. The Christmas ornament can wait until fall. We'll see how my hands take to this. I'll have to pace the work and make sure that my beading projects--which have a deadine--get priority.

My hope is that I find I'm able to do the work, if I pace it well. So far, I've been too "into it" to pace well, and the pain is coming back. If this works out for me, it will be like coming home to an old friend.

Which side is up?

2012-01-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of my most recent 12"by 12". This is just a nice pleasant comfy piece--not spectacular--but one I like. Again, I've used the LWI-dyed cotton Damask. Napkins are often less worn than tablecloths, and are just the perfect size for these little "quiltlets".
Anyway, I tend to like it whichever side up. Can't make up my mind. Which view do people prefer?

#1 #2

#3 #4

close-up to show quilting

Here is a close-up of the quiltlet in hopes that the quilting is a little easier to see.

Life skills, and why I call myself a Fibre Artist

2012-01-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

These days I'm very busy beading a larger wall hanging. Beading is somewhat mindless work and gives me lots of time for thinking. I'm also in the preparation stages of a new beading class and spend time practising my teaching. Sounds strange, I know, but as I work I'm thinking " Now, how would I teach this?" This sort of execise leads me to think about how I learned a particular technique. ( I told you that beading gives me lots of thinking time--maybe too much!)

What I've realized is that every stitching/beading/quilting/painting class or experience I've had, has had a place in developing the skills that I use today. The piece I'm working on is hand beading on a free-motion, quilted fabric--to which I have also applied acrylic paint. The beading stitches I'm using were learned in a beading class, but I'm also using a beading technique that I learned in a stitchery class. The fabric is controlled using a set of Q-Snaps, bought for use when hand-quilting, but set up in a method learned in an English Goldwork stitchery class, and using a frame weight hand-made for use with canvaswork.

My skill-set is unique, and used in a variety of ways, and combinations. Being referred to as a "quilter" doesn't begin to describe me, or what I do. No wonder it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Nice threads!

2011-12-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, I found a lot of thread to try for hand quilting, and embellishment. I found silk perle in both #8 and #12, in solid colours, but I'm really more interested in working with variegated colours. So, I had to go with cotton perle, and I found a lot of it in quite a variety of colour families--not that I could afford to buy them all!! But, I could afford to buy enough that I was eligible for a free gift--a very nice and well-sized metal needlecase. While the silk is a dream to work with, the final result is a very "soft in the hand" piece of work. The cotton will produce a sturdier piece. Of course, my other option is to try to dye the silk into the variegated colours I want.
On Monday, my Ravenesque fibre art group is coming for the day, and as hostess, it won't be a good day for getting any serious work done. No matter how much I want to play with my threads, I'll have to execise some self control until later in the week.

Oh my gosh!

2011-12-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted. Not that I've been that busy. Currently I'm working on the second piece of my Milky Way series. A friend sent me a phenomenal photo of the Milky Way taken in Africa where ambient light is at a minimum, and it gave me pause to reconsider parts of the design. But the end result is whole big bunch of fairly intense hand beading. I have been spending as much time working on it as my hands will allow, but also making sure that I do one line of stitching per day on my next little 12" by 12". This one is mainly play, as I don't expect that it will end up as a marketable piece, but the cloours really appeal to me. Unfortunately, I'm using a Sulky Blendable to hand quilt it, and while this is appropriate to the design, it's blending in so well that photos are useless.

I did find some more of the twisted silk thread, locally, that I used in the textures piece--and it's in colour which is a bonus. Something to play with over the next little while. Tomorrow DH is taking me to a needlework shop that is about 2 1/2 hours away, to see if we can find a variegated thread that is firm enough to create contours in hand quilting-- probably something like a #12 perle cotton. This is more of an excuse to get away than a necessity, as I think the #12 Sulky Blendable may just do the trick nicely. But tomorrow is also our 46th wedding anniversary, so a trip away together is quite appropriate.

Latest effort

2011-12-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Part of my self development indicated a study of texture. While a lighter colour is necessary for this type of work, I chose grey rather than the white or beige most people would look at--what can I say, I'm a maverick. The full piece is 12" by 12". The fabric is cotton, Duipionni silk and organza. The ribbons are cotton and polyester. The entire piece is densely quilted with twisted silk. Unfortunately the silk thread matches the fabric so closely that the quilting is difficult to see in the photo. (And, yes, those are heart-shaped yo-yo's! lol) I love working in this size, and format, and have found that my poor hands can handle this much hand quilting and not much more, so I'm able to use that technique, despite not having been able to do it for years. Between this piece and the Shaded Grapes from a previous post, I had wondered if I had found something I could put into show stock. I got quite excited about the idea, and started to plan third piece, but then realized that I was trying to force a design--exactly what I had said I wouldn't do. So, if the designs come--great, and if they don't--so be it.

Summing up the year

2011-12-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

On the QuiltArt yahoo group today, they are starting to re-visit the concept of designating a single word as your anthem during the year. In some of today's postings they are looking back over the past year and examining whether the word chosen actually became a by-word for the year, or if another word would have been more appropos. I had toyed with the concept behind several words, and most of them would have been right for my year.

2011 was a year of re-birth for me. A year of stepping back and re-examining my life and what I want from it. Last December/January I wasn't sure where I was headed, or what I wanted my future to be. Looking back, I can also see that I wasn't emotionally or physically able to visualize my future, and visualization is an important part of future planning. Physical health was a bigger issue in 2012 than I had thought it would be

I have not participated in a show/sale since November of 2010. Now I have seen that I didn't miss the shows and sales at all. I sometimes missed the income, but most of the sales I participated in were on a "break even" basis, with participation being more inteneded to get my name out there--which is not a bad rationale for it.

So, decision #1 Shows/sales will be limited to one or two per year, and only if I have sufficient stock to participate, without a mad scramble to produce.

Teaching has not been good for me for several years. This past year I did some teaching of more basic quilting methods, to individuals and small groups, more informally than in the past, and I had much more fun. Most of these chances came as a result of informal, word-of-mouth promotion. Formal promotion resulted in nothing!

Decision #2 I will no longer engage in active, formal promotion of my willingness to teach, but rather will rely on informal methods. I will be willing to teach anything anything I feel capable of teaching, including back to basic traditional quilting.

This year there was the opportunity to exhibit more widely than in the past. Given a reasonable deadline, this was wonderful, and the process resulted in sales. Gotta get me more of this.

Decision #3 In 2012 to focus more energy and resources toward exhibitions rather than shows/sales.

What went well in 2011? I firmly believe that I am finishing 2011 a much healthier person. Many health issues have been moderated. ( People my age don't get cured of anything!)

Decsion #4 To make every effort to maintain the health gains achieved in 2011

Experimentation

2011-12-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today I was about to get started on the next piece in my Milky Way series. I had been forced ( snicker, snicker) to buy more navy blue fabric, but luckily it was on sale at Fabricland this weekend. I was surprized at how much more expensive the price of cotton has become, but then remembered that we had been warned to expect about a 40% jump. Anyway, as I was cutting the fabric, I remembered the problem I had with bearding with the last piece. I had been going to try using black felt instead of my normal Warm'n'Natural batting, but then thought of trying to use black batting. Oh Dear, I'll have to go to the LQS--too bad. Actually driving across town on a Saturday in December, with snow falling makes it less of a pleasure than the trip should be.

Now, I'm fussy about my batting. I generally stick to the Warm company products, as I've never found anything to match them for the detailed and heavy machine quilting I use. Fussy enough that I donated an entire bolt of polyester batting to the charity progam of the LQG, when I realized that it would probalby never get used inthis house! The black batting I found is a Hobbs blend--the same 80/20 blend that I had wanted for the piece. So far it appears to be behaving exactly as required. The true test will come when I start the embellishment--which is usually the last step in my work. Warm Company products do not take well to a lot of hand work--at least not for me. For those small pieces that are hand quilted or hand embroidered, I use the thinnest polyester batt I can find, sometimes even splitting the batt to make it even thinner. ( I readily acknowledge that the problem is probably in my arthritic hands, not the quality of the batting. Old age is a bitch, but Warm products are dense.) But this all causes problems when I have a larger, machine quilted piece that requires hand embellishment, as the Milky Way series does.

So a little experimentation is in order. I'll report my findings.

Shaded Grapes

2011-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is my response to the Fast Friday Fabric challenge #63. The challenge was to produce something that demonstrated high contrast with the use of colour--no black and white allowed. I further challenged myself to only use what I had on hand--no special fabric preparation and no purchasing. To that end, I chose to use my favourite Low Water Immersion (LWI) dyed cotton Damask. The background is a LWI-dyed muslin ( I think that time I was trying for black and ended up with the lovliest deep smokey blue) The cotton Damask dyes beautifully, and the fabric ends up with a "glow" that I've never seen with any other fabric. I think it must be caused by the overshot satin threads of the weave. I was quite happy with it, until I saw the pictures and realized how much the two light purple grapes stand out. But that can happen in a real bunch of grapes as well, so it won't be changed.

I had hoped that the natural shading of the fabric would work to shade the grapes,but it wasn't quite enough, so there is a little coloured pencil in there. This is also my first finished contribution to my latest 12" by 12" series.

Another surprize

2011-11-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

I was at the small gallery today to pick up the other two pieces, that were in the show, and while I was there, another hanging sold. I was stunned, to say the least. When I got home, I e-mailed my family and friends to tell them of my "happy dance". A little later I got a short response from a sister, pointing out that both of these pieces have been made within the last 8 months, and questioning whether the two sales indicate that my "sabbatical" has resulted in a renewal of my creativity, given the public response to the results. Yes, very much so. I have so many ideas that I can't get them down fast enough. And each idea builds on the previous ones. I'm looking, again, at the small "quiltlets, that have received a good response in the past. These are 12" by 12", original designs, and contain a lot of hand work. they are smaller, as that is the only way I can actually bring a design to fruition, before it is pushed out of my brain by another very valid concept. There are so many ideas. All of them have to be tried out, even with knowing that not all of them will be worth finishing, but I learn something from every attempt.

I wish I could show some pictures. I took my camera out to the gallery today, but then found that the memory card ( yeah, the large memory-- 252 images--one that I use all of the time) is cracked and useless. I have a small--10 image--one and will have to dig that one out, but both hangings will have been picked up by their new owners before I can get out again.

Got fooled

2011-11-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

I did the test of how the machine took to FMQ'g through various types and thicknesses of acrylic paint. Quite fine! I don't have to worry about that anymore. So my only decision is colour, and I think I'm going to go with the oil paint sticks because of the sheeen the iridescent paint leaveson thefabric. The next step was to design and paint the waterfall. A lot of research left me with the understanding that:
          -you don't see coloured water when you look at a waterfall from a lower position, only if you look at it from above.
          -as soon as the water goes over the edge, it becomes white foam. There may be areas of slightly darker foam but the basic and predominant colour is white.

Well, glad I did the research, but don't know where I'm going from here. An acqaintance told me recently to stop obsessing with waterfalls, and to "chill out". O-k-a-a-ay--didn't realize it was getting that bad. Artists obessess on regular basis--don't they?

Very pleased to report that one of the pieces I have in a small local gallery has sold. This was quite unexpected, and has left me with a slight problem. I had planned to bring the piece home, take it partially apart, re-size it and enter it into another show---the show it was actually made for. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to go ahead and make another piece based on the same concept. I will use a similar colour scheme but, perhaps, some different techniques, and a very different overall appearance. So the pieces will be different, but a viewer would also be aware that they are part of a series. It is interesting that anyone who has seen the original piece and spoken of it, refers to it as being black. It is actually navy blue, so very blue that I did all of the quilting with black thread to try to mute the colour. Guess it worked.

To help me "chill out", I have started to work my way through a fibre design book.    I'm really not sure where this will go. Either I will learn something, or what I have learned in the past will be validated. An interesting process, none the less. I'll keep you posted.

Getting down to business

2011-11-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

The two pieces I have in mind are setting me off in a new way of working. In the past, I've usually had something planned in my mind, and then jumped right in with fabric and paint. This time, I have a certain "look" I want to achieve, and have to figure out how to do that. I thought I had two options--fabric paint which is transparent and acrylic which is opaque. My brain was telling me that I wanted opaque, but never having used fabric paint over the whole quilt top, I figured that I needed to learn more about it before starting to slap it on my limited amount of fabric. I bought a video download lesson on painting on fabric. The teacher uses a fairly thick layer of paint, but then FMQ's right through it. This concerns me. I've quilted through a thin layer, of acrylic, but noticed quite a change in the sound of the machine when it hit a slightly thicker section. So I did a test strip with sections of all of the thicknesses and types of paint I was considering, planning to quilt the strip so that I had a tru comparison. I have fallen in love with, and are determined to use, a polished cotton, so did a second test strip of the cotton, after it had been washed but before painting it. I wasn't really happy with the look of either of the paints, thick or thin. In desperation I tried a couple of Shiva Paint Sticks that I had on hand. Absolutely perfect! Exactly the look I want! Once this test strip is dry, I'll quilt it and then apply some acrylic paint, as I plan to do in the finished piece. I need to be sure that the acrylic paint will adhere to the dry oil paint.

I have been on the internet looking at pictures of the images I plan to use. I find that it helps to view a lot of different images. They tend to blur together in my mind, but the distinctive bits stay, and come together to form an entirely new, and original, arrangement. In the meantime, I need to do a sample of the FMQ'g pattern that I hope to use. It is quite complex and practise in indicated!

Gotta get Organized!

2011-10-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today I delivered my three pieces to Gwen Fox Gallery for their November fibre show. Now, I don't know what to do next. There are several more shows on the horizon between April and June, but nothing is started for any of them. I find I'm forgetting what and when they are, so will have to draw up a prioritised list to work from.

A second consideration is that it has been almost a year since I was last in a sale. It is time to make a decision about my future direction. I love what I do, but once a piece is finished, my emotional connection ends, and I'm usually willing to have it go to a new home. The shows and exhibitions are great for exposure and name recognition, but both of those are usually directed at ultimately selling the work for profit, or as a means of promoting a teaching careeer. Is this where I want to go? I enjoy teaching, but, if this is to ever be more than a hobby there is a lot of work required. It takes me at least a month to set up a class. Then I have to run a test class, and fine-tune the class. Then comes the promotion, which can be time consuming. So the teaching will always be part of me, but I'm too old to be looking at it as a new careeer.

That leaves sales. Wouldn't it be wonderful to find an agent who would do all of the hard stuff and "donkey-work" of promotion!! Leaving me to work in my studio producing wonderful art. Not going to happen!! So, I need to give a lot of thought to the sales, and how I can participate in them without loosing the wonderful creativity that I have re-discovered during my "year off".

Done-sort of

2011-10-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, the FMQ'g is done, the piece has been paintedand the beading is finished. I had to reduce the amount of beading I had planned by more than half, but it still took 3 1/2--14 hour days to get it all done. Now I just need to back it and do the facing--which should take most of tomorrow.

But I can't tell you what a horror those 3 1/2 days were. I had a tension headacke most of the time, I wasn't sleeping for worrying about getting the job done, and the house became a dump. Meals were whatever could be heated quickly from the freezer.

This is for an exhibition for all of November, and then, hopefully, another one next spring, so I can't put up a picture. The other two pieces are fully finished, sleeve on one, beads and framing on the other.

But I hope I've learned my lesson,and that I never accept a looming deadline. It is just too hard ont he system, adn on the marriage.

Deadlines

2011-10-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

We all hate deadlines, but continue to expose ourselves to them. Does this mean we are all procrastinators, and need the externally imposed structure of a deadline to work? Early in my career, I learned that the best option was to do the job as soon as possible after accepting it. Now I said that I learned this as a truth--it doesn't say that I do it! But often I have a piece finished well ahead of the deadline. I found that to do otherwise would end up with poor workmanship and frustration. Well, it seems that I forgot this somewhere along the way.

I have committed to three pieces for a show at the end of the month. One is finished, one is done except for beading and framing ( I have the frame ready and will mount it myself). The third was planned but hadn't even been started when I made the commitment, a week ago. My way of working often involves quilting the background before doing whatever surface embellishment I have planned. So I started fairly heavy FMQ'g on a piece 28" square. Got it about 1/3 done when I accidently sewed over a pin, on another project, and knocked out the timing on my machine. Panicked trip to the dealership on Thursday, where I advised him of the deadline, but, foolishly, told him I had a back-up machine that I could use, and Monday would be alright for getting the machine back.

Spent Thusday evening setting up the old Pfaff and trying a bit of practise FMQ'g on it. OMG! It is going to be a very long learning curve! I had forgotten what a chore FMQ'g was on the Pfaff! Very easy to set up and the needlethreader is wonderful, but it needs an entirely different skill set. Obviously I have learned the rythym of the Janome quite well and most of the work is beautifully regular and even. Not so the Pfaff! So much practise and working on the piece itself. Have difficulty seeing where the stitching is going because the FM foot obscures my view. The machine doesn't like my thread and the other spool of black has more of a sheen than the first one and it shows. So-- much reverse stitching, and with uneven stitching, this is a PITA. Then today it starts skipping stitches. Now, I know this is either the timing out of whack or my hands moving too quickly for the machine. Again much reverse stitching. Painful, frustrating, reverse stitching!! Many bad words were spoken. Finally, I gave up. I will work on beading the other piece over the next couple of days, and hope there is enough time to finish the original piece, once the machine comes back.

But again-- I took on a deadline and every thing that could go wrong, did go wrong. I am tired, angry and frustrated. DH has taken to hiding in the computer room, and even offered to run some errands alone today, rather than spend time alone with me in the car. Smart man!

Peer support and inspiration

2011-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

We all reach the point when we need the involvement of others who think as we do. In my area there are only a small number of fibre artists, and those represent a variety of interests. We DO get together about once a month, but only for a couple of hours. As we often meet in each others' homes it becomes more of an idea exchange and "show'n'tell" session, as it is in the evening and lighting can be a problem.. Once in awhile we get together during the day and take the time to explore techniques, or enjoy each others company over hand work. But all of these get toethers are more social and gently supportive sessions. Sometimes you need more.

Last weekend I attended the annual retreat of the Fibre Art Network ( http://www.fibreartnetwork.com/ ). (FAN) This is a group of professional and semi-professional artists working in fibre. These retreats are not stitching marathons but rather more business-like. A friend related them to professional scientific conferences where there are meetings, such as organizational committee meetings, the Annual General meeting, and the presentation of professional papers, as well as time for social interaction. As well as all the associated meetings, we often have workshops on either technical matters or professional issues such as time management, and other organizational aspects of fibre work. Most importantly, our professional papers involve reports on our work over the past year.

It is the personal experiences and resulting work that is the most valuable part of the retreat for me. I saw some stunning art, and being able to hear, directly from the artist, how the piece came to be and why, was a crititcal part of the process. I also heard how some of the members work together collaboratively, even to the point of organizing small shows in their home communities.

This conference is what keeps me going. I come home inspired, refreshed, and full of creative ideas.

Stretching yourself

2011-09-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today and tomorrow I'm taking an embroidery class. The teacher is from France and speaks no English, but many of the other participants are bilingual and are very good about providing translation. Several years ago I, more or less, left my embroidery behind. My arthritic hands just couldn't manage the very fine, fussy detailed work that I so very much loved. Since then I've done some coarser, fairly basic embroidery in some of my fibre pieces, but today it was back to very fine work, with a single strand of silk perle smaller than #12, through heavy wool fabric layered with acetate taffeta. It didn't take long until the old skills emerged. My poor vision turned out to be more of a problem than the work itself.

It was like coming home again. Euphoria! Now, I know that the pain will return if I keep it up. I'm concerned about having the tolerance to finish tomorrow's class. But for this small period of time I'm able to go back to a time in my life that has many varied and fond memories for me

Scraps

2011-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

The sunprinting my granddaughters did has been made into tote bags for them and they are quite happy. But I was left with a pile of painted scraps. I carefully cut the scraps into small rectangular pieces and fused them onto black, for another quilted piece. I've titled it "Chaos Theory II: Painting With Children" Now the pieces have to be stitched down--which will be a real bother (I almost used another word). Once I got them fused down, the piece, itself, told me to turn it 180 degrees. It was right! I much prefer the hanging swirl, to the grounded swirl.

Painting experiment

2011-08-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Friday I had to opportunity to do some fabric painting. I had wanted to try a technique described by Robbie Joy Ecklow, where she hung lengths of fabric and dripped paint at the the top allowing it to flow down. Now, I didn't have much fabric, and I didn't have much time--just a three hour window, before the grandchildren arrived--and I had to work outside. Got every thing ready and the wind came up--more like a howling gale than a gentle fabric drying wind. But I persevered. I think my husband laughed more watching me than I did. It was quite a battle. I ended up totally covered in paint--even soaked through to my underwear. The first piece I thoroughly wet in a bucket, and then figured out that it would be much easier to hang dry fabric in the wind than wet, so used the hose to wet the rest. The scrunched up fabric of the first piece produced a texture that the others didn't have, and I may want to re-visit that. I tried it in four different colour-ways, and am pleased with them all. It took far more paint than I expected, but this meant that I got rid of a lot of old paint.

The next day, while doing a bit of sunprinting with the grandchildren, we found an old light disgarded in the bush. It is about 12 inches square and is a bas relief of a sunflower. It's obviously commercially made, likely out of a mould. I've done two painted impressions of it, and am thrilled with the result. But now I have the quandry of attributing the design. I have absolutely no idea who did the original design, and I see so many possibilities in the pieces I've made.

Just do it!

2011-08-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

All of us have UFO's, and all of the ieces are UFO''s for a reason. Usually, it's because I can't figure out where to go next on a piece and it falls by the wayside --a victim of procrastination. Over two years ago I wanted to make a piece for an exhibition sponsored by the Fibre Art Network (FAN). I wanted this to be a very special piece, and devoted a fair bit of time finding the right image and taking a picture of it ( actually this process took almost two years, as I had a idea in mind before the exhibition was ever announced). With my sister's help, and to the annoyance of the driver of the semi in line behind us at a construction stop on Hwy #1 outside Kenora, I got the right picture. I had it blown up ( Ka-ching!), painted fabric, and fused a very detailed picture of a rock cut and tree growing out of the middle of it. Then layered it ready for quilting and realized that something was wrong. Dead halt. Could not figure out where to go next with it. A year passes and I took the piece to the 2010 annual FAN retreat for a critique, trying to figure out how to proceed. Not much help, but one lady did offer the suggestion that I needed to step back and do some thread work before I started quilting it. Good idea, but I'm still not sure how to proceed with thread work.

It's now late August 2011, and I haven't done a thing. I want to take the finished product to the 2011 FAN retreat in late September. OMG! So I just plunged in. De-contructured the layers and started some basic thread work on the rocks. OMG again! It looks fairly good! I started this over the last weekend. The thread work on the rocks is finished, and the thread work on the trees about to start. I have a good idea of how to proceed with the trees and expect them to be finished within the next week ( we're going away for the weekend or it would be done sooner.) The quilting will be for structural reasons, not decorative and should be quickly finished. The only decision wll be to face it or bind it. I want to face it, and think it will look better that way, but with the stabilizer, and layers of fused fabric, the piece might prove too thick and binding may be the only option.

So, was this a case of procrastination, or was two years ago just not the right time to work on this piece? I have to confess that two years ago I may not have had the skill with thead work that I do now. There have been two or three pieces with heavy machined thread work finished and my skill level has grown significantly. But this also proves that we don't know what we can do until we just get down to it, and try.

As promised

2011-08-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished project, as promised, --both sides. Several technical problems came up. It needed two-sided binding, and since it was only an experimental piece, I wanted quick and easy. Didn't happen. The binding itself was made according to instructions in the book (why re-invent the wheel?), but the mitering technique described in the book was based on a 90degree corner, not a 60 degree. Then came the issue of how to join the binding strips for finishing. The origninal instructions had the ends curt off and hand sewn at each corner, but again this was for a 90 degree corner, not 60 degrees. The technique simply wouldn't work for 60 degrees. The join was especially important because of the bulk of the folded and seamed binding. After several experiments, I ended up separating the two strips and cutting them to length separately, Joining the ends of each, then folded the first side in half, and sewed it to the second side, then pressed open the seam according to the original instructions. Sewing it to the quilt was fairly simple after that, and because the ends were cut at 45 degrees for joining, the bulk was well distributed along the edge of the piece. The purple side was planned as the "B" side, but I'm finding that it is quickly becoming my favourite.

As I said, this was meant as a learning piece. It's hard to justify, to myself, spending time and supplies for a piece that will never be exhibited or sold. But this sort of activity is essential for any sort of growth, as an artist.

Playtime

2011-08-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Over the past little while I've been playing with the reversible quilt technique described by Sharon Pederson, in her book, "Reversible Quilts". This is the technique I had been asked to use in most of the charity quilts I've worked on over the past few months, and I wanted to learn more about it.

She has a second book, "More Reversible Quilts", that explores the technique a little further, but I couldn't afford to buy both, so information in that one hasn't been available to me. In my exploration I've been using fabric that is mainly from my stash of hand dyes, especially some of my dyed cotton Damask tablecloths. The cotton Damask takes a Procion MX dye beautifully, and there is something about the soft, well aged fabric that gives the colour a glow that I've never found anywhere else. Only one of the light blue strips was cotton Damask, but all of the red/purple strips were Damask. I found that using it this way requires a very cautious cutting and seewing technique. I buy my cotton Damask at thrift stores, and the used tablecloths often have stains or holes in them, that I have to work around. Trust me, I don't cut up valuable antiques

I particularly like a low water immersion dyeing technique and most of the fabric used was dyed that way. However, the darkest of the light blue strips could only be found in a commercial fabric. The patterned fabric used on the dark side of the piece was originally a pale red hand dyed piece that was overdyed with navy using a Shibori-type technique. I've had this one for awhile and was glad to finally find a use for it. I think it works very well.

The following pictures show the trimmed but not joined sections of the piece, both sides. As well there is a close-up of the red/purple Damask strips.

the frustrations of a happy marriage

2011-08-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

The kitchen was finished, although we had discussed needing the paint the ceiling. So, back to the studio, with glee. A whole day to work, and enough on tv during the evening to accomplish a lot of hand finishing. That was yesterday. Today, DH announced that it's now time to paint the living room and hallway. I reminded him about the kitchen ceiling, and he denies ever having discussed it with me. But now we're doing that as well.

My time in the studio had allowed me to plan out my work for the next three months. Along with doing all of the preparation for a class I'm teaching in mid-October, I'm half of a two-woman team jurying a fibre show for the month of November, hanging it, and organizationing the necessary demonstations and volunteer, knowledgeable docents. Add to this my plans to attend a four-day fibre retreat at the end of September, and the need to be ready, willing and able to provide any sort of help DH needs, over the next while.

So, today I bought some fabrics to start making embellishments for the next fibre art piece. It will be simple hand work that I can put down whenever duty calls. I also bought flexible plastic cutting boards from Dollarama. These are perfect for making sturdy templates and cost $1.00 each for a piece of plastic larger than the template plastic sold in quilting stores for $5-6.00. The eyeglass cases are finished and in use, but teaching samples need to be made.

Life takes over

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a long time between posts. DH has been painting the kitchen, with me standing by and cheering him on. The job has included the back door foyer, and some of the pantry. Since DH now admits that he's not 22 any more, it has been a slow process, as I've had to ensure that he paces himself carefully, and the hottest July in years has complicated the issue. The downside, as far as this blog is concerned, is that very little has been happening inthe studio.

The most that has been accomplished has been a little bit of hand work. For many years my arthirtic hands and wrists have forced me to minimize the amount of hand work that I do. This has lead to some wonderful times teaching myself to use my machine more creatively, and to develop my machine skills in a number of ways. A fantastic period of new concepts and ideas and learning. But there is also something to be said for the gentle peace that can come from repetitive hand work. No, I'm not ignoring the tantrum-inducing frustration that can occur when something goes wrong, but rather, I'm celebrating the satisfaction when something is going well, and you are truly "in the groove".

My "groove" used to be found in delicate, fussy detailed embroidery, and applique, and I know I will never again have the patience to get involved to any extent in either of those. However, I needed to make myself a couple of eyeglass cases. Since I must now use reading glasses in several different areas of the house, I have five pair of dollar store glasses that I need to keep track of. So, given the bad influence of friends who are heavily into crazy patch right now, I've been working on Duippioni silk, with one or two strands of silk thread. The work had to be small, given the small size of the project. It's amazing how quickly old skills can come back! The success has caused me to consider trying some other older techniques that I have abandoned, possible the hand applique. One of the friends mentioned has offered to work with me on an applique project, and this just might provide a counterpoint to the heavy machine work that has occupied my creative life recently.

A rose by any other name---

2011-07-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

So, okay--I'm now accepting the idea of re-naming Lucifer's Tears.The original concept was the idea that not all apparent remorse is genuine--that remorse has to come from the heart and soul--and how important it is to be able to recongize the difference. So--have I actually expressed this concept? Or have I just produced an image of hellfire? Any suggestions for a name change?

time passes

2011-07-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

Between an unexpected, slow but steady, painting of my kitchen, and some time-consuming, and not completely resolved problems with my desk top computer, it's been awhile. There hasn't been a lot going on in the studio, but, finally, yesterday, I finished the thread work on Lucifer's Tears. Comments from friends have been mixed. Some appear interested, and anxious to see the finished product, while another doesn't like it--no discussion, no constructive critique-- just doesn't like it. This sort of response is hard to deal with, ranging from acceptance, to luke warm to dislike. I have to really examine my emotional investment in it, and separate that emotion from my technical investment. The result is 50/50. This was a technical challenge, and that sort of challenge has always driven much of my work. But I experience a sense of emotional discomfort, in response to the name, as much as the actual image. (There was a lot of thought behind both the name and the image.) And isn't art supposed to evoke an emotional response in the viewer? Maybe it's this subconscious response that is behind the reaction of my friends.

In any case, I'm having second thoughts about entering it in a mainstream show. It should be finished in the next couple of days,and I'll post a picture then.

Prairie Moon

2011-07-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the very basic starting point of Prairie Moon. Taking a picture is so useful. Already I know that the moon is too small, and that I need to make another one--about twice the size. No, this one isn't on permanently. The only further changes will be to do a lot of FMQ'g to turn the chaos into prairie grasses. The only thread that seems to blend in well, is grey! Go figure! I had picked out pale lemon yellow, but it was just too strong against the navy. I'll have to play with it a bit, but I may have ot use dark bleu to define the grasses and then the grey for texture. The pale lemon yellow may end up being useful in the very highly discharged areas. I have a feeling that there will be some crystal beads along the edges of some of the blades of grass, as well. It's a good things that I have a "doodle" cloth to try things out on.

Still dreaming

2011-07-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Some of my fibre art friends were over on Friday afternoon for a bit of casual stitching, and they took a look at my discharged moons. Neither of them could come up with any sort of clear idea of what it could be, any more than I could. Later I went back to the idea of bamboo and translated that into grass. If I reduce the number of moons to one ( Duh!) I think I may have a prairie moonscape.

But Lucifer's Tears is still trudging along. The re-vamping of the background is not yet finished, although I put several hours into it yesterday. Now that I have an idea for the Prairie Moon piece, there is incentive to finish Lucifer's Tears.

One of my goals for this year of sabbatical was to try to develop a body of work, so that I'm not always scrambling to catch up with myself. I have two pieces (Silken Blossoms and Inua: Spirit in the Wind)away for the Mancuso show in New Hampshire in August, followed by the Pennsyvania show in September. My Twilight Snowfall is still travelling with Canadian Content. ( This one can be seen on the Fibre Art Network website http://www.fibreartnetwork.com/ )That show was supposed to be a one off, at the Remarkable Symposium in Queenston New Zealand, in May, but has now been booked for three exhibitions here in Canada over the next few months, and may possibly travel to Houston later in the year. As well, I'll be assisting with the organization for a fibre art exhibition at Gwen Fox Gallery in Selkirk, for November. While I can't be part of the exhibition, I can have a piece mounted, as part of my bio, being one of the organizers. I was hoping to use Lucifer's Tears for that, but maybe, I can come up with something better, in the meantime.

There is also a show on the horizon for 2012, in Saskatchewan. I am considering a new box to enter there. It's been awhile since I made a box, but I've been gathering bits and pieces to use in one that may ended up being called Silver Seas.

And, of course, there are still at least three UFO's lurking around the studio. One of those is a major piece, and I had hoped to have it finished before I go the my fibre art retreat at the end of September. I had it critiqued at last year's retreat, and received a suggestion about a lot ( read a lot) of thread work on it, but now I'm considering using paint for some of the shading, or maybe even Inktense pencils, as I've had such success with those.

Wheww--it's been awhile

2011-06-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

Still working on Lucifer's Tears. The thread work, that I had planned, turned out to need about twice as much stitching, which meant that the background quilting needed to be twice as intense, to balance. I'm pleased with what is happening so far, but I've come to realize that the design is not the wonderful thing I thought it would be. However this is turning out to be a fantastic learning experience.

I've also been doing a little more discharging and now have a very interesting piece. I had planned to discharge flame shapes to see if I could produce flames, as I'm doing in Lucifer's Tears, but with more discharging and less thread work. The process worked beautifully, but the shapes produced would take an awful lot of imagination for anyone to see flames in them. Actually, they make me think of bamboo bushes. (How's that again!) So I thought of getting some fabric to match the discharged areas and cutting circles, that I could applique onto a piece of the orginal background fabric and then applique over the discharged areas to tone down the discharging and create more of a focal point. (Okay, I'm a little stressed and crazy here.) Then I figured that I could match the colour of the discharged areas by discharging more fabric, and if I discharged in circles, it would eliminate one set of applique.

Well, the background is navy and the discharged areas a very pale yellow, so when the circles were discharged I had moons!! So instead of another piece in my Hellfire series, I think I may have the start of the Temple of the Moon piece that has been floating around in the back of my mind for over a year. Could this be my subconscious at work. Now I'm excited, and starting to think/work in an entirely new direction. And isn't that what taking a year of sabbatical is all about?

Studio Names

2011-06-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

In one of my internet groups today, an art quilter stated that she had named her studio, and therefore, it needed a quilt ( a sort of quilted banner). So I got to thinking about how I would design a banner for Mouse Factory Designs. What does the name mean to me, and how would that be reflected in the design. I came to realize tht the name in no way reflects the work I do today. It came about in the 70's, when I was very busy making and selling stuffed mouse dolls. So I discussed it with DH, and we both think it may be time to re-name the studio. This would mean re-naming this blog (I'm not even sure that can be done). But--how do I select a name?

Progress

2011-06-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

The straight lines are pretty well finished, and I'm quite pleased with them. My brain is already working on the FMQ'g, and we were off this morning to buy another spool of Sulky Blendable. Well, one spool turned into 3, and I'm now up to 7 distinctly different colours of thread, including 5 Blendables--all to be used in creating the Flames of Hell in thread painting. I've not done a lot of thread painting. I wonder if I should have started with something simpler--DUH! I've decided to plan it pretty carefully instead of just winging it, as I usually do. I will sketch out each flame and plan the values before starting to stitch. There will also be a"doodle cloth" to test out the way the colours work together, before making a final decdison on which to use and where.

The more I work with this, the less pleased I am with the discharging that was done with bleach. Never again!

More comparisons

2011-06-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Have started the quilting on Lucifer's Tears. I had wanted parts of the more background areas of quilting to be straight lines 1/4" apart. This is a pattern I've used quite successfully in other pieces but I ran into difficulty keeping the lines an equal distance apart here. Previously I had done this using my old Pfaff with its wonderful 1/4" foot. I don't have such a foot for the newer Janome, and didn't figure out the problem until a fair bit of the work had been done. ( I turned it over and looked at the back. OMG! You can see a lot of sins on the very plain coloured back that don't show up on a more varied-coloured front) The lines are straight, but the distance varies. Now, I know that I haven't used this pattern in awhile, and I am probably out of practice, but I'm darned if I'm going to take out all of that stitching! So now I'm trying to make the lines slightly different distances apart. With my luck they will all turn out to be exactly 1/4" apart. So far the piece is looking very dull and uninteresting, but I've only been working on the background quilting, which is really of more structural importance than important to the overall design. I hope it comes to life when the FMQ'g is done.

Progress

2011-06-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

The reading glasses work! But with them on, and not doing close work, I can't see properly and get dizzy, so off they come whenever I'm moving around. Nuisance! I had no idea how much of my time is spent in close visual work. But I finished the machine work on charity quilt number 6, and they are all off to the ladies who do hand finishing. So now I'm working on Lucifer's Tears. This has involved discharging with both bleach and discharge paste. I had wanted to compare the results of both and find that I very much prefer working with the discharge paste. I have much more control and can do much finer work and there is little chance of bleeding. Inktense pencils have also been involved, and I was comparing them with Daler Rowney FW Pearlescent black Liquid Acrylic. Thank Goodness I always use a "doodle cloth" to test this sort of thing, as the acrylic ink turned out to be much more silver than black. However, the Inktense Pencil, once wet, worked beautifully. I can't show pictures, as this is for a juried show and must not have been displayed in any way prior to the show dates.

It feels great to be working! There are even more ideas on the horizon.

When life throws you lemons---

2011-06-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

to heck with lemonade, bring on the brandy! Had my second eye surgery done yesterday. The results are disappointing. My close vision is badly compromised--to the extent that reading, computer work and fine sewing are not possible right now. With proper glasses, I should be able to continue with all of these, but I must wait, at least, two months for the eye to settle down before pursuing that. I'm going to explore drug store reading glasses, in a few days, but in the meantime, DH has given me a four inch magnifying glass to use. No handle, just a big round glass. It works, and this morning I was able to read parts of the newspaper. The good news is that I was also able to read the headlines without help, something I haven't been able to do since the first eye was done in March.

What does this mean in the studio? I don't know. Yesterday I managed to thread the sewing machine and sew some straight lines. Before the surgery I had been doing some very fine hand work using both my normal glasses ( now toast!)and a special magnifier. Once I have the reading glasses, I'll take another look at that. I hope to be able to work on a new piece, tenatively titled "Lucifer's Tears". This will involve a lot of FMQ'g, but with a stronger contrast in thread colour than I've used in the past. There is also a new box on the horizon, and the basic machine quilted background should pose no problem.

Two steps back

2011-06-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Things were going well in the studio, but, now, for some reason, my shoulder has had enough of using a rotary cutter and is refusing any further activity!! Thank Goodness for a supportive husband. Yesterday he spent hours cutting for me, and a bit more today. Yes, I'm making a few more charity quilts, for a total of six, but then NO MORE. (There are more creative things on the horizon!) The sewing is routine, but I believe in doing my best work, regardless of the ultimate purpose of the piece. Is is so easy to slip into bad habits. I think that, for me right now, the time in the studio is the best possible way of keeping on an even keel. And I think DH realizes this and is willing to do whatever he can to let me have that time.

Herding cats!

2011-05-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

Went to the AGM of one of my artists' special interest groups tonight. This is a well established group,with formal by-laws and a good executive. But--I don't think any of them have ever heard of parliamentary procedure! With many of such groups I find the meetings, generally, chaotic. Tonight, it appeared that the executive had put very little planning into the meeting, and most of the time was given to general discussion on a variety of topics, often all at the same time. This doesn't appear to be only the case with artists, as I've had the same type of experience with other volunteer groups.

Now, much of my background is in management, where the idea is that you should be able to finish any meeting within an hour. Since retirement, my experience is now within the volunteer sector, and I don't know if people have more time, but the meetings are much less of an information exchange and more of a discussion/decision-making event. This is an entirely different approach, and needs to be experienced to be understood. It's tremendously frustrating unless you are used to it, but--things actually get done. A much slower process, but more of a collaborative process, which means a better 'buy-in" from the participants.

Thank Goodness I've been getting a little experience with saying "no" lately, so was able to escape involvement when I was nominated to the Board. I am determied to protect my "sabbatical", but the pressures are certainly all around me.

Frustration

2011-05-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

Had been really looking forwar to the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge this month, but cannot get a handle on the challenge at all! We are to find inspiration in the realm of Art Deco. I've been through about half of the internet references given and all I'm seeing is ugly buildings. There has to be more to this--there just has to be--but I'm sure not seeing it so far. And this month I had time and space to be working on it!

Scarey business

2011-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I mailed two quilts to Southern California for inclusion in one of the Mancuso exhibitions. But--considering that there is a pending Canadian Postal strike, this is really a "Leap of Faith". Even scarier was when the Postal lady questioned the Zip code I had. Ah well, I have a tracking number, and am thinking good thoughts. Keep your fingers crossed!

P.S. I later realized that I had addressed the parcel to her phone number. Thank Goodness I made it backto the Post Office in time to change the address just before it went onthe truck. DUH!!

From the ridiculous to the sublime

2011-05-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I worked through some of those ideas. Then put them on the design wall and managed to not throw things at them. It was quite an experience and I learned and practised. I'm not sure what to do with them now. My art quilt support group( Ravenesque) was over today and they seemed a little unsure of what to say about them as well. The projects may never seee the light of day, but well worth the time.

Before the ladies came over DH and I tidied the studio and adjacent sitting area. Some things got thrown away. Every once in awhile I get into a mood that will allow me to get rid of things.For several years all of my small fabric scraps have been put into a 5+gal primary wine fermentor. It was full and tightly packed, but now is empty and back in the wine making area. I found a small piece of a very special fabric that I had bought years ago. You know the type of thing. So beautiful or so capable of arousing memories that you can't bear to throw away even the smallest piece. I gave it to one of the Ravenesque ladies who does amazing crazy patch embroidery, and she immediately had an idea of what she would do with it.

Visits such as this are the highlight of much of my life ( those grandbabies will always come first). There is a tremendous exchange of ideas, and every one of us learns something, despite all of us having many years of experience in all of these techniques. But there is laughter, and the fellowhsip that I've spoken about before. We spent some time talking about the upcoming quilt show being sponsored by the LQG. The entry classifications have been publicized and we feel that there may possibley be a mis-understanding of the entire genre of art quilting. But since the classicications have been released to the public, there is very little that can be done about it.

Zap!!

2011-05-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

What they say is true! When you're in a creative slump, just do something--anything! I've taken articles from Qulting Arts and Machine Quilting Unlimited, and have been playing. Now the ideas are flowing. I can't keep up with them and need to write them down. Oh, this is wonderful! I just hope I can work them through and actually produce something worthwhile. What fun!

Special Interest Groups

2011-05-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Last evening I received a phone call asking if I could give someone a ride to the quilter's guild meeting tonight. I was tired and cranky and forced to make a decision quickly, so said I wasn't going to go. Over the past 3-4 years I've slowly withdrawn from the embroiderers' guild and actually resigned my membeship last fall, so I now see this decision about the quilters as, perhaps, the thin end of the wedge leading to total withdrawl. I have intentionally given up my other volunteer work for the next year.

So I ask, what role do organizations such as this play in our lives? I have been very active in both groups, spending over 20 years on the executive of the embroiderers' guild and over 10years on the executive of the quilters' guild. I made a good contibution to both, but also received value for my effort. At a time in my life when I was a wife, harried, mother, and full time employee in a stressful job, they provided much needed stress relief. I told my children, who expressed resentment at the four evenings a month I went out, that those four evenings kept me from committing murder. ( Thank Goodness they were old enough to get the joke) I learned so many new things, resulting in an excellent grounding the the basic techniques and traditions of both fields. Good enough that I have been teaching both for over 35 years.

Now I have taken that knowledge and am applying it to my art work. I am using every techniques I have learned in both, plus more, and using all of it, in creating what can only be called fibre collages. My stimulation and knowledge development is now coming from wider sources. The special interest groups I belong to are more regional or national, and/or much more focussed.

So what is left to gain from the local, traditionally-based, special interest groups? Fellowship for sure, but my interests are no longer the interests of the majority of these group members. Certainly I have grown, intellectually, but as I age, I also find my sphere of interest getting smaller. I worry that if I continue to drift away from some of these organizations, I will end up a lonely old woman working in my studio ( or maybe playing internet poker--Heaven forbid) with little human contact and only a tenuous hold on reality. This is scarey!

So, while I may still slowly leave the traditional local special interest groups, I think I better do so using a long term plan that will maintain my vision of myself as a social animal.

The week continues

2011-05-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today I went bead shopping. I particularly chose stores that I don't often get into. Found some neat stuff and even spent some time showing a local store owner some of the options available for over-dyed silk ribbon. Had a marvelous conversation with another store owner about rescue cats and treating obesity in cats. At both stores we ended up talking about the business of dealing in a commodity that must be considered "luxury" goods. DH went with me, and there were occasions when I noticed the "eye rolling", but he never said his usual "What the H--- do you plan to do with that?!" He even took a book along and sat in the car reading, so that I could take my time. Since I was able to do that, and not worry about what I was doing, I actually spent far less than I have other times.

The last commission is finished and in the mail today. Now the planning process for two embroidered evening bags--which will probably never be used--and an experitmental wall hanging is underway. What a great feeling!

But I must remain constantly vigilant. The tempation to commit to a show or an exhibition is always there.

This and that

2011-05-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Last Monday evening, my small art quilt support group, Ravenesque, met at the friend's house with whom I recently shared her inherited stash. She is very generously continuing to share, and during the feeding frenzy (we are such a calm and polite group!), she casually brought out a very nice device that is used to make the thread rings that are part of Hedebo lacemaking. These rings were made and used in the 70's by serious embroiderers, not in actual lacemaking, but to add texture to the very detailed and complex surface stitchery that was popular then. These devices were usually made from wood which had been turned and shaped in a lathe, then polished to a very smooth finish. The device she had appeared to be glass or crystal, and was very small/fine, for making very tiny rings, and was probably quite expensive in its day. I expressed pleasure and surprise on seeing it, and this lead to a conversation about the technique. By Tuesday evening I had the whole embellishment part of a new piece planned.

On Tuesday, itself, my DH and I headed out for a three day visit to the USA, with me sitting in the front seat making Hedebo rings using the body of a Sharpie pen for shape. I made those 'suckers' for three days and 1000km. We even had to stop at Nordic Needle in Fargo to buy more colours of thread for making them. I also found the spray adhesive for quilting that I had been looking for, and 15 small matts for pictures at a price I couldn't refuse. Today, it was off to the sell-out of a local Ukrainian museum gift shop, where there was a significant amount of embroidery thread on sale, stopping at a local rummage sale to buy old jewlery, on the way home. The embroidery thread I bought will likely be overdyed to make it more interesting, and then used in embellishment, as will the beads recovered from the jewelry.

Can an art quilter ask for a better week?

Reflections on a new machine

2011-05-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Last evening my new sewing machine started to mis-behave, so I stopped working immediately and took it in to be seviced today. Of course, once the serviceman took out a screwdriver, the machine was scared and immediately began to behave. However, I've had it for almost a year, so left it behind for a routine servicing. Now, I'm determined to finish the last of the three charity quilts I've committed to, so we hauled out the old Pfaff for me to use over the weekend. It fits fairly nicely into the table I got for the Janome 7700, and after a few minor difficulties, I got it working.

I used that Pfaff almost daily for 7 years, and, while we had a bit of a love/hate relationship, I had always felt that it was the most useful machine I had ever owned, especially for an "art" quilter or fibre artist. There were features of that machine that I really miss on the Janome. But using the Pfaff again after a year, I am amazed at how much I miss the Janome. Yes, the Intergrated dual feed on the Pfaff is much easier to use than the Accufeed on the Janome, and the needle threader on the Pfaff is more reliable, but other than that I now know that I'm thoroughly spoiled with the Janome and may never go back to any other machine.

Beaded pendant

2011-05-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

The beaded pendant isfinished. if you remember, this was the evening bag that was converted when I lost the fabric needed to finish it. I think this has worked well, and I'm quite pleased with the result. The cord was hand made with perle cotton and floss with beads incorporated into the twisting. I'm not sure how the colour will be represented here but the cording, which matches the beads beautifully, is done with DMC820

Curved needles

2011-05-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

One of the best tools I've ever found for finishing is a curved needle. It takes a bit of practise to use efficiently, but well worth the effort. When I started my finishing business, I ordered curved needles from California ( and what a hassle that was!) Several years ago, I found some curved John James beading needles, locally, that work well, but are so fine that they quickly break or loose their curve, and I go through them very quickly. Well, old age is making itself known and I can no longer thread the little curved beading needles that I like so much. I tried a wire threader and it worked--once! So one of my tasks today was to see if there was still a local source for any sort of curved needle, and the threader to go with it. I found some huge curved needles in Fabricland that are sold for tying quilts, but far too large and coarse for what I'm doing. Then, in a little embroidery shop, that I went to in desperation, I found the exact curved beading needle that I had hoped to see. She also had three sizes of curved tapestry needles, and --bonus!!--stronger wire threaders. The tapestry needles can be sharpened with a bit of emery and elbow grease, and I'm thinking a size 24 will be perfect. I intend to try it over the next couple of days, and if they work, go and buy as many as she has. The other two needles ( size 22 and 20) are a bit too large, which means paying $2.99 for a single needle, but if it's the right needle, it's worth every penny.

When my friend sold her emboidery shop a couple of few ago, and the new owner had a family member to do her finishing, I had thought that part of my life was over, but business still trickles in. Thank Goodness, because it forces me to keep my hand in, and now I have a couple of pieces of my own that require a well-experienced finisher. I know just where to find one, and I know she has some really good tools.

New beginning--Again (lol)

2011-05-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

A new month and no looming deadlines almost makes me giddy! I have a commission to finish a heavily embroidered evening bag. I haven't been doing a lot of finishing lately, so wanted a practise run before starting. A beaded evening bag has been hanging around the studio, unfinished, for so long that the fabric to finish it is long gone. So I have turned it into a pendant. This gives me the chance to practise my hand stitching and finishing skills before tackling the commission. It's going well, but selecting something to hang it from is giving me pause for thought. I have a twisted cord that would work very well, but is a little large for the pendant, and I have a black chain that may be a little coarse. The answer may be to go shopping--and who can resist that?

End of the art sale

2011-05-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Two of my larger matted pieces sold, so a bit of money coming in. I only had 5 of them there. Lots of positive feedback on my work. This will allow me to consider working with this group again. The most positive comments came in response to my larger, older work. Since I'm now free to explore whatever I choose, I may take a look at working on a slightly larger scale. Some of the other artists reacted well to my comments about doing some work with print making, and it would be no problem to enlarge the size of the basic prints that I start with. All good food for thought.

Progress and a lighter heart--

2011-04-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Having finished the second charity quilt, and no pressure to finish the third, I gave myself a day off to play with the latest Fast Friday Fabric Challenge. No deadlines looming, no pressure to do anything else, I had pure fun. I had forgotten how much fun creating can be. The piece is pieced and quilted, and a couple of leaves printed on it from one of my thermofax screens.( Gotta get some more of those!) Today a friend is coming over to explore the wrapped stitch --just play, yet again.

But--working on the FFFC piece showed me how much my technical skill has deteriorated over the past few months of inactivity. Have you every actually analyzed how much of the hand coordination of using a sewing machine is dependant on the left hand? With a broken left shoulder, I've been forced to consider this, and I'm very surprised. All of the gadgetry of the machine is set up for right-handed use, leaving the fabric manipulation and control almost purely a left-handed function. This means that you need a good range of motion and the ability to sustain a muscle contraction for a period of time. FMQ'g and machine applique, when you want smooth controlled movement, becomes awkward and jerky with a left arm that can't sustain that control. I see a lot of practice FMQ'g in my future. I also found out that a densely quilted surface is not good for screen printing. Duh! Today I hope to be able to do some beading and ribbon work on the piece. The picture is only of the basic background.

Ink

2011-04-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

The inks weren't quite as good as I had heard. I tried them on watercolour paper, and they worked very, very well--both on dry paper and wet. I then tried them on Duippionni silk, and found that there was very little bleeding when the brush stroke went along the warp threads, but some bleeding when the paint was applied on the cross grain. The bleeding was worse with the pearlescent inks than with the regular colours. The result on cotton was very much the same , but not quite as dramatic. I still haven't played with them on Lutradur. I think I might do a little more with the watercolour paper, as I especially liked the effect when the ink was applied onto wet paper. I have to wonder if I can create images by manipulating where the paper is wet or dry.

This week the first of the charity quilts was delivered. The lady coordinating this particular project had asked that I not attempt to finish it, as she knows that I'm no longer capable of hand finishing. But she has several volunteers who are quite happy to do any hand stitching required, so everyone is happy.

Yesterday I attempted to make a couple of more small matted pieces for the art show/sale next week. The result was dismal, which only proves to me that, having made the decision to leave the production work for awhile, my soul objects to being asked to do more of it. So I'm more determined than ever to leave that part of my life behind, for a few months. By coincidence, yesterday a friend sent me a quote that speaks to the same issue.

"The notion of making money by popular work, and then retiring to do good work, is the most familiar of all the devil's traps for artists." Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946)

Now, for those of you who want more pictures, I'm sorry. Right now I'm far to busy finding myself to be able to find pictures. But I sure hope that , in the end, the results will please both of us.

Decision made!

2011-04-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

No more sales/shows for the next year. I can't believe what a relief it is to have had this conversation with myself and actually come to this decision. This gives me a year to play and, hopefully, develop a body of work that I can draw on for exhibitions. I figured out the $$$, and it makes no sense for me to be participating in these smaller shows, when I barely cover expenses. I certainly don't make enough to pay myself any sort of wage, so I probably just end up making myself crazy for nothing. And since I don't make expenses, it isn't going to affect my basic budget to continue taking studio supplies out of household $$$s.

Today I bought some acrylic inks to play with. I want to experiment with them on various fabrics, including silk, as well as watercolour paper. I've heard that they don't bleed, even when diluted with water. This I've gotta see! I read about them in Quilting Arts magazine and talked to the staff at the local art supply store. Both gave me the same information.

Weekend sale

2011-04-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were part of a high-end craft sale that I had committed to months ago. Since I really haven't had much time in the studio, the stock I took was mainly what had been left from last summer's sales. I took in enough to cover expenses, and a bit more, so a reasonable sale but not a great one. Several of the vendors were talking, especially as one vendor had significantly lowered her prices, in response to weak sales over the past year. Most of those there have concluded that their sales are down as a result of the economy, and no other reason. Between them there was enough of a history with this sort of activity to make them believe that their prices are appropriate to what they are selling, but, given that this sort of thing is really a discretionary or optional purchase in the scheme of things, sales drop when the economy is poor. There was excellent feedback on my items, and several people commented on how reasonable my prices were, so this downturn is just something to ride out.

I have no more sales like this scheduled at this point. ( I have an exhibition/sale later this month, but this is quite a different type of event) Before I apply for any more high-end craft sales, I need to look at whether or not I'm interested in producing more stock. No, I'm not--I want to explore my creativity--but--will I continue to participate in sales? I've been doing it for 30 years. So, yeah, I'll probably spend a bit of time doing the "donkey" work, but I'm determined to find a better balance between the mind-dulling stuff and the creative stuff.

charity quilts

2011-04-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Today with my DH's help I finished the quilt-as-you-go blocks for the third charity quilt that I've been making. The tops for the first two are done, and the batting and backing cut, ready to sandwich. DH is getting very handy with the rotary cutter. He cut all of the strips and other shapes for the block, and then did all of the trimming, once they were sewn together. I have other commitments this coming week, so the whole project will be put on hold for awhile. Over the past couple of days, the conversation on my art quilting internet groups has been on how it's relaxing and renewing to go back and do a little traditional quilting once in awhile, and I now know this is true.

This sort of work is somewhat routine and thoughts can be elsewhere. I'm now convinced that the Doorways piece is never going to be as good as my original vision. I will pursue and finish it, but the quality just isn't there. However, this has been a fantastic learning situation, both in terms of the technique and in the capacity of the new sewing machine. So, time well spent.

The value of others

2011-04-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

The week was the monthly meeting of my fibre art support group--Ravenesque. Only half of us were there-- an unusual occurance. One lady is moving away and won't be able to attend any more meetings, but we only rarely have anyone actually resign. So there is a flow to our membership, but every person adds to the strength of the group.

Because there were only 4 of us, the conversation was more subdued than normal( chaos is normal), and we were actually able to exchange much more in the way of ideas, and explore those ideas in a little more depth. Two of us appear to be at a cross roads. We are unsure which direction our future efforts may take, but we both know that we are about to make some sort of shift. A third member has acquired a sponsor and is in the process of making a shift ( maybe temporary) to accommodate some of the sponsors ideas ( as artists have done for hundred of years) Thr fourth member present is fairly new to the group, but not to fibre art. She is quite taken with the various techniques we talk about, with such ease and apparent familiarity.

I mention the meeting because I truly, truly believe that this sort of stimulation and discussion with other artists is absolutely essential to the growth and development of any artist, in any medium. Most artists do the actual creation of art in isolation. That is; alone, in the isolation of their studios. What they actually produce is an amalgam of the experiences and ideas that have flowed through their lives, and the support of a like-minded group can only a positive effect. These ladies give me honest critique-- a hard animal to find. They force me to explore and verbalize my own creative thoughts. They encourage me to actually try new things and not devolve into living entirely within my comfort zone. All of those efforts may make me temproarily uncomfortable, but they all help me grow in both skill and confidence.

So, the next step? Inks.

Pushing too hard and paying the price

2011-04-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

What a quandry!! After almost 6 months of very little studio time, I'm feeling the need, desire, and energy to get down there and work. Part of the lack of ambition comes--I firmly believe--to the Extra Strength Tylenol that I've been taking regularly since since early January. So I've been making a firm effort not to take any during the day, and I've noticed a marked increase in both initiative and creativity.
So down I go and work my little fingers ot the bone to end up exhausted, and in discomfort. The shoulder just isn't ready for such demands, and ergonomically, the area isn't set up to reduce demands on the shoulder. Planning for efficient work flow, and pacing the speed of work both help, but I have to reduce my expectations of myself--a very difficult task for me. Only a few years ago I could put in 12-14 hours/day of steady studio work and look after my house as well. Old age is a bitch.

There are three shows coming up, one next weekend which is a high end craft sale, and a more formal art show at the end of the month, followed by a gallery show at the end of May. The formal art show requires that all things displayed are ready to hang ( read framed) Anything else can be displayed, in shrink wrap, in a different room. I had asked for space in the shrink wrap room only, but this is not allowed, and I am required to put up something for display in the main area. I have a couple of small pieces but they have been shown before. So--having a little extra money-- we decided that maybe it was time to frame the large matted piece that has been under the bed for three years. Last time I was in to the framer I had a smaller piece and asked for a simple frame. The price quoted had been over $200, so I was apprehensive about the whole thing, as the mattted piece is big. Well, tax included the total came to $55.00. So now I will have a new, large piece for the more formal art show, which is unlikely to sell, so probably, a new piece for the gallery show at the end of May, as well.

Fusible web

2011-04-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

Problem solved. I was in Fabricland to buy something else and found the remains of a bolt of paper-backed fusible web. A very old and decrepit piece of fusible web. So I asked if they had any more, and she found a bolt in the back for me. It had been opened( no plastic protective covering) but there were still 22m, and at half price, I bought them all. I may never have to buy it again, but then I've been through more than two full bolts over the past 4 years, so who knows. What I had been looking for was the spray adhesive for basting quilts. In Fargo, I can buy a big can for about $10.00. Here I found a small can for $25.98. It's almost worth the trip.

Two of the three charity quilt tops are done. In finishing the second one ( trimming and squaring up blocks) I realized that I had a whole pile of narrow strips of good quality fabric. I've actually taught a class on using this sort of scrap, so why was I about to throw these out? ( And what happened to the same sort of scrap when I finished the smaller top?) So later today, after I finish a small clothing construction job, I plan to play with these scraps and see if I can come up with a saleable product for the "big sale" next weekend. I have an idea, but had been toying with the idea of using narrow scraps of fabric paper. Hm-m-m? Looks like an interesting day. And it also looks like the muse really has come out of hibernation.

Thought the Muse had died....

2011-03-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

A friend invited me over for what is to us, the most fun thing two art quilters/mixed media artists can do--explore stash. She had recently been part of the the distributon of stash from a deceased relative, and wanted to share. This was the day before my pension cheque arrives and I barely had enough ready cash for a cup of coffee, but you better believe I jumped in the car, bought gas on credit, and hightailed it right over there! Her method of sharing such a find is to slowly go through it, and the first one to share a good vision of how something could be used, gets first dibs on it.

This means picking up something, fondling it carefully and discussing what could be done with it. I truly believe that there is no more stimulating activity. It doesn't work nearly as well if you try it alone, as your comments and ideas stimulate the other person. Out time together is particularly interesting as we each approach the task in our own way. I'm driven by colour, and while she is certainly stimulated by colour, I sometimes think she has a way of looking at texture that I lack. Her work is big and bold and dramatic, while mine tends to be more subdued and formal. We complement each other very well.

A wonderful afternoon, and time very well spent.

Traditional quilts

2011-03-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Everything has been set up as almost an assembly line. The top for the smallest one has been pieced, and it's bigger than I anticipated. The organization has been done and the tracing completed for the second one, so it's ready to assemble tomorrow. In the queue is the Doorways. I wanted to get all of the fusing done on that, just in case I ran out of fusible web. For this sort of job I prefer the paper backed fusible, and it's been hard to find around here for a couple of years, but it looks like it's time to start looking again. Last time I found it in Fargo, but I don't see a trip there in my near future. Usually I buy it by the bolt, but there don't seem to be as many deals around as there used to be.

The third one is "quilt as you go", which means a lot more cutting at the beginning. I feel so guilty having to ask DH to help me with that, that I haven't yet mentioned it to him. Today I had to put away a lot of fabric and get more out, which meant tossing around my big Rubbermade bins. So I had to break down and ask for help. He's always willing, and never makes a fuss, but the "guilts" get to me.

Out of my Mind!

2011-03-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Whenever soemone complains about artistic block or trouble getting into a project, the recommendation is always " do something. It doesn't matter what you do, but just get busy."
The Doorways has been stalled out, as I just couldn't figure out how to place the door sections on the background, and I had cataract surgery on Wednesday, which kept me out of the studio for a bit. On Tuesday, I got together with a small group of stitchers that has met once a month for over 10 years. One of the ladies was telling us of her difficulty in supplying donation quilts to the local Transplant Unit. In a moment of insanity, I promised her not one, but two adult size qults. I had already made a mental promise to make a smaller quilt for the donation project at the LQG. So I'm now working on three traditional quilts from a commercial pattern--and loving it! Because of the surgery, I can't lift anything for two weeks, and because of the shoulder, using a rotary cutter is difficult, so VDH ( and that's a Very Dear Husband) did most of the cutting for two of the quilts, and the original friend has offered to help cutting the third. The project has served as a review of traditional methods, and has made me think about the reasons behind most of them. A good thing to go over once in awhile.

And with anything like this, as soon as my brain had transferred interest to another project, the answer to the design problem in Doorways came to me. So now I'm off and running!

Retro-spection

2011-03-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Today was the meeting of our Local Quilt Guild (LQG). A pleasant gentleman gave a short presentation on a historically significant quilt made by his grandmother, and also showed some more utilitarian quilts she had made--by hand. The important quilt he showed had been made over a period of two years as a special project to honour the Canadian Centenial year of 1967--well befoe the quilt renaissance of the 1970's. The others were very traditional, but here was still the touch of an artist in the colurs and flow of the designs.

Now, I'm an art quilter, or more probably, a mixed media/fibre artist. But this display took me right back to my roots. This was the type of quilt made by my grandmother, and both of the aunts, whom I consider mentors. Quilts made to be used on beds, made out of out of scraps, or, only rarely, from purchased fabric. But each piece made with love, and care and great attention to detail. And each piece a tribute to the technical skill of the maker.

So, perhaps I can pay tribute to these women in my past by making sure that every piece--in whatever medium--is made with love, care and attention to detail, and with as much technical skill as I can muster.

Some progress

2011-03-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Doorways is coming along. I started with 6 prints, all of which showed some sort of portal. I'm designing a surrounding border for each piece that takes inspiration from the type of stonework shown within the print itself. The four I have finished were sort of bla-a-h, so I attacked them with Inktense pencils, and the result was dramatic--a big improvement. I experimented with the pencils and found that applying them to damp fabric made the colour too intense, so I'm using them lightly, and then dampening the piece with a paint brush. More and more I'm thinking that I might only want to use five of the six in the hanging. I scrapped the original paprika print fabric I had chosen for the background, in favour of a dark charcoal grey, that makes the individual pieces sing. There is only a small piece of the grey, so this will impact on how large the final hanging will be, and how the individual prints will have to be arranged. Regardless of how I proceed, it will be a somber piece, and not in my usual style.

Normally, I have the entire piece planned in my head before I eve start working. In this case I have a general idea, but am really designing as I work along. While I feel a slight loss of control, this allows the piece to actually speak to me, and forces me to think about everything I do, instead of operating on automatic pilot. Maybe my muse is coming to life.

One of those days

2011-03-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

I'm proceastinating over my Doorways. Usually this means that there is a problem that I haven't yet recognized, but I think it's because I haven't figured out all of the technical aspects to my satisfaction. Complicating everything is the fact that I'm trying to do without pain killers--at least during the day time.

Anyway, I spent the morning working on a small needlefelted collage that I have fooled around with when I was first trying to get back into the studio. Now this poor piece has had many problems. I spent a fortune trying to figure out what beads to use until I accidently spilled the beads from another project onto it. Okay that problem solved (I had to scrap the other project--I had no more beads) Some of the larger beads fought back and I had to subdue them with glue. I hate to do that but will if I have to. While hand sewing the beads I realized that the mono print on cotton that formed the background had been pounded into shreds when I added embellishment with my embellishing machine. I tried to stick everything together with gel medium, and it seemed to work, in a small sample area. But the next day I could feel a drastic change in texture. So I sprayed the whole piece with spray fixative--which has worked well in some other pieces. Tamed the threads,but dulled the finish on the large focal beads.

Are you still with me?

I wasn't sure if the piece was ruined or not, so I took it to my Ravenesque meeting last Monday and showed it. I said nothing and waited for anyone to notice the flaws. Hurrah! No one noticed. So today I decided to finish it. I found a hanger that was almost a perfect fit. Measured everything carefully and cut the piece to size ( I had planned to face it, as I felt that binding would detract from the overall appearance) Shit! Instead of cutting off 3/4 inch, I cut 3/4 inch of EACH side! So now, if I added a facing, it would be too narrow for the hanger--and the right hanger is hard to find!

After auditoning every piece of blue fabric in my stash, I found one that worked and was big enough. The piece is now backed and bound.

And I still haven't done anything on my Doorways, but to be on the safe side, I think tonight I'll play poker. Or is that just more procrastination?

Last Class

2011-03-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today was my last PSE class. I had been to physio and to orthopedic clinic and then stratight to class. I can't really say that the class was successful and I came home absolutely wiped out. Probably still suffering from overdoing it yesterday.

Last evening was the monthly meeting of my art quilt group Ravenesque. No-one is the boss withthis group and it's a relief to be able to attend and enjoy without any resposniblitiy. I talked to them about my plans for the Doorways and they seem to approve, although we had a good discussion about the long term viability of printer inks and ways of getting around it. ( I know that the best results come with the use of Bubble Jet Set, but I didn't have any and can't afford any.) We also had a discussion about why we teach. Several of the older membes have become quite cynical about teaching and are slowly leaving that part of their artistic practise. Younger members are excited about the opportunities they see. I wish them well, but also know the benefit of keeping my mouth shut, at times. Yes, I'm one of the cynical ones.

This is a lean month and a long one. Unfortunately, several of my artists groups are needing membership dues this month and a couple of summer shows are wanting deposits as well. So how do I evaluate which of the groups have benefitted me enough to re-new? Not an easy decision. Out of the groups, I want the opportunity to learn and grow as an artist, and the networking opportunities that could lead to either exhibitions or sales. I'm fully aware that I only get as much as I give, in dealing with special interest groups, and my contributions have always been a given. But I have to perceive benefit--I'm too old to be doing things for nothing. Over the past year I have withdrawn from three organizations, (although I'm re-considering one of those). One, that I left, had seen me as a member since 1976--I left--and the world didn't end. So the only person affected by my decision is myself.

Pacing

2011-03-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

Should know by now that when I try to do too much at one time there is a price to pay. Yesterday I tried to do my PSE class home work. Got totally screwed around and made a mess of everything. Then after a short period of meltdown during which I chastised myself for not learning a damn thing in that wrteched class, I started to work on the photos I took yesterday morning. Everythign went well. I got them into PSE, did what I had to to send them away, and got them sent away. Not so successful with the few I treid to put up here. But by that time I had been playing with the computer for almost three hours and I was wiped. I had worn myself out trying to to too much too fast. So the rest of the day I just vegged out--couldn't have done any more if I tried. I should know that, at my age, recovery time is much longer than in younger people. Unfortunately my brain thinks I'm much younger than I am.

Today I played some more with the old etchings. I tried to scan them into PSE and re-size them ( to make a more interesting variety of sizes) and to try to improve the contrast. Tried printing on paper and on high thread count fabric. By far, the best result s were to simply photcopy them onto the fabric, not worrying about using PSE. I know that the Vivera inks are not permanent on fabric. So, although I never plan to get these wet, I heat set them and applied a spray-on fixative. Tomorrow, I hope to get atartedon the hanging.

Ideas!

2011-03-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

I hope to have a busy day today. I have been invited to submit any pieces that were previously exhibited with the Fiber art Connection of Southern California, to the selection process for a "Best Of" exhibition. They just want photos and basic info at this point. So I spent a couple of hours with photos last night, but only found one. So today I need to re-photo the others. Not a huge job, especially if I do them all at the same time--and I know a lot more about using the camera these days.

Then I want to start putting together the hanging I plan to make with the images of the medieval doorways and portals. When I actually put the pictures I printed up on the design wall the buildings don't stand out as much as I would like. After doing some homework for my PSE class yesterday the idea struck me that I could scan the pictures into PSE and then work on enhancing the contrast. I also made the mistake of printing them onto a lightly dyed piece of cotton, but the pale printed design was just enough to affect the clarity of the print. So I want to try printing them onto a ecru fabric with a high thread count. Don't know where I'm going to find that. The colours I've chosen for the piece are beige, brown, "paprika"( a rusty red), dark brown, bronze and black. Now my mind is wondering if printing them on white would be worth considering. In order to do all this, I will have to figure out how to attach my laptop, with the PSE program, to my printer--a printer that sometimes works. On top of everything,I would like to have the design and printing done to take to my Ravenesque meeting tomorrow evening. Oh Yeah!!

Did I say that it would be a busy day?

Still at it

2011-03-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

After finishing the pieces I spoke about, I realized that I had missed a step. After she puts eveything together, and is more or less finished, she coats her work with gloss gel medium. She explains that this pulls all of the various materials in the work together. So I made another small sample and finished it as post cards and ATC's, coating it with the gloss medium before I did the foiling. It does make a difference, especially with a paper I had used within the piece. This was rice paper that had been coated with acrylic paint. This was done as part of a larger project and involved three different colours of paint and a credit card. The end effect was almost, but not quite, marbelling. The gloss gel really brought out the colours with this, and sealed the edges, of the paper, as well. With this one, I used stamping for surface embellishment, rather than the thermofax screens. It wasn't nearly as effective.

I'm going to have to do some more of this. I went through my sale stock and find that I need more of the fancy business cards. I have until the end of the month to do it, but see no problem as I have lots of candy wrappers and painted rice paper.

Back in the saddle again----

2011-02-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, finally I was able to spend the day in the studio. I took breaks, even took an hour out for a short nap (while glue was drying). For inspiration, I used an article out of Cloth, Paper, Scissors, issue 34, January/ February 2011, by Wen Redmond , titled Fabric Collage Mail Art. I haven't made post cards in a couple of years, but my goal was simply to get back into the studio and actually make something! I incorporated my two copies of the 1815 etchings, one of the gelatin prints I had made in December, some candy wrappers, and some scraps of fabric.

All of this was fused onto some industrial strength interfacing, and then embellished. I used bronze Lumiere paint and two Thermofax screens that I've had for years. I did some FMQ'g, and then cut the various pieces. Actually, I quickly found out that the healing shoulder is not up to using a rotaty cutter and had to get DH to help. Everything was then fused to Flexi-Firm. I've never really trusted the fusing to hold up to abuse, so each piece was stitched around the edge. Then I did some foiling. Now, I used foils years ago, but in a recent art class was introduced to a new adhesive--Plexi-Glue. Wow! This is so much better than the old adhesive. Mind you, the Plexi-glue could prpbably never be put through a screen, but I was mainly interested in lines anyway. The final step was to paint the edges with the Lumiere paint. I've never done this before,but rather like the effect. In the end I had a small piece to matt for framing, 6 ATC's, and four postcards. There were a couple of scraps that I turned into business cards. I often make up scraps into business cards by simply fusing a regular business card onto the back of a pice of fibreart. I give these to special customers--those who actually buy something, and keep the cheaper cards to hand out on request. The fancier cards have become quite popular.

But now I'm tired. It was such an emotional high to actually get back into the studio and produce something--and the shoulder is telling me that it's time to quit.

Experimenting

2011-02-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

Last summer, I bought 11 pictures. These were prints made from engravings--the correct term may be etchings,but I don't know for sure. The book was originally published in 1815, but was in very poor shape, and beyond saving. I would never condone taking apart old books just to sell the pictures. But the age of the publication puts the pictures in Public Domain, so I wanted to see if there was someway I could work them into my art. The pictures are very fragile, and badly foxed. They have tears and even small holes. Whatever I do, I don't want to do anything that might harm them and ruin them. So I've spent several months just thinking about how they could be used.

So today, I decided that the least harmful thing I could do, would be to copy the picture onto muslin, and then use the muslin in a collage. They copy beautifully. Even on fairly coarse muslin, the print is clear and the details fine. Since, at this point, I don't plan to get the muslin wet, I haven't worried too much about the type of ink I used, but I did heat set it thoroughly.

I'm very pleased that this went so well. This opens up a number of possibilities, and I think I finally understand why the ladies on the internet are so excited about the process.

About 7 of the pictures involve portal type of images, and I already have an idea for a hanging based on the portal/pathway concept

Presentation

2011-02-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was part of the group hanging a show at a local gallery. We are a very diverse group that includes painter, potters, fibre and mixed media people, and glass workers. This means that the pieces that were brought in--60 of them--were all very different. The person who operates the gallery was able to pull the pieces together and arrange them so that every piece looked its best. That takes real talent and I was impressed.

All of this made me start thinking about how much of the success of our art depends on the presentation. I rarely frame my work, mainly because of the cost. But maybe I should be re-considering this. I also know that some venues demand that all work displayed be framed, and many fibre artists are affected by this. Fibre, generally, doesn't frame well. Lately I've been mounting smaller pieces on painted canvas or using a "gallery wrap", but many places would still require that this be framed.

The other alternative might be to matt and shrinkwrap pieces. Another group I belong to offers a separate area to display such work, away from the main gallery. They are in hte process of planning a show and I have applied to be included in the "shrinkwrap area', but not to display in any other part of the show. They appeared quite taken aback by this, so well have to see how it goes.

So, right now, other than my usual itinerent shows I have these two venues for display. We'll see if I sell anything.

A big glass of brandy

2011-02-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

This week has been wild, with health concerns taking over from the creative endevours. But now that's over. Today was my last scheduled class with a prominant local artist. These classes have been stimulating, but when combined with the other acrylic painting classes I've been taking, a little ovewhelming. I've had to step back and remind myself why I'm doing this. I'm comfortable with colour, but had wanted more training in things like composition. Now I feel like I'm on information overload and need a chance to work quietly to practise the techniques I've learned. There has just been too much, too fast. The pieces I'm producing do NOT demonstrate any improvement in composition, perhaps even some confusion. In additon, I'm so busy producing class pieces that I'm not producing any of my own original work. I need to process all of this, and come up with a plan to carry me over the next few months, until I'm healthy enough to start producing saleable work again.

Tonight was also the occasion of my presentation to the LQG. It went well, and there was good feedback. But thank Goodness it's over. So here I sit with a big glass of brandy celebrating the approaching end of my current commitments. Salute!

More Introspection

2011-02-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

While browsing my sketchbook, I found a list of goals and objectives from a few years back. Goodness, I was organized--or trying to be organized--in those days. It's interesting to read them over and look back at what I had hoped to accomplish, what I actually did accomplish, and the importance I would give those activities now. At that time, I was determined to establish myself as an artist. Now I see the pleasure I get out of making things and solving those technical problems as being much more satisfying. I don't think I've "given up" my goals as much as those goals have matured. Along with that is my acceptance of myself as I am. This may seem like a small thing to some, but it's a major step for me. so now I'll continue to do the things that give me pleasure, and if those things lead to acceptance as an artist--that's great.

Slow Progress

2011-02-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Got some tidying done in the studio, but Wednesday night I must have hurt my arm while sleeping, so it was back to the sling and painkillers for a couple of days. It's a little better today, but I've learned my lesson.

So DH has been helping me to get ready for the commitments I've got. We made fabric paper and cut it to size for the collage class at the end of the month, and we selected the items for the trunk show I'm doing for the local quilt guild (LQG) next week.

A friend, Brandy, ( www.brandylynndesigns.blogspot.com) has helped me with the show entry that has to be in the mail in the next day or so. Thank you, Brandy! We had been asked to send two pages of personal information to be placed in a binder that will be accessible to people who view the show. Brandy is an emerging author and poet, who is a member of my art quilt support group, Ravenesque. She was good enough to offer to do this for all of the group members who are entering this show. ( Most of the group are also members of the Fibre Art Network-- http://www.fibreartnetwork.com/ ) This type of self promotion is something I've never done and I had no idea how to go about it, but she produced two excellent pages for me.

Things are very slowly getting back to normal. I'm in the studio for a couple of hours a day. I'm able to do a small ( very small)amount of hand stitching, and I hope to try some beading in the near future. The painting is going fairly well. Since this is something I do just for fun, I don't have to measure success, in that area, in terms of anything except fun. Sort of nice to be able to think that way for once.

Shot down!

2011-02-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

The painting instructor didn't want me to pursue the stepping stones. She felt it was too close to my comfort zone. So we've selected another picture--not one of mine but rather one of my sister's. ( Beth, do I have permission to play with one of your pictures?) This is really out of my comfort zone, but I'm in the class to learn so will forge ahead. It is a portrait of my husband. We've agreed that we can abstract it a bit, if my technical skill isn't up to an accurate representational piece.

But I'm still wanting to try the stepping stones in a fibre context. I've been thinking about the gradation dyeing and wondering if I might to have better control if I were to use fabric paints instead. I want there to be a value change within the outlines of the stepping stones and not just between them--which would be too easy and a bit contrived, IHMO. Actually the final result might be a combination of the two.

Yesterday I was given permission to use my arm a bit more ( I start physio on Monday). There are still restrictions, and I'm still to wear the sling when the arm is tired or painful, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Today, I want to get into the studio and clean up a bit, so that I can actually start the fabric painting, for the stepping stones. I also have to make some fabric paper for a class at the end of the month. None of these three tasks will require fine co-ordinnation, so might very well be the first step in getting myself going.

Hit "upside the head" by the muse

2011-02-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

In my painting class, the next week's project is to "bring a picture that you feel passionate about" to use as inspiration for a painting. In my search for such a picture, I came across an image taken from a magazine of stepping stones under still water. Thinking back, this concept of stones under water has been at the back of my mind for several years, since spending time on a Cuban beach in 2002. I've tried, with varying success, to create the something from this, working in paint, dye and fibre. I had, more or less, forgotten those experiments over the last few years, but now they are back in mind. I wonder if I can use what I've learned, in painting class, about creating value, to colour fabric. I can see using gradation dyeing as the basic technique. I would also have to dye some strips of fabric, lengthwise, that would be half of each of two consecutive dye concentrations. This would allow for value changes within smaller applique pieces.

I think dyeing,or even fabric painting, if it comes to that, would be within my physical ability,, and I'm sure I have the supplies I would need. So now all I have to find is the energy.

Good choices

2011-02-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Finally had time to work with the beads I bought and the three pieces that I bought them for. They worked! Three of the focal beads work very well on a different piece than I had bought them for--but they work! This is always a worry when I buy things "blind", so to speak. I had taken two of the pieces with me but not the third.

I've found that I can work, by hand, for 30-40 minutes, and then need to take a break--at least for an hour. But this is still something I can look forward to and enjoy. Otherwise I read and eat, watch tv and eat, or play on the computer, and eat.

things looking up

2011-02-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

The arm is getting a little more useful--very slowly. The small piece that was frame-mounted is going very slowly, and the character of stitching is different. I took it off the frame today, and tried to work a bit in my hand--and was able to do it! So we're in business again--slowly and bit by bit. The three pieces I have in progress needed beads. Now I have a corner cabinet three feet across the front and six feet high--full of beads--but I went shopping, anyway.

I love bead stores, but always spend more than I should, so tend to avoid them. It had been awhile since I had visited this store, and things had changed. There was less stock and the prices were higher--but I still found more than I needed. Since I can't yet drive, DH was with me. He's often quite a help, but in an unusual way. He's colourblind, but is a fantastic judge of value. This means that I can show him two items, such as fabric and a bead and ask if they match--and he rarely makes a mistake.

He's also the voice of my conscience. So we have conversations about "wants" vs "needs" when we go shopping. I guess the clerk overheard us. She sidled up to me and whispered "all of those are half price today anyway" So we bought them all.

When is it a waste of time?

2011-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

I went to my"get-together" and we were four ladies chatting, with three ladies knitting, andone with her arm in a sling. A pleasant Saturday afternoon, but I was there to learn about Etsy. What did I learn? " Go to etsy.com . They'll tell you what to do." Thanks for the info--snark snark. For this, my poor husband had to dig the car out of the snow, and drive me to the meeting, then drive home to wait for me to call him to pick me up. So his afternoon was pretty well a waste of time, but was mine? I got out of the house, and I spent time talking to knowledgeable people about something that is important to me. ( We debated, not what is art and what is craft, but rather when does craft become art) So, even if time was wasted, from my perspective it was time fairly well spent. It certainly put me in a better mood for the rest of the day, and I slept well--recliner and all

Quiet couple of days

2011-01-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night, I pulled something while trying to adjust the quilts I'm using while sleeping in the recliner ( doctor's orders). So the last couple of days have been spent either doing my month end shopping, or playing internet poker ( I'm a big loser there, too) I'm not a fool. My body said "slow down" and I did.
During that time I took a look at the small hand quilted pieces I've been working on. They are small enough ( 12 by 12)that I quilt in the hand--an impossibilty now. ( I know, I tried) So, I went back to my days as a stitcher, and got out a 12 by 12 frame, and attached the quiltet to it with thumb tacks. I tried working with the frame resting on my studio table, and weighted down to hold it in place. This worked fairly well, but then I got out my floor frame and clamped the frame in there. Once it was adjusted to my working height, things went much better. This means that I have to quilt with a two-step-one down and one up- stitch rather than the one-step "scoop" stitch. This is a long, slow process, but I'm doing something--and that alone is worth the bother.
Today, I'm off to a drop-in get-together where members of a local Etsy group will be talking about selling through the internet. I've never done this, so now is my chance to learn something about it. Maybe this is the window that opened when the door was slammed shut on my production work.

First results

2011-01-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the piece I worked on yesterday. I specifically chose it to include a variety of techniques. I started with one of my gelatin prints, backed with Warm'n'Natural, then cut and lay down three strips of silk paper in blue and magenta. I arranged lengths of yarn,making sure that some were behind and some on top of the silk paper. I used my embellisher to pound these all into the background. I had originally planned to maintain an analogous colour scheme but that left the whole piece dull and boring, so I went with the compliment to the blue-orange. Not a true orange, as I found another piece of silk paper with yellow, orange, and just a hint of magenta. I traced the circles and cut them out with scissors--a much more difficult task than I had anticipated. The orange circles were FMQ'd with gold, in my trademark spiral pattern. Again, the FMQ'g proved a more difficult task than anticipated, as all of the thread manipulation and "fiddling" took place on the left side of the machine head. Have to re-think that one! I plan more FMQ'g, maybe some more spirals, but in dark blue so as to almost disappear into the background.

Of course, I overdid it. I was so excited about being able to work! I have no expectation that I produced any saleable art yesterday, but at the same time, I'm surprised at how well I did. Did I mention that I sold two of my little collaged quiltlets on Monday? So far a good week!

The journey begins

2011-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

First day of a new and different life. My goals for the first week are to complete a skills inventory and force myself to become more physically active.

Skills inventory- I need to be creative, but it sure won't happen using the bi-manual skills I've honed over the past 65 years. So what skills can I use?

1. There is no way I can use a rotary cutter and ruler. I simply cannot exert enough pressure on the ruler to hold it steady enough for cutting. And the cutting is the first step in any fibre project. But I can hold the ruler steady enough to make a pencil mark, and my left had can hold very light objects--lighter than a full coffee mug. So I can draw lines and use scissors.

2. My very expensive new sewing machine requires two hands to use it. While I absolutely love the start/stop button, I can install the foot control--a device I used for 55 of my 65 years, and should be comfortable with. But getting my left hand up onto the bed of the machine is awkward. So I think I need a higher chair, and I have one..

3. I haven't tried ironing, but the bulk of the activity is accomplished with my right hand, and at a very good working height ( for me). Some experimentation needed here, but I'm optimistic..

4. When I've used my embellisher in the past, there was very little required in terms of hand function--just some simple guidance, which could be done with my right hand. Again, some experimentation required.

So how's that for 10 minutes of casual task analysis? It will mean being prepared to lower my expectations of myself, and a conscious effort to pace my work and listen to what my body tells me. Setting this all up will mean moving some furniture, so I'll have to get help for that, but it will also mean a much higher level of physical activity for me.

Bit the bullet

2011-01-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

and cancelled the two classes I had contracted to teach this spring. I've never done this before, and it has been a very difficult decision.. But--in all fairness, I'm not in any shape to give it my best, and when I teach, the students pay for my best. I have tried a little hand stitching, but yesterday, four stitches and I was in pain. There is no way I could teach a class on hand beading on fabric, with all of the demonstrations needed. But--I feel as though there has been a tremendous weight taken off my shoulders.

About a year ago, I gave myself a year's sabbatical from production work, in order to revive my muse. I have taken every class I could on painting or fibre, experimented with printmaking, and generally had a wonderful time. My muse came out to play early in the process, and has been re-appearing more and more frequently. But now I'm getting indications that my recovery time from this devastating fracture will be measured in months, if not years, rather than the 12 weeks that had first been estimated. This is one of those times when a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. My rehab background makes me aware of the hazards of such injuries. I'm well aware of the extent of the soft tissue injury, and I may be starting to see indications of potential nerve damage. So my best course of action is to be patient and do as I'm told. I'm not known for being good at either of those things.

So I plan to celebrate by extending my sabbatical by one more year. This will probably mean starting over on the show circuit, but even that will give me an excuse to visit as many shows as possible to maintain my awareness of what is a "hot" item. So, let the fun begin, and if I have to spend half my time playing internet poker (for play money), out of sheer boredom, at least let me win, once in awhile!

Creativity finds a way--despite broken bones

2011-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Attempted another painting class yesterday--this one was painting water using acrylics. (The painting is so very much easier than sewing ,when I'm only able to use one hand.) Many of the participants have been in other classes I've taken, so I'm able to relax a little more around them. Over lunch , during the conversation, a couple of other women said that they, too, were just there to learn the techniques. They had no expectation of creating great art or going home with a masterpiece. What a relief! I don't have to compete!

One woman, whose work I've quietly admired in other classes, expressed the same frustration that I've felt. As a painter, she loves working in the abstract, but finds that most technique classes are geared toward realism. My mixed media work is definitely abstract, and I had never even considered realism, until last fall when I started on these classes. She hadn't realized that I was a fibre artist, and was actually interested. ( I've really downplayed my fibre work in these classes, telling no-one unless I had confidence that they would be okay with it. Maybe the coward's way out, but I didn't want to get into that sort of adversarial confrontations that have come up in other artistic settings) So, I've agreed to take a couple of small pieces into the next class for her to see. She may also be interested in the small fibre art group that meets locally, but I'll have to feel her out a bit more before suggesting it.

The class yesterday was 6 hours with a 40 minutes lunch break. I "pooped out" after 5 1/2 hours. I was so glad to see my DH arrive to take me home! Came home and slept for almost 2 hours. Can't really say that I'm at the top of my game yet.

May I rant?

2011-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Got further instructions about the official entry to the New Zealand show yesterday. Yes, I have to fill out a formal entry form, and send it along with money and a photo. Not a big deal, you say? Well, there were two pages, single spaced with instructions on how the photo is to be taken and processed through Photoshop Elements (PSE), so that it can be used to plan the layout of the show, to make sure that the right piece is attributed to the right artist, and on the internet for publicity etc. We were also told that if we don't have access to PSE, we are to download Picasa and use the tutorial that accompanies it to suitably finish the photo. I'm MAD! Two pages of , what is to me, a foreign language just to enter a show!!?

I try to learn new skills, but learning the computer is almost a full time job, and every time I conquer one thing, they raise the bar. Now it appears that, in order to be a fibre artist, I must become fully competent in photo processing/altering software. I didn't sign up for that!

I'm not a total Luddite, but I didn't grow up with computers, and I very much resent the time and effort needed to make them useful to me. Two years ago I signed up for a course in PSE, only to discover that it was a demonstration course. We, students, sat in the dark and watched the instructor play with the program. Mind you, he did give us a cd of pictures to play with at home, but since we were in the dark, note-taking was a problem, and no-one's memory is that good. To add to the problem, the course was given on WindowsXP, and my shiney new laptop had Vista. The commands etc within PSE were quite different to the ones I was seeing during classes. So I ended up totally confused and intimidated with the program, and many $$$ poorer

Then a friend steered me toward internet classes on PSE. Expensive, and also demonstration classes, and again not geared toward Vista.

Now I've finally found a woman who will teach a hands-on course on PSE. More $$$. The class doesn't start in time for me to make the show entry deadline, but maybe I'll be able to complete an entry for a future show.

Welcome!

2011-01-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

I notice that I have a couple more followers. A pleasant surprise!

I'm determined to continue with my painting classes, despite the broken arm. The first one, last Wednesday went fairly well. The paint got on the canvas, and not too much on me. Which paint to put where is always a problem and has nothing to do with which hand I use. So yesterday, I had a little homework to do. I've now decided that my "crap quota" is much higher with paint than with fabric. The class piece that I finished is pure crap. I'm supposed to take it back next week for a critique, and then next week's project is to paint the same picture/subject again with the opposite colour family. The subject is snow, and the piece I did is in yellows and oranges with a smokey grey/blue as the compliment. I absolutely cannot imagine it done in blues with a bit of pale orange. As well there just isn't enough value difference to make it the least bit interesting.
Now, I've done snow in fibre. I've had my snow pieces exhibited across North America and now have one heading for New Zealand. This subject, more than anything, is showing me that fibre and paint are two distinctly different media. My creativity, my understanding of art theory, colour theory etc remains the same ( however good or bad it might be) so the difference comes down to the technical aspect of the two. Now, --I believe that technique can be learned, and therefore, I can change my technical skill in putting down paint.
In terms of the classes, I'm finding that the less confidence I have in my technical ability, the more I'm wanting to stick with more rigid designs, and the less I'm willing to use an image or concept out of my brain. The teacher is pushing me in this direction, and I think both of us are getting a little frustrated.
I went through my photos of snow--I have quite a few--but this time I was looking for things like compostiton etc, rather than the individual features that I've used in past fibre projects. There isn't a lot, so today, on my way to an out-of-town meeting, we're going to take the camera along and spend some time in a local provincial park. DH will have to drive me, in any case, so, by getting two purposes out of one trip, I don't feel guilty about this detour.

Hilarious!!

2011-01-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

Tried some simple sewing today. I have a show entry ready to go, except for its sleeve, so DH offered to help me get it put together, so that it could be passed along to a friend, who had offered to stitch it in place. I did some sewing, he did some sewing, and we got the sucker done. This one was a real problem, as it had to have Velcro attached. So then DH looked at it, pinned in place, and asked why it was so important, that it had to be hand sewn. I explained that all that I was worried about was that no stitches showed on the front. "Well, let me try", he says. So now he's busy sewing it on for me, and doing a fine job.
So, I ask you, what did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful man?

Worse than I thought

2011-01-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Got a call-back from emergency telling me that my shoulder is broken, and I'm now awaiting a call about an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I'm pissed!!

Disaster!

2011-01-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

Fell yesterday and tore some ligaments in my left arm and shoulder. I have a hunch that doing any sort of sewing, for the next little while, is going to be out of the question. OTOH, I'm making far fewer typo's now that I'm slowed down by having to keyboard with only one hand.

Snow dyeing

2011-01-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

I've been involved in a bit of discussion about the differences between snow dyeing and Low water immersion dyeing (LWI). I expressed that I didn't see where the results were better with snow dyeing, and wondered what made others feel that it was worth the effort. Others have responded questioning if I had ever had the sort of results that they have with snow dyeing--results that make them very enthusiastic about the process. This is a valid question. What snow dyeing I've seen, mine and others, seems very bland and boring to me, although lately I've been able to get a few of the crystalline patterns that I love so much in LWI dyeing. so I've taken some pictures of some of my results.

This first picture shows LWI dyeing on the left and snow dyeing on the right. Same fabric, same dyes mixed in the same proportions.

The next picture shows the big white patches I get on the snow dyed piece on the left.

Next are close-up of the same two fabrics showing the cystalline pattern of each

You asked for photos

2011-01-07T07:54:00.001-08:00

Most recently I've been working with the gelatin prints I created just after Christmas. I've been picking out one or two to work with at a time, as I think it would be overwhelming to try to be creative with all 28 of them at the same time. There are two that are in progress, and I don't want to show them until they're finished--by Monday I hope.

So I put a few of the pieces up on the design wall in a group photo. Starting from the top left is a print I actually made on glass at my friend Brandy's house. I then hand quilted it and added beads. I'm not sure I really like this or where I might go from here with it. In the middle is a clean-up rag on which I put a freezer paper masque, and then treated with a irridescent pink Shiva paint stick. I really like the effect so far, and I'm afraid to go any futher for fear of messing it up. It may stay on the wall for awhile until I figure out what to do. Below that is one of the gelatin prints, done on satin, that I finished and used for the December Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, which was on the Colour Field Movement.

In the middle is the Ginko leaf hanging that I've been playing around with. I have no purpose for this, other than to maybe give my new machine a "field test" on fine machine applique. It passed the test, but it's obvious that my skills need to be a little further developed before I try to use this technique on any exhibition pieces. There is a close-up of this.

Below that is the only finished gelatin print out of the ones I've been working on. As you can see, I quilt, embroider, or whatever the prints, finish the edge, and mount it on a canvas that has been painted in a coordinating colour and pattern. I've also included a picture of another one I finished out of the prints that I brought home from the FAN retreat in October. There are two more in the works.

On the far right is a sunprint of grass. I love the colour and know exactly how I'm going to hand embellish it, but haven't a clue how it will be finished. I really don't need any more quilted hangings, and it's too big for my standard mountings. Need to think about this one a little longer.

Tying to be productive

2011-01-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

after all, what else is there to do in Winnipeg in January? I've been slowly working my way through the gelatin prints from last week. I don't want to go through them all at the same time as I think it may overload my pea-sized creative gene. I've pulled out the first 5. One was appropriate for machine work and that's done, as well as the canvas for mounting it painted. I had several second thoughts about the canvas the first way I did it, but changed that today and I'm much happier. Two more will take mainly hand stitching or beading, and I hope to start that tonight. Another one has both hand quilting and beading finished, but now I find I don't like it--not sure how that's going to end up.
During all of my angst about how to approach these, I took some time off and made a small quilted hanging, which now has its binding and is just waiting for that to be tacked down.

But--tada--I think I've figured out how to post pictures. So tonight I charge up the camera batteries and try for some pictures tomorrow.

Wasted time

2010-12-30T07:35:00.000-08:00

The online feature Quilt Art Daily talks today about how jumping in and rushing things can result in a great waste of time when techniques don't work because time wasn't taken to work knowledgeably and at a constructive pace. AHA! Is that what happened yesterday?! I actually felt that I had time to work on a Fast Friday piece. There was one of my gelatin prints that was appropriate. I FMQ'd it, and then tried to do an overcast edge, as I didn't want to take the time to bind it. My new Janome Horizon doesn't like that sort of edge treatment--period. It might have helped if I'd used the right stitch width for the zig zag, ( by this time it was 8:30 and I was tired--rule #2 Don't work tired) but the actual problem was that when the fabric is only under half of the foot, the feed dogs don't work right. So I need to find out if there is a better foot for this task. I also discovered that my FMQ'g had missed spots because I was in too much of a hurry.

But all is not lost. Since I only have to post a photo, most of the problems, except for the wavy edge, won't be noticed. And I really, really wanted to post something this month. But I still won't have a piece worth keeping, so the time and supplies used in the printing and stitching, have been wasted.

Stimulating!

2010-12-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday in a workshop with a highly-respected local artist. This is the second workshop I've had with him and I've found both of them highly stimulating! Very much out of my realm, but suprisingly appropriate to my work. This one was actually for beginners and involved exploring colour using acrylic paints. We also did a mini-exploration of how the acrylics work on different substrates. This was the part I enjoyed the most. I mainly used a palette knife, after receiving a little more information on "how-to" use it. In many ways I'm finding this much more satisfying than using the brushes. I came home with two small painted (knifed??) pieces-about 6 x 6--done on canvas, and a larger collage done on "mixed media board". I want to play with mixed media board a little more, but will have to wait until I have a little more $$$ before I pick any up. January is usually a pretty lean month around the old homestead!
I have another class with this gentleman scheduled for mid-February, and I'm quite looking forward to it.