May I introduce--?

May I introduce......?

Finally I have work finished,--sort of.  This first piece is titled 'Generations". I took the pictures several years ago at McConnell Lake, and combined elements from three of them into this hanging.  I really wanted the focus to be the height and age of the trees,but soon realized that I needed the  figures to provide scale. I have never put figures in any of my previous pieces--and there have been quite a few of them.  Creating a working sketch of the figures was quite a chore,but I'm happy with the result.I had a simpler image of the three people simply walking away, but thought that it would be more interesting if there was some evidence of interaction between them. There are a couple of techniques in this piece that I've not used before, and I think I  learned quite a bit making it.

The title refers to the many generations it has taken to grow these trees, the five generations of my husband's family that enjoyed the family cottage at McConnell Lake before it was sold, out of the family, this summer, and finally the three generations of my own family, who were models for the picture.

 Here is a close-up of the figures.  Poor little girl has had her shoe fall off, and is asking her Mom for help.

The other piece is titled simply " Bonsai Tree". I spent a lot of time reading about bonsai trees on  the Internet.  I found out that they can be made from almost any type of tree.  They are defined by severely stunted growth, which leads to very dense foliage.  The containers they are grown in are often quite elaborately decorated.  And they can appear in almost any shape and configuration you could imagine.  This piece is done on hand-dyed fabric.  I don't know if it meets the definition of thread painting, but is entirely created with densely stitched thread, two shades of Superior Fantastico in shades of brown and beige, and two shades of green Sulky Blendable, two shades of sulky Blendable in grey,  along with two shades of 30wt Sulky solid.  The different densities of quilting made it necessary to block this piece, but here it is with the binding sewn on ready for hand finishing.

And here is the close-up.

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Panic time

Today I was out to the gallery where I will be showing in December, for another artist's reception.  She is an acquaintance, well grounded in the arts, who has displayed at this gallery before.We had a chance to chat, and she asked me how things were coming along with my show.  When I told her what I had figured I would need, she quickly cautioned me that I would be needing several more hangings than I had planned.  We walked around and it became obvious that she was right.  OMG!!

So now I need to do an in-depth inventory, and come up with a very serious, and very realistic "To do" list.  I have just over a month to get it all finished.  Not much time for blogging.

digital techniques

  The last three weeks have been lost while I have been dealing with medical issues, that almost derailed me.  However, I still have the gallery show in December and just over a month to be ready for it.

Digital Techniques--No, I don't use them.  I have Photoshop Elements 7.0, have taken a couple of classes with it, but haven't used it enough to remember anything.  On the Quiltart list the ladies often talk about how they use photos, tinkering with them in all sorts of ways and producing remarkable fabric art.  But the whole process scares the bejeebers out of me. Lately I have been wrestling with a major piece that has lurked in my sketch book for a few years ( can you say --six?)  I have three photos of a similar view, two of which have figures in them.  I plan to amalgamate the three into one image. I don't do figures, but thought they were needed to demonstrate the scale of the other features in the photo.  One photo shows the three figures in very static position, walking away from the viewer.  The other shows them interacting in a much more dynamic way and would make a much better composition.  But the figures are very tiny (3/4" high in a 4X 6 photo.)  I need them at least 6" in the larger piece.  Sketching leaves me frustrated and angry and produces crap.  So, today I planned to get the photo enlarged.  Last time I did this, I had to have an electronic photo and the process cost over $40.00. This cost is also a factor in my avoidance of digital images in my work.  All I have is a photo.  So we took a chance and went to a photography store.  I explained that I needed the photo cropped to just the figures, and then enlarged 8 times.  Could they do this?  Yep!  I will loose some clarity and definition in the picture ( doesn't matter, I'm just looking for proportion).  Okay, it will be ready tomorrow and will cost--hold your breath--$1.27.

Maybe I have to take another look at this whole field and its relekence t my work

Another class done and today's rant

This was a more basic and fairly structured class.  The ladies were enthusiastic, and eager to learn, but also a little apprehensive.   While I was prepared to work steadily through the class outline, I was soon sidetracked when I realized that some of these ladies were almost afraid of their machines.  There was confusion about what the machines were capable of, presser feet were a mystery, there was confusion regarding the difference between various needles. So, while, in the end, the class was completed, it became more of a class on using a sewing machine, than I had expected.

This disturbed me. I can't think of any craft that can be accomplished with any degree of competence without a knowledge of how to use the tools involved.  With that knowledge lacking then the machine controls you, not the other way around. I went to teach fibre collage.When the ladies left, almost every one of them thanked me for helping her understand her machine, and helping her understand what she can and can't expect from it.

They also left with some awesome collages!!

Life goes on

The Free Motion and Machine Quilting class is done--both days. The Janome worked quite well, and now deserves a visit to the shop for a tune-up.  A very enthusiastic group of ladies, but by about 3:00 on both days they were  exhausted.  Somehow, I have to modify the class to make it less stressful, but still teach the basics.  One of the primary goals is to give them the skills, and confidence, to actually design a small piece for themselves.  But, until they have the basic free motion skills, they aren't able to design anything.  Many of the skills can't be written down, but rather, must be demonstrated, which further complicates the problem. Will really have to think this one through.

On the good side, several of them indicated that they would enjoy a class on painting and/or dyeing fabric.  I already have a fairly detailed class prepared, on painting fabric, that could be used to develop a simpler class, that could include the dyeing.

Sunday was a very special day.  I was able to go and pick up the fused glass cabochons that I had commissioned.  They are wonderful!  She had done an excellent job,even making a few more than I had asked for, so that I would have a choice.  Of course, I couldn't make a choice!   I wanted them all! A new price was negotiated, and they are carefully tucked away in the studio, waiting for me to start working them into my next piece.

But that won't come for a few days.  I have two pieces in the works, and have to finish preparing for a two day class over the next weekend.  Once that is out of the way, I can settle down and work on the ideas that keep running through my mind, and interrupting my sleep.

Today was a mixed blessing

Yesterday I was doing some fairly dense thread painting, when the needle "jammed".  This has happened before, and is a bit of a pain to pull everything out and clean up the mess, but then you can usually start again and carry on. Not this time.  There was absolutely no way I could get the needle or anything else out.  In the end I had to cut the needle in half with a pair of side cutting pliers.  Then I was able to pull most of it out.  But something still seemed to be wrong, so took the throat plate out and cleaned up underneath.  Then I noticed that there was chunk out of the bobbin holder and a raw, scraped groove underneath the bobbin holder.  Oh! Oh!  This called for a trip to the repair shop.

This is the machine on which I hope to be able to teach a class in free motion quilting to nine paid up students on Wednesday--yes, Wednesday the day after tomorrow.  I don't want to run this machine again  until someone who knows about these things tells me it's safe. So, what is my contingency plan? Plan to take it into the shop first thing Monday morning hoping that it might be fixed in time for pick up by late Tuesday. And if that doesn't work?  Fire up the old Pfaff.  I've been using it for piecing and bobbin work, but haven't done any FMQ'g on it in about 3 years.  In order to use it for a class, I would need the  table platform which has a broken leg.  Okay, next plan,  find out if we can replace that leg first thing Monday morning.  If that turns out to be necessary, I would have to spend all of Monday and Tuesday re-teaching myself to do FMQ'g on the Pfaff.

Turned out that there was no hope of seeing a technician for the Janome until the weekend, but the table leg was available. ( Two different dealers, you understand) But my husband, who has been servicing, cleaning and repairing my machines for years, thought that we might be able to get the Janome going if we replaced the bobbin holder.  So, new bobbin holder, new table leg, and into the studio to work something out. Tried some free motion on the Pfaff, and remembered why I prefer to do the FMQ'g on the Janome.  Worked at it all day, even took half an hour off and went out to get supper, instead of trying to cook something here.  By 8:00 the Janome was purring away and doing free motion feathers better than ever before.  I am still a nervous wreck, but things are looking better for the class on Wednesday.

Shibori has come up in a couple of communications recently, and someone has asked what I do with my Shibori dyed fabrics.  I may have posted these pictures before, but here are the three Shibori wall hanging that I've made, so far. They are all machine quilted, but the middle one has hand quilting as an embellishment.  I use #16 coton a broder, and dye it with the fabric to assure a match. The first one has leaf prints in three of the clamped circles. They are all about 25 by 35 inches.

slow progess

We have been very busily involved in selling a vacation home that has been in the family for almost 70 years.  It sold quite quickly and for a good price, but with a closing date of Sept 20th. Now we are having to go through and sort and remove the debris of two extended families over those 70 years.  Considering that the place is almost 120 miles from home, this has been quite a time consuming endeavor.  In the middle of it all, I had a nasty fall in the studio, and have been barely able to walk. Needless to say, studio work has come almost to a stand still.

However, as part of all this, my niece gave me a large tub of beads and beading supplies.  What a treasure trove!  So, while following medical advice to stay off my feet as much as possible, I have been sorting beads.  Great fun!