Painting Fun

There was a lot of clean up to finish before I could paint some fabric. Here's what it looked like the morning of our trash pick up. Boy, are we the talk of the neighborhood! There must have been at least 90 trash bags, plus lots of wood. I am so glad the junk is all gone. It feels good.

I was finally able to make some time to paint! I'm doing a technique trade through a yahoo group I belong to. I decided to do my samples on Sun printing. Here's a close up showing the items I used.

Here's the dried fabric after the items were removed.

I will cut this into 4" squares and attach directions to the back for incorporation into a Fat Book.Here are some painted clay pieces that will be incorporated with dyed paper towels and paint markers for ATC's.

And here are several of the finished ATC's. Everyone in my trading group seemed to enjoy them. What do you think?

Fire Storm Completed

It feels great to be creative again. I hoping that all the aches and pains are gone for good. I just finished quilting a wholecloth piece that I painted a while ago. I think it turned out really great. I really didn't plan on painting a fire scene, but when I stood back and looked at it, it reminded me of the Santa Barbara wildfire that burned for months. There are two fabric trees appliqued to the foreground and tulle, organza added to the top section to resemble the flames and smoke. Here's a photo of the finished quilt.

I've added a binding that has a very narrow piped edge along the inside, in this case it is purple. It's a technique that Ricky Timms features on his Grand Finale DVD. This little flash of color (it's about 1/32" wide) provide a big impact. I have to say that it isn't easy and wouldn't recommend it to people that get frustrated easily. It took more hours than I want to admit, but I'm in love with the look and the fact that it is completely done by machine is a bonus. This is the second time I've done a binding using this technique. I'm guessing that after doing it 5 or 6 times, it will become quicker and easier.

I bought this really fun package of paper clips and thought I could use them for rubbings but the hand is the only design that works well. The others have too many 3-D parts. They made me smile . . . so they had to come home with me.

Quilt on Canvas

Here's the newest addition to my canvas series. Hmmm . . . is it a series if all they have in common is the painted canvas they are sewn onto? The style of each quilt is very different. I blogged about the other two pieces here and here.

I love the way it looks mounted on the painted canvas and am going to explore this further.

At our last Fibervision meeting we had a workshop on Creativity. Brecia Kralovic-Logan discussed several different ways to tap into our individual creativity. This is a tracing of my hand that I decorated during the session. Brecia said to use it as a reminder that I am a one of a kind artist making REAL and one of a kind ART work.

Brecia shared several quotes with us, but this one really got my attention. "Given the chance, that place inside will speak to each of us." Mark Nepo

The workshop finished with a mini fashion show of Brecia's incredible wearables. They are very imaginative, colorful and textural.

Gathering Supplies

This is the third night I have spent gathering supplies for the Sherrill Kahn workshop. It is one of the most extensive lists I have encountered. I'll be amazed if I use half of it!

Of course, we need paint! Lots and Lots of Paint! I have Neopaque, Dynaflow, Setacolor, Textile Paint and Lumiere. Then there are crayons, paint sticks and markers. And then you need a way to apply it. I have sponges, texture squeegees, combs, toothbrushes and of course paintbrushes.

I saved the best for last, a new apron. I saw this and had to have it. I love it. This is going to be fun!!!

ATCs Ready to Trade

Here a some of my ATCs being traded this month. These were started using leftovers from other projects. The green base was made at the same time as my "Spring of Creativity" canvas. It sat around for a couple of weeks until I decided to paint a shirt. I screened several paints and designs onto the shirt, but only the black layer made with the wire whisk managed to make it onto the ATC paper. The design evolved on its own after that. It has texture from gesso and tissue paper and color from acrylic paints, watercolor pencils and pearl ex powder.

Painted Canvas

Several posts ago, I had a small quilt with 3-D flowers and a butterfly. I was searching for an unusual way to mount or frame this small piece. Well, I built up many different layers and textures with paint and gel medium onto the canvas, looking for just the right background. The colors started dark and gradually went pretty bright, then I added a wash over the whole thing to unify it. I like the idea of mounting a fiber piece on canvas and want to make some more. What do you think?