Abstract Painting

I've been adding more layers of oil paint and Dorland Wax to these pressboard pieces. You can see my last post here. Unfortunately, I haven't been good about taking photos of all the layers, but there have been 3-4 sessions on most of these.

What can I say . . .  this is a lot of fun. If you like to paint, you should give this a go. You can just keep mixing paint, adding layers and scraping lines away. You never know what's going to be revealed from the layers below and I think not knowing is half the fun.

If you go to the link above, the 3rd photo, which is pink and green, is the base for the piece above. Hard to believe, isn't it? It's undergone some changes.

 I think this one may be my favorite.

This reminds me of the sunset photo that I took of Campus Point a few posts ago. I wasn't planning to make a landscape, it just happened.

 If you go to the link above, this is the 2nd photo shown. I think it could use some more work.

These three pieces were made using a base of fabric paper. I used a mixture of oil paint and Dorland Wax on top of the fabric paper.

 I tried scraping into the layers but it just wasn't working so well. I ripped areas of the fabric paper away and added more paint. This time I laid it on thick with a palette knife.

This worked better and I was able to scrape through the layers a little, but it was still difficult. These pieces have a lot more texture, but less line. I guess it just depends on what you like.

A couple of them could use another layer, but I would say I'm finished with most of them. It'll take about 3 weeks for the wax to fully cure, then I'll frame the ones I like. All of them were painted on 5 x 7" pieces of pressboard. The pressboard worked great because it is really sturdy and can withstand all the poking and scraping. Stretched canvas won't survive.

Digital Collage

Digital collage is the perfect way to combine mediums. You can create your image entirely on the computer OR you can dye or paint the background then put it through the printer to add the final digital image OR you can print the digital image on the fabric and then add to it afterwards with screen-printing or stamps. There is no right or wrong way and it's fun to try them all to see what you like best.

I love photography and I take a lot of photos. See me in the shadow?

One of the best things about digital photography is the trash can. You can take a zillion photos and if they don't work out the way you planned, delete them. I think a lot can be learned by trial and error and I never shy away from an experiment; sometimes the experiment yields the best result.

I've always been intrigued by the branching structure of trees. Once the trees lose their leaves I grab my camera and start taking photos. I really love the lines and shapes created by the branches but I thought it had potential for something even better.

This is how the photo looked straight out of the camera. Yes, the sky really is that blue. We are having record breaking warm winter in southern California and could use a lot of rain.

This is what the branches looked like once I converted the image to black & white and removed the background. There are several ways to remove the background, but I like to use the magic wand and the background eraser.

Here are the branches inserted onto two different backgrounds. Both are lightened photos of my hand dyed fabric. Doesn't the branch look much better on beautiful background?

I've been playing around with several ideas of how I could incorporate line into my work and this type of exercise is helping me sort though my thoughts.

Final Question: Is this a photo of something that exists in the natural world OR is it a photo of fabric that has been painted, dyed and/or manipulated in some way?

Silk Scarves

I hope everyone is enjoying some relaxing times with family and friends. All three of our grown kids are here and we really enjoy having them all together. We've been playing a lot of cards, ping pong, bananagrams and going for walks on the beach. I was quite surprised to find ten pieces of beach glass the other day. The high surf must be responsible for churning it up because it's usually hard to find.

Here are two hand dyed silk scarves that I recently finished. If you're interested in purchasing one, email me or click here to go to my Etsy shop.

Silk Crepe de Chine-SC3 (red, green, yellow, blue purple)

Silk Crepe de Chine-SC10 (blue, fuchsia, yellow, green)

Scrappy Rag Quilt

I've been trying to finish up projects that have been hanging around my studio way too long. This one is for my grand niece, Julia. When she was five years old, I made her a flannel rag quilt with raveled seams. Now that she is nine, she informed me that it was too small for her. I told her to pick out the flannel she liked from my stash and I would make her another quilt. Of course, she loved all the fabric, so she is getting another scrappy quilt. She spent quite a bit of time arranging the squares.

I labeled everything so that it would go together exactly as she envisioned and now I'm sewing it all together. This may be larger than anything I've ever finished. Did you notice I used the word finished?

If you are a book lover and appreciate great photography, you should check out this book. It really is one of the most spectacular books I've seen in a long time.

This is one of the many photos from the book. It looks like one of my hand dyed fabrics. Every page is filled with amazing images and great information about the world.

I won one of the gift baskets at the guild Christmas raffle. It had a lot of fat quarters, a pattern, book and a yo-yo maker. Most of it doesn't match my style so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

Knitting Projects

Yay! I finished my Russian Wedding Band Cowl, however, mine has two loops instead of three like the pattern suggests. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The loopy yarn adds a lot of interest.

The knitting group I meet with once a month is called "Loose Threads". I really joined the group because I like the women, not because I liked to knit. I used to bring a variety of things to work on, but the last few months I've become addicted on knitting. They are so talented and make such beautiful items . . . I want to make them too. Lucky for me, they are really patient and willing to share.

Katie taught me how to knit short rows so I could make this helix scarf. I tried to flatten the scarf out a bit  to show how it ruffles on each side of the center spine. I'm using a 75% Supersocke 100 wool and #3 needles. It'll probably take me 6 months to finish the scarf but I'm sure I'll love it when it's finished.

Here's a close up showing how the scarf naturally twists. Aren't the colors gorgeous?

Fantastic Sunset

After a really cold week and several nights of frost, mother nature delivered some warm weather and a beautiful sunset.

 I'm taking these photos from the pier in Goleta Beach. Campus Point is the whole area of land that extends into the ocean in the background. That is where the campus of UCSB is located. It's a great location for a college. Whenever I see clouds like this, I know it's going to be a great sunset.

The colors gradually begin to shift, but within five minutes, the change is dramatic.

I took this photo after the sun had completely set using a long exposure.

 It was completely dark when I shot this photo of the campus lights. It's a fun little experiment that I continue to play with whenever I have my camera with me after it gets dark.

SB Art Association Exhibit

I'm happy to announce that I was recently juried into the Santa Barbara Art Association. My first exhibit with them is taking place during the month of December at the Santa Barbara Library in all three galleries.
There are over 300 members in the association and there are plenty of mixed media artists, but as far as I know, there aren't any other fiber artists like me. That could be good or bad, I'm not sure . . . time will tell. The three pieces shown below are on exhibit now through December 30, 2013. Stop by and see the show if you're in town.

Winter Wonderland, 13 x 20"

Swept Away, 11x 14"

Looking Up, 30 x 34"

Looking Up is one of my latest pieces to be completed. The inspiration for this piece was the skylights in the Santa Clarita convention center. I was fascinated with the structure and took a lot of photographs.  I manipulated the photos in Photoshop until I was pleased with the colors and composition and then printed them onto fabric. Then I took it one step further and made my own interpretation of the structure using my hand dyed fabric. A second top in the series is completed and is waiting to be quilted.

Where did November Go?

I can't believe how quick the time is flying by. As I get older, the time between Halloween and Christmas seems to get shorter every year. Of course, it was quite the opposite when I was a child. I'm sure it was the same for you too.

This year, I was really fortunate to have a wonderful group of friends and family at my home for Thanksgiving. I hope that all of you also had a lovely day. It's been an amazing year for me both creatively and physically. Regaining my vision was life changing. After the surgery, I made a major change in my life. I began eating healthy and exercising A LOT. It was not easy. . . every muscle in my body screamed loud and often. But, I've lost 50 pounds and I feel so much better. I'm really grateful that I was able to dig deep and find the strength to stick with it. If you're going though this and need some encouragement, let me know. I'll be your #1 fan.

Here's a little quilt that I started quite a while ago in a workshop with Esterita Austin. My sister-in-law saw it in my studio and fell in love with it, so I finished it for her.

This is the back view, showing the quilting through the top and batting. Once it was quilted, I added a backing using the pillowcase technique.

Here's the front of the quilt. I added the shadows in the doorway using 2 colors of tulle. I think the finished size is around 20 x 22".

A good friend hasn't been feeling well lately, so we gifted her with a pretty scarf from Houston. Of course, I had to have some fun decorating the gift bag. 

I screen-printed both designs onto the bag using the water soluble crayons, extender and the screens shown. The screen of the wild child is a thermofax and the random shape screen was made using a sheer curtain and blue glue as a resist. Surprisingly, these screens will last for several printing sessions if you clean them using cold water.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to share.

Houston Quilt Show Report

I had a great time in Houston and met a lot of really nice people. Some were already online friends, but most were previously unknown. It's wonderful how a common interest can bring such different personalities together. It doesn't matter if you make traditional quilts, modern quilts, or art quilts . . . it's enough of a connection to start a conversation and a potential friendship.

Andi took a photo of me with my quilt, Inside Out: Hormones. It didn't win a ribbon but it was accepted into the show which is an honor in itself. It's always interesting to see what quilts received ribbons. Sometimes you totally agree with their choice and other times you can't figure out what they were thinking.

Overall, it was a great show and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I tried to see all of the quilts, but I know I didn't. The set-up was a maze and I never really quite figured it out. The quilts I did see were amazing though. The grand prize winning quilt, Chihuly's Gondola by Melissa Sobotka was gorgeous but it was difficult to see the details because they had barriers set up that kept you three feet away. Melissa said she used tsukineko ink and a lot of reverse applique.

My quilt above has some reverse applique and the class I took with Ann Johnston was on reverse applique. It's a great technique and I'm pretty sure I'll be using it quite a bit more in the future. Here are two of the blocks in progress from the class.

More layers can still be added or subtracted as desired. A third block was sewn, but not cut into at all yet. I think we got a lot accomplished in one day.

Then there are the vendors . . . something like 700 of them!

Honestly, I already own enough products to open my own store, but that never stopped me from finding something to buy. For the most part, my purchases were practical but very specific: applique scissors, chalk marker, self threading needles, awl, shibori book, misty fuse, HQ ruler, Glide thread. I only bought one yard of fabric but it's gorgeous,  Japanese, and it was the last yard. The most unusual thing I purchased is a resin product called Little Windows. I haven't tried it yet but it looks like it will be fun.

It's nice to travel but I love coming home. Quilt shows always get me fired up. I'm working on several projects at the same time. I'll take some in progress photos for the next post.

Countdown to Houston

In a few days I'll be flying to Houston to attend the quilt show. Andi and I will be there for several days, so we should have plenty of time to see the whole show and all the exhibits. I will be a volunteer in the SAQA booth on Saturday from 12:00-2:00. If you're at the show, I would love to meet you.

I'm taking a one day "Beyond Piecing" class with Ann Johnston. I rarely use solid fabric and actually had to dye fabric for this class. All the colors look nice together, we'll see what happens when all those solids are put together in one piece. I brought a couple of hand dyed fabrics with lots of pattern and colors . . . just in case I'm allowed to stretch the rules a bit!

See the red case on the right side? That is what I'm using to carry all of my tools for the class. It's really lightweight and fits everything except the extra large rotary cutter and scissors. I generally keep it stocked with embroidery thread and beads so I always have a supply ready to take with me. 

When the case is opened flat, it has four separate zippered compartments. It's made by Laura Ashley and is probably meant to be a cosmetic case. I've been using this case for approximately 8 years and it's still in great condition.

I've added some hand dyed silk scarves to my Etsy shop. Click HERE if you want to see them.

Marimekko Fabric

Here it is . . . Merimekko Fabric, all washed, dried and ready to be rolled for storage on my fabric wall.

 Each photo shows about a fat quarter yard of fabric.

 The original price for Marimekko fabric is $45.00 per yard, but once it hits the Crate and Barrel Outlet, the price is reduced to $5.95. The clerk told me that they use this fabric in the store displays, but the only tell tale sign was one staple.

The fabric is really thick and extra wide. I'll probably use these for quilt backs because the extra weight will really make my quilts hang straight.

The red and green fabric are actually the same design, but the red shows the design towards the edge and the green shows the design towards the inside.

I'm not sure if you can buy it in all of their outlet stores, but I know there is plenty available in Calabasas, CA.

San Diego Fun

San Diego is a fun city with a variety of things to do. In a few days I managed to visit the Contemporary Art Museum and saw a very interesting beaded color field exhibit by Liza Lou, Gaslamp District, Little Italy, Old Town, and Balboa Park. I also stopped at Crate and Barrel outlet store and bought a 8 yards of Marimekko fabric.

I spent a day exploring Balboa Park and some of the museums and the IMAX theater.

This was the view I saw as I walked into the park.

The architecture was truly impressive. I spent half of the day looking up.

I got some nice photos of the lily pond and gigantic koi.

 This huge sculpture of a dragon is located outside of the Mingei Museum. It's constructed with concrete and covered with tile and marbles. They allow visitors to climb on it. Quite surprising.

This is Spanish Village Arts Center. It has 30 or 40 talented artists with little studios throughout. It's a very charming area.

 Another stop was Old Town. They are definitely getting ready for the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on November 2nd.

 There were plenty of skeletons everywhere I went. They are quite beautiful with very elaborate costumes.

These two had a whole story line and wedding in progress.