Texture Rubbings

At our latest Fibervision meeting, we did rubbings using all types of items. Some of the items used were rubber bands glued onto cardboard, bamboo table runners, hooked rug backing, stamps, rice, hot glue designs, placemats, paperclips, etc. Crayons, Shiva oil sticks, pastels, dye sticks and charcoal are among some of the materials used to produce the rubbings on either paper or fabric. Some of the rubbings looked great with pastel but didn't show at all in crayon. Some looked great on fabric, but awful on paper.These flowers were printed with a thermofax screen on a light, solid colored fabric. There was too much contrast for my liking, so I added multiple colors in the background, and now I like it a lot better.

I'm afraid I really didn't stick to the rules (nothing new there). In some cases, I layered several textures on each piece, so I don't remember what I used on every piece. I had a bunch of "ugly" pieces of fabric that needed a little something, so I used Shiva oil sticks and dye sticks to add a little texture. I used a commercial rubbing plate for the ginkgo leaves above.

I used plastic crewel canvas to rub a bit of texture here and there on this painted piece. I really like the depth it added.

The Perfect Day

I work late quite often and have many comp hours built up. So, I decided to take the day off today and do whatever I wanted. I didn't do any laundry or dishes; I didn't even make the bed! I spent the morning taking photos and this afternoon I painted a yard of white fabric I found when I cleaned my studio. Then I met with my ATC group and exchanged some great cards. Mike and I went to the beach and ate dinner. It was a perfect ending to The Perfect Day.

My next post will have photos of the fabric and cards.

Terri, from Stegart asked for a closer look at the flower quilt on my design wall. It isn't quite finished, but is very close. When I started this drawing, I was thinking of how nature appears to a small bug on the ground.

The background fabric was painted very lightly with dye-na-flow, then the flowers were painted using dye sticks and water soluble crayons. The background texture was created by rubbing dye sticks across the fabric with plastic canvas underneath. The bee and butterfly were embroidered on my Viking.

Friendship Mandala

I recently joined a Yahoo Group to discuss and explore the book The Artist's Muse by Betsy Dillard Stroud. Sue B and Joanna are the moderators of this talented group.
While everyone was waiting for their book to be arrive, we were given some general guidelines to use in creating our personal mandala. Generally mandalas contain a lot of symbolism and meaning to the maker.
We each chose a subject and explored our personal symbols and the meaning of colors to express our topic. My mandala, below, is based on friendship.

I am the small blue (loyal) circle in the center surrounded by the friendly (orange) circle. The pink (loving) open hands are a sign of welcoming. My friends are represented by the blue (loyal) stylized figures in the outer circle. The quilted spirals represent femininity and fertility. The yellow (happy) circles symbolize infinity, eternity. I have used circles in my artwork for many years, so the circular mandala was a very comfortable shape for me to work with. However, packing so much meaning into every section was quite the challenge.
I started with a bluish-yellow piece of hand-painted fabric for the background. I cut the hands out of organza with a hot pen tool which fused the edges. I laid them out to determine how large the circle needed to be. I then made a stencil out of freezer paper for the stylized figures. I used dye sticks throughout the piece. The red and yellow circles on the outside edge were made using tissue paper that releases its dye when wet.
The final piece was quilted. It measures 17" square.

You can view all the mandalas at http://webpages.charter.net/sbleiweiss/muse/mandalas.htm