Surface Design Techniques | Crazy for Fiber

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Archive for the ‘Surface Design Techniques’ Category

Winding Down

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

This is a photo of the spider sculpture on the front lawn of the Kemper Art Museum. One day, I caught this squirrel hanging out on the spider.

Most every one has departed from Kansas City. We have one week of post-conference workshops that start tomorrow. I will get latecomers checked in tomorrow morning. After that, I am taking Digital Photography for Textile Artists — a one day workshop. I will be packing up and heading home on Wednesday.

This morning, I heard a lecture by Jerry Bleem about Unconscious Advice for the Self-Conscious. His premise was that we often enter our studios with goals: the next show, the next sale, success. He asked us to see what we might learn from artists who ignore career, market and style. He proceeded to entertain us with the wonderful world of the self-taught and the visionary as he entertained us with slides of outsider artists. This is something that I often think about. Just doing the art for the sake of doing the art can be very fulfilling.

Next, I enjoyed a demo of Using Soy Wax Three Ways, by Jane Dunnewold.

The three ways are stamping, folding and dipping and stenciling. Here is a piece with dye brushed on after stamping with a stamp cut from a sponge.

This is a piece that was dyed, soy waxed, discharged and then printed with a screen to get a very complex surface.

I added some more photos of the wearable art to my Flickr.

Tomorrow is June 1 and the reveal of the latest Twelve X 12 reveal. The challenge was identity. Be sure to go over and see what we have done.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, Outsider art, Soy Wax Batik, Surface Design Association, Surface Design Techniques | Comments Off on Winding Down

Follow a Line

Monday, May 25th, 2009

. . . to Tell a Story is the name of the workshop with Alice Kettle. What a fabulous morning I had. My first reaction was sheer panic because she had given us a pile of papers and journals and told us to get out our drawing materials. She had placed still lifes in the center of all the tables and told us to draw, paying attention to the weight and thickness of lines.

We then cut tracing paper into 4 pieces and drew individual design elements that we saw in the still life. Next, to my relief, we cut our larger drawings into post card size pieces. Using those as a base, we cut and collaged our drawings on tissue paper to make little compositions.

Here is work from the class on the wall. I didn’t get a photo of mine.

Our next task was to make collages using fancy papers and something called sugar paper on which we had drawn lines. We also drew lines of different weights on tracing paper, cut it in fourths and then did things like crumpling, folding, pleating. All of these things were used to make more colorful collages. Here is my assemblage.

The next project was to pin various papers, old photos, maps, etc to a length of vilene (British stitch and tear). We then stitched the pieces to the vilene, so that everything was fastened down.

This was then cut into many little pieces.

We glued these little compositions into a small journal that was provided.

This was so much fun.

Then it was time for lunch. At lunch, I found out that a very special person in my life had passed. I lived with Marjorie and her family when I was in high school and took care of the children and cooked meals while she taught piano lessons. She had an incredible impact on my life and I would not have gone to college had it not been for her influence.

This greatly influenced my afternoon as I was a little weepy, knowing that it would not be possible for me to leave here to go to her funeral. I did talk to her oldest son tonight and he has asked me to write something to be read at her funeral and this makes me feel that I will be there in a way.

This afternoon we started drawing lines with the sewing machine. I didn’t take any photos, too distracted. We were to pay attention to the lines we had drawn with pen and charcoal as we stitched on fabric. We will be making more compositions which will go into a larger journal.

All things considered, it was a good day.

Posted in Surface Design Association, Surface Design Techniques, workshop | 9 Comments »

Meeting My Deadlines

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

I am looking forward to a week of kicking back and catching up with my self. I have been on the run since we came back from the desert. I am beginning to feel a little cranky. But, I have to remember that I am doing what I want to do . No one is holding a gun to my head!!!

The binding on the piece for Fiber Art for a Cause is almost finished. Tomorrow, in the daylight, I will take a final photo for Virginia. I took it to STASH today and everyone said it looks so different than it does on the web. It really is a very rich piece with some lovely vintage Japanese fabrics. Thanks to Dee, it has a proper title: Noshi Ribbons.

Tonight, I finished my piece for the SDA Off the Grid conference member’s show.

I have had the base fabric for some time. It was a brown fabric with orange in the mix that I discharged with torn masking tape resist. I added turquoise dye to the discharge paste. That orange glow always looked like a sunset through a fence. I added the other fabrics to the mix and call it Sunset Composition. I also added some hand-dyed Perle cotton to the mix. I need to sew a hanging sleeve to the back and get it ready for shipping before I leave for Eugene tomorrow.

Posted in My creations, Surface Design Techniques | 6 Comments »

Catch Up Day

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Today, I accomplished a lot of things that had been hanging out there, just bugging me. I am coming up on a few days which could bring utter chaos to my life — the finishing and hanging of my show and the launching of registration for the Surface Design Off the Grid conference, for which I am the registrar. I am turning the dining room into the registrar’s office so that Mr C can go back to the basement and finish what he had started when I kicked him out!! I have to get copies of letters and supply lists done, buy stamps and envelopes and start the online data entry. Whew!

I made a thermofax from a pdf that Kristin sent me and got it shipped to her. I also whipped up this little gilded pear wall hanging to go into another mailing.

I am one of the invited artists for Virginia Speigel’s Reverse Auction for Fiberarts for a Cause. Because of my show, I could not get a quilt done so I am giving one of my hand-dyed, discharged and foiled scarves. I had a couple of scarves with the discharged circles. For this one, I made a thermofax screen of x’s. I screened the foiling glue onto the scarf:

Then, I ironed on copper foil. I call this the hugs and kisses scarf!

Would you bid on this?

Here is a sneak peek at my next project, which is a wall of Palestinian graffiti and art from photos taken in the West Bank.

Tonight, Mr C and I went to see a really good film — Doubt. It was perfectly cast. All of the actors were superb and gave this film validity. It is not a feel good film. It has some funny moments, mainly provided by the character played by the fabulous Amy Adams.

Posted in art auctions, Solo Show, Surface Design Techniques, thermofax | 5 Comments »

Hurry Up and Wait

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

Today, Mr C and I ventured out in the Jeep with 4 wheel drive to get lots of errands done before the next storm arrives. I had a coupon for 40% off at Paper Zone and they had 30% off all holiday stuff. We got Christmas cards, mailing envelopes for Christmas presents (everyone is getting a copy of Stephanie’s Book!!), ledger size card stock for journal pages for my show and wrapping paper and ribbon. Mr C needed something from the hardware store, and I needed to pick up some more food to get us through the next few days. We had yummy roasted salmon and potatoes with broccoli for dinner – mmmm good. We are ready for the next storm due to arrive in the morning. It is still in the 20s so it will mean more ice and slip sliding. The main roads are pretty clear, but the side streets and neighborhood streets are sheets of ice.

I have finished What If? I also thought I could call it No Road to the Inn.

I decided it needed some sheep!

I made a stencil for the star and stenciled some foiling glue. Then I ironed on silver foil.

I have enjoyed working on this piece probably because it fits the season so nicely.

Today was a day for out with the old and in with the new. Last night the UPS guys delivered several large packages. I had ordered a new Cuisinart with my Amex points. They were on special. So out with the really old and in with the streamlined new. Ha, the new one has a funny face – see it?

We have had these lights on the front porch:

Mr C found these lights on line. Four of these arrived – 2 for the porch and 2 for the garage. Aren’t they much more fitting for our 50s house?

Mr C is getting cabin fever so he installed the lights even though it was freezing. He kept running back into the house to warm his hands! I am going to get him busy making hanging rods for my quilts, very soon.

I have noticed that a lot of the blogs I read have received a “Kreativ Blogger award”. (I guess the spelling is creative!) What do you think makes a blog creative — the writing, the photos, the work done by the blogger or a combination. I love some blogs for their photography – ie: 3191 and Jane Dunnewald. I love some for their thoughtful writing about art— ie: Elizabeth Barton and Jeanne Williamson. I love some for their ability to communicate with me about their lives, from the mundane to the special — ie: my good friends Terry and Kristin. I love some for their humor — my friend Dee and From Down the Well. And some for their gorgeous work— ie: Constance Rose and Joanie San Chirico. Those are my creative blog awards for tonight.

Posted in Blog Awards, Solo Show, Stuff I Buy, Surface Design Techniques, This and that | 7 Comments »

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