Making Bugs

I took a flight of fancy in the studio last week and made a set of creatures for the upcoming Rainforest Festival art show.

Making Tyvek beads is a blast and I knew that this technique would make dandy bug bodies if I cut the Tyvek strips wider.  I included Angelina Fiber and left-over thread scraps in the twist.

The day before, I made wing material by Gelliprinting on Pellon stiffener, to which I fused Angelina fibers.

Here is the green body after being heat-gunned; wing material for the green bug is in the background.

A roll of very fine brass wire has been laying around my studio for years and proved exactly the thing for wiring on the bug heads and forming the antennae.

The green bug head.

Another old spool of wire was the perfect gauge for legs. 

I just twisted the leg wire around the bodies.

When the bugs were completely assembled, I hot-glued on their wings.

The Rainforest Festival art show hangs at the Clausen Museum here in town from August 31 through September 9 with an opening reception during September's First Friday art walk.

Tyvek Beads in Denver

One more post from Denver, although as I write I am in the Seattle airport on the final leg of my journey back home.  My Mom, Dad and I shared so many fun times.  How grateful I am that we all survived my troublemaker younger years – couldn’t have without their unconditional love.

acrylic on Tyvek envelop

 Making beads of acrylic-painted Tyvek is a lovely addiction we indulged in one cool, breezy morning.  We cut apart Tyvek envelops, painted them with a combination of acrylic paint and Lumiere fabric paints... 

 ...cut the dried paintings into long, narrow strips and then...

 

... twisted the strips around a bamboo skewer.  Some we wrapped with embroidery thread.  The twisted strips were then zapped delicately with a heat gun (ventilation, please).  Push the melted twist off the skewer and the result is a wonderful bead.  

Bet you can't stop with one!

Thanks again to you, Razt and Dad,  for all the love in Denver!

Tyvek, continued

This morning I dragged my big Tyvek square upstairs to the top floor of the building that houses my studio so I could lay it out on the floor and do the next step.

I checked out a book about origami from the library...

...and followed the directions...

 

...very carefully...

...until I had a giant origami crane.  Now for the tricky bit: turning it into wearable art!

Tyvek, Painting, and Drawing

The busy harbor drew me out for a noon walk.  It was all blue and silver out there, a contrast from the colors I was working with in my studio.

crab gear

I am working on my piece for the local wearable art show coming up next month.  Last week I made a scale model.  Today I started painting the real thing, a very large piece of Tyvek.

Tyvek is used as a vapor barrier in house construction, but it makes a dandy painting surface.

I started with primer over the branding.

The paint is acrylic enamel  - I will be covering both sides.  Got this side completed today

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Waiting for the paint to dry on the Tyvek gave me time to carry on with a couple of new smaller paintings I started last week.  Here's a look at one when I stopped for the day.

A professor I learned much from used to say 'painting is novel, drawing is journal.  I think about that a lot, since my drawings are so different from my paintings.  My goal with this series is to bring more of my drawing-sense into my paintings.

Do you have a distinctly different style from drawing to painting?

Flossy, the Ravens and Using Tyvek Beads

Flossy had an interesting encounter with a flock of a half-dozen ravens up the 40,000 Road.  The birds followed us for quite a distance, swooping down over Flossy, landing several feet away and then launching themselves into the trees on either side of the road.  I was not quick-thinking enough to make a video but did get one pretty good still shot of the game.

I thought you might also like to see what I have done with some of my Tyvek beads.  I plan to market these little wearable bags at the Octoberfest Artshare coming up in a couple weeks here in town.  The bags are made with scraps of my hand-painted and dyed fabrics, finished off with the beads and a necklace-length leather cord.  They are the right size to hold credit card/driver's license or cell phone/I-pod.

 

Off to the studio in the morning! 

Playing with Tyvek

My friend Belinda joined me in the studio for a session playing with acrylic paint, Tyvek, and my heat gun.  We twisted up lots of beads using up scraps of fiber I had left over from other projects.  We had so much fun neither of us wanted to quit - positively addictive!

My new stash

 Close up, you can see some of the textures we achieved with the scrap ribbons, yarns, and such.

After the morning's fun, I took a little break and walked through the harbor.  The 'Deer Harbor II' had a collection of lines on her stern which caught my eye.

Later that afternoon I saw these leaves on the path to the library, blown down by the gale force winds we've been enduring.

The house across the slough from my studio had these glass vessels basking in the wan October sun - so pretty.