daily drawing

'Piano Jazz'; Pigma pen and prismacolor pencil in 5x7 Moleskine

'Yellow Organdy'; Pigma pen and prismacolor pencil in 5x7 Moleskine

Winter Walk and New Explorations

Over the weekend 24 inches of new snow have transformed our island from fall to winter.  The beach - cleared of snow by the tide - makes for the easiest walking before it gets too dark in the late afternoon.

In the morning, I walk to Falls Creek.  Standing on the bridge, the stillness is profound, broken only by the creek's whispering as it rushes toward the falls into the Wrangell Narrows.

Flossy breads herself in snow.  She is impervious to the cold with her double coat of fur.

At the studio I feel the influence of the grey winter days...

'South Mitkof' procion dye on cotton with machine stitching, textile paint and beads

...and experiment with textile paints, building up layers on cotton and linen with stamping.

detail - work in progress

Thanks to those of you who have recently posted about following your intuition to do what you WANT to do rather than what your internal Judge tells you you SHOULD do in the studio.  Very helpful to feel validation for honoring my open-ended explorations.  Everything does not always have to serve an immediate goal or purpose.  Ramble on  - the process is its own reward!

Scene Recently, #19

A small stream as recently seen through the lens of photoshop elements:

Thank you, Kris and Deb, the Pixeladies, for the great classes which have given me FUN new tools to manipulate images.  I plan to eventually use these for printing on cloth.

Happy thanksgiving to all!

(gratitude is one of the Holy Emotions, i think)

stencils

I made some new stencils last week using the method Jane Dunnewold taught us at Art Quilt Tahoe. 

 

Two new additions to my tool box... 

Hanging with Felt

I was excited to get going on new explorations in my studio this week but had a project to complete first – mounting the larger pieces for my exhibit which opens a week from today.  Jane Dunnewold has developed a very clean method of hanging her fiber art  which I gladly adapted for my own situation.  (Look for the tutorial about attaching aluminum bars).

 

For each completed painting I cut a piece of Eco felt and two pieces of Misty Fuse 4” x the width of the piece.

Using a Teflon protector sheet, I ironed one of the Misty Fuse pieces to the top back of my art and the other to the felt.  

Next I carefully bonded the felt to the back of the painting, pressing with my iron on the right side of the artwork first and then again from the felt side.  I used my Teflon protector sheet where I had textile paint or other surface design applied over the dye painted cloth.

 Next, I cut strips of wood lath the width of the felt...

 drilled hanging holes...

 and applied Velcor ‘teeth’ along the entire length.  

'Life at 30,000 Feet' approx 17"x 20"; procion and oil stick on cotton with machine stitching

The Velcro grabs the felt and holds the piece securely on the wall.  Very cool!

 

There was time enough left in the day to make an inventory of all my rubber stamps and reorganize them into categories for easier finding in my drawer.  They look happier, and very inviting all squared away!

happy stamp drawer!

Beatrice Coron

While sifting through thoughts about creativity yesterday, I came across this mesmerizing talk by Beatrice Coron.  Enjoy it with a cup of something when you have time to sit with a pet on your lap.

Daily Drawing

Here are a few of the latest from my Moleskine.  All are prisma color pencil and pigma pen, straight out of my head to yours.

Off to the Mighty Mighty Day Job... Have a good week, All.