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.

Making Swatches

The bundles we over-dyed Tuesday were ready for the first layer of stamping when we got to class on Wednesday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

Jane provided some great exercises to facilitate our swatch-making:

Tone on tone with a registered repeat stamped over the entire cloth...

Registered repeat in a complimentary color...

and scattered design elements using both tone on tone and complimentary colors. We also covered a silk screen and some cloth with flour-and-water paste resist.

I did my first successful silk screening with Jane’s encouragement and help.  I was ELATED to find that I love this process of getting an image on cloth, and feel so grateful to have overcome my fear!

Other processes we learned included glue resists, foiling and gold leafing, freezer paper screening, and working with Thermafax screens.

At the end of the day today, our last, we all hung some of our completed – or nearly completed – work on the wall.  This is but a small sample of the terrific work that was produced by our class over the four days.

Art Quilt Tahoe was a truly wonderful experience all around, mentally, spiritually and physically.  What I learned here is going to take my work to whole new places.  Thank you to Jane Dunnewold, and all the great women I met during this memorable week. 

 Cat in her workshop, hard at it.