28 March 2019

Latest big piece - Horizon 9

 I have been working on this landscape series over the last 3 or 4 years. I made many horizons and foregrounds and did about as much as I could do with them. I am having a one woman show in April and wanted a second large piece to sort of anchor the small pieces. This is the other large piece which interestingly enough is Horizon 1 which has gone unsold for years. I love this piece and it is hanging in my living room.


The second piece is made up of these two parts, one batik and the other deconstructed silk screen like Horizon 1.


It looked a bit somber and the two pieces were like puzzle pieces which were just a bit off. I needed to make a segue piece and I started looking through my LWI purple pieces. I laid them out to see which color would be the unifying piece to pull this together.




I had a third darker color but I discarded that one right away. I saw a solid color would not do the trick so I then planned on using paint and thermofax screens I created myself for this series. I used an olive color for the grasses, then went over them again with a olive bronze metallic. On one I added dark olive cattails.


 I accidentally picked up the discarded (darkest) piece and printed that too. here they are taped to the wall drying



This one has one layer of grasses and the added cattails.



Next post you can see the finished piece framed.




25 March 2019

Spirit doll

I made this because I was procrastinating making the big piece I'll show you next post. I had started this doll during last years "Spirit Doll Workshop" but just to demonstrate "how -to". I never intended to make a doll. Anyway. I found it somewhere and thought I could kill some time instead of doing what I was supposed to do because I was at a point where I had to make a decision and my brain froze. Well, after much procrastination time, here she is.


Her head is air-dry clay and she has a fabric bead for a neck. Her body is made from chop sticks wrapped and glued. I paint inside her mouth is red brown and her eyes are black.


I cut 1/2 strips of quilt batting and wrapped it around her body and actually used a glue stick to hold the ends in place. Glue sticks are cool.


Her dress is made from a sample of acid dyed silk I experimented with before making silk curtains. I used foil beads as an embellishment which are actually holding her scarf in place. Her belt is metallic threads that match her fabric bead hands.



And just in case you were wondering, I am writing this post because I am procrastinating finishing that big piece. OK, I'm finishing it now....


21 March 2019

New online class

I am taking a free online class from Strathmore called Realistic Drawing with Charcoal. Anyone can sign up and even if it isn't something you are really interested in, you never fail to learn at least ONE thing. The first workshop shop was about the "tools". I sent away for Derwent charcoal pencils and the cool Tombow erasers. I also have a Derwent electric eraser which I have had for years.


These were a nice selection


These are the Tombow REALLY small erasers.


This is my electric eraser.


These are the practice marks with round erasures. Looking forward to the second workshop tomorrow. You should at least check out these workshops. I have been taking them for years an I love them - and it free!!!!

18 March 2019

MidSummer Maine 2019



This year we will be make cloth books assembled as either hinged, concertina, scroll or banner. I've just had enough time to make one sample for the website but I will be making an entire book for a sample of what can be made. I'll put it on the blog and Maine Coast Surface Design Workshops website as soon as it's finished.



This is on a linen base with a silk chiffon vintage hankie over watercolor painted scrim and newspaper. It is free motion sketched with wildflowers with hand stitched details in wool thread and the stems are colored with Inktense pencils. I am looking forward to making more.


14 March 2019

A Wedding Gift



My really good friend is getting married and I offered to make the "Vow Books" and the "Guest Book". The colors in the wedding are navy and white with a bit of silver and touch of green. I made some scrapped painted paper and some with a bit of a swirl. She liked both. The small vows book is 6 X 4.5 and the guest book is my usual coptic bound book 6 X 9. I made the vows books as pamphlet style tied in Royal blue and metallic silver and the guest book is stitched with my own hand dyed thread in medium blue.





Pamphlet signatures just 6 pages


Guest book has 8 signatures for 128 pages


Covers and thread



11 March 2019

Announcing the 2019 Season of Maine Coast Surface Design Workshop


I was in the process of creating a brochure of all the workshops happening this year when I accidentally deleted the website. Oops! Fortunately I was able to build a new one with a new URL, send the brochure off to the printer and create new business cards with the new URL. Take a peak! The workshops are located here. If you are in the area or ever wanted to visit the breathtaking coast of Maine, this is your opportunity.


07 March 2019

Tiny landscape


This is a landscape I made from an idea I put in my sketchbook.



I used walnut ink to color the linen for the ground and I painted the rayon sky with watercolors.


I free motion sketched the tree trunk and horizon


Then hand stitched the leaves. They may not appear small but this entire piece is 3.5 X 5.5 inches. Initially the loose threads looked like roots but now they just look messy. Also I thought the ground needed more SOMETHING  so I tried out "stitches" with it under an acetate sheet.

 no
 meh
 no


yes



All of my recent work is on sale on my website.
Check it out!!


04 March 2019

Another New Workshop


Paste Paper







Votive holder


Making paste paper



Paste paper box



Paste paper for book covers




The workshop after this one will be book construction