Still working away

I have continued to play with my screen printed fabrics making more In the Woods pieces. I am doing these while I work on images for urban landscapes.

So here is the largest to date, it is about 36 x 46 or somewhere in there. I will stitch it. It has been fused to canvas and I really like the way these pieces do without quilting and a batting. I stitch all the edges down but only through the canvas. I think I will just do a zig zag stitch around them to secure the edges.

And this one is slightly smaller, about half the size of the previous one. It really is squared off but I can't seem to take a picture right on and avoid that barrel effect. Oh well. It is in need of stitching also which I will start shortly. I now have three of these larger ones done. Perhaps they will end up in my show in May.
And just for fun, my grandson Jacob with his spare rib which he was enjoying. His friend was with us also and this was the first time his friend had had spareribs...he ate four and I was afraid none of the rest of us would have any.
Not to be outdone, Ashton was quite serious about this rib eating business and was a two fister, not giving up the one he had finished while he worked away on his second one. He was not too happy about having to look up for mom's picture taking...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I went down to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles on Tuesday and took my work. They have taken a bunch to sell in the museum gift shop. And I also went to the exhibit which is contemporary textiles from China. What an eye opener! No single strand embroidery on red silk in this show! Extremely modern and really breath taking with lots of things to think about.

Nine More

I so enjoy doing these small pieces. I start with white cotton, paint the fabric, let it dry and then begin using my silk screens which I have created using my own photographs.

I have spent time taking pictures of lots of trees, converting photos of rocks into texture, seeking textures everywhere I look and then just having more fun playing with them in photoshop to create good images for screen images. I enjoy the process of creating multicolor fabrics with a lot of texture and interest from white cotton. It is good for my soul!

And then the fun of using them is simple little collages. I have finished one that is larger but haven't gotten a picture of it yet.

In the Woods 28

In the Woods 29

In the Woods 30

In the Woods 31

In the Woods 32

In the Woods 33

In the Woods 34

In the Woods 35

In the Woods 36

Seven More

Here are six more to add to my In the Woods series. Again, they are each 5 x 7 inches, mounted in an archival double mat with backing board and are $50 each.

In the Woods 21

In the Woods 22

In the Woods 23

In the Woods 24

In the Woods 25

In the Woods 26

and one last one that is going to Collage Mania:

In the Woods 27

I am also working on a larger piece using the same fabrics. I am enjoying these so much. Hope you are also!

NEWS FLASH!

Misty Fuse, my favorite fusible webbing, now comes in 50 yard bolts that are 36" wide!

Way to go, Iris!

More Than You Want to Know

I received a nice email today from Michele in Ontario who had a number of questions about my process so I thought I would share my response to her...

"The process I use for silk screening is to make the screen with a thermal imager. This is normally called a thermafax screen. I have my own machine, which cost me about $500 a number of years ago. I love it and it has made all the difference in the world for me.

There are a number of services by different quilters who will produce the screen for you at much less than $500! If you ask about who makes the screens on the Quilt Art list, you will get a large response. Also, sometimes there is advertising in the back of the art quilt magazines.

In this case, I used Golden Acrylic open paints. I usually use either textile paint or other acrylics but Golden has come out with a new acrylic that does not dry very fast so I can use it much better with my screens without worrying about it drying and clogging the screen which would make it unuseable. The paint, unlike dye, does sit on top of the fabric. However, since I am making art quilts I am not too worried about the "hand" of the fabric. I even use paint rather heavily sometimes which I feel just adds more texture.

Sometimes I will screen on to fabric that is still damp from painting. When I do this, the paint thins a little and the image is not as crisp but it also goes into the weave of the fabric better.

If you really want to keep the hand of the fabric, then the best way to do this is to use thickened dyes which dye the fabric, by bonding molecules into the fiber itself rather than laying paint down on it. Jane Dunnewold is a great person to learn about this from...she has several books out but you would probably get more from taking one of her classes. She also creates a lot of screens the standard way, with photo emulsion, freezer paper (for temporary ones) and many other methods. She has a book about called Complex Cloth which you might be interested in.

I also stamp fabric, again using textile fabric paint or Golden open acrylics! But again, the paint lays down on the fabric.

When I paint my fabric I am very loosey-goosey about it! Not a lot of planning but lots of fun!"

Judy had a question about what I meant when I said I was ordering mat board and backing board.

The pieces I have shown the past couple of days do not technically qualify as quilts. They have no batting. The painted fabrics has been fused on to canvas and then stitched. They are very flat. For Collage Mania, I have them mounted between a double cut mat board (actually two mats with one just slightly smaller in the opening than the other) and the are mounted on the the bottom mat with linen hinging tape. The tape is archival and holds the piece of art hanging loosely within the opening of the mat board. The edges of the art are behind the cut out window in the mat.

Backing board is just that...an archival 1/8" foam core board cut to size of the mat. Line up the art work, use the linen hinging tape to mount it, leave it free on the bottom, place the mat board with the window cut out over it and then the entire thing is ready for framing. I get frames from a couple of places. I order metal frames from the American Frame Company that has a shadow box type frame which allows you to have space between the art work and the glass or plexiglass. I use plexiglass for work that is being shipped to my gallery. People know how to respond to work that is framed and ready to hang.

I also get frames from Aaron Brothers only when they are on sale at 50% off and then I stock up. They come with glass but frequently, even though I may mount and frame a piece, I don't always use the glass. These frames are wood and I get them in black or brown and are generally gallery style frames...meaning very simple.

I also sometimes stretch cotton duck (black) over stretcher bars that I get in huge amounts from Dick Blick. You can order on line. For 4 x 6 work I mount it on 8 x 10 stretched canvas and then larger pieces are on larget canvases. I have also purchased pre-stretched unprimed canvas from French Canvas (also available on line) but lately they have not had the smaller sizes. I stitch my work to the canvas. I also buy primed stretched canvas from Dick Blick, again when it is on sale, paint it and then mount the work by stitching it on to the painted canvas.

Larger pieces are hung with a rod through a normal sleeve in the back.

I like the way smaller art pieces are presented when either in a frame or mounted on stretched canvas. It just gives them more oomph...

So, back to doing the laundry!

Ten More

Well, I have been busy today and I got 10 more 5 x 7 fabric collages done. I also ordered 50 mats plus backing boards and 50 double mats so I can get these all ready for show or sale. I think I will sell them for $50 each.

In the Woods 11

In the Woods 12

In the Woods 13

In the Woods 14

In the Woods 15

In the Woods 16

In the Woods 17

In the Woods 18

In the Woods 19

In the Woods 20

Now I think I am ready to start doing some that are larger as I need to get work done for my show in May.
This is just a great way to live life!

Michelle

Michelle just commented on my collages and said they didn't look like paper. That is because they are fabric. I have painted and printed on cotton, cut the shapes out and put them on to canvas, have also included upholstry fabrics for texture and then mounted them beneath double archival mat board.

By the way Michelle, give me a way to reach you directly!

Fiber art For a Cause Collage Mania

My week spent in the mountains has been put to good use. I spent a lot of time reflecting about the trees, clouds, branches, etc.

So when I came back I was busy painting fabric and then screen printing it.

I have now completed my 10 collages for Virginia Spiegel's Collage Mania for Fiberart for a Cause.

Of course, the numbers are all backwards but that doesn't matter on the blog. Take a look:

In the Woods 10

In the Woods 9

In the Woods 8

In the Woods 7

In the Woods 6

In the Woods 5

In the Woods 4

In the Woods 3

In the Woods 2

In the Woods 1

I want to keep on doing these as they are fun and I really like what is happening with them. What do you think?

Where Have You Been, Liz?

It has been a little over three weeks since I visited my blog...how on earth did that ever happen?

I have been busy doing my collages which I will get up at some point.

I have been busy proofing the article for Cloth, Paper, Scissors which comes out this next month.

I have been busy painting fabric.

I have been busy screening fabric.

I am about to become busy doing collages for FAFC (Fiber art for a Cause) today.

I have been busy with my students who are taking Advanced Better Art by Design.

Oh, yeah, I also spent a week up at the cabin where I only have dial-up which is incredibly slow so I did not get on the computer much at all during that time. But what was really nice is that I did not do too much of anything. I did not take art supplies with me, I only took a book to finish which I did. I spent time watching the clouds drift by. We had an unseasonably warm time there and our grandsons and their parents came up for a couple of days. It was fun watching them play, poke sticks in the ground, create a tee-pee with Daddy's help, dig up the dirt and watch the back hoe at work.

We had a fire there in December which started at the pumphouse which is right over the well. When everything burned to the ground, the pipe for the water and electrical dropped down into the well which is a six inch pipe. We had to hire someone with a back hoe to come out and did a 15 foot trench so that we could cut off the pipe and reach the electrical and water hose. Then, we had to bring it up 150' to the top. Now that was a lot of work.

This is a picture of my dear husband down in the hole. In the back corner you can barely see the white pipe of the well which is only showing about six inches above ground in the hole.
After Doug and I worked for a couple of hours trying to bring the pump and hosing up, the roofer and his two other men came over and together they pulled up the pump. Our roofer, Vince, is at the top of the hole holding the water line and electrical cords while Doug is down in the bottom, 15 feet down, pulling it up carefully so nothing breaks and falls back down in to the well...


Also, during this time, we had no water. That means no drinking water out of the faucet, no toilet flushing, no shower, no dishwashing water, etc. We had to bring water in in 5 gallon containers and 1 gallon containers. I had sponge bathes, learned to wash all the dishes in 1 gallon of water, finally washed my hair after six days with one gallon of water and flushed the toilet one time per day. But at least we had water from a neighbor so we could drive up with the jugs and refill them.

At the same time the roofer was up and putting on the new roof. That is, when he wasn't helping us bring up the pump!

Anyway, he had boxes of roofing nails that go into the nail gun. The sun was shining on them and they gave off beautiful colors and the coils were too cool so I took a bunch of pictures. I will work them in photoshop and probably come up with an image to use as a silk screen.


Now I have to work on my collages for Virginia....and will upload some more pictures soon.

Continuing Collages and a Time of Joy

There is nothing better than getting a phone call on Saturday morning from a 4 year old grandson saying "Grammie come over right away so we can paint!" So, what did I do? I gathered up the big sheets of paper, grabbed by tempura paint box and got over there. Of course, Jacob was still in his pj's so he had to get dressed in painting clothes. I moved his easel outside to the grass as it was a beautiful day. And why outside? Because to paint one needs to incorporate their entire body in the process. Creating art is a process and I have to stay out of the way of a four year olds process!

So he came out and painted at his easel having a great time mixing all the colors togther on the paper. A page or two of this and then grammie stepped in and showed him the joys of flinging paint. That was a hit! And then, dancing around and painting. That was another hit. By the end of our session together he would run around the easel, jab with the brush as the paper and make his mark, grab some more paint and run around again to repeat this...many, many times. What joy!

But, I thought I would show you some of my collages I have been doing. They are great fun and because they are just for me I put in things that mean something to me but probably aren't evident to anyone else. Then I just try to make a pleasing composition. I am having fun exploring different ways...none of which are anything like the current collages seen in the craft magazines!

Collage 010509

Collage 010609

Collage 010709

Collage 010809

Collage 010909

Well, I am off to finish todays...bye

Plans in the Making

First I will show you my collage for yesterday. I used some beautifully colored solid paper for the orange and dark purple and worked on gesso covered mat board and then painted in the background with a lighter purple paint. What fun I am having!



And, now I will share my big exciting news! Arrangements are being made for me to teach in Switzerland and France in 2010! I can hardly wait! This has come about because I had two Swiss women in my Better Art by Design Class last year and they passed the information about my class on to someone who makes arrangements for teachers in Switzerland.

I now have to come back down to earth and do the mock-ups for the three pieces that I will do for the commission for the county and get those sent in. Then I can start painting and dyeing fabric.

Meanwhile, I just keep making these little collages. Oh yeah, and finishing the facing on the quilt I just quilted and the facing on another that I quilted a while back...getting things done, including the write up for a class in 2010 down in Cambria with Sandy Turner's retreat.

Collages and George

In order to keep myself interested, I am posting two more collages. I am doing these just for myself. Just to please myself. Just for the fun for myself.

Collage 010209

Collage 010309

Yesterday I got down to my studio for the first time since I last cut out pretend clothes for my grandson. During the entire month of December I had not done any of my own work except for work for two magazine articles. One was on fabric and resulted in a number of small fabric quiltlets and the other was in papers and resulted in quite a few collages...these will show up in the next issue of Quilting Arts and then Cloth, Paper, Scissors.

But I had not been able to just do what I wanted to do. I find that any time I am not sure what direction to take, I can always jump start things by making fabric...either by dyeing it or painting it. However, during the winter my studio is almost too cold, even with a heater, to work with wet things.

So, George and I met and had a delicious couple of hours together isolated in the studio with new age music playing. I decided it was time to get the quilting done on a piece that had hung on the wall for some time but I was not happy with it so I cropped it, and then it sat while all the other projects had to get done. So, on with a backing, threaded up George and off we merrily sewed together, making some good quilting. Did that ever feel good.

I also realized that my depression has been lifting...sleeping well at night is really making a big difference, doing my own collages just for myself helps, and then working back with George just made it all the better.

I spent today getting things ready for my Advanced Better Art by Design class...tomorrow it is time to get the class description, supply list and images together for a surface design class I will be teaching at Sandy Turner's retreat in 2010. And then to get some images off to EBHQ where I will be doing a lecture and two classes in a couple of months. Things are looking up...because then I start on the mock ups for the Commission for the county...

Starting the New Year

I am introducing the first piece of art I have created in the new year, 2009, on Jan 1. It is a 7 x 5 collage on mat board. It came about as some friends were over on New Year's eve and close to midnight we were trying to figure out the correct time which raised the question of: "Where does time start?" The obvious answer is Greenwich, England.

But if you think about this some more, just where does time start? Can we actually start time any time we want? We count time for cooking, or doing something, or getting paid. How about starting a new time when we decide to do something new?

I feel as if I have been chasing glory (well, not really glory but really recognition), a hold over from my childhood. Praise was hard to gain in my family. I have tried during my life to be the kind of person my mother wanted me to be, to prove myself to my father, to prove that I was good at my job, to be a good mother, etc., etc.

So, really, what do I have to prove?

When I lost all of my art work and most of my quilts in our house fire in 1995, I realized that things are things. It was the response of friends, and even people I didn't really know, that mattered. And the friends responding more freely than family. Interesting....

There has been discussion on the QuiltArt list about creativity etc. There has always be, at least in the quilting world, those who are process orientated and those who are product oriented. For some, getting the thing done is the most important part...something to show for their time. For others, it is the doing, the creating, that is most important, and once completed, the finished object holds little interest.

I find myself falling into the process side of this equation. I really enjoy the processing, the thought processing, the problem solving, the creating part of art...once done I would like to be done with it.

I think this is why I have been having problems sticking to a plan for my marketing. It is not the joy of creating. I do gain some recognition and I feel that I probably have enough. Good things are happening when my art gets out there and I know that I need to develop some ways to improve that. But the constant marketing is hard, very hard, for me and something I tend to procrastinate over. But the pile of work is really piling up...that is why I would like to sell it and get it out of the house into some one else's abode.

The process of finding someone who responds to my work is hard. It is so gratifying when it happens. But it needs to happen more often...or at least those who respond need to buy more often....that's it! I just need more buyers!

Oh well, today I send in my contract to Alameda County to create three pieces. I have been thinking about these and am looking forward to creating them. I start teaching my Advanced Better Art by Design class this weekend with several students who completed the beginning class this past year. By teaching at home I am able to do this with a much smaller group than would be profitable within a retreat type setting. I do miss the face to face but the students I have had are great. I have an idea for an article floating out there waiting for approval and I have been contacted by a book publisher...maybe I will write a book. I have new work to create for a show in May and also in October and am looking forward to that.

And, I am sleeping better and am much more rested during the day! Wow! What a change that is!