Something I gotta try … and a confession

I’ve been studying Pat Langford’s Embroidery from Sketch to Stitch, Quilters’ Resource, Inc, 1996, ISBN 0-9629056-7-4

This lady is first and foremost an embroiderer, which I’m really not, although various little things are nudging me in that direction.

Sketching is obviously a huge part of what she does.  Maybe this will be the impetus that will get me sketching on a more regular basis instead of wringing my hands and being a sniveling wannabe.

I’m intrigued by the way she pushes the envelope, using puff paint on a baby blanket (although you would never know from looking at the finished work), and crayoning onto microfibre.

Specific things I want to try:

Polychromos coloured pencils on microfibre, ironed to heat set

Transfer dyeing with Crayola fabric crayons on paper, ironed onto the microfibre fabric.

Pentel crayons directly onto linen in several layers.  Langford actually covered the fabric in places.  Hmmm, thrift store hunt for old linen coming up maybe?   Too bad I no longer have the orange linen tablecloth that was in my wedding registry, that would have been so dramatic!

Langford has many platters, which are round or oval art quilts.  That’s a possible direction.

CONFESSION

After the busyness and frenzy of preparing for and being in the Artists In Motion @ The Empress show, I vowed to take things easy/take the summer off.  Of course THAT’S not gonna happen, but as I recuperated I challenged myself to write down all the different outstanding projects and tasks of every description that I have on my plate.  It’s four pages long, so I’m forcing myself to look at this list every day, cross things off it as and when possible, and not undertake any more new projects.

So in order to stay focused artistically, I’m starting a new page on the blog for things I want to try, so that I can have a handy reference.  Of course I have a sketchbook on the go too but this will be a good handy way to preserve links electronically.

Before the show I did find that restricting myself to working in a series was helpful.  I am continuing with that series in order to have more to show at the Moss Street Paint-In, where we will be exhibiting on Thurlow Street next to the Moss Street market.

 

Starting Point

Am I finding an approach to creating art (in whatever medium) that works for me?

Were my struggles and basically dropping out of the design class I had wanted to take for so long all Hosni Mubarak’s fault?

Or am I just more of a verbal person than a visual one?

This is a mind map related to the piece I’m just starting.  So many things seemed to come together in synchronicity.  When I tried to think about drafting a blog post on these topics, my thoughts shot off in a zillion directions.  Each bit seemed to make sense standing along but I couldn’t organize my thoughts into a cohesive whole.

And here is the beginning — more pix will follow as the work progresses.  I want to create Moebius strip, so tested this concept with kraft paper (a gift from our lovely apartment manager who found a big heavy roll abandoned in a vacated apartment)

I cut and folded a strip to make a double thickness, since there will be batting inside the finished piece.

Then I twisted it into a Moebius strip to test the concept.  This will also serve as a mockup as I continue working on this piece.

Time to cut the Tyvek (from a huge piece I bought at the Sewing Show) and get drippin’!

Not having a studio space where I can be messy, I invented the small-scale paint bag.

and here’s what this work in progress currently looks like, until I can get more white acrylic to keep going!

Just Magic Challenge

The local fibre arts group I belong to that meets at Satin Moon decided to set ourselves monthly challenges this year to keep things interesting.

The challenge for January was anything starting with J, which one member dubbed the J-Cloth Challenge.  Here’s my finished piece, well finished except for the hanging sleeve.  The centre medallion is a sketch I made in the fall in Melanie Testa’s drawing challenge.  Thanks to Spoonflower it’s now on fabric and you can even buy it!

I considered beading this, but Young Sprout greatly admires it so I think I’ll leave it child proof at least for a couple of years.  Plus, his last name is different than mine and it’ll be cool to be able to say “Just Magic, in the collection of Mr. Young Sprout.”

This detail shows Dale MacEwan’s sunpainted fabric. It’s the pale pink and green in the middle between the green batik and my red and green shibori made in Susan Purney Mark’s class.

Combinations of red and green fascinate me.  It’s often found in nature from rhubarb and red leaf lettuce to geraniums, yet not exploited that much by artists for some reason, nor in decoration.  Maybe people think it’s too Christmassy?  What do you think?  Can those apparently overdone combos like orange and black or pink, red, and purple be revamped into something that doesn’t scream “Boo” or “Goo”?

More lines, two steps forward, one step backward

after missing a couple of days in the challenge preoccupied with Spoonflower designing and ordering I got back into it and experimented more with the ruling pen.  Everything I’ve done is in the Flickr group under “wordnerd411.”

 

This morning I finally got the pen beak open to the width that suits me and the acrylic ink, mid way through this doodle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “good bits” are from after and the crummy bits are from before.

 

Then I decided to use the pen in my sketchbook, practice stars and writing, and although it would be nice if this were on cloth, I’m actually quite pleased with it:

The step backward is that I had the house to myself, did the drawing, washed everything and put it away and went on my merry way making more assembled fabric and listening to jazz.  Family members came home and “You’ve been using that stuff again!”  Like, I’ve never heard that line before!

Although to me the acrylic ink has only a trace smell, it apparently hangs around the house and is bothersome.

So now I can either use ink on paper at a cafe (using cloth would be difficult because of stablizing) OR use a Pigma pen on cloth at home OR try Setacolor on cloth at home and see whether the odour is detectable.  Setacolor is basically acrylic and to me has a smell but not a smell that bothers me.  We’ll see, I like the thought of being someone who sits in a cafe sketching but things have a way of not turning out like  they do in my imagination.

Pomegranate

This is my drawing for Melanie Testa’s challenge today, done with a Pigma pen, which I’m most comfortable with, it feels like it’s an extension of my hand and I found myself better able to really look at this pomegranate as I was drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my first sketch, in Pigma on paper:   I’m glad I changed the angle for the fabric sketch.  The hexagonal structure is much more apparent when seen from above.

Slightly surreal

Today’s feels more like an illustration.   I used the ruling pen but tried not to get any large blotches where I didn’t want them.  This was somewhat inspired by illustrations in a children’s book, Freight Train by Donald Crews published in 1978 by Greenwillow Books, but I will have to look at the illustrations to be more confident about showing more than just the smokestack!  When the drawing was finished I realized it could be mistaken for a hat.

Back to the Ruling Pen

Does the title say it all or what!  Decided to go back and give the ruling pen another go, loading it with the eye dropper in the ink bottle this time.  Despite practicing in my sketchbook there are still a couple of blots.  But I used more of the surface today than in previous days.

Mystery

Day 4 and I was inspired by the radio news (the pictures are so much better than on TV!) about a mob boss’s funeral in Montreal.  The journalists arrived at the church yesterday morning and discovered a black box with a white cross on it.  After the bomb squad checked it out the police said it wasn’t a bomb and there was a note inside but refused to release the contents.

This was done with air erase pen, pigma and Sharpie.

 

Pigma pen

No prizes for guessing that I’m far more at home with a Pigma pen, this one is .25 mm size.

 

Haven’t given up on the ruling pen, just decided to cut myself some slack for today.  At least I’m sticking with the challenge, which to me is the biggest challenge of all.

 

How about you?  Does anyone else have that urge to procrastinate and be lazy?

Challenge Day 2

Day 2 and I was good and did it right after my morning pages while the house was still nice and quiet.

 

No prizes for guessing that this was NOT done with the ruling pen!  I used a #5 round brush and started by drawing the outlines in air erase pen.