Headless Tuesday!

Here’s a quick update on my Whimsical Woman! It seems that a lot of the things I work on are auto-biographical…..(maybe even everything in some context)

This is made from hand painted and then stamped fabric. See last few posts. It also has some textile dye pastel, fabric marker and various fabric scraps. This is inspired by Alisa Burke’s online workshop. I just had to add legs though! The pink and black stripe is a commercially printed cotton which I over printed with a stamp and black acrylic paint (I’ve only ever made one other Art Doll to date – my Gaia Earth Mother)

Now that the body is stuffed I wish I’d put the little fabric collage a little lower.. oh well, I’ll remember for next time! Don’t quite know what I’m doing with her hair yet – I just know that it will be wild (like mine!) Gaia’s hair was ripped fabric – I may do something similar if I can find some suitable locks!

I hope to get this finished today. Art group and visitors for dinner tomorrow and then back to work on Thursday… where does the week go?

I couldn’t upload the photos from my camera as the battery had died...... I’m back after recharging it and now have the head on my WWW (Wild Wee Wiffy) or Wicked Whimsical Woman perhaps?

I’ll attach a few more found objects; cover the neck joint with a scarf and perhaps jewelery and her hair isn’t quite finished yet either………

Whilst I was waiting for those batteries to recharge, I also had a little go at smooshing some violets onto cotton- what a lovely image! I hope they retain some of the colour. Even if it fades or browns off I’m amazed at the detail! (Actually, it was a little more than smooshing; more like smashing!! :) )

of August progress...

Firstly a little something I whipped up one night last week. Inspiration was from something I saw on Alisa Burke's blog (actually. I think it was her website!) I've worn it a couple times already and really love it. The gold colour is hand dyed silk, and the black is cotton. Very quick and fun to wear! Thanks Alisa!

Hand stitched pendant

I’ve just started quilting this after basting it to thin cotton; I’ve now added a hand dyed upcyled fabric piece to the back and it feels soooo nice as I’m quilting. Not sure about adding creeks or rivers now… I’ll see how I feel about it once the quiting is done. Loving those little ripples!

Earth Skin - Hand stitched silk

I did a little stamping onto my hand painted fabric pieces –(destined to become the bodies of my Whimsical Women (dolls). I’ve jumped ahead a little with my online course with Alisa Burke. It’s very enjoyable and it’s making me combine some techniques both new and familiar. Most importantly I’m having fun…. And I think that’s what life’s all about!

Flower Stamp (acrylic paint) on hand painted fabric


Eye stamp (acrylic paint), textile marker and textile dye pastel

Mixed Media WIP

My third post for the day! ... but I'm hoping to make up for the lull in postings!

I've also been working on this piece after being inspired by Jesse Reno's work. Please do yourself a favour and check out his artwork on his website and any video you can catch of him working.

Mixed Media WIP

Detail

I came across his work a few months ago via someone else’s blog but lost the link and couldn’t remember his name..... By chance I came across his work again a few days ago and spent some time checking out his brilliant artwork & watching a few of the videos of him working. I find his technique fascinating… so…last night I had a bit of a play around; I’ve done a little more on it today too, but fear I have already got too precious and there are parts of it I don’t want to cover up.

Will attack it another day or maybe later on tonight when I can free up a bit again. I don't want to think about it too much. It is great fun to do and so hands on. Not my usual style or colours or anything really- Just wanted to have a go! (Don't let this put you off looking at Jesse's work! I adore his work but have just tried the technique and materials to see what I could come up with!)

He says in an interview that he wanted to do archaeology as a child... that was my dream also! I love the detail and layers in his work... If you're lucky enough to be in the US- he does workshops too!

of Whimsical Women...!

So, What do you do when your online course finishes? Sign up for another course, of course! This time with Alisa Burke. I have visited her blog before and came across it again yesterday. I saw that she runs online workshops and so have signed up for Whimsical Women! It is a mixed media course and runs over 5 weeks. Although I can access all of the lessons at once; I am going to attempt to follow in order and spend a week on each lesson as suggested! (Now there’s a challenge in itself!)

So, today I have been playing around with fabric and paint! And haven’t I had fun? Back to work tomorrow so I’ve made the most of my studio time today! I'm very much interested in learning lots of new and different techniques which I can apply to my own work.

I also like the little bit of structure a course gives me. I'm sometimes pretty hopeless at motivating myself or setting goals to achieve!

These two pieces were just paint onto white cotton... I like the heading on the newspaper under!

This one was just a simple monoprint on glass... easy... and quick and fun!

I love the colours in these two monoprints. I added a bit more paint to the glass for the second one, drew in another image and just love the ghost effect of the previous image showing up.

These will be overprinted/ stamped/ painted/ embroidered or whatever before cutting up to make Whimsical Women! This is such fun....!

The end of the beasts......

I did a eucalypt dye batch last weekend -to add to my stash. No huge pieces of fabric just wanted some more odds and sods for this piece I am working on… I think I am going to call it Earth Skin…

I have a thing for maps and aerial views and am lucky enough to have the most amazing book titled ‘Earth from Above’ with photography by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It is divine! Another I have is ‘Over Europe’ which is a collection of photos from the same photographer and several others. Text is by Jan Morris.

This piece is made from hand dyed, printed and rusted silks. All hand stitched and seams basted a la Jude Hill’s invisible basting technique.

Jude’s Patchwork Beast online workshop has finished now. I haven’t been able to participate as much as I would have liked this time but I still walk away with some lovely techniques that I know I am going to utilise.

I spent almost 2 days solid stitching on this! I don’t think I am going to find and embellish a beast as such but see it more as a piece of Earth Skin. I see paddocks and roads and I want to add a creek and some dams… Maybe I will add an eye though...! Approx 55cm x 43cm (22"x17")

Some fantastic work was created in Jude's class. I loved checking out the site each day and viewing all the wonderous work that was posted. It was a large class and a very varied menagerie...!

Just thinking out loud… What if it was a piece of dried Earth Skin? So instead of blue creeks/ rivers/ dams they are the dried up remnant of those. Like scars on the skin?