COLOUR as a form of JOY!!!!!!!!!

Oh, JOY! Look at these colours!

Fibre active dyes on vintage cotton

Low immersion dyeing

I finally stopped procrastinating and ordered some Procion MX fibre reactive dyes online. Out of the 8 colours I wanted; the first place I tried could only fill 4. Gladly they posted them the same day and they turned up here Friday! (We only get post delivered 3 times a week so this was even more of a wonderful surprise!)

Soooo, after dinner; whilst everyone else was busy I decided to have a little play! I'm so excited by the results! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I am amazed at the brightness of the colours and after I've been through the bright pure colour phase I'm sure I will love coming up with my own blends!

A little bit of shibori.... First on a silk scarf...

Shibori Silk Scarf

.....then on a piece of vintage cotton which I scrunched onto a plastic tube (again something I've always wanted to try!)

Shibori Cotton

I adore how the colours have blended together in places and the scale shapes from the scrunching!

I've also made some progress on my Flaming Heart piece this week; adding beads... I'm also experimenting with ways to depict clouds...

Flaming Heart - beading detail

and....... I just wanted to share this gorgeous op shop find. It is the most beautifully embroidered Chinese jacket. I originally bought it to cut up... but on closer inspection I don't think I will be able to bring myself to! The embroidery is to die for..... I'm not sure whether to get it dry cleaned or wash it myself... One pocket is badly ripped; so will need a lot of attention. Also, a number of the original toggles at the front are unravelled... so I'll have to learn how to stitch them back down. It would make an exquisite evening jacket..... the label looks as if it is about a 1950's vintage.

It is just so beautiful....

Vintage Chinese Embroidered Jacket - back view

The green and blue dyes should arrive from a little further afield on Monday! I can't wait to try them out! Happy days!

Studio Day.........March Progress

I spent a day in the studio with an artist friend yesterday; we did some monoprinting and discharge dyeing – We probably didn’t’ achieve half as much as we’d hoped but had a fun day! Thanks Lynda! She’s very talented! You can find her new blog here….

Simple Monoprinting on book pages and over the top of an old lino print.

Some discharge dyeing on black cotton.

We used foam and wood blocks to stamp on the bleach.

Progress on my Flaming Heart piece. I've used variegated DMC stranded cotton to outline the tiger lily flames! (From an upcycled vintage doiley)

of a whole studio day!

I found this small embroidery on linen at an op shop some time ago and just had to save it!

Today I threw it in the dye bath and after it was washed and dried I discharge dyed the original stitching... I love the effect!

Yay! My work hours are going to be consolidated a bit and it seems I am going to have at least a couple of days a week with no work… which means of course I can get more done at home and in the studio! Also, the total hours will be approximately the same as I have been doing but I won’t need to spend as much on petrol to get there (an 80km – 50 mile round trip) which is a bonus! Instead of 5 days part time it is going to be more like 2-3 full days.

It will definitely make me appreciate the time I do have here. So, it was down to busy-ness in here this morning and I dyed a batch of fabric with a particularly prevalent weed we have here. Again, the silk took the colour the best and adding salt at the end changed the end product from a fairly non-descript green to a mushroom pink on most fabrics. An interesting result on the linen….

I love the softness of natural dyes… I also found a piece of printed cotton that I had left in the bottom of my last onion skin dye bath. Beautiful colour! Nice effect! All rinsed and dried now.

Natural 'weed' dyeing!

 The darker pieces are silks and the others, cottons and cotton blends.

I had the dyeing bug after that and I can always find plenty of scraps to throw in around here! So, I used a commercial jeans blue dye and did some low immersion dyeing. I love the effects that I have. Again a mix of cotton, linen, silk, & cotton blends. This was my favourite piece of the day! A gorgeous piece of linen which was scrunched and retained some whites!

Low immmersion -commercial denim blue dye on linen

Various pieces of cotton, linen and blends with denim blue commercial dye- low immersion

Fire Breathing Green Eyed Dragon!

WIP - Nearing completion!

Last night saw me stitching more on my Fire Breathing Green Eyed Dragon! He is nearing completion and I was just starting to think about a backing fabric and work out how or if I’m going to bind it; when inspiration hit from a piece of blue linen I’d just dyed!

I have an old thrift store pashima shawl I dyed a few months ago that has some nice tassels so I think I’ll use that on the bottom edge…. mmmm... might need something blue along that bottom edge too...

of Nature, WIPs and Work

This new part time job is taking it's toll... : )  I'm loving it; but I'm exhausted! I think I'm still trying to get as much done (house, garden, studio) as I usually do and it's just not happening. I don't want anything to come between me and my creative time and I'm frustated with myself that I'm tired! I guess it's just all new and will be a matter of settling in. I started a little later this morning as I attended a little ceremony at my son's school........ It's great that my new work place is flexible; they're lovely people and I feel like I'm learning lots; it's hands on, which I love.

So, I haven't really done much needlework.... I started a little on the Blue Moon ATC last night... I'll see where that goes...

Blue Moon ATC

WIP

Yellow Clouds yesterday evening....

they really looked ominous and were strangely coloured.. 

but we didn't get a storm....

My very favourite rose: Mary Rose

see, I can do Shabby Chic!

Young Chinese Elm

My Silver Birch trunks are turning silver!

Having a bit of trouble with photo formatting of late. My pics are tending to get squashed up. I tried resizing a couple of them but now they won't centre.. so apologies for the mish mash array!

grrrrrrr

I have to make another 80km round trip into town tonight as Rose has a twilight school swimming carnival this evening...

The Hand Embroidery Networks (HEN) Winter Wonderland Exhibition is online here. There is some absolutely fabulous, clever and detailed work!

Turning Over a New Leaf

Just a quick post today...... A little something I have been playing with since being inspired by Erica Spink's tutorial at Creative Dabbling! Follow the button link Erica has added to her blog margin.

Needlewoven Leaf

on black felt

.......and here it is in my sketchbook and as a WIP

Off to do some housework. Hopefully I will get some studio tidying done this afternoon! ; )

A Snippet at the End of the Year..........

New Years Eve 2009!

A snippet of a challenge I'm working on!

Challenge Snippet

Rain, rain, rain………………We’ve had glorious rain! The lawn is no longer dry and crunchy underfoot! In fact we'll have to mow before it warms up again as it will be a great haven for snakes!) The paddocks are greening up too and that means we won’t need to buy in as much hay for the animals.

Little Lily (the calf) is growing daily and is such a source of joy! Watching her bucking and yee-hahing around her yard makes me smile….

We had a lovely couple of days away over Christmas….  We rode the motorbike and being fair weather riders don’t even own wet weather gear but we had to ride home in the rain (about 31/2 hours!)- Suffice to say I’ve never been that wet whilst wearing clothes! Once you reach saturation point it really doesn’t matter any more does it? Hubble did a wonderful job of getting us home safely.

It’s been lovely to get back in the studio! I’ve been working on some challenge entries and so can only show a snippet! The photo above is so unlike anything I've done before! I'm working on 3-4 entries at the moment. Once they're done I'm going to clean up the studio! (I promise!) Hopefully find some shelves, rip up the vomituous carpet and paint the walls also! I've been offered some casual work in the New Year too so I shall be a busy girl!

Best wishes to all for a creative,  joyous and prosperous 2010!

Something Old..... Something New!

I bought a pomegranate whilst doing groceries the other day... Not to eat (well not yet anyway!) but to paint! We had a pomegranate tree at home when I was growing up and I'm afraid I haven't even seen a fruit for years and years! These were imported from the US and I just knew one had to come home with me as inspitation! They have such a gorgeous voluptuous shape and beautiful colour  topped with a quirky crown!

Pomegranate on Saucer

 WIP

Collage

Still quite a lot to be done on this; highlights, shadows and I'm not so sure about the window frame colour.

Here's something else new, pretty faces painted onto onion skin dyed silk.

Pretty Faces

Painted Silk

WIP

Now for the something old! Here is this mosaic style stitching I was working on a few months ago. The stitching is finished but I haven't done anything with it yet!

'Mosaic Rose'

Rayon Thread on Inkjet Transfer on Cotton

This little cross-stitch was completed about 3 years ago. I designed it from a pastel painting I had done (with the aid of some Cross Stitch software)

'Posy for Klimt'

Cross Stitch on Linen

This Tree of Life is my own design too; from an acrylic painting. It's also about 3 or 4 years old.

'Tree of Life'

Needlepoint on Canvas

And the shape of the day is... SQUARE! All these pieces are square format; which is not usual for me as I'm a circle fiend! (Except for the last photo which is a bit off skew as it hasn't been blocked yet!)

Looking back, I have also noted that generally I am using more earthy colours than I have ever before... My work is becoming more muted, rusty, earthy... I think I like that.

I love colour and I have always used quite saturated colour; lots of colour contrast and solid colour with black and or off white. (This is true of my home too... ) Maybe it's an age thing?! Or maybe it's just a realisation that maximum volume loud colour isn't the only way to get noticed! Or maybe I just don't care about being noticed at all!

My alpacas are shorn and I have another couple of bags of beautiful wool to play around with! Really must get my act together and hunt down some carding combs! Think of all the fun I'm going to have! The girls really aren't happy with me and seem to be quite indignant about the whole process- and they do look rather hilarous without their thick coats!

Of Freedom, Joy and more Irises!

I did a couple more journal pages yesterday......... and these are different again. Have I mentioned the sense of freedom evoked when I'm doing these? There is no preplanning (apart from some thoughts of allowing for the river to flow through) and I just use what I have at hand. It's quite a messy process..... but that suits me I think! Who would have thought these books of pain could bring me so much joy?

This double page spread has no river.  I don't see any of them as complete yet. I will come back with line drawings and collaged or stamped or handwritten text.

I’m finding I’m getting more adventurous, more casual, less worried about having everything turn out to be a masterpiece or even saleable. This is very empowering. I’ve been reading lots of creative blogs lately and am so inspired not just by the art of others but the art that is produced around and through people's lives and happenings; both positive and negative. I love to hear about what inspires artists; what makes them tick; their journeys.

WIP Metamorphosis - New Life from the River of Tears

Tomorrow I am making a 6 hour return trip to collect Jon's boys for a long weekend school holiday stay. We'll have lunch at Nana's (Jon's Mum) to break the journey. Yesterday, Rose and Mack flew to Brisbane to spend a week with their father so I am kiddie free today (and not so secretely loving it!) I will make a detour either tomorrow or on the return trip next week to collect some  art supplies (not really much needed but definitely muchly inspired, muchly wanted and muchly required for trying out new things- you know how it is!)

Here are some more irises opening in my garden!

Three Iris Sentinels

These are such a dark purple that they look almost black as buds! I haven't yet checked on them today to see if they've opened up further. These were already in the garden when we arrived along with some other purples.

These supposedly ordinary geraniums were catching the sunshine beautifully...

Sneak Peak WIP

Here’s a sneak peak at my latest WIP (work in progress)! It’s mixed media on stretched canvas and inspired by my River of Tears journal. It is such great fun……. I want to add more elements but I quite like it’s simplicity as is. I originally designed it this way up….

But have been working on it this way up.

Now I’m not sure which I like best. Maybe the original? Comments greatly appreciated! Which orientation? And does it need more elements?

Last year I was given a selection of gaudy but oh so beautiful irises……… They are starting to flower! I'm so excited as I can’t for the life of me remember which colours I planted where! I leave you with this image of these two toned ones which are the first to open!

Of Magic Moments and Journeys....

Magic Moment

I am hoping to enter a quilt into the Bunbury Patchwork and Quilting 2010 International Quilt Challenge. I‘ve had the challenge fabric for about 4 months now; it was actually a pleasant surprise when I opened the envelope because the piece contains my very favourite colour combination -orange and hot pink! There was always a quilt lurking in those colours anyway; so this will push me into action! I know it sounds gaudy but I was married in a very simple halter neck orange Thai silk wedding dress! (With hot pink Thai silk covered heels!) I have some of the leftover orange silk here somewhere......

I am playing around with a design concept at the moment, and have completed my very first piece of needle turn appliqué as a sample! I’m so very proud of myself as I really didn’t think I’d have the finesse to make it look ok. I’m sure with some practice I can become quite good at this. Perhaps I should look up some instructions for inner corners etc. What is happening to me? What’s this talk of samples? Don’t I just usually jump on in and see where it takes me? Practice? What’s going on?

The theme is: ‘MAGIC MOMENT’. My inspiration is the moment I met my hubby- when our eyes locked! OMG!!! The idea I have in mind is very time consuming; so we’ll see how much patience I have and whether or not I end up getting it completed in time! If not it will be a wonderful addition to our walls when I do get it done! Entries are due in by 22nd Feb 2010!

Needle Turn Applique Sample

Where Will the Journey End?
That’s the title of this piece I have been working on incorporating one of the fabric print lino cuts (printed onto a piece of the onion-skin dyed cotton) The background is onion-skin dyed silk, and there is also a small piece of the wool felt from that dye batch too. Isn’t that ginger colour gorgeous?

I used vintage buttons (some wooden) and vintage wooden beads. The quote ‘migrate’ is inkjet printed onto paper, with interfacing ironed on the back, tea stained and crumpled. I quite like the technique and it is the first time I have incorporated paper.

Detail showing feather lino cut and vintage buttons

I have added a hanging sleeve at the back and it now hangs from a piece of gum tree branch.

Detail showing vintage wooden buttons, tea-stained inkjet printed quote

and onion-skin dyed wool felt.

I’m finding dabbling in mixed media and collage so freeing and sooooo much fun! I really enjoyed making this piece!

I can use portions of unsuccessful paintings, drawings and prints; my dyed fabric, vintage finds etc. I’m also excited about fabric collages! It feels wonderful to not be limited by materials and to have a full range of both materials and techniques to choose from.

I have been inspired by a few books I have bought recently:

Mixed-Media Collage - An Exploration of Contemporary Artists, Methods, and Materials by Holly Harrison

Collage Sourcebook-Exploring the Art and Techniques of Collage (Quarry Books)

Fabric Art Collage - 40+ Mixed Media Techniquies by Rebekah Meier

I can recommend each of them (all available from Amazon)

Back to Puddleducking..............!!

'Where Will the Journey End?'

JULY PROGRESS

A little while ago I found a fabulous tutorial for drawstring bags at: http://sewbunnybum.blogspot.com/2008/05/drawstring-bag-tutorial.html - I absolutely fell in love with them and made 5 in one afternoon! 2 were birthday pressies for my son’s friends (twins). They were great for wrapping the other parts of their pressies. I made a couple for Mack too and he gave one away to a good school friend! The 5th I made from vintage fabrics.

I cut a couple for my daughter early one Saturday morning and got 1 sewn up before the kids and I headed off into town! That's the one with the purple owl fabric in the photo.

Did I mention how very easy they were? And that I just love them? I’ve since made one for my Mum out of printed cotton with an Egyptian pattern with gold and blues. I used a beautiful turquoise as the lining and a gold cord drawstring! It looked gorgeous but I forgot to take photos before posting it off! Oops! And I made 3 small floral ones for our Garden Club Birthday Luncheon where we place gifts at the table places for all attending! So, thanks Jessica for the tute!

Rose's Owl Bag

Mack's Skull Bag

I love the American Quilting Arts magazine to which I now subscribe. I found it about 6 months ago and am officially hooked! There are always new techniques to try and lovely articles on quilt artists and their work. They also have a website with a forum for mad quilters! http://quiltingarts.com/forums/

This little quiltie is a result of one of the challenges. It was so much fun to make; sometimes it is nice to go off in a different direction! (I usually work square or rectangular although I feel a circular quilt coming on! I wouldn't have ever thought to make the whole quilt a different shape!) The background is vintage tie fabric which I have hand embroidered and beaded. I hand stitched on some gold ribbon. It has fabric backing, craft wadding, and a velvet sulfolk puff with vintage button as embellishement. I machine stitched all around to combine the layers. Approx 5" x 6" (13cm x 15cm)

Medieval Shield Mini Art Quiltie

I entered a 1m square quilt for Down Under Quilts (http://www.downunderquilts.com.au/) magazine calendar competition a few months ago and have just received it back in the post (which obviously means I didn’t win anything! lol) This is the largest quilt I have completed to date (I can’t wait to see some of the other entries and of course the 13 chosen as winners for the calendar! The theme was ‘The Rhythm of Life’ The title of mine is “NO TIME TO DANCE’ and I had such fun designing and making it!

No Time to Dance

Here is the latest progress on The Light Within:

The Light Within WIP