My Week - My Studio

 Many attempts in writing a blog post where I feel I need to be profound and deep....sigh! But I thought for the next while I'll share my ideas, exercises and experiments in the studio over the past week. I'd love to have feedback and perhaps you have some similar or very different ways of working that you could share with me and other readers.

I've been selling my sketchbooks and totes in local galleries and in my Open Studio, so it was time to paint up some more canvas. I use a 7 oz. unprimed canvas and then paint a layer of clear gesso (diluted 75/25 with water) to provide a good tooth to grab the colours. These are three different colour combinations;

I then add imagery with thermofax screens and stencils over all the canvas, trying to complement the colours and theme of the  background/base colours. Each image takes time to dry, so I usually take a couple days to add enough to satisfy me.

These are the small and medium size sketchbooks that I cover with the painted canvas, I love that each one is different from the other. Cutting different areas of the canvas provides a bit of serendipity!

Then, from the smaller pieces, I back them with felt for coasters. I had precut the pieces and fused to the felt with a bit of a margin, I loved how the black framed the canvas and gave me an idea for making totes or small purses/folios with some black wool....someone else suggested hats and I thought they might have a slight "Cossack" theme to them!

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I was clearing off some papers on the table and thought Id add some more marks with my favourite acrylic ink - Daler & Rowney Indigo - I just used the little dropper thats inside the wee bottle and ran it over the surface of tissue paper. In the one below I then spritzed it with a spray bottle.

Even if it never becomes anything more - I love seeing the colours moved over the paper and bleed around the edges.

These next two were painted on and left to dry - I definitely think they will get more work done - not sure quite yet what that might be!

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My big accomplishment this week was to finish quilting a new piece that has been waiting ever so patiently! I had open studios, some traveling and other commitments so it took a while to get back to it!

Its fairly large - 45" x 60" but lighter than some of my previous work, I tried using Thermore for the batting and it was ever so much easier to get through the machine!

Here it is pined up on the wall, I check over carefully for loose threads and making sure Ive not missed quilting any areas. I am pleased that the difference in batting seems to keep it from distorting and it may not need to be blocked.

Here it is cropped and looking a little tidier. Once I have added the facings I will put it back up, adjust the lights and take the formal "beauty" shots for the website and submissions. I'm still thinking of a title and am leaning towards "On the North Shore" as the photo was taken of the docks on the north shore of Vancouver - any other ideas?

I cut and sewed the strips for the facings and laid them down on my table...I loved the way the neutrals all looked so soft and relaxed...

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I'm cutting you up...yes I am! Every couple of months I take this piece of painted linen from the drawer and put it on the design wall...its about 25" x 35". I want to cut it up into squares and rectangles and I'm trying really, really hard to not make it "too precious" thinking that I'll ruin it....if it doesn't work out I can make something different! Do you find that a struggle too? Fear of Messing Up - FOMU - theres really no reason to think that way, but....

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More Shibori Shiraz....in between times I made more Shibori fabrics using my Shiraz technique - so easy to do with wine bottles and juice jugs....I have a very good blog post explaining my process here: 

http://susanpm.blogspot.com/2020/09/shibori-shiraz.html

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Finally - leaving the best til the last...I'd love for you to take part in my upcoming workshop Cloth to Codex Online - seven weeks of wonderful creating with books, scrolls and folios - jammed with great videos, a private Facebook Group and Zoom meetings - you can get all the details here:

https://www.susanpm.com/2016/11/23/cloth-to-codex/

Not too bad a week, I guess I got quite a bit done and it feels good! How about you?

Colour Blocking - Registration is Open!

Do you love dyeing fabric? Are you looking for a new way of creating luscious colour that changes across the surface, almost by magic? Curious about screen printing?
Then sign up for my Colour Blocking Online Workshop that begins on August 4th. In this workshop you will learn all the necessary steps to make amazing fabrics that will inspire you to create wonderful art.

 http://www.susanpm.com/online-workshops/

In this workshop you will have a 45 minute video lesson (that you can download and watch forever), a printable PDF with all dye recipes and step by step instructions. In addition you'll be able to leave questions and comments on the password protected webpage. There is a private Facebook group to join, if you wish where other students share photos of their work and talk about their Colour Blocking projects.

 So what is Colour Blocking? Its a way to use thickened dyes as a base for printing with a silk screen. Thickened dyes do not change the hand of the fabric, allowing the fabric to remain soft and supple despite repeated applications, plus thickened dyes are transparent, so layers of dye will change intensity, value and colours, giving the artist a wide range of possible uses for their created cloth.

  I’ve been using thickened dyes for several years and love to screen print with them in a technique I call “colour blocking”. By using an open screen, with no images masked on the screen, I can achieve large areas of one or several colors that can mix and combine on the fabric.

 http://www.susanpm.com/online-workshops/

 Students sometimes ask about fabrics....they wonderful part about Colour Blocking is its versatility1 You can use any fabric that works with Fibre Reactive dyes, so think of cotton, linen, hemp and silk. In fact any natural cellulose based fabric is perfect! Can't decide? Then why not layer some fabrics on top of one another! There's so many great effects that you can create with this technique, its not surprising its one of my favourites!

 Are you thinking this is for you? After you register for the workshop, then check out my free video on making a print table, you'll need one for the workshop. You can get the video here:

Can't wait to get started? If you are a Quilting Arts magazine subscriber, then my article about Colour Blocking appears in the October/November 2014 issue!

I'd love to have you in my workshop, so sign up now and be one of the first to learn Colour Blocking!

You can get the supply list when you register and be ready!

http://www.susanpm.com/online-workshops/

Colour Blocking Workshop

I took a break from my series project to teach this morning and thought you might be interested in seeing some of what my students had created.
The workshop, which I call Colour Blocking, is working with thickened dyes through an open silk screen. This allows you to mix colours right onto the screen and create wonderfully rich combinations of values and open or closed areas. The fabric that is made is perfect for piecing, for applique or the addition of other surface design techniques.

 Here you can see the blue and green laid down onto the fabric and mixing as the scraper is pulled across the surface of the screen. By rotating the screen horizontal or vertical designs will appear.

 Sarah is so excited her hands are a blur! She likes the blue and magenta colour scheme.

 Joan has the complementary colours to her shirt and has almost finished her piece of fabric.

Its possible to mask off areas of the fabric with freezer paper cutouts or to put soy wax on the screen to act as a type of mask. Many possibilities....
Are you interested in learning more? My online class will begin June 25th and registration will begin June 11th. Further information can be found: www.susanpm.com/online-workshops

Making a Print Table

One of the most useful items in my studio is a print table, in fact I have several. One for large pieces of fabric several for small pieces of fabric and for my students and a few to take to workshops that fit into my suitcase.
I've given the instructions to lots of students and actually have the instructions here of the blog somewhere. But I thought it might be useful to have a short video for you.
So here it is, let me know what you think:

Patio Art and Making Beauty

I often work at finding beauty in something that others might pass by, but I know that with a little work and ingenuity its possible to give an object new life.
The cloths on my print tables need to be replaced every 3-4 months, they get stained from printing and dyeing and I love the ghost images and colour that are left on these cloths. This one came off the table a couple days ago and I painted some magenta/purple dye over it to partially cover the white areas.

I had a PLAN! I screen printed some images over the top. I didnt want the crow to be too dominant so I used a transparent paint. And I wanted some flowers in there so the coneflowers are an ochre colour. The images aren't too strong but I knew once I cut into it they would show up more.....

I had hoped to get two large pictures out of the fabric but settled for a large and a small so I could get the best areas of the fabric. I stapled the fabric to canvas frames and then sprayed an acrylic varnish over them....stinky stuff!

And GUESS where I hung them? Outside, on my deck! I figured if we put art on the walls inside the house, why not put art on the outside? DH gets a little twitchy putting nails into walls so I did it while he was at work......

 

 

A couple things I learned.....the pictures are light so in a strong wind like we had last night, they blow off the wall. Going to fix that! Also, these are not precious, so if they fade or get stained, I'll make new ones....What art did you make this week?

Who Loves Ginkgo?

There is something so universally appealing about the shape and form of Ginkgo leaves that artists have used them in their designs and artwork. Think of the Asian artists, particularly the Japanese or how the Arts and Crafts movement stylized them for decorations.

I looked up information about Ginkgo and found out that the ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognizably related to modern ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. The closest living relatives are the cycads, which share with the extant G. biloba the characteristic of motile sperm. Fossils attributable to the genus Ginkgo first appeared in the Early Jurassic, and the genus diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and  by the Palaeocene, only a few Ginkgo species remained in the Northern Hemisphere.  At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China, where the modern species survived.
Ginkgo evolved in an era before flowering plants, when ferns, cycads, and cycadeoids dominated disturbed streamside environments, forming a low, open, shrubby canopy. The large seeds of Ginkgo and its habit of "bolting"—growing to a height of 10 metres (33 ft) before elongating its side branches—may be adaptations to such an environment. (edited from Wikipedia)

I planted a small Ginkgo tree in a planter on my deck. Family questioned my sanity by mentioning how tall it grows but I'm hoping that my great grand children will be around to see in planted in the backyard and thriving in the sunshine!
Now, I'm happy to offer three designs in Thermofax Screens that I've created with Ginkgo Leaves as the inspiration. They come taped and ready in three different sized frames: Small = 3 3/4" x 5", Medium = 5" x 8", Large = 8" x 10 3/4". Check them out here: http://fabricimagery.com/category/nature/

Colour Blocking with Thickened Dyes

One of the lessons in my Screen Print with Success workshop involves using thickened dyes to print across the surface of the fabric. I love doing this exercise as its a fabulous way to play with colour mixing.
Here are some of my results:

Its not too late to register: http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/

Screen Print with Success!

Screen Print with Success is open for registration! Join in this fun class and learn several ways to create image, texture and colour on fabric. These techniques show that screen printing is not difficult or expensive.Students will learn to make simple, basic screens that will meet all their needs and the appropriate paints and tools to use.

We will begin with freezer paper stencils and other masks, then move on to using soy wax on the screens with thickened dyes. Fabric dyes provide wonderful transparency, allowing you to build layers of colours without changing the hand of the fabric. Other screen printing techniques will be demonstrated including Thermofax screens, using gel mediums for foil and special effects.

Time will be spent on showing how the printed fabrics can be used in quilts, clothing and mixed media. Workshop fee will include one small Thermofax screen of student’s choice, mailed at the beginning of the workshop.

Does this sound like a fit for you? Well, hurry on over to: http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/ and sign up, registration is limited so don't delay! We'll see you in class!

More Good, Better, Best.....3 Easy Steps to Fabulous Fabric

Here's another post about Good, Better, Best and it ties in beautifully with our ongoing Printed Fabric Bee! I hope you've been checking the progress in our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theprintedfabricbee

This month Julie chose blue spirals in an 8" x 18" format. And I admit that I did start with a fabric that I had soy wax resisted and dyed. But I remember that I wasn't terribly pleased with the results and it had been tossed into the proverbial pile for some reason. But, you know sometimes things just need a second look and I hauled it out and fell in love again!

 

 

So, I admit that I sort of took the easy way out and screen printed some blue spirals on it:

 

 

Well, not quite there, is it? so I screen printed more blue spirals:

 

 

Now, I'm in love!

And I have a couple confessions...... I didn't have enough of this fabric to include it as the 6" x 6" giveaway.....so sorry!

Plus, I think I had a head start because I started with a resist and dyed fabric.....sorry again!

 

But I think if you check out the other fabrics below, I have very unique spirals????? (they're the top middle one)

 

Don't forget to enter for the giveaway here: http://www.threadbornblog.com/2014/01/starting-new-year-with-fabric-giveaway.html







The Printed Fabric Bee

Sorry that I'm a day late in posting the latest information about our Printed Fabric Bee, I hope you've been having fun seeing all the great fabric designs that the "workers" have been making?
It's Julie's turn for the "giveaway" so you'll need to pop over to her blog and leave a comment. Julie will choose a winner for the 6" squares and they could be yours!
Visit her blog at: http://www.threadbornblog.com/2014/01/starting-new-year-with-fabric-giveaway.html

Here's a picture of the squares:

 

 

Tomorrow, I'll show you how I made my fabric!

Online Learning with Susan!

After a very steep learning curve, the FIRST part of my Online Workshops is up for viewing! I am thrilled to be able to offer a variety of Surface, Design, Dyeing and Printing Techniques for my students.
I love to teach and share with you but I can’t always be at your guild or conference. So I’ve developed the next, best way to inspire you. So, invite me into your home or studio to learn new ideas and techniques.

You can see a short video at:  http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/

Pictures from Print It, Print It!

 My workshops are multi-lesson formats that combine PDF documents to print out – such as dye recipes and resources – and videos for you to watch and learn exactly so many of my techniques are done. You can watch them at your own pace, download them for future reference and work alongside me or take notes with a cup of coffee beside you! There will be opportunity for you to ask questions and post pictures and to meet other students and chat.

Pictures from Colour It, Fuse It!

 Each workshop will be open for six months from the start date and you will be able to keep the links to the videos forever.
Browse through the workshops below, see which dates fit your calendar and sign up! You are welcome to email  me with any questions. I hope you will join me on this exciting new adventure!

So check out all the details at:  http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/

Pictures from Screen Printing with Success!

New Work for the Oak Bay Artist Studio Tour!

I've been busy working towards my first Artist Studio Tour, finishing pieces, quilting, dyeing, mounting work on canvas and much, much more! It has been fun and creative work, but my main problem is that I'm not sure how much work to produce? I'm hoping to sell lots and have some pieces in reserve to put on the walls as others sell.....but how much?
Maybe you can give me some advice!

This is work that I've finished in the last week or so, I'm enjoying mounting them on canvas board, I like the look when they are hanging. What do you think?

So the first piece shows just the base fabric. It was a piece of soy wax resist linen, that I waxed and dyes, then waxed and dyes some more. It took several processes to get the depth of colour I wanted.

Then I traced, fused and cut shapes that echoed the design in the linen. I backed the linen with iron-on fusible interfacing to give it more stability.

Then lots of quilting with multi-coloured poly thread, trimming and mounting on board. I found a good YouTube video for finishing the corners nicely:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccaNqgje5lY

The next piece I made from fabric I had dyed on a wine bottle (more about that in another blog post) then cut, fused and stitched the cardinal tree and berries.

 

Finally, I used fabric that I had applied soy wax and dye on a pole, after washing, I screen printed the crows on and quilted bird foot prints.