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?

A Bridge Between Equals - New Work

For the second time, I've had a piece accepted into the Sooke Fine Arts Show and I'm excited to see it hanging in the show. This wall hanging is about how we make connections between each other and my thoughts about the ideas and interactions that keep us united. I like the term "A Bridge Between Equals" because it means that we are all on a level field with no one above or below us. I like working with a white/grey/black scheme and the red is a great colour for contrast. I hope to see you there: http://sookefinearts.com/
The fabric began as white and I dye painted it:

          I then applied soy wax to preserve certain areas and overdyed a pale/medium grey:

I printed over top with several ideas of text with some Thermofax screens:

My piecing technique tends to be rather organic and shapes evolve, being added and subtracted as I work through the entire quilt.

I'm never absolutely certain how it will be until the last stitches are taken:

My quilting stitches are very different from the traditional, but I took a lot of time and tested many variations before I decided on a satin stitch variation...................

SAQA Auction --- Soon!

You love art, right?
Love a good cause, right?
Love colour and design on your walls, right?

How about bidding on some awesome fibre art? The Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) will be holding its 2014 fund raising auction soon.
SAQA's Benefit Auction supports SAQA's exhibition program - during 2013 ten exhibitions of SAQA member work traveled to Australia, Canada, England, France, Gabon, Italy, South Africa, and seventeen states across the U.S.  They were displayed in 8 museums and 19 major quilt festivals and were seen by several hundred thousand visitors, many of whom had never seen an art quilt before.
Help support the art quilt movement by bidding on your favorite great piece of art in SAQA's Benefit Auction!
You can view some of the quilts in the upcoming auction here: http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?ID=3152 I'll be updating you as the opening comes closer.
In the meantime, I've mailed my entry and it should be on the website in a week or two. You'll want to have it in your art collection, right?
So as a sneak preview, here it is, Flywheel: