Getting There, getting there....

For me, happiness is a few hours in the studio....this week I was able to get over the hump with a new piece in my Burrard series, after a few false starts. Mostly the challenges that I mentioned in my blog post of January 30th: http://susanpm.blogspot.ca/2017/01/what-am-i-afraid-of.html

I had decided to paint the sky with diluted white textile paint to tone down the contrast of the black and white fabrics. As I was doing this, I though....gee, I should have put a plastic sheet over the print table....because I watched the damp fabrics wick up some dye residue from the table, red, blue, green and some bright orange.....!!!! Gosh Darn was the polite term!

So, thinking through what I should do, I waited for the paint to dry and rinsed out the fabrics with a bit of Oxy-Clean......then hung it to dry. After it was dry I ironed it thoroughly, hoping that I could get it all to lay flat! I painted the fabrics again (this time with plastic underneath) let them dry and heat set! Most of the dye had come out and the remainder blended into the the over all fabric collage. Lesson Learned!

I added the fabrics at the bottom in a collage format as well and began adding the torn strips for the steel girders....with three packs of 1/4" Steam a Seam tape!

I was all set to begin pressing in place and double checked my photo reference......

Ooooppps, the girders do not reach to the top....they are set at an angle

Well, good thing they're not fused down.....some re-positioning and its making more sense:

Now its ready to come off the design wall, get a heavy dose of steam and some additional pieces fused in place. The remaining girder lines will be done with stitching heavier black threads. Then onto the quilting stage.

I had an art consultant visit the studio this morning and she mentioned a gallery space in town that might be interested in my work.....

About that Task.....

Why is it sometimes the simplest tasks that would take just a few minutes become those huge mountains that seem insurmountable? Such as regular blogging? Its not as though you, dear readers want long, lengthy, pithy diatribes....no, you want the visual, right? After all we are artists, so we want art....
OK: here are some pieces that I finished in time for a show....that happened a while back. OK, it was January! But they are photographed and on my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/your/shops/FabricImagery/tools/FabricImagery/ca/listings/section:18099033

Etsy doesn't show the work at its best, so here they are:

Considered View #1

Considered View #2

Considered View #4

The backgrounds are screen printed images of an abandoned shipyard and the overlay is textured and painted fabrics that have been cut away to expose a grid style. They are then mounted onto black felt and a 1" deep painted canvas board.

Here's a couple photos of the shipyard to show inspiration:

Save the Date....

Keep January 22nd aside on your calendar, because you're invited to my first solo show! Please join me from 4-6 pm and see my new series, entitled [Insert Here] Textile Art Inspired by Structure. Of course you can come anytime to see the pieces, be sure to sign my guest book!