Week 20 - in the Studio

 I jumped right back into work mode after our holiday and got the studio all spiffed up for the Open Studio - well sort of!

The very first time I had an Open Studio here on Pender, I cleared almost everything out, dusted, tidied and had it totally beautiful! Then visitors asked me where my studio was.....it looked too much like an art gallery! I guess visitors want to see the nitty-gritty, art work studio hanging out everywhere....so this time, I made sure new art was hung up, the garbage was emptied and the floor was swept - that was about all! I had a great time, made new friends and chat with "old" ones...made a few sales and generally chilled out!

Here's some pictures:

I'm planning another Open Studio for the end of July during the Mosaic Festival here on Pender Island, July 29-30, stop by!

What else is going on in the Studio? I had my second Drawing Workshop online through Vancouver Island School of Art, I'm a student, not a teacher... I always want to improve my drawing skills but seem to procrastinate, I'm sure I am the only one?

This weeks lesson was drawing branches and twigs with charcoal, not my favourite medium...but I did learn patience and a bit about Jim Dine, an American artist who used charcoal to draw a variety of topics but most notably... tools! An interesting subject, to be sure and wide scope for shading and details. You can see more about him here: Jim Dine

Here are some of my images from the class, not too bad:

I am also beginning to prepare for the summer exhibition season at The Gallery at Hope Bay, its always popular spot and the curator does an amazing job displaying the many pieces of art in a very cohesive way...

So I'm painting watercolour paper with acrylic inks and my first go wasn't very good at all, too disjointed and yuck! So they are heading to the collage pile. My second attempt was much more like what I have done in the past and will work with the additional fabrics I will use. I also added some swipes of candle wax as a resist, there are many more steps before completion but I do enjoy my Salish Sea series:

Towards SaltSpring - made last summer

Tomorrow, I'll have my gallery shift, its always delightful to meet and greet the visitors and sit amongst the beautiful art.

How was your week?

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?