Week 14 - in the Studio

This past week has been about finishing some work, I'm not sure why the latest in my Industrial shoreline series took so long to put the facings on...I just procrastinated too much!

It is smaller than recent work at 27" x 43", but the size seemed to work for the topic. It was a photo I had taken when we travelled to the north end of Vancouver Island and spent time around Port McNeill and Cormorant and Malcolm islands - a beautiful area I'd love to visit again. I was loving the linear aspects of a log booming area and took a few photos. 

The challenges of logging, clear cuts, forestry management and sustainable practises are part of my series - there are no right answers. I don't support clear cuts and tearing down old growth but we do need long term employment, especially for first nations in these remote areas, and properly managed, forestry can be part of this approach.

No title yet but it's 27" x 43"

I finished several collages that incorporate mark making and collage on vintage pages. I ordered packs of paper from Etsy and used them with white paint, acrylic inks, asemic text and marks...I love these! I'll be framing them soon and have them for sale - stay tuned!

Speaking of Etsy - I ordered some ultra suede labels from a vendor on Alberta - super quick service and very well made: Spotted Zebra and used them on my Art to Carry Textile Totes:

And I have a few available now HERE

I framed a little piece that my grand daughter had made a couple weeks ago:

And I took a monoprinting workshop today via Zoom, a different approach from what I have been doing but I learned several useful techniques that I can incorporate into my work. I'm taking a two day workshop on gel printing in June and looking forward to learning even more!

If you are yearning for an inperson workshop, have a look at the Gathering the Threads Conference in Cowichan Valley: https://gatheringthethreads.ecwid.com

Week 10 - in the Studio

I was dragging my butt to get several totes and sketchbooks finished to send to my retailers - I need quite a few and it seemed like I was climbing up a long, tall mountain. But I got them all done and my, they do look nice! I'll be making more for my Etsy Shop and finally figured out how to dye a good range of colours for the linings....

I spent a few hours working on the publicity for Gathering the Threads Conference, an SDA-Vancouver Island/BC+Yukon event planned for the Cowichan Valley, June 15-18th, 2022. You can find more information here: https://gatheringthethreads.ecwid.com

We're still clearing out boxes of old photos and documents - I bought some decorative totes for each of our kids and they'll get everything from school records and their baby books - no more room in our house! 

And I discovered some luscious old vintage pages from a scrapbook, a soft velvety feel to them and I love how the edges are slightly browned. I've started making some marks on them, I have one page set aside as the "test" page to trial ideas...these are so precious! BUT, I am determined to use them, not saving them for some unknown day in the future...that will probably never come!

My "test" piece with white acrylic paint and indigo acrylic ink

I love the rich yellows in the paper...

I mixed the paint and ink together - love the blues

Still lots to do on each page but I'm working carefully and slowly, planning each step....an unusual process for me. I often rush through and then the results are haphazard. This time I will go forward with more planning and purpose....I wonder if it will work?

And I had a studio visitor this week, she didn't hang around very long!

Week 3 in My Studio

Welcome back to the studio - it was energizing to be back at work, visiting family and celebrating Christmas was so special - even with an "unusual to us" snowfall....that kept me at home for a couple days. But we kept the fire burning, hummingbirds fed and just enjoyed the rest!

I'm working on creating small vessels that combine paper and fabric with a bit of stitch - its been challenging to figure out the sizing and where to cut - lots of paper mockups were made and destroyed! I have a busy week as some of these will be going into the next exhibition at our local gallery.

I'm planning on a video tutorial on the process soon. With a bit of research I also discovered many other shapes that can be made - endless possibilities!

Last week I showed some images of painted sweeps of black across some vintage linen, I had cut them up and was playing with the arrangement. I got one that I was totally happy with and sewed it together. I am planning to "quilt" it with small x stitches across the surface rather than using more traditional machine or hand quilting.

The other pieces have not played well together and still require some work....we will see!

 I'm happy with this one, the hint of a large X in the middle is appealing and it seems well balanced.

This one is not behaving and I have already made adjustments from this image, it will end up smaller and may even be smaller still.....coasters, anyone?

I have some new Art to Carry Textile Totes set up in my Etsy Shop - they are so much fun to make, each one is different and its a great way to experiment with surface design ideas...

You can check them out here: Art to Carry

There's still time to register for my Cloth to Codex Workshop, I would love to share my ideas and inspirations with you....here's a little video that explains what you'll be learning: 

https://vimeo.com/658057548

You can sign up HERE