An Easy Colour Study to Try

Is this how you feel about colour? Does it challenge you beyond endurance? Keep in mind that the more we work on something, it more skilled we become. This is true for truck driving as well as our art!
Last week, I taught a class on Design Explorations that focused on some of the Elements of Design and my students loved this exercise involving magazine photos and coloured papers. You can also do this with pictures in magazines.

Find a picture you like and tear it out. The find all the colours in the picture by cutting small pieces of those colours or painting them and glueing down beside the mail picture. This exercise is about looking and seeing how many possible colours there are in just one simple photo.

Another exercise is is to cut out pictures of one colour and glue them down in place. This will teach you about some of the possible values, tints and shades of that colour.

Now, how about trying some of your own?

Space Maps, Pick Up Sticks........New Thermofax Designs

I have a blast thinking of names for some of my Thermofax designs and I've just added a few more. check out these and more at my "Industrial" page:

 Power Grid

 

City Map

You can go and order them in three different sizes: http://fabricimagery.com/category/industrial/

Or how about some new Nature Designs:

 Wood Grain

 Bamboo

These are great, aren't they? Remember Here is where to order them: http://fabricimagery.com/category/nature/
Did you know that I also create custom orders for you? Provide me with a design and choose the size, its that easy! Or I can create something special that I'll love. Just send me an email HERE

You're Going to Love It......Resist to Stitch

Its not about disliking or being resistant! Its all about creating resist on fabric. You're going to love it, I promise! A special 3 session online workshop developed just for you. Lots of colour, lots of pattern and lots of exciting new designs to make YOUR fabric so perfectly unique!

In  Lesson One we will explore pole wrapping and Shibori and I have lots of great ideas for easy, simple techniques for you!

In Lesson Two, we'll work with both wax and glue resists for  dyes and diluted paints and play with flour resists as well! You will learn lots of ways to create interesting textures onto fabric!

And in Lesson Three we will focus on a unique and creative way to use stitching to create a resist before dye painting. It's not exactly what you might think....

Would you like to learn more? Then check out the sign up page here: http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/ Read over the Supply List (click on the Green Button)
I also include:

•  an opportunity to discuss, comment and ask questions with fellow students and the teacher (that's me) on the workshop page.  

• There's a photo sharing site thats designed just for you to see what others are creating. 

• Plus you'll have a chance to download all the videos to watch at your convenience....forever! How cool is that??

All of this for a VERY resonable cost! Remember, just go to: http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/
And Register for Resist to Stitch. Hurry! The workshop opens June 19th for a limited number of students, just like you!

Three Blogs You Need To Read

Its been a while since I made a blog list, so perhaps I'm repeating myself, but I think some blogs are so outstanding that they could be shred more than once!

This time I'm focusing on the "art business" side of art and blogs with three that I think hit the nail on the head, content-wise.....

http://blog.lisacall.com/  there is so much I admire about how Lisa conducts her business and how upfront she is about the challenges that she meets-head on. I love how she shares her business planning and modeling, how she schedules her time and is sure to include the 'all important' personal time as well. I have heard amazing things about her workshops and hope that one day I can take one of them!

http://www.textileartist.org/ has it all together, they "aim to become the number one online resource and community for artists working with textile techniques as well as textile art enthusiasts. TextileArtist.org is a place to be inspired, learn from the best, promote your work and reach other creatively-minded people" (from their website) That sums it up pretty well and they do an amazing job of it......check them out!

 



http://www.artbizcoach.com/  Alyson Stanfield has written the most essential book for artists wanting to work in their studios instead of being in front of the computer (gulp). You really can't be without this book! Its called "I'd Rather Be In the Studio" and you can order it from her website. But Alyson's' blog is an essential read with varied, relevant content.

Plus, the fact that you're reading this blog makes me think you like it as well. Thank you for your support!

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:

Free Dyeing Workshop!

There's lots of great information that you can access online, what to know something? Google it! Want to take a class? Sign up? Something to buy? There's Paypal! We love to be connected, there's whole universe out there with just a click of a button (or two)!
I've prepared a short video for you that introduces you to dyeing gradations of colour, those groups of fabric (and maybe threads) that dye from light to dark in value. You can't have too much dyed fabric, right?
Well, now its time to learn just how simple it can be! You can check out my video and learn the basics of Colour Gradations:

 

And if you love that one, then I have a 45 minute video on a variety of dyeing techniques and so much more....Check it out here: http://susanpm.com/online-workshops/

Five Easy Dyeing Tips That You Need to Know!

Often I hear from students that they would love to try dyeing fabric but they think its a long, involved, messy process. Sometimes they think they need very specialized equipment, noxious chemicals and a large space in which work.

In truth, a table or the top of a washer/dryer and easy access to water are the only necessities. I've been making luscious hand dyed fabrics for many years and tried just about every technique possible and the fact is, you can do a lot with very little!
Here are some tips to make your dyeing experience fun....and easy!

1. make a dye concentrate

Instead of making up a dye solution each and every time you want to colour some fabric, mix up your colours in easy, ready to pour concentrates. I mix 8 ounces of water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon dye powder (double for lemon yellow and black) and keep them all in squeeze bottles, ready to go. They'll keep for 4-6 weeks, longer if you refrigerate them.

2. always have fabric prewashed and ready to dye

That's a no-brainer....buy it, wash it! Its that simple!

3.  dye threads and fabric together

If you are dyeing fabric, throw in a couple skeins of embroidery floss, some perle cotton or whatever! See how amazingly gorgeous it is??

4.  make colour gradations
If one yellow is beautiful, then think about how much better having twenty yellows could be!! Make more, make more! If you are not sure how, then check out my free video workshop here:
http://vimeo.com/89749580

        5.  ok, here's the last tip....................make a trip to the dollar store of most of your supplies!

You will probably need some measuring cups and spoons and maybe a water jug or two. Never use the stuff from your kitchen and the cheapest deals are as close as the dollar store. While you're there you might find some great items for stamping on fabric, some birthday cards and gift wrap, cute hair barrettes for the grand daughter,  new pots for the garden, socks for the neighbor, storage bins for the kitchen and.....well, you get the idea!

Have a good one!

The Perfect Holiday Weekend!

I'm feeling a little guilty that I should be working hard all weekend, catching up on the tasks that I let slide while I was away for the past month. But here in Canada it's a long weekend. It's called Victoria Day in honour of Queen Victoria and there was a rhyme that I heard my mother recite: "The 24th of May is the Queens birthday, if we don't get a holiday, we'll all run away"....


I'm not sure any schoolchildren these days would have an inkling of what that meant.
The holiday in Victoria (where I live) means a huge parade along the Main Street. It's always been a family tradition to attend and watch all the floats and marching bands. Now, there are no kids or grand kids in town and it's not so exciting for us......
So instead it's a weekend away on Pender Island with the Farmers Market, a big bowl of crab fresh off the boat and walks along the beach.

Not a bad trade, I'd say!

Enjoy, Susan!

What to Do, What to Do?

As you may know, I've been creating fabrics over the past few years with dye, soy wax and a few other techniques......well, maybe dozens...
And I've got a lot of yardage, half and quarter yards that I've made. Some are great teaching samples, some are great for illustrating design elements and so forth but I'm thinking it's time to cut some of these babies up!
So how about some thoughts on what I should do with this:




Or this:





Or this:





Enjoy, Susan!

How Lemon Pie and Facebook Connect.....

I have a friend that I rarely see in person, she doesn't live near me, in fact we meet up once every couple years at a Fibre Art Network retreat and that's it!
But like many, many people we keep in touch through Facebook.
Now, I know that Facebook gets a lot of criticism, much of it deserved, but usually because people do not filter their posts very well. I don't play Facebook Games, I don't send pokes, presents or anything like that, but I do enjoy the connections we make, the joys and sorrows we share and the interesting things we learn (sometimes true, sometimes not)
Anyway, my friends son owns a restaurant in Montreal and she often posts pictures about the restaurant. It just so happened my daughter and I went to Montreal for an appointment last week and we stopped there for lunch, simply because it was the only place we knew and it was recommended by "his mum".




It was delicious and I do recommend it (now you have two recommendations, "his mum and me") and definitely have dessert, you won't regret it! And that's how Lemon Pie and Facebook Connect!!!!
Enjoy, Susan!