Week 11 - in the Studio

 More steps forward and a couple of surprises! I had a bit of a "little plan making" as one of the challenges is having too many projects on the go at any time and going down some rabbit holes any time they appear!

So I've made a list of "Focus on Four"....I am limiting myself to a total of four projects at any one time. Once I finish one, I can move onto another - but no more than four....let's see how it goes!

Project One Update:

I am quilting the most recent Industrial Shoreline piece, it's not my favourite part of the process, so taking it in small chunks...but I had a little mishap along the way - did you ever see a needle bend this this? No injuries were inflicted...

Project Two:

I'm continuing to work carefully and thoughtfully on my vintage paper pieces...in January I bought a Brother Scan n Cut and it stayed in the box until last week. I finally figured out some images I wanted to design and cut - 

Do I have enough? I had one particular design that I felt worked well on the paper pieces, nothing is glued down yet as I audition placement and repetition.

This will continue to evolve as I work on placement, additions and subtractions....and then learning how best to frame and display.

Project Three:

I admit to a bit of a sideways movement in my focus (but it counts as 1/4)  I pulled out some black paper and interference paints - making some marks and then monoprinting with the papers... loved the sheen of the colours and after taking pictures I set them up in an app. It was a fun distraction....

Isn't this cool?

These are the paints I used.

Project Four:

Not so much a project as a way to develop/discover/create an image to use in my vintage paper series...its about hand and brain connection and practising a movement to use. A simple "swoop" doesn't just happen - so heres a video showing the marks I made in the sketchbook to get to that point. Just click on the link below....

Trying for a Simple Mark

Not a Project - just a cool photo of a rock formation:

So that was my week - how about yours?

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 8 1/2 in the Studio

 Well, those days just whizzed right on by! A couple trips into the city took up the better part of a couple days....even if its just there and back, it still takes several hours. 

But I was able to spend a good chunk of time in the studio and was so pleased to finish up the top of my latest Industrial Shoreline piece. It's smaller than some of my more recent ones and went together in a well behaved fashion! There's still lots of work but I need to get into the city(again) to get the batting, though Ive just finished dyeing the backing. Once its sandwiched then I'll add more details with stitch and couched lines.

Here it is and the photo that inspired it, taken at Port McNeill, in the northern part of Vancouver Island:

I spent a day filming a new segment for my Cloth to Codex Workshop, the lesson was focused on "vessels and structures" such a difference working in 3D! I made several different prototypes, trying different shapes and cuts to see how units might fit together. My plan is to develop another workshop that focuses on just this topic, there's so many possibilities to explore! But the number #1 rule it to always create a prototype to see how it can work (ask me about all the paper failures on the floor!)

I'm also working on a group of bowls/plates/vessels to submit to a local exhibition. The theme is Food and I'm creating three that will be Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner with collage, painted papers and text.

First one is Breakfast and will be bright and sunny with eggs scattered over the surface....here are the first steps...

Painted tissue paper, cut out and ready...

The circles are glued to painted watercolour paper...

I've also made a stack of sketchbooks, ready for my Etsy Shop and local vendors....

So that was fun!

Week 7 in the Studio - Just when I think....

 ....that nothing much got accomplished, I find that it was actually a busy week!

I was in Vancouver last weekend for a better wifi signal (yes really!) while I presented a Zoom lecture titled Sacred Cloth - Textiles of Faith for the Minnesota Contemporary Quilters. It was a chance to visit my daughter, get some yummy Greek food delivered and focus on computer work during the day....I love offering Zoom lectures, getting to meet so many lovely artists and share our passions!

I finished off some more Colour on Ice fabrics and posted them on Etsy - you can shop until February 16th and get 20% off all my Colour on Ice fabrics HERE 

Remember that I mentioned I was filmed my Shibori Shiraz video? Its up on YouTube HERE and even my granddaughter gave it a thumbs up!

I got an order from Opus Art Supplies, I had ordered it three weeks previously but with shipping delays and staffing issues I had to wait a while - but the company updated me regularly and I was willing to wait! All such yummy stuff to try out....the Pitt Markers in blues!!!

I finished the black and white piece - here it is cropped. I'm not sure I am happy with it, I'll let it percolate a bit and I would like to see it framed...any suggestions?

And.....I started on another piece from my Industrial Shoreline series! It's always so exciting to start!

This is my inspiration - a crane in Port McNeill, BC that I took last fall.

As usual, I began with the sky and painted white over some subtly dyed fabric, cut it into square and then got very excited to see the pieces on the design wall:

It's been foggy here in the mornings and each piece felt as though I was peering through the fog layers looking at the hint of a horizon. Remember the poem by ee cummings? "The fog comes in on little cat feet"?

Here it is sewn together:

And then with the forest added....

The ocean comes next, using some of those Shibori fabrics....but that will be next week!

Week 6 - In the Studio...Time Flies!

In the past, every time I would try to write a blog post, it became a struggle to come up with something to share....now it's more like having a chat with a friend - YOU! I am grateful for you in my life, many thanks!

So what was this week like? A couple days in the city cut into my creative time quite a bit. But there's a story here: when we packed up our household and moved full time in a much smaller house, our intention was to stay 3 or 4 years and then move back to Victoria. So we packed things up  as though that was going to happen - the "good" stuff went into storage and we took the "essentials" plus a bit more. Now we can't see ourselves moving back to the city - we love, love, love small island life! But....what do we do with the stuff in storage? It was time to go through it all - did I mention the "stuff" is stored in our daughters basement? And she lives in our Victoria house?

So boxes were unpacked and sorted, some stuff is being sold, some donated and some given to kids (yes, you do want THIS!) and some is coming back to our small island and crammed into our small house! So that's the story!

In the studio - where the fun happens:

I dyed some fabric with black using my Shibori Shiraz technique, I wanted good contrast as I hope to make a thermofax design (the lower image) I still need to tweak it a bit...

I'd like to use maps as a theme for an upcoming so I used a road atlas as inspiration for some sketches on newsprint. I worked out three different designs of roads and trails in BC.

The facings are finished and the beauty shots are taken! Introducing:  Loading on the North Shore! My latest piece in the Industrial Shoreline series! It measures 41" x 58" and its the first time I used Thermore as the batting, so much easier to use. I'll be posting this on my Gallery page and inventory list this weekend.

I've also finally, finally, finally filmed my latest YouTube video - demonstrating my Shibori Shiraz technique,  I'll edit and post it next week, but this has been a huge step for me, just a lot of procrastination!!!

Also a bit of Colour on Ice dyeing, a couple Zoom meetings and now it's time to open a bottle and add to my Shiraz collection for Shibori! How about you?

Week 5 in the Studio

Either I didn't get much done or I just didn't take many pictures! I think it was a week of finishing loose ends and tidying up - I keep the studio pretty organized, there's little room for storage but I think its time to purge a few things - maybe next week!

First off, I made more of my Shibori Shiraz fabrics - I have another piece I want to work on and I need LOTS of water fabrics...

Each colour requires a new dye bath, so while it takes a while each step is fairly quick. Here they are drying on a rack....

They get washed and rinsed by hand and then ironed before putting back on the bottles. The top one is finished, the others will need at least one more dye bath.