Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Pseudo Stencil

So after two tries cutting out a stencil with inadequate Xacto knifes I gave up, printed it out on paper and am now cutting those out. I will trace the letters to assure that I get accuracy in size. Then I will paint the words onto the white vinyl of the "Dreaming" work.


Tuesday, January 30, 2007

KATHLEEN

I just saw Josh Ritter a few nights ago and it reminded me of a portrait I had done last year of an old elementary school classmate of mine. I have and had been out of touch with her for very long time but I had received news that she had fallen into a coma. This was dramatic news for me and occupied my mind. I am a mother of young children and I knew that she had three very young children of her own. It was awful information. It was at this time that I came across singer/song writer, Josh Ritter. One of his popular songs is called 'Kathleen' and it affected me greatly. I played this song over and over and one day it just came to me that I needed to create a portrait of Kathleen to remember her as a child. After I did this my mind became at ease and I really came to terms with what had occurred. Here is the portrait. If you have frequented my blog you can see that it is very different from my other work. I think that is because it is drawn from memory.

Monday, January 29, 2007

SLACKING

So, I didn't work last night. My husband and I went to a Josh Ritter concert. If you have never heard of him you need to visit his site. You can click the link on the right hand side of my blog. He is a country/folk singer of a kind. Sort of walking in the steps of Bob Dylan. That said very original, passionate, fabulous songwriter, and just all around great performer. So go to his site and download some free MP3's he generously supplies, enjoy and try to catch a show at some point. Seeing this kind of artist live is so much better then recorded.

On my work....more to come I promise. I'll be cutting stencils tonight!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

THE NEXT STAGE

I know I am due to post a final image of my "Dreaming" piece but, guess what, Im not finished. So as soon as I finish up those pesky final details you'll have to wait for the final product. In the mean time, I am planning again. I can't get pink out of my head and now I have another image to prove it. The image below was lit with yellow light so the color is not quite right...sorry but you probably get the idea. By the way, this is the cover or House Beautiful, I believe, and it is Marie Chantell? Something like that. Anyway, I am now thinking purpleish-pink and satiny for my next work. I have some very cool painting techniques which I think I will try out. More on that later. I also think I will be pleating and quilting this work?? Time shall tell.

As for inspiration, The Complete Book of Sewing by DK publishing is fantastic! I just want to practice everything in there. I also just received Fashions of the Gilded Age in the mail today and I have already reviewed the whole thing. Talk about pleating and ruching. Yeah! So, I have my work cut out. Now I just need to sit down with some paper and think it all out.

Friday, January 26, 2007

MID-ATLANTIC QUILT FESTIVAL

Well, I just got a letter in the mail today notifying me of the acceptance of my "SMOOT" art piece in the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. I am so thrilled. This is all very new to me as I have been working as a 'portrait' artist of sorts and have just recently entered the quilting realm. If you are in the region come and visit the festival. It should be a fabulous time. I am excited to see and speak with some amazing quilt and fabric artists! USE THE LINK ABOVE TO GO TO THE QUILT FESTIVAL SITE THEN MAKE SURE YOU LINK TO THEIR HOME PAGE AND ALSO GO TO THE LINK FOR THE 2006 WINNERS. There are some SERIOUSLY inspiring quilts!

The following images are of my "Smoot" painting/quilt which was selected for the show.


Thursday, January 25, 2007

MY LADIES

'they wage war, we preserve life'

This is for my 'Dreaming' peace. Ladies in wore-torn countries, I have the question; How do you protect your children? How do you keep them safe and raise them? It seems daunting.

Inspiration for today:

U2 This is a blog type site.
U2 This is the offical site.
running outside

I have decided to add to my posts the process of thinking that leads me to my art. It is a way for me to track all the environmental factors which lead to my creativity. Lets see how it goes.

Monday, January 22, 2007

BEADING

First I could not find the right red. Now I am not arching the beads the way I would like. I have spent more time ripping out then beading I think. It is always at this point when I am working on a piece that I get anxious to finish. My mind slowly creeps to planning the next piece, so finishing touches take longer! So close yet so far. Here are some detail shots. Are you tired of seeing this lady yet.....I am starting to!



Wednesday, January 17, 2007

TO BEAD OR NOT TO BEAD

This work has been so different from the "Smoot" painting I did previously (as seen under the embellished portrait label). I had a fairly involved plan before I started that one. This was orginally just a portrait to compliment "Smoot" as it is the same woman but a very different painting technique. It was a much more of an emotional work, never intended for embellishment. The problem is now I am hooked. I love the sparkle and the texture. Plus I love the meditative quality of stitching.

Just an FYI about labeling for those of you who are new to blogging. You can go to the right hand side and push any of the links under the category 'label' and it will bring up that style of work. So when I say you can find the painting "Smoot" you just go to labels and push embellished portrait,to see all the beading and embroidery. Or push another label to see some other style of working. IF YOU CLICK ON THE IMAGE YOU CAN SEE THE DETAILS MUCH BETTER.



I have given three images, starting from the most detailed image I can create to a shot which is a little further out but not the whole work. I am hoping you can see some progress. Please, I hope you see progress!!



Each bead is stitched on individually, as were the sequins. It has a very subtle effect but when the light catches it is is so cool!



Well, got to go. My mind is slipping as the Prednisone I am taking is slowly taking me over. Yeaks, you should read the side effects!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

RECOVERING BUT NOT WORKING
art by Pablo Piccaso

Well, about four doctors visits and six x-rays later it is confirmed that I dont have pneumonia! I suppose that is a relief but then what the heck is going on, is what I say. I have had an upper resporitory infection for around six weeks! Yuck. Not only am I not working on my art pieces but I had to take a leave from work.....not to mention the poor mothering going on around here! This is definately an explanation mark kind of entry. I promise this should be the last enrty about my sad, sick life. I will move on to more artsy things, I just had to get it off my chest...no pun intended. So, I am sitting here at home with no children to worry about, not much to do and in total quiet. It is very rare and I kind of like it. I think I will sleep :)

Sunday, January 14, 2007

RIPPED OUT WORK

Well, I went back to work and as a result had to rip out my work three times. I could not decide on a color. Then the yarn seemed too thick. Embroidery is slow but when you are sick it is tediously slow! It is rather difficult to see the embroidery in this first image. It is done with gray yarn and is working as a loose outline. I can't decide if I like the subtlety. Yes , no, maybe so?



Here you can see some of the stitching and underpainting. Notice the difference in color of the two images....the one below was taken with more daylight.



Messy workstation.



Ripping out black stitching from the back of the canvas.



Hope today finds you all well.

Friday, January 12, 2007

OUT SICK OUT SICK

















The Scream by Edvard Munch

Feel free to browse the site. Too sick to work. I'll post again in a few days hopefully.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

My Women

These are images of portraits I have done recently but before the Smoot and Dreaming portraits. The first one is really a layer of latex dripped over an older painting/drawing I did not like. I left parts exposed to create the layered effect. The figure is done in trapunto and the edges overstitched. The flowers is actually a dried tulip and the red marking on the lower right is a wet-on-wet painting technique. It sort of looks marbilized. Another great site to read up on marilizing is Suminagashi.

In the next image, I pieced large pieces of canvas together with some cloth meant for quilting (the middle piece)....can't think of the name of that type of cloth right now. Anyway, I created a sort of negitive image. I purposely left the joining edges raw. I added the couched braid, done coursely on purpose, and the text was created on the computer, printed on vellum and applied.

All of this quilting, emboridery and beading on fabric is new to me but I find it very engaging. Whereas, in the past I was really focused on the portrait image I am now very much exploring the "quilting" aspect of the work.



Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The Pink Dress

I don't really know a whole lot about this dress but I like it. I will probably use this color scheme in combination with the "Girls" daguerreotype in yesterdays post. I also like to experiment with the ruching,pleating and other sewing techniques found on dresses of this kind.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. I want to thank you all for visiting and participating in my blog. I really enjoy getting feedback so if you have any thoughts send them my way. It makes the effort seem worthwhile. I hope the new year treats you all well. Happy blogging.



I thought I would include one of the images I am thinking of using for my next work. You see, I can't keep my brain focused on one project at a time. I am always thinking too many steps ahead. It is funny because once non-artisians view my work they almost always ask me how I can think up such things. My answer is always the same, I can't stop thinking up these things.....I wish I could sometimes I would probably get some rest! I definately feel slightly obsessed sometimes. What a crazy internal life we creative types lead.

Here are some good examples of obsessed artists....(just a sample as I am sure there are many others!) Mind you, I'm not comparing myself in talent nor obsession for that matter:
Michelangelo
John Keats- poet
Van Gogh
And here is an article that may be of interest:
Medical News Today

Did I forget anyone....smile. Post me your obessed people!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Beading Details on Dreaming

I have started beading "Dreaming" and have found that I don't like the red. So now I have to go out and find a good red. However, that said, I may drop the red all together and go with another color. I have alot more beading to do and now that I will have to rip out the red it will take even longer. Such is life. I love the beading part anyway. If you have the desire, I have found some great sites and information on beading. You can visit The Lone Beader, and BeadLust. Both of these are blogspot addresses. Thanks for sharing your great sites folks! Some others are; Cartwright beading supplies, and for inspiration - Japanese Embroidery Center.