Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Hearts, Healing Thoughts


Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought I'd share this piece of fabric which I created for the January issue of Julie B Booth Surface Design News. 


I used my X-acto knife to cut designs out of freezer paper which I ironed onto painted fabric and then painted using a foam dauber.


I really enjoyed cutting the designs within the freezer paper heart shapes. I cut freely without drawing designs with pencil. It was very spontaneous and liberating!


This has given me the urge to try some paper cutting. A blog suggestion by Ersi led me to  the site of papercutter, Beatrice Coron.

On her site you can see many wonderful images. She is a story teller and many of her stories are fantastical! This has me thinking about my  A Story in the Making class coming up next month. I'm looking forward to getting into the studio to make up my own stories.

You can see a TED presentation of Beatrice's work here.


I've just found out that Mary Jane Dodd is recovering from septicemia. Mary Jane is a peace-filled soul. She started the Flags for Peace Project which gave me the chance to honor a friend. I am constantly inspired by her beautiful works of jewelry and poetic words. I hope you will send healing thoughts her way.

9 comments:

  1. Happy Valentine's Day, Julie! Your printed hearts are lovely and so cheerful.

    I'm glad you found useful information through the link I suggested. Now I'll hop over to view Beatrice Coron's site. Will we all end up making industrious papercuts?

    I'm terribly sorry to hear that Mary Jane had septicemia. Such a terrible, dangerous infection! It's good to know that she is recovering, these past months have been very hard for her.

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    1. Well maybe not as industrious as Beatrice C! I found it very interesting that she often uses Tyvek...never thought of that! I love her Identity Project...check that out.

      I didn't know that Mary Jane was having such a hard time...prior to the infections? The septicemia sounds so scary. She's on intravenous IV for antibiotics. Hoping that she heals soon.

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    2. Mary Jane was in huricane Sandy's way and though I don't know the details, it gave her many troubles. I think this is one of the reasons she stopped blogging and commenting regularly. My best wishes and warmest thoughts go out to her.

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  2. *lovely hearts!*

    I had no idea that Mary Jane was sick. I had heard that her back had been giving her problems. I need to email her!

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    1. I'd just noticed that she hadn't posted in 5 weeks. I emailed to see how she was doing and was so surprised that she has, in fact, been very ill. Sounds like she is recovering but very slowly.

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  3. Sharing the love in a delicious way Julie :-)

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    1. Thanks, Susan...they do have a bit of a sweet look to them!

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  4. (My comment got 'lost', so I'm not sure if I'm repeating myself here! I'll try to remember what I was in the middle of writing...)
    How fun to do the pattern freehand, as you were inclined in the moment - and the design worked out beautifully!
    I wonder if you've ever come across the papercuts of Jaq Belcher:
    http://www.jaqbelcher.com/Jaq_Belcher/Jaq_Belcher.html
    I find them very appealing (though quite different than Béatrice's). It is amazing what you can bring out of paper by cutting into it...
    Looking forward to your newsletter!

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    1. Thanks for the link, Lisa. I like how the cuts in Jaq Belcher's pieces are still attached...very sculptural and wonderful shadows. I imagine great patience and concentration as the shapes seem so perfectly symmetrical and repetitive. I've just bought another book about manipulating paper called "Playing with Paper" by Helen Hiebert. Looking forward to getting some tips.

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