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.

Roy Reviewed and Renewed

May 2012 Red Challenge Fabric.Printing with wheat flour paste resist.

We (Jennifer and I) are returning to the beginning. The beginning of Roy G Biv, that is.

June 2012 Orange Challenge Fabric. Adhesive craft foam and hot glue block with nature printing.

We are starting fresh with another round...starting with RED. Are you Red-dy to play? Don't know the rules? You'll find them here.

I'm challenging you this round to think about tints and shades. Perhaps some pale pinks and deep maroons this month?

July 2012 Yellow Challenge Fabric. Background toothpick block. Flowers carved Speedy Carve blocks.

As usual, I will be offering a challenge fabric each month. Just a little incentive to get you motivated to pick up your camera and start your search. In this post, you'll see all the challenge fabrics from the past search for Roy.

August 2012 Green Challenge Fabric. Carved radishes and green peppers.

September 2012 Blue Challenge Fabric. This is a Peace flag honoring my friend Martha. Adhesive craft foam and carved Speedy Carve blocks.

October 2012 Indigo Challenge Fabric. Background texture brayer rubbing overprinted with carved Speedy Carve blocks.

November 2012 Violet Challenge Fabric. Torn freezer paper masks with stenciling and hand painted details.

December 2012 White Challenge Fabric. Rolled and sliced gift wrapped glued to cardboard.

January 2013 Black & White Challenge Fabric. Carved Mastercarve Blocks based on African Designs. Adinkra symbol for strength.

Post your RED photos on Thursday, February 21 (the third Thursday). Can't wait to see what you find.

A "Wild" Time

Dragon by Deena D.

I spent yesterday teaching two adult/child classes at G Street Fabrics. And even though each class only had one actual child, the adults came with their ready-for-anything child-like minds.

We had a wild time!

Here's what we were up to...

A Bevy of Beasts from my Wrapped Wire Animals class.

Grasshopper by Lourdis L.

Pegasus by Lauren L.

Ostrich in process by Gloria S.

A few Jazzys whooping it up from my Jazzy: A Wrapped Doll with Attitude!

Jump Roping Jazzy by Devon C.

Ready for Anything Jazzy by Allie-Blue E.

Wild Woman Jazzy by Tina T.

These classes are always fun, especially for me!

The Details

In addition to finishing up the first four letters of the ALAW Peace alphabet, I've been working on a couple of cloths for Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery.

At first, I thought they were going to be bread cloths. But then I realized these small square cloths could be more versatile. They could be displayed on a dining room table as part of a centerpiece or set on a small table as a decoration.

I decided to stitch some motifs on each cloth.

Since the dappled green one (the result of a couple of layers of sugar resist) reminded me of the sun coming through the leaves of trees, I decided to stitch a couple of leaf shapes.

The variegated purple one with organic circular shapes reminded me of the cherry blossoms as they float from the trees. I looked at some Japanese motifs of cherry blossoms and drew my own variation.

This my first try at putting something like this into the Gallery. I'll be interested to see what sort of feedback they receive.

Peace Alphabet: First Four Letters

Here are the first four letters of my Peace Alphabet for the A Letter A Week 2013 (ALAW) project.

They are hand printed on hand painted cotton fabric with stitched details using DMC floss.

Teeny tiny stitches...running, back and satin stitches.

In this alphabet the letters will take the form of birds ...in some cases doves. I envision that in most of the designs, the birds will be doing something towards peace (symbolized by the Peace sign...which I always think of as a dove's foot).

 In the final format (which may be peace flags), I will write something active about Peace such as Aspiring towards Peace; Believing in Peace etc.

Stitching Peace

The letter "a" for the Peace Alphabet

Started stitching the first four letters of the ALAW 2013 Peace Alphabet. Teeny tiny stitches under my Ott light with the magnifying glass!

I'm off to work at the Gallery today. I'm bringing along two of the bread cloths to hem. I need to design a couple of simple motifs to stitch on them for decoration.

Back to the alphabet tomorrow. I know that I'm due to post them tomorrow and will try my best!

Report from the Studio

Fabrics using sugar resist.

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since my last post. I've been in the studio doing some painting and printing.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking (not always a good thing!). Maybe it's the time of year...maybe it's feeling at loose ends about a number of things...maybe it's feeling like there's lots to get done and I'm treading water to keep afloat...

I have obligations to finish things that are not yet finished. I know that I need to nail myself down to a chair and just begin in order to clear these things out of the way and off my plate. There has been some major procrastination going on!

But I digress...I did get into the studio. I printed up the first ALAW letters (a future post) and will sit down to start a bit of stitching on them. I also decided to use my skills to make a few homey, practical items for the next juried show at Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery. I haven't done much in the practical, functional department. I expect that I will be doing more especially if my book proposal gets accepted (a loose end that is nerve wracking!). I've decided to make two to three bread cloths (to cover and keep bread or rolls warm) for the Gallery, as the theme for this upcoming jury is Hearth and Home.

I also thought I'd use a sugar resist recipe I came up with during my work on the Conant Grant project. I love how this resist looks.

As I knew that I wanted to use variations of blue and turquoise for backgrounds for my ALAW Peace alphabet, I spent a day just painting and monoprinting fabrics. I figured that I could kill two birds and make enough fabric so that I could use some for the alphabet and some for the bread cloths.

Here is one of the monoprinted pieces I decided to use for one of the bread cloths.

I did a rubbing with the sugar resist and then painted a greenish yellow over the fabric. I did a second layer of sugar resist (another rubbing) and painted with three additional colors. Here is what the fabric looked like before removing the layers of resist.

A sugar resist is so easy to dissolve in soap and water.

And here is a detail of the final piece of fabric.

It reminds me of a day in late spring when the sun is coming through the leaves.

I now have to cut it into a square and roll and stitch the edges. I imagine that I will do a simple stitched design in one or two corners as well...maybe a simple leaf shape. We shall see.