Category Archives: Thread Painting

Taking stock

 

Hello,

We are beginning to enjoy the wonders of summer.   These poppies are in Susan’s garden and look wonderful.    This was the first full week of June and I had three meetings.   QuEG’s meant on Tuesday morning.  It was a small group but folks had lots to share.IMG_1191Linda  C  is working on a baby quilt for her niece.   Elephants are the nursery theme.  Liz is working on her transparency piece and it is looking good.   IMG_1199Sue Ellen is playing with her collection on non cotton fabrics. IMG_1192 And there is a row by row project in the works too.

I went from the meeting to Moravia and spent a wonderful afternoon working with Susan.  We then went off to the Diva meeting where more things were cooking. IMG_1207Donna has a new batch of mirrors that she has completed.  She sure knows how to use Fimo effectively.     IMG_1209Lori is creating portraits with her needle now.     Noel is doing portraits too- but with quilt a different bent.   Her fabric faces are stretch and very whimsical.

IMG_1216Yesterday I went off to the FAB meeting.  Judy and Patti are knitting like crazy and Sharon has finished her Relative quilt now.

Because of all these meetings I spent a lot of time in the car alone.   This plus sorting through work looking for a specific piece brought up some issues.     Susan wisely said of reworking pieces one is “playing with your younger self.”   What a grand way to look at the process of redoing works that do not quite make the grade.       Time away from work allows one to look with new eyes at the pieces and I often see things I wish I had done differently.    I can spot the problems in some cases too.   In my sorting and musing I have decided I will return to some works in the hope of making them stronger.

Progress Report: Perception Daily    This work is 30” w X 46” l.   It is a part of the text series .     One of the challenges that Liz and I made for our selves this year was to use some of the fabric that we hand dyed.   All the material except the dark turquoise fabric in the background is something that I altered.    IMG_1255   I did reflective quilting around all the words after I had raw edge appliqued down the words. IMG_1258

Daily Practice I   I finally stretched all the finished Daily Practice work  this week.   This piece is 18″ w X 24″ l. IMG_1238   The base of this one is a piece of fabric that was a wipe  up cloth at one of my print sessions last summer.   The lace is from grandmothers collection and I hand dyed it last summer as well.IMG_1239

 

 

Daily  Practice II       This piece is 16″ w X 18″ l.      The base for this work is several  trimmed tans that  looked good together.    IMG_1232  This piece has lots of buttons on it for textural contrast.IMG_1233

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Daily Practice III      This work is 18″ w X 24″ l.   The purple background is a commercial fabric and all the other material added on top is some I have altered.   They are also scraps left over from other projects.    IMG_1247  I have always been fascinated by negative space and in using those negatives this way they become positive spaces.   Stitches and pompoms are the textural elements of this piece. IMG_1246

Daily Practice IV 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  orange part  base of the  background isone of the  shibori projects Liz and I tried last summer.   The metal flowers are from Carol.

Rocky Shore I worked forward on Water – the class assignments this week.   The hand painted   sky and  water have been stitched down and the three different types of foam have also been applied.IMG_1227    One foam is made from Angelina, a second is florist plastic that was painted with opalescent paint and the third was a textured plastic ribbon that I ironed.     I will move on to the next element next week and finish all the elements at the end of the class.

 

IMG_1261Mulberry Memories    This work has become a problem for me.  I tried to put too much into the top for the size of the piece.     It has become impossible for the viewer to “read”.     Therefore I have decided to scarp this  particular  work and start again using the same ideas plus a few others and create two or perhaps  a  three units  to represent this time and geography  of my life.     We lived in this location for 5 years and there are lots of memories.

Ravens  I thought that this work was finished last week and I presented it as such.  But a  second study this week as convinced me that it needs more quilting.   The gals at QuEGs pushed this idea too.   So I am taking the time to make these additions.

IMG_1251Persuasion I have been busy doing pebble quilting on this  text piece.   I am ready to start reflective quilting on it now.

Dad’s Barn  I came across the orange and yellow base in one of my boxes from  Ethel.  I pinned it to the pin wall and it hung there for several weeks.  In thumbing through a sketchbook I came across of the old barn on Dad’s Farm and though I would like to do a work about that.  The two came together.  I also wanted to do some more thread painting  so I drew our some swallows on wash away and started them.IMG_1185   After the backs were done I added the chest and beaks.IMG_1187   I have learned that I do not need to do the legs as they are so slender that they do not hold up well after washing and they seldom are in the position I want so I add them when I put the work together.     The birds are washed and dried and ready for mounting on the image.  I need to decide how I am going to add one of them to the work now.

 

 

 

New Work IMG_1225I am trying to pay attention to shape and contrast with this work.  It is made up of mostly the cut-away’s  of several  older pieces.    Again my love of the negative spaces.

Label Cards Modern    I became weary of the word Modern when I was about 10.  I was helping Mom and Aunt Marci clean grandfather’s cabin.  We were taking  The books off the shelf sorting and dusting them.     I came a pone  one called “ Modern Science” and I flipped it open.  It revealed a drawing of  all of the parts of atom with the Neutrons, Protons and Electrons labeled.   Knowing there were more I decided to always  be wary of things labeled as “Modern”.

Self Knowledge     One develops an understanding that they are unique entities separate from others at a  young age.    But the real development of self acceptance takes years and for some never occurs.

Keep Crating Friends

Carol

Great Weather

 

Hello,

After several days of spring rains, we are enjoying wonderful weather.   I now need to do some yard jobs.    But any excuse to be out doors will due.    It is so wonderful with pleasant temperatures  and   almost daily changes in the environment.   There was only one meeting this week and it was of the FAB group.  I forgot my camera so there are no new images.

 Progress Report:   Ravens   This work is  38”w X 49” l.    It really came together with ease.  I made a drawing and then  added a Raven’s head to the big white areas.

IMG_1153  I enjoyed working with the limited palet.

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Summer Family- Cardinals Texture is one of my main interests, and this work has a lot of them.  IMG_1146   This mother Cardinal has the most variation in thread colors of the three.   Her position is more animated then the males.

  I do seem to be in a bird phase at the moment.

 

Persuasion I was all ready to add the words on top of this work and then I realized that the value of the text was too close to the background.  So I took them off and made some darker words( navy blue ) and brighter greens.

IMG_1142I am raw edge appliqueing them down with silver and pale blue metallic threads.    There are two threads in one needle of the sewing machine.

Perception   I could not bring myself to toss the pale purple words so I made a new background for them.   The fuchsia and pink really high lights the words that were lost on the first work..   Then I added some of the leftover navy words too.   I think that  they add interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New  Collection II  Grandmother Mc    This work is moving along.   I am enjoying going through the  old button collections and adding them to the surface.

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Daily Practice IMG_1130  This work just keeps building.

New      I seem to be fascinated by the purple and apple green colors of late.   This is a  new combination for me and I guess I am not done exploring it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mulberry Memories- Carroll   This work is moving slowly.     IMG_1149I am adding the images I painted last week on the surface.    As a child, I  lived in this house five years and there are so many memories  that I am having a hard time deciding what to use.IMG_1150

Card- Spin    Spring seems bring on a dramatic change in the outside world and  those changes  push me in a new directions.   I find that my mind is full of a wide variety of ideas.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

Warming up

 

IMG_0930Hello,

We are starting to see evidence of spring.  I am happy with the few changes that are appearing as the temperature rises.

I went to the Associated Artist Meeting on Saturday where we had a little show and tell.  This is a pastel by my friend Barbara.  I really like the m,movement she created.

Progress Report:    SAQA entry -Layers of Life    12” X 12” .   I did some additions on this piece this week and then shipped it off to the folks at SAQA for their auction.

 

NEW IMG_0911 The \blue paper pattern is my  next word work.    The word is NEW.  I am auditioning fabrics for this project here on my pin wall.

IMG_0914Altered Jacket   I am adding lace and such to doll up this black jacket.IMG_0915I stole the idea from Chico’s- the idea of embellishing a jacket in this fashion  I mean.   I need to get some of the lace and such out of the suit case where I have is stored and out into the world.

Collection   I keep adding more and more items and layers to this work.     I like where it is going .   It’s like existence- made up of may small moments.

 

IMG_0912Thread Painting   I finished the last two Titmice that  I started at the spring retreat.   I have learned that a nice balck bead eye really helps them come to life.

 

   New ScarfIMG_0920Along the same line as the ones I  made at the retreat  this   new scarf uses  wash away  and free motion stitching.   I always get nice compliments on the others when I wear them.

 

Felt Backgrounds   Now that I have all the birds done I need to build backgrounds to put them on.  So I  spent a day with Liz teaching her   how to use her felting machine and I worked on backgrounds.   I will add the branch and birds on this one.

IMG_0924   This second one is just play and I do not have a plan for it.  I was just having fun.

IMG_0926This one is the least developed.  It too will be used for the birds I think as it is also a landscape.

Daily Practice   I keep stitching away on this project.    It has a long way to go.

Card   Clutter.  It seems that more and more stuff gets thrown at us each day  and it is hard to keep the clutter under control.   Perhaps accepting that will help a bit.

Keep Creating

Carol