..I have discovered a new toy. I had to give a talk on Abstracting an Image to my art group in April. I found the whole process of researching and learning about it incredible. For an artist who has very little formal art training, this was huge. I know, no formal art training is a little like re-inventing the wheel but I like to think it gives me a fresh approach. Works for me

I just happen to have Adobe PhotShop, perhaps you’ve hear of it (snort). Abstracting an image is simply taking an image of anything and reducing it to its simplest form. But distorting it also qualifies in the real world. I took this photo (top left - click to bigify any of these photos) of a plant with purple leaves (a bit boring) and put it in PhotoShop to play with. I tried a few of the filters that come with the program; like the “cut-out” filter (top middle), or the “glowing edges” filter (top left). This quickly became addictive as I started to see the potential here as a design tool.

....

Above left is the “note paper” filter, then the “Sumi” filter. I then used the “palette knife filter and, unable to stop myself, I applied the “liquefy” distortion tool. Cool, huh? Left is the “Sumi” filter topped with a “cut-out” filter. This could keep me entertained all summer!

.

But then… I was cruising Borders last Sunday - I do this every Sunday, but what made last Sunday so special was the book I found. The Painted Quilt: Paint and Print Techniques for Colour on Quilts by Linda & Laura Kemshall. Once I got my hands on this thing, it was going home with me. No negotiation. The book is fabulous and my sketch pad is filling up with some really great ideas. Its just too inspirational and fabulous!

Just some of the things it gets into; finding inspiration, dyeing techniques, dye painting techniques, stenciling, rubbings, block printing, screen printing, mono-printing, discharging, painted fusible webs, gel and other fabric pens, dimensional paints, text, ink-jet printing, photocopy transfers, and fabric painting. Then, to top it all off with a chocolate covered cherry, it gets into applying pastels and paints after the quilting is done.But the best part is the really wonderful artwork that fills the pages of this book — I didn’t sleep with it under my pillow, honest I didn’t.

And then… I have been busy with the yard, now that its warm enough for things to grow, they are really growing! Oy! I’ve also been making progress on the “scary” room. Since it isn’t quite so scary anymore, I guess I can start calling it the “Art” room. It’s still just a giant supply cupboard but at least it will be tidy and organized and I will be able to find things. Here is the finished paint job and the beginnings of the organizing phase.

The left wall is light aqua, the right wall is just as bright a chartreuse as it looks (I love it) and its all trimmed in medium teal. The painting is done, praise the paint Gods, I hate to paint! Well, walls anyway. I have been organizing and putting away. This has involved a lot of stuff going out! How many boxes of cut up magazines can one woman accumulate? More than your wildest night mares can imagine. Trust me. And there is other stuff that I cannot figure out why I have it, or kept it. It’s gone. But still many, many boxes to sort… But I have motivation! I leave for QSDS in 16 days and I have to have my supplies and studio unburied so I can pack what I will need for my 5 day workshop. I also know that when I return, I will want my studio in full working order so I can continue to work on the things I will have started. So, I’m highly motivated and by blogging about it, I’ve made myself accountable to the world at large.

Or, at least my Mom, who reads this. Hi Mom!

Updated to add the title - oops!!! 

Deb H

I belong to an art group (Eye for Fiber: an art group) that meets once a month. This month we played with the technique of mono-printing. I was inspired to suggest it by a print that hangs on my wall.

This was done by my daughter when she was in the seventh grade (circa 1995 in Christiansburg, Virginia). I have always been so enamored of it I wanted to try it. Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to things… but if I really am interested, I get there eventually

She doesn’t remember the techniques they used clearly but enough to get us started. I played a bit.

And a bit more.

But one should never get cocky…

The technique was interesting but the colors, oy! For this one I put paint in plastic wrap and “smooshed” (technical word, that). I still think it has potential, I’ll just make sure I use better colors next time. I believe that mono-printing will never become my favorite paint technique (never say never!) but it is worth further exploration. Layering has a lot of promise and I need to experiment with the amount of paint I use, as well as it’s thickness. I have been using Setacolor straight from the jar so far. It may be better thinned a bit. I’m also being cautious of how much paint I use as I don’t want to make the fabric stiff as cardboard. Although for wall art, I’m not sure why I care. I still have to play with adding bits of stuff. Ashland’s print (top photo) has bits of lace, screen and pine needles, among other things in it. The textures are marvelous!

And elsewhere in the news - Country living has it’s drawbacks. Just about everything we do (including all our jobs) are an hour drive, think gas prices. Ouch! I’m told the Frost Date here is Memorial Day. I spent Memorial weekend getting my veggie and herb garden all planted and they looked so nice. We had a killing frost last night. Sigh. And my dream car, my wonderful VW Bug, has a black eye.

It was hit by a deer on a long dark country road on the way home from a movie. Notice I did not say the car hit the deer. Since it came from the side and slightly behind us, I think that qualifies as the deer hitting the car. My car has a serious black eye and the deer walked (limped?) away. I still feel bad about the poor thing but there is not much you can do when it completely disappears. Considering how many deer/car encounters there are here, I guess it was just a matter of time. At least it was minor and both parties seemed to have survived. At least the car occupants had no injures. Thank the Gods for small Blessings (yes, I read Terry Pratchett).

Deb H

Copyrights - a stickler of a subject at the best of times. The most misunderstood and abused set of laws we probably currently have in the US. Congress, in all it’s wisdom, seems to think the new “Orphan Works” being bandied about is a good idea.

Oy!

Wake up people. This is very, very, very bad. For more information and how to help to let Congress know that the American voters are smarter than that, please follow this link and be heard!

http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/?cat=2 Thank you Gloria for helping us stay current on this issue.

Dismounting soap box to thunderous applause by ARTISTS all over the world, whom this will effect.

Let’s just get this out of the way; I’m bummed that the Yarn Harlot was in A2 last week and I missed her (A2 is Ann Arbor, MI for the non local folks). In my defense, I was teaching a sock knitting class in Lake Orion. I know Stephanie would consider that a valid excuse

It’s been a very busy week but I still managed to put another layer of color on my grape vines pieces. The first one (Cloth 1, as it’s now known), is below.

The colors are a bit intense, not the soft water color look I had originally envisioned. I did this on purpose because I’m assuming I will loose color again. Not as much this time (I hope) as I’m taking measures to avoid it. My first correction was to not dilute my paints so much. I’m sure I had them diluted to the point where I had very little binder left. The manufacturer recommends not diluting more than 50% and I know I was way past that. Here is Cloth 2, it is starting to look a lot like Cloth 1, hummmmm.

The next steps I’m taking to avoid a huge amount of wash-out this go ’round is to let it cure longer between heat setting and washing, like a week before I heat set and a week after! In case you can’t see it, I added the gel-glue resist lines back in. This project is certainly a learning experience. I’m Blogging about it too, that means if I have a dismal failure, it’s a public one. What was I thinking?!?

So, what have I been busy doing all week? I taught a class at my spinning group on printing with silk screens. Don’t ask me why spinners want to silk screen but, there you have it, at least it went well and they seemed to enjoy it. I also did a lesson for my art group that met last night on Abstracting an Image. This was a challenge as I have no formal art training, just what I could pick up in the occasional CC class, fiber workshop (a lot of those!) and through books (a lot of those too) and the Internet. After several days research, I had a pretty good presentation. It was a small showing as we had the first warm and sunny day in 6 months yesterday but, the experience of putting the lesson together taught me so much I certainly can’t complain. I was fascinated by the process and it’s so much less scary for me now. I recently finished an online class of which I have mentioned in my last two posts. This class was an excellent choice for this time in my artistic journey. The instructor had us doing this in the class and she succinctly described the process as “reduce the image to it’s simplest form” and then gave ideas on how to do that. After further investigation and practicing the techniques I picked up in several places, I found the computer and Adobe Photoshop to be the fastest way to accomplish this. I t may seem like cheating and it would feel like it if I was going to use the simplified image as it. But by the time it is interpreted into another medium by hand (fabric or paint), I simply consider it a short cut. I’m sure there are those who would disagree. Too bad, it’s my tool of choice! All I can say is it’s a darn shame I did not have, nor could I find, a photo of grape vines on a stucco wall. No short cuts on this project. Sigh. And because you need a photo after getting through all that text here is a detail shot of Cloth 1. You can clearly see the resist lines now.

Ack, it looks pink!

Deb H

I belong to a group of Fiber Artists that meet once a month to critique our work, torture fibers, share techniques, and kibitz. I’m not exactly sure what Kibitz means but I’m sure that’s what we do

Last month we succumbed to the current craze of turning junk into treasure by melting plastic to make beads. It was fun, stinky and headache provoking in a closed room - duh! But it was also 6 degrees F. out and snowing, thus the closed room. In our defense, it was a big room. The first photo is melted strips of Page Protector with (lower front) peacock feather, sheer fabric (top right), and plain (top left). For the whole story see our group’s Blog.

Though this was fun and we played with other melt-able materials as well, I couldn’t help wondering what I would ever actually use them on. To me, a Campbell’s soup wrapper still belongs in the trash; I just can’t picture thinking of it as a thing of beauty - sorry Campbell! This may explain why I have a hard time with the current craze of “Mixed Media” collage art. I feel a little like it’s too much! To busy, too junky, too everywhere! It makes me long for simplicity. I look at most of it and I want to run for a broom or hide in a bare room (not with white walls though, never white walls).

That is not to say that “found objects” or mixed media, or even collage cannot be done beautifully. I recently ran across an Etsy sight that had jewelry she makes from rocks. They are found objects but they are simple, clean, beautiful, even Zen like. Check this out but notice the lack of melted plastic anything. Another example in my own jewelry collection is the necklace at right. An Arizona artist who’s name I cannot remember (sorry!) made this with a rusted bottle cap, an old shoe button, a piece of beach glass and crystal beads from a broken vintage necklace. This is stunning without being “junky” or over done.

Why am I so craving simplicity? Could it be my studio is still a roaring mess?

Hummmmm….

Deb H