Trying to start something new.

4/4/22 - that must be a significant number!!

I am trying to think of something to spark a new work. The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, Australia has a members' exhibition in October. I know that sounds quite a while away but, at the rate I am currently going, that is a doable time-line - I hope. 

The theme of the overall exhibition is Threading a Way - we still seem to be trying to find our way into the future, so many things are impacting our lives still. 

The Machine Embroidery Guidance group also has a theme of trees - it has been the theme since 2020, we keep getting interrupted by Covid!

I was browsing through some old work I had done and came across one that was based on a labyrinth. It wasn't all that good but it did make me think about the theme - trying to find a way. 

More browsing led me to some tree-shaped labyrinth pictures, mostly from Pinterest. So now I am hoping to kill two birds with one stone, try a tree-shaped finger labyrinth - or just make a wall-hanging. So far I am at the idea only stage - who knows what will eventuate? 

I am contemplating trying some of what I learnt from the Cas Holmes course I did last year, using her collage idea for the background. I am also contemplating doing a blackwork one!! That will necessitate starting soon - I am rather slow at hand stitching. I also found some notes from a course I did in 2011 and saw some twin needle work on the sewing machine that might work. So ideas are coming, alll a bit confusing really.

Developing an idea

 I'm still plugging away on the Cas Holmes course. We have been asked to come up with a design for a digital book displaying works by the participants. 

The brief is to come up with a design that is in the landscape orientation with the horizon line at the bottom third of the image. It is also supposed to be three times wider than it is high. This is way out of my usual design orientation. 

I took some photos at Warburton, when we were allowed to be there, and then drew a small image that was inspired by the photos. 

I then found some pieces of paper and fabric that I thought might suit the image. I ended up only using one piece of fabric that I tore into two pieces, another small piece of fabric and one piece of paper. And the marks on the fabrics were in the opposite direction from my initial idea. 

I haven't finished but it is in progress - which is very pleasing as I haven't used my sewing machine in about four weeks - partly due to it needing to be serviced and partly due to a lack of creative energy. So I am pleased that I got the machine out today and had a go. 

There is plenty more to do on it yet but it is on the go. 

Seeing another face

 I was browsing through my photos today, looking for some inspiration for the final piece for the Cas Holmes course I am doing. There is going to be an online book/exhibition of people's work. You don't have to participate but I would like to try. The format is landscape which I haven't been working on for most of the course. Hence the browsing photos to see some of the many photos I have taken over the last 8 weeks on my walks around the neighbourhood. 

I had made the photos large and was just using the arrow key to move along. I saw one I thought interesting and put it in the album for the course. Then I clicked to see more photos and this one then became small. That's when I saw the face!! 

I can't see it when the image is large, just when it is small. 

Staggering on

 Today's date is 11/10/21. Thank goodness I have these dates to inspire me to post. 

We are nearing the end of our lockdown - hopefully. The case numbers are still high but the number of double vaccinated people is rising. 

I feel as if I am in a queue to get tickets to the Grand Final. Willing to wait hours till the tickets go on sale, then, the closer you get to the gate, the more the queue pushes up closer and closer, all anxious to get there before tickets are sold out - or, for other games, before the game begins. 

Anyway ... I have been doing the Cas Holmes workshop through Fibre Arts Take Two. We had a live presentation yesterday to mark the end of the official times but the course is still accessible for years, so it doesn't all have to stop. 

My sewing machine in refusing to do free motion work at the moment. I have found a mechanic who is able to meet me and take the machine away (given the travel restrictions in place, that is very pleasing) but I have to wait till he comes into our area. Then another wait till it is ready again and he will be back in the area. So I will have to either do some hand sewing and/or making more fabrics and papers to use as backgrounds. All doable, once I get the energy up. 

Here is one piece that I am experimenting on. I had put it away after making it because I wasn't sure what else to do with it yet. 

Now I have done some hand stitching. I don't think I like it much but it did make me do something, so that is a plus. And I can always experiment a bit more on it. Or I could try another piece I have made to a similar stage. Or I could try making some more backgrounds. Lots of options!

Hmm - now that I can see them both, I think the leaves need to be darker. But I will let that idea lie in the back of my head and hope it doesn't get lost. And the lighting was different, that affects how it looks too. 

Three weeks since my last post!

 The date is 21/9/21, three weeks since my last post. Where does the time go??? 

Maybe it is a good thing that time seems to have lost meaning, given that we seem to be going to be in lockdown for another 5 weeks, at least. 

But I am tired!! 

However, I have been doing an online course with Cas Holmes, through Fibre Arts Take Two. It is set up in the same way as the Tara Axford one I did last year. And I seem to be having the same problem I had last year - moving from the initial modules where you look closely at something, to painting papers (and fabrics this time) to making collages. 

I have done daily drawings, using the continuous line technique, as a preparation for using the sewing machine to do continuous line drawing. I will have to admit that I do mostly daily drawings. I managed to make some collaged images last year, all using paper. I was moderately happy with some of them. But I didn't take the next few modules and move on to inks and water paints. 

This year, I have done the initial module of looking closely at my surrounds - which is mostly the backyard, given the 5km limit of movement (it is now a whole 10km!). Then I did a bit of fabric marking, mostly with the gelli plate and fabric paint. I didn't do much paper as I have so much left over from last year. 

Now I am stuck at the making a background stage. Other people doing the course have moved from the daily drawing to the collaged backgrounds to putting an image on the backgrounds. 

My backgrounds tend to be started with an image in mind, which influences how I put the fabrics and papers. Then I don't like them much, or the sewing doesn't work. 

These two were inspired by the fact that I had some bits and pieces that I collected when people doing a Bojagi workshop were throwing out. I had to rescue them. I had no idea what I would sew, which is fortunate, as it has turned out rather weird, a scene coupled with an in door scene with a tree growing inside. Ah well, it got me using the sewing machine again. 

I have managed a few that are ok, but my latest ones are not much chop. I have resorted to doing some hand sewing to see if I can make the lines of the collaged materials less obvious. 

All this might sound negative but it has been keeping my mind active (on occasion) and I have spent some time thinking, planning and doing. And the course doesn't have a particular time-line, so I can revisit or just abandon this part and move on. Or I could go back to last year's course, it is still available to me. Both courses should be available for years! 

 

looks like the pandemic is going to affect our lives for a few years yet, that could be very beneficial. 

Trying to stay positive

 21/8/21 - makes me post. Something needs to motivate me. 

We are back in lockdown. I know that I am not that burdened by it, compared to many other people, but I still feel exhausted. 

To help me keep interested in things, I am doing a Cas Holmes online workshop, through Fibre Arts Take Two. I attended a workshop, in person, a few years ago and really enjoyed it. So I thought I would give this one a go. 

So far, we have focussed on drawing, not a favourite thing of mine. But I have made a little sketchbook, using papers I have left over from Tara Axford's online course that I did last year (also Fibre Arts Take Two). Cas suggested that we use a variety of sketchbooks, some commercially made, some made by us. 

I have made a simple one so far, just some used photocopy paper that I did some gelli plate printing on, folded in half and sewn into a little book. It is to be my daily drawing sketchbook, along with some of the others that I have purchased. 

As we are not supposed to venture far from home, I have decided to start with very local sights - from the front and back yard. 

The first emphasis is on doing a continuous line drawing, probably because we will eventually move onto using the sewing machine for the drawing and it has to be continuous line, unless you are willing to be very picky. 

Shadows that can be inspiration for drawing shapes. 

Tried a white pen, based on some cockatoo feathers I found last year. Will almost be time to get them again soon, when the babies start growing their adult feathers.

Used a pencil on the left, a black pen on the painted surface as it was relatively dark.

Line drawing using the blank side of the paper and another piece that has paint on it. The paint felt good with the pencil 

Random pieces of paper. 

Soft paper bought from the Papermakers of Victoria. A ready-made sketchbook. 

How Things Develop

The machine embroidery group I belong to has a Farmyard theme this year.
This month's is buildings and fences. Not all that inspiring, I thought. But at least it is a theme and I can think about it.

Having thought about it for several weeks now, and having taken some extremely boring photos, I decided to bite the bullet and start today.

I had looked at some people's work on Pinterest. I especially like Cinde Hoppe, a new to me textile artist.
After browsing her site I thought I might pull out some fabrics I have dyed in the past and see if I had anything suitable.

That was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. Finally, I got into my, relatively tidy, studio today and was about to start looking at said dyed fabrics.
I don't know what made me look down at the box on the bottom shelf but I did. There were some bits and pieces left over from my Cas Holmes workshop that I did about 10 or 11 months ago.

I pulled them out. I laid them out. I radically changed my mind about what I thought I was going to do!

Now I have a piece that I think is going to be 12" square - just because that is the size I have been working on lately.
I made the image. It is rather more abstract than I had anticipated. I was influenced by a book I borrowed from the library: Art Quilt Collage by Deborah Boschert. I haven't really done what she is teaching in the book, but I was definitely influenced by reading it.

I also had a bit of sewing I had done on soluble fabric which I had done it for the Secret Garden exhibition in 2016. It was still on the soluble fabric, I had not used it but I had put it on my pinboard so that I wouldn't forget I had it. Today was the day for soaking it and pinning it out to dry.

This is it, drying in the sun.

Then I noticed that the bag of offcuts from doing the Unfinished Business challenge (2017). They went into the mix tool.

After I placed the bits and pieces and sewed them onto the background (a drop sheet from the Cas Holmes workshop), I decided I wanted some quilting-type texture, so put a cotton batting on the back. Then there was some not very planned free motion sewing.

I laid the trees in the foreground and sewed them on. 

I have cut away some of the backing, where the edge of the image is going to be. There was a slightly frayed, raggedy edge that I didn't like as it was too white. 

(I think I am going to sew it over a piece of foam core, as I have done with my other pieces recently.)

Then I remembered that I treated myself when I was overseas visiting friends late last year, by buying some Inktense Pencils. I have coloured the edge of the fabric and will hope that it has done the job. 

I needed some new foam core for the required size and it was too late to go to the shops, so I will have to work on how to present it tomorrow, after I buy the foam core.

Transfer Dye

I recently attended a workshop run by Cas Holmes, at the Ballarat Fibre Arts event.
The first thing we experimented with was transfer dyeing. I had done a very small amount while studying my Studio Textiles and Design course but had not done any for years.

The idea is that you paint your dye onto paper and then iron it onto your fabric. It works best with synthetic fabrics.

Today, two friends and I had a play with it again. We were trying to work out what papers work best and what fabrics work well.

I purchased my dyes from Kraft Kolour and they were delivered very promptly!

I'm not sure we have discovered a lot but we had a very pleasant day.

One thing that one of us discovered is that you can transfer the dye from paper to paper - much more her thing. She is more interested in paper art now, rather than textile art.

Different papers soak up the dyes differently and some seem to retain the dye more than others. Different fabrics take up the dyes differently. It seems that we need to do a lot more experimenting before we know much!

Experimenting with different resists and layers of fabric, to see if the dye would go through.  We had drop cloths to catch any dyes that soaked through. No many did, as you had to wait till the dye was dry before ironing it onto the fabric. But some of the thinner fabrics did let the colour go all the way through.

 The dyes looked much darker on the papers!

 It even worked on some felt that one of us brought along. 

 This too is felt. 

These two images show the dye painted onto some pianola roll paper and then ironed onto the fabric. As I have said, the colour comes out very differently on the fabric. It will take a lot more experience with the process to be able to accurately predict results.

One thing we did learn at the workshop is to keep the papers, they can be used in the mixed media piece that you might eventually make.