Finished Face

After the initial drawing, the rest was just fun. I wanted to go a little messy as a counterpoint to the careful graphite drawing. I'm liking what I see, and might print it onto printer-fabric and make some kind of a hand stitched composition with it.

Can't Stop The Drawing!

This was just a face I saw in a magazine that spoke to me. I could see peace, mystery, knowing, and all kinds of things that made me feel good. The process of drawing and laying down some washes was a pleasure - I had no purpose in mind other than drawing the face. It's not quite done yet, but I'll post the next steps.

Fabric Art Workshop

A couple of my very game, very creative young students from summer. I taught an overview of surface design techniques as applied to prayer flag/banners. It's amazing how flexible their minds are, and how fast they grasp new concepts! I'm hoping they will stay with the special qualities unique to fabric art. . .

More T-Shirt Transfer Technique

I don't believe I ever posted these on my blog. I wasn't supposed to show images before the Quilting Arts magazine article came out, due to their copyright policies, and the bird's nest was in the 2015 spring issue. So, here's an example of the use of t-shirt transfer paper. Draw the image in a sketchbook, then copy it onto the transfer paper. Iron onto your fabric (DON'T use any steam, it'll fragment your art). You can buy 10 sheets of transfer paper at Dharma Trading for about 10 bucks.

Finished Pillow

Here it is. Couldn't have been simpler or more fun. The landscape is from photos I took at Chatfield state park with Bob. I altered them on Ipccy and printed them onto printer-fabric (you can buy it at JoAnn fabrics). The house is from a drawing I had made into a thermofax screen by Lyric Kinard. This way I can make more pillows with this theme.

Current Projects

I'm really liking the butterfly composition and the pillow top. I'll consider them done so far. Next, I need to do the quilting/stuffing finish work. . .

Goodbye to Rachel

Bob's mom died this spring, and I did one last thing for her. This is the portrait I drew, which was used in the funeral brochures, guestbook, candle, and other imagery. I printed them up and gave a framed copy to each family member, too. Somehow, when you look at her face with the familiar expression, she doesn't seem far away at all.

Nature Patterns

I will NEVER run out of dazzling patterns to inspire me in nature. I use these for inspiration in sketchbook pages, paintings, photo printed fabric from my copier, drawings made into thermofax screens, and mixed media in general. Lucky me, I plan to keep doing art for as long as I live. And art makes me WANT to live a long, long time!

Royal Gorge Beauty

We visited our friends Glen and Dawn in the mountains Sunday and stopped to take photos at the Royal Gorge on the way home. I was glad to see plenty of good vistas left untouched after the forest fires a couple years ago. Bob's still learning to use his new camera with the telephoto lens, but I thought these shots turned out beautifully.

Photo Day at Audubon

Bob and I went walking through the ponds and riparian areas at the S. Denver Audubon preserve and saw not just birds, but a glorious variety of minnows, dragonflies, butterflies, and flowers. The first picture of the thistles has been edited on Picasa.