Freezer Paper Fabric Stage Two

I was looking at the cool shapes in our oriental rug, and thought, "What if I did freezer paper resist shapes like those?" I painted over the cut shapes, and let it dry. Then, I sprayed the fabric with water to get a wet-into-wet effect from my liquid dyes. Here it is so far.

Demo in Granby CO

I LOVED doing my talk and surface design sampler for the Peaks and Pines Quilters Guild on Thursday evening! Those dear ladies were so game, asked lots of great questions and I know many of them will walk through the door I opened and create lovely work. I welcome pictures of students' work emailed to me, and I would love to post them on my blog. Looking forward to coming back to do a workshop so that everyone can take home "pretties".

New Home, New Life

We're now settled in Castle Rock, Colorado - and loving it! We hit the hiking and biking trails a few times a week, enjoy our pastoral view, and are busy painting and putting in a garden. I had time this weekend to put together a Blurb book - it serves as a resume, portfolio, and promo piece. Here's the image I used for the cover: http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3310484/#promote-pane

Feeling the Magic Today!

 
I needed to take a break from the landscape quilt and get back into my comfort zone, so I started with screen printing, layered acrylc paints, ironed on a freezer paper stencil of a heart, and added a positive phrase. Thank you for looking in on my blog, and take this message to heart; it is meant for you!

New Landscape Scene: Step by Step

 
I've chosen a photograph of the Colorado Monument in Grand Junction for a medium large art quilt. The first layer of color is warm reds and earth tones, like the gorgeous rock formations themselves.
(The Monument is a well kept secret, right next to Grand Junction. We go every year to hike and taste wine, and when people see our pictures they say, "Where IS this? - It's amazing!!!")
I spritzed the plain white cotton fabric with water, and scrunched it into mountain-like formations. Then, I brushed loose washes of color over the tops. (Always iron to heat-set when dry). I'm now ready for the next set of colors - cool shadow tones. Continue to scroll down to see more.

Laying In Shadows

 
The landscape I'm doing is a morning scene, with the light and shadows I love. (Photographers call this the golden hour). The first layer of warm tones is dry, so I re-wet it with my spritzer. The cooler red-purple and blue-purple layers are soft and loose. I'll add definition in the next step.

Adding Crevices

 
I'm using watercolor pencils on top of the larger areas of color; putting jagged lines as in the photographs I'm looking at. (Spritz with water just a little here to deepen tones - not saturating enought to lose definition).

New art Quilt Composition

 
I'm laying out my latest bits; gelatin prints, freezer paper stencils, layered painted fabric, etc. I'm planning on sewing it together, top stitching, then I'll glue it to a large canvas.

"Facets of Fiber" Show

 

The show opening on Saturday night was a mob scene, with lots of cream puff cake being handed out! We enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces and meeting new fiber art lovers (or at least, new to us). Afterwards, we took over the second floor lobby of the Warwick for more wine, food, and fun.
If you get a chance, come check out the show at the Art Institute of Colorado in downtown Denver near 12th and Lincoln - it runs through February.

Going Back In

 

Here's a sample of some fairly blah fabric I had done one layer of deconstructed silk screening with. The colors I chose were light toned green, tan and some light orange. I have now added some areas of rust with a foam print. (Easiest thing in the world - you can see more in an article I wrote for the Aug/Sept issue of Quilting Arts magazine).

Moral of the story; always go the extra mile!