Heart Drawing in Ink

I'm hooked on thermofaxes the last couple weeks - it's been a while since I've had time to sit down and draw in my sketchbook, and I'm making the most of it. The ideas just keep on coming! This heart will be a small to medium thermofax after I shrink it in the copier. . .

Just the Fax, Please

I'm currently working on a series of pieces with thermofax screen prints made from my pen and ink drawings. The prints are the focal point in the middle, and I've stitched together a border made from my hand dyes and some commercial fabric. I've ironed it to a layer of WonderUnder, and next I'll do pretty stitching to highlight the different areas and add texture.

First Bits of Applique

I'm in the mood for some of summer's beauty, so lots of flowers in different shapes and tones, different leaf forms and colors. . . I'll keep building on this with what I call the "bad haircut" method - do a little bit, then see what is needed for balance, add a little more, etc.

Wholecloth Background

I started with acrylic paints and a wet-into-wet technique, adding blues, greens, and diluted black (for a neutral element). Using leafy shaped stencils, abstract thermofax screens that I designed, and some decorative stamps, I softly embellished the whole surface with greens, blues, and golds.

New Fabric Art

I'm going to use swatches from the previous posts, and more from yesterday. The look I'm going for is more formal than I usually attempt - with more stitching and structure. The turquoise piece is a raised surface on fabric done with light modeling paste and then painted over. I'll keep you posted. . .

Saturday

Next step: I heat set my freezer paper fabric (see previous post) and used a skinny sharpie to add doodle details. I'm trying to get a distressed look for this swatch.

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!