Category Archives: Plantine

Collage, Double Joy, Felt Work, Glyph IV with Beads, Hand work, High Priestess, JOY II, Plantine

Camouflage

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IMG_0277 Hello,

I am enjoying the sun of this January day and the rich smell of these blossoms that were a gift from Judy.      As I was looking at my grandson’s camouflage pants the other day I was wondering if the goal of was to mislead or conceal.  Here in central NY in doors in the winter the patterns  doen’t do either job- but out in the woods in the summer they must do a bit of both.   Many animals and plants use camouflage to trap and stalk their pray as well as hide from predators.   I know my grandson purchased  the pants  so he could lie in wait with his camera to take photos so I guess his goal was to conceal.     It is not a fashion statement in his case so I guess that means his major intent is  not to mislead his peers- just the animals.   A strange bit of both in the end.

Progress Report: Aces and Spaces   This work is 37.5” w X 27” t.     It is built from the cutaways  of ACE plus a few transparent fabrics.   IMG_0257I did free motion quilting in the patters of aces- mostly using the ace of spades  for my pattern as that is the one most folks think of when they picture aces  in their heads. IMG_0259I enjoyed playing with this project.

Collage 2 The Song Bird    I am staying true to my goal of trying to do a collage every week.  This is my second piece.  I was listening to a recording where there were bird calls as a part of the intro and this work came form that joyful sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ribwort Plantain   This work is 14”w X 18” l.   I used felting for the background and did the Plantain on wash away  before I applied it to the surface. The heads are made from yarn and the steams are robin.  IMG_0264 The leaves are fabric with sewn lines on top for the vain patterns.   A fabric boarder was added before binding.

  Hand work   This daily practice is moving along nicely.   IMG_0253  I am trying to limit the number of types of stitches I  use here so it holds together and one can see how different yarns look with the same stitches.

Joy II   As the shot shows I finished the building of the second base for the joy cut.  I tried several backgrounds before settling on this one and then tried several layouts too.   I finally decided that I liked the diagonal layout with the words not being read from the same direction.  This work is ready for stitching now.

Double Joy    With this project  it take a lot of trial and error before I settle on the background and placement of the parts for the work.   This time the two tops of the words are pointed toward one another.  The centers are not even pinned in at this point as I need to make a curvy cut to unite the yellow unit to the orange one.

 Glyph IV   The beads just keep being added to the work.   I am inching up the right side of the O now.

Ice The stones are all  stitched down to the stream bed now.   I plan to go back and do a bit more to anker them and start to build a water flow pattern across the surface.     IMG_0271This is the photo  I am working from.   I did a little test piece to see if I could get the line effect with my stitching  for the ice that will go on top of the rocks.  IMG_0272The best one was when I zig-zagged  and appliqued down a bit of cording.

Wool 1 I felted down some roving to begin a new work based on a part of a photo I took last fall.  I only did the hand “basting” part so the roving would stay put before I get out the machine to do the final work here.

Wool 2 IMG_0248This is a second piece of wool with the same treatment as the first.

6X6 The call came out for the next 6X6 works for the Rochester Contemporary Art Center show  and so I responded.  I have been a part of this for the last six years I think.   They are all done now and I will mail them off next week.

 

High Priestess  Card  Susan has suggested that we try to do the Major Arcana for our Tarot cards so this is the  third in the series.   I am enjoying doing these collages.

I hope everyone is warm and working at  there creative activates

Carol

Collage, Glyph IV with Beads, Glyph Series, Hand work, JOT I, JOY II, Magic, Plantine

Magic

IMG_0183Hello-

We are deep in winter now so the sight of my Christmas Cactus  blooming is  a nice bright sight.  I have had a good week.    I went to the opening of the New Members Show at the Manlius Library on Sunday.   There are six of us who are showing about six pieces apiece.     It was great fun to talk with the other artists and the public too.  I had great support from several of my friends and that added to my positive feelings.    Before the day was over, much to my delight, I sold two of my works.    Fox Tails and White Iris both have new homes now.   It is a great feeling of confirmation when a stranger likes your work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Joy I   This work is 24”w  X 23” l.   It is also a rework.  The curvy cut quilt was made in 2012 and was set to be donated to the  Helping Hounds shelter.  But I pulled it aside and added the JOY  graffiti on top instead.   This   second shot shows the word pattern in paper.  The blue was cut following this pattern then stitched down on top.   IMG_0212 I am exploring the use of my stylized lettering with this work. IMG_0214This last shot is of the “O” in the center of the word.

Glyph IV   This shot is of the lower right side of the “O” in the Owl Glyph   quilt series.  This work is number 4 as the number indicates.   I am glad to be working on the biggest letter in the grouping now.

 

 

 

 

 

New Ice   The work goes slowly forward on  this piece.  I am rough cutting out the stones now.  The upper right corner is my  test run of various fabrics for the ice overlay  part of this work.

Plantain    Selling Fox Tails got me going on doing another wash out plant piece. IMG_0189   I did the machine drawing on the wash away just as Amanda taught us in Oct.  Then I pinned the work to the Styrofoam and washed  away the “plastic”.    The   dry work is now ready to be stitched down to the felted background.

6X6   The call for six by six came this week so I pulled some pieces to work on.  It was so easy to excess them now that the studio is in order.

Collage 1    One of my resolutions when I was cleaning was that I would do a collage every week too.    This work is 8.5” X 11” a size that I think I can work with easily.     I did find someone to pass a lot of the paper stash on to so I will use making the collages as a way to sort and share the materials as the year goes forward  and I make pieces..

IMG_0191  Joy  II   This is the base for my next JOY quilt.    I pieced it and then added a bit of inner  facing to the back to stabilize it.   The same pattern is used as in JOY I .    Because I am working from the backIMG_0197the word is turned upside down for  marking the edge and then it will be  cut out.   The result will be a positive and negative from this same fabric.  The interfacing will  cut down on the distortion  when I stitch it down to the contrasting base.

 

Hand work   I am doing my daily studies of stitches on this work.   It is beginning to feel very solid to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic Card  This card represents how I feel about myself and my fellow artists.  We all are really Magicians.  In our processes of taking raw materials- with  paint, clay, pencils and fibers we work magic with them.  Just looking at the elements, one never knows   what they could and do or  become  in artistic hands .   With sparks of creativity and the magic of  our hands, we bring into the world things that without us would not exist.   That is true Magic.

Keep Creating

Carol