Category Archives: Canyon De Chelly- Mummy Cave ruin

May 23 2013, Spring Walks

Hello Friends,

I have been out doing my walking in the early morning to make sure I really follow through.  It seems so easy to put it off and then get

Deb'spainting involved in other things.  So I was not walking in the afternoon at all.  Much better to start the day with the walk and it will soon be hot in the afternoons as well.  Anyway it has been a glorious feast for the nose of late.  What with blooming Honeysuckle, Lilac and a beautiful Dog Wood to mention a few I have really enjoyed starting my days with a walk.   I seem to be more aware of the world in the morning as well so I am very glad that I have made this switch.

Friday last week I went to the Turquoise Street Studio and meant with some of the gals from the painting class from the weekend before.  Deb had gone back in and did additional work on this painting of limes.  I really think it works. DebplusworkBethThis picture is of a new painting Deb did based on the class work too.  The class effected all of us.  This next images is of Beth doing a value sketch in preparation for a new pastel.   The teacher had suggested using a gray paper sketch book so one only needed to do the tonal work by drawing in black and white.  Beth is doing just that.   I did hand work as I seem to take longer to digest the Value idea into my work. EthelYesterday I went to Ethel’s house to spend a day playing with silk paper.  This photo is of  Ethel mixing dye in preparation  to the silk.Pam Pam was also there and she did some fine silk paper too   It was great fun and I created four different new sheets to use.  I went with an eye to make the paper for a specific task and the results were great.silkpaper

The gold sheet and perhaps the cream one as well  are  destine for one of the canyon painted surfaces I painted last week.   The blue and purple paper I created because I wanted to see if one could add bits of yarn to the surface too.  I  think it will work well in a meadow  idea I have in my head.    It is always so much fun to work with others I always feel like I get so much more from these events then I contribute to them.

Before the Bud  17" X 26"  $110.00
Before the Bud
17″ X 26″
$110.00

Progress Report:  Before The Bud

This quilt is completed now.  I really enjoyed doing all the free motion work here.   The colors really work for me as well.  With this quilt I am changing my policy a bit.  I am adding the price of the work to the image. Berfor the Bud cl After reading a third article were a buyer stated that she did not like having to contact the artist to find out about the price of work I decided to include that info in the image.    Selling my work in not my goal, but I need the space so I will gladly do so.  Besides for me, the act of creating is the most important part of the process.   The Problem solving if you will.

Excavating the Ruins 21.5" X 31" $168.00
Excavating the Ruins
21.5″ X 31″
$168.00

Excavating the Ruins
I have enjoyed working on this project due to all the great textures.     I really like all the wholes  here and that contrast adds a lot of interest to my eye.   The map in white organza is of one of the cliff dwellings  in  Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  In looking over it I though it needed a little more punch so I added a little petroglyph   form the canyon for further interest.  Excatating the Ruins Close upI found this little figure very fascinating.

Greek Butterflies 17.5 " X 25" $ 105.00
Greek Butterflies
17.5 ” X 25″
$ 105.00

  Greek Butterflies
I am very happy with how this quilt finally resolved its self.   The lesson on Value came to play here when I took a second look at the distribution of darks on the week end.  I had to take out  some of the piecing and insert some more dark near the bottom before I was happy with it. Greek Butterflys Close up1   I also realized I need to add something to the light block in the center of the quilt.  So I drew in a butterfly of my own using the photos as direction.   I added color after I had out lined the image. Greek Butterfly close up2  I was concerned with how to quilt this work.  I knew I wanted to out line the butterflies but had no idea beyond that.   I toyed with the idea of making  the rest of the quilting a reflective  of that outline  pattern, but was not sure.   So I then it hung on the wall for several days before I saw a photo of moth trails in Pinterest.  Then I knew that was what the quilting patterns should be.    I find this quilt to be very up lifting and the quilting pattern adds to that idea in my mind.

 

  MummyCaveRuins  Mummy Cave Ruins
This shot shows a possible layout for the additions that I am planning on adding to this painted top that I started last week.   On the far left is some of the wonderful silk paper that I created yesterday.   In my origional  photo there is a wall of stone that is in the foreground and I wanted to capture that feeling to some what frame the ruins.    Hanging on the right is some painted inner facing that I may add to make the rocks a bit more colorful.  Again I have added the oil stick stencil drawings to this work surface.  I need to do some free motion work on the parts I am sure of before I know what will go where and if the places where they are pinned at the moment is the final location for them.  Make visual decisions – Visually.

Urban Beauty – From the Pavement     I was doing hand work on this at the Turquoise  Street Studio last week.  Urban Beauty From the pavementI am enjoying building up textures on this surface.  The base units are lutador that has been painted with Lumiar  paints and the white is gesso. ( lutador is a type of spun ground cloth that can be found at some hardware stores this time of year)   I then melted it a bit with the heat gun to melt and distort the surface.  I have done free motion drawing and the hand stitching to add to the complexity of the surface.      I am not sure of were the work is leading me so I hang it often an look at the progress to know what I want to do next.  This makes the process very slow, but worth it I think.

new projectNew Work
This is an attempt at a new direction.   Sense I seem to keep getting hit over the head with this Values idea( even read about it in a book this week) – I  thought I better pay attention.  So I designed a  block ( Check the light blue section in the lower right) .  I  tried to keep light med and dark in the same area- and did three different size variations on the block – small ( lower write) a little bigger ( lower left- this one is also turned 45 degrees) and large( look at the turquoise section)  This is all new territory for me when it comes to designing and I am not sure it will or does work at all.  But I want to stay sharp and open to new “roads” so I will keep playing- the challenge is the thing.

Enjoy the wonders of the season.

Hugs

Carol

 

May 16, 2013 Painting

BarbaraDear Friends,

I feel very light hearted today because I spent most of my morning out doors.  I took a painting workshop this weekend along with all my pastel pals.  We were all looking to stretch a bit.  The workshop was taught by Patti Mollica and was called ” Painting- Fast and Loose.”   This fist shot is over Barbara’ shoulder of the first assignment. We were working on showing lights, mediums, and darks, in our work.   The teacher gave us all a few photos to work from.My PearsThis second shot is of my pears.  The second painting we tried. I am not real happy with it, but I think I got the concept.  Then on the My Paintingssecond day we did more painting and she was pushing the  fast and loose working part.  We did five paintings that day.  The first in the morning to worm up and then one forty five minute one.  Followed by a half hour one and last we did two fifteen min works.  That sure put us into the fast and loose part.   The pomegranate is my favorite.   The whole thing  was fun and got me going with the painting again. Painting 2   Hence my happy feeling as I painted out doors this morning.  I raised the level of my plastic table by setting the legs on four up turned  flower pots so I could stand up and work.  I painted  fabric as starts for two more works based on the trip last June to Canyon De Chelly Nation Monument.      This first shot is of the White  House Ruin.  I have rough out the color bases and will add layers on top with pastels, crayons and fabric pieces.   I want to show the Desert Varnish on the walls of the canyon in this one.      The second one is also from a picture I took on that trip.   It is of the Mummy Cave Ruin.Pinting1   This time I want to work on showing the depth of the rock  pocket of the canyon wall and how much color there was in the stone.    There is lots of work to do here, but I am excited about it.

Progress Report: Mapping the Ruins

The Canyon trip really was on my mind this week and this work also has the influence of that trip in it.   This piece has a traditional pieced  fabric  base in pinks and white.  I am sorry I did not take a photo of this step before I went forward.Maping the ruins   Then I pinned tyvek that had been painted on both side with acrylic paint to the surface.  I quilted through all the layers in a pattern that   Mapping ruins :meltedI had made.  The pattern for the quilting  was based on a map of the ruins of one to the  pueblos in the cliff face of Canyon De Chelly.   I had drawn that map  last year in July for the class I took with Valerie Goodwin at Quilting By the Lake.     I did not use the map in the work because it made the work too busy for my final piece. ( Check last week for the shot of White Tower in the Kendall Show- it’s intended home)   This morning  I took the heat gun to the tyvek and melted away some of the surface.  I love the wholes in the surface that add to the idea of decay and deterioration.map - in organza   My next step will be to add the  map that I have created on two layers of organza on top of the quilt. I will be trimming it down and stitching this map on top of the fabric and the tyvek  to add yet another layer of depth to the work.   That is the plan at this time any way.  Greek Butterflies

Greek Butterflies    This is a new top that grew our of some very old material.   I took a class six years ago were we learned how to transfer photographic images to fabric.   I fist mixed the side of a  shingled building ( the gray)with a wonderful butterfly image that I had taken when I went to Greece. I printed the image on fabric in class.  Then the  fabric just kept shuffling around from one pile to another.   Thinking on the painting class were our teacher Patti Mollica,  spent a whole day on Light-Medium-Dark, I though I would try to use that idea.   I  had a good time and found out what many quilters know about there stashes – we have lots of mediums and not many lights or darks.  ButterlflyNow I need to move forward on this piece- like how to quilt it…..

I hope spring and all it’s joys are filling you with creative juices and thoughts.
Hugs
Carol