Just a Hodge Podge of Sorts

Yes, this is my Shrinky Dinks Maker that I hope to one day use to make some
wonderful mixed media stuff for my work. I thought it would work better than using
my kitchen oven. Though temporarily in moth balls, I have every intention of using
it someday, hopefully sooner than later! Doesn't it just look like fun waiting to happen?

Today I am going to run the gamut of all kinds of different subjects for discussion. The variety will be very cool of course.....I hope! LOL!

First of all there are a couple of articles in magazines that I want to bring to your attention because they are just marvelous. The first one is in Quilting Arts Magazine/October-November 2017 issue. The article is "Mosaic Imagery in Art Quilts" by Heidi Proffetty. Heidi makes these amazing quilts that look like they are made from small mosaic tiles using a digital cutter. Her designs are intricate and detailed and the overall effect is jaw dropping. See her website here:
http://www.heidiproffetty.com/home.html

The second is in Cloth, Paper, Scissors, September/October 2017 issue. Now they have really great articles and information in this issue which I am still poring over again and again, but in particular I want to draw your attention to Julie Haymaker Thompson and her article "Shrink Plastic Whimsy". I have to tell you I fell in love with shrink plastic when my daughter was young and we played with Shrinky Dinks and used our kitchen oven. When they re-emerged all these years later I hurriedly bought some shrink plastic sheets and a real Shrinky Dinks oven! I haven't gotten around to using any of it yet, but am so excited about the possibilities with mixed media! Well, Julie gives wonderful ideas for this fabulous medium with a necklace she shows you how to make using it. Julie has even made special tools to use with shrink plastic that she sells on her website, amongst other great things and even kits with tutorials! She also has a fun Etsy shop with all kinds of great stuff too! She is a very talented mixed media artist so be sure to check out her sites here:
http://www.juliehaymaker.com/about

https://www.etsy.com/shop/bisbeebliss

Diana Springall

Now for fantastic books! If I could meet one fiber artist, it would be Diana Springall, I am a 100% dyed in the wool fan! Ever since I picked up her book "Embroidery", published in 1980, I have been enthralled with her work and the sheer variety of what she does, and how well she does it all! She was a pioneer in the world of embroidery and still believes that embroidery should be regarded as "fine" art, as can be seen in her book "Design for Embroidery-A Fine Art Approach". This book, signed by Diana, is one of my greatest treasures, in which she gives detailed information on Concepts, Application, and Thread, and Equipment and Techniques (as listed in the Table of Contents). Next is her book "Inspired to Stitch-21 Textile Artists". Now notice the description "Textile Artists" as opposed to embroiderers, which shows how she has expanded the term to include a larger variety of surface design styles and techniques. This gives detailed information about each artist, almost like a resume or curriculum vitae of sorts, and then lovely examples of their work. Last, but certainly not least, is "Diana Springall-A Brave Eye" by June Hill. This book is about her life and her work with beautiful photos throughout. It covers her early years up to its publication in 2011, so pretty comprehensive.

Diana is a national treasure in Britain, and rightly so. She has worked diligently not only at her own craft, but sought to expand needlework to textile art, the operative word there being "art". She has shared her fund of knowledge with the rest of us in furthering the use and popularity of needlework and to expand its view beyond current definitions. If you are a needleworker  or just someone that loves and admires the resulting works, and you ever get a chance to look at these books, please take the opportunity to do so because you will be richly rewarded in information and inspiration.

Here is her website with textile art she has collected over time from other artists:
http://dianaspringallcollection.co.uk/

Thanks for visiting and here is a thought nugget until next time:

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love."
~Claude Monet

Lovely Autumn and More!

It has certainly been a rough two weeks! I have been battling a terrible case of food poisoning and just last Thursday was able to get on an antibiotic that hopefully will finally put an end to this ongoing medical drama. UGH! So tired of not feeling well! It has put a terrible crimp in my stitching as it is hard to concentrate and it seems the blending filaments are being at odds with me as well and keep unravelling. I hate wasting any materials and I feel like that is what I have been doing the last couple of weeks. The upside is I have been getting lots of reading done as a result. I really haven't had much time to read lately, maybe a book a month, so I guess this was a nice change of pace.

I think autumn is my favorite time of year, not only because the temperatures become more accommodating, but because the colors and smells are so wonderful. As the precursor for so many wonderful holidays, it seems it opens the door for many happy expectations. So even though I may not be feeling 100% right now, just thinking about what the next few months hold cheers me up. The only down side for me are the shorter days, as I love the sunshine and do miss it when it isn't around as much, especially when the weather turns grey. I actually have a pattern in mind for a fall project that I hope to get to one day soon. There were these beautiful maple trees on the campus where I once worked, and one particular autumn the conditions were perfect for these trees to have an absolutely stunning autumn color change. Needless to say, that image has stayed with me all these years later, and of course I just have to make something from it! LOL!

Something I have to fight off this time of year is the yearning to work on some of the patterns and kits I have hoarded over the years for holiday gifts. As much as I would love to pick them up now and plan to get them done by Christmas, I realize I have to keep working on my business and getting my own creations done. I also have to catch myself and resist the urge to start making my own designs for gifts for family and friends. I always keep it tucked in the back of my mind that once I get enough of my own work done, I will be able to indulge in taking time out here and there for making gifts again, but right now it cannot be on my priority list. What we sacrifice for art! LOL!

I have a long list of books in my collection of fiber and needleart topics and think I will begin to talk about those on my blog. They are too wonderful I believe not to share, especially the wonderful information they hold. I'll have one for you later this week. In the meantime, stay well, stay kind, and bring happiness with you wherever you go.

P.S. I am working out the details for the next video too, in which I hope to add some information on Twinkling H2O's.

Read All About It!

Reading is probably my second favorite past time, after spending time with family and friends. (I don't consider working at my art a past time, it is work.) I am a voracious reader with very eclectic tastes and this past month I found I was reading two books, one was historical fiction and the other a biography, that were set in the same era. Now the one, "The Forgotten Flapper" by Laini Giles is the story of Olive Thomas, a fictionalized account of the real Ziegfeld chorus girl to silent screen actress. I am now in the middle of "The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America's First Supermodel" by James Bone, which tells the tale of Audrey's rise and fall and the legacy she left all over America with the beautiful sculptures of her standing therein. Oddly enough, these themes both revolve around human beauty. Olive Thomas was voted the most beautiful shop girl in New York City and Audrey Munson was the most beautiful and sought after model of sculptors. These two women epitomized the standards of beauty in the early century, but for all their beauty, their lives took tragic turns.

What was interesting for me in these stories as well, is the times they lived in. There was such change going on at the turn of the century with many advances in technology and industrialization. The style of art was changing too from the classic Beaux Arts to modern art. So on the one hand you have the beautifully sculpted statues of Audrey by Piccirilli, Weinman, Calder, French, Konti, Scarpitta, and many others, in contrast to the new art forms bursting on the scene of Picasso, Picabia, Cezanne, and Marcel Duchamp, with all the -isms of cubism, fauvism, Dadaism, futurism, expressionism and surrealism. Audrey even posed for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a sculptor and founder of the famous Whitney Museum (in addition to being a member of one of America's wealthiest families of course).

I thought that was so exciting and can liken it to the times we live in now too. We have at our disposal so many avenues of artistic expression and such a multitude of materials to do it, that would have amazed and astounded the artists of just fifty or sixty years ago! And it just keeps growing! Who knows what media will be in existence in the future fifty or sixty years or how current modes will change then? It truly boggles the mind and teases the imagination doesn't it?

So I guess what I am taking away from these stories is that while certain beauty does fade and is forgotten amongst the ages, the beauty of art is a mainstay. It can be seen in public venues or in galleries and museums. It can be historically priceless or it can be avant-garde in-your-face. The important thing is that we love and treasure art in all its many forms, past and present. It not only provides us endless pleasure, but it also gives a glimpse into the time when it is made which may also answer the why and how, and that information is a treasure unto itself.

What Will Ladybug Lake Look Like?

The blending filament work on the left side of the design is going quickly and I am almost done on that side. However, with getting more done, I am more anxious to get the beads on it and how the finished product will look. So I did a preview of it by laying it flat and playing with the beads on it. I am even more excited now looking at it with the beads laying on top of it with the stitching progressing so far than I was at the beginning and originally laid it all out on the pattern. I want to share the look. Please know that again I am not able to get the color of the water true to what it really is, it is such a beautiful turquoise and not the darker blue color that keeps showing up in the pictures, hopefully I can get that problem solved soon. Here is a photo:

This really makes it come alive for me and gets the excitement factor going again. So Fun! Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek. More posts coming soon!

Thought Nugget:
"The job of an artist is to offer a sanctuary of beauty to an ugly world."
~Jeff Goins

Be the Artist You Were Meant to Be

One of my favorite websites is http://www.textileartist.org/ because it is one of the best resources around for textile artists of every stripe. I love getting their newsletters and the most recent had a story that I had seen on television, but only the last part of it. Fortunately, the story in the newsletter was complete and I am just in awe of these two sisters. Born twins, one had Down's Syndrome, and was institutionalized for most of her life. Her sister, however, never stopped missing or thinking about her, and once grown and able, she found her and brought her home to live with her and her family. As it turns out, the missing sister had an absolutely amazing talent for mixed media fiber art! This is such an awesome story about how each of us are imbued with a talent of some kind, no matter our circumstances, and that the resilience of the human spirit is nothing short of miraculous. The link to the story is here and I hope you take a few minutes to read it. It truly is inspiring. Here is the link:

http://www.textileartist.org/textile-artist-judith-scott-uncovering-innate-talent/

Sometimes it is hard to find what your artistic niche is but I think Judith held the key to discovering it. You sit down and you do the work. You grab what you love whether it be yarn, strips of fabric, paint, or beads and you play with it. You roll it around, you wrap it, you fold it, you glue it, or stitch it. You tweak it, then tweak it some more. You add colors you love, textures you're crazy about, and perhaps a sparkle here or there. You change it, add to it, remove from it and start all over. You challenge yourself to not give up just yet, there are more than enough alternatives left. You smile at it, puzzle over it, and get frustrated because of it. You keep doing it, making it, creating it and finishing it. It is what you were born to do. And in the doing and all that it entails, you find that niche, that specialty that is yours and yours alone, and it feels fantastic.

Never give up on your dreams or your talent. Do what speaks to your heart, that makes you tingle with excitement and absolutely electrified. Go for it, no matter the negatives you may feel or hear, it is your destiny and creative soul at stake. Be content that you have realized it and that the work needs to begin. Own it, because it is yours.

Silks Are In! Yahoo!

So last Saturday when I checked the mail, there were my silks! I was almost doing a happy dance back to the house from the mailbox! So now at long last I can match them to my paints and actually start painting the background for the next project which I have renamed, "Eastern Expressions". I like the flow of that even better than the original, so it worked out great. I decided I would use the acrylic paints for this one and not the Shiva paintsticks, because they gave me more variety with the greys, and I don't want to mix and match the oils and acrylics on this particular project. Here is a picture of the paint palette swatch with the colors for Eastern Expressions:

I don't normally like to work on two projects at once, but I have an idea for another project to work while I am doing Eastern Expressions. I will reveal more details as I flesh them out in my head and then on paper.

Also, I have been thinking a lot about doing the video on backgrounds and the more I do, the more I want to do it, so I think that will be the next video coming up. Fun Stuff!

So stay tuned and until next time, here's another thought nugget:

"An artist cannot fail, it is a success just to be one."
~Charles Horton Cooley

More of the Other Guys

I accidentally ran across Linda Doyle's work completely by accident when I was looking for someone else. What a happy accident! Linda's work is a mixed media artist's dream. Her painting is bold and gutsy and she is not afraid to use a myriad of materials in her work, including fiber. The result is playful, full of texture and inviting. You just want to get close to it so you can absorb all the wonder they contain. Her very clever use of stitching and beads adds a unique dimension to her work that utilizes color for a cohesive whole. Check her work out and I'm sure you will be looking for more because it is just a pleasure for the eye to behold, as well as inspiration for fiber artists everywhere.
You can find some of Linda's work here:


http://www.fineartoffiber.org/artists.htm

https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/755227

http://lindadoyleart.com/

New Video #2, Gelatos and More

 

 

Next video for Pear Blossom Designs. Gelatos, Color Swatches, Ladybug Lake update and more!