Art Every Day for a Month- Day 1

In the interest of kick-starting my creative juices, and getting back to where I feel I really need to be, I jumped in to the Art Every Day for a Month Challenge :)

It's not too late for you to join in if you are interested. It's a very relaxed challenge, check it out here and see what you think:  http://creativeeveryday.com/art-every-day-month

I am a very creative person overall, and I don't expect my endeavors to be of one kind only this month. I will be happy with myself if I get photos of my stuff posted every day! I look forward to the extra push this challenge will give me to be accountable to my time and my commitment.

For today, I started with a sketch. I love to draw, and this is a great time to practice. I need it too. lol

Now that I am looking at the photo, I can see where I need to make some adjustments in the fairy's body. I also need to flesh this out with shading and some color, but hey, at least I sat down and did sketched. That's a big deal for me- I'm not great at making time for myself during the day to do things that I love.

Also, I think I need to clean my camera lens. lol

Working but not posting...

I don't know where this summer has gone... my son got married to a lovely young woman- so there was a whirlwind trip to Nova Scotia for a beautiful wedding... my eldest daughter decided she wanted to make some life changes and is now happily living here with us, going to school... we adopted a sweet girl to be Riley's BFF (another lab)... and somehow with all that and work and the other stuff that pops in and out of our lives... well, it's November tomorrow.

But I have been keeping very busy. I gardened all summer. Other than copious amounts of herbs, I didn't get much to SHOW for it all- but it was just great to be out there working with the plants all summer.

I made pickles and canned tomatoes and have put lots of veggies in the freezer. I have been cooking delicious dinners all summer, and enjoying myself immensely while doing it.

I have also been wading through fabric.

I made a stack of place mats for our table. I have been finishing up old projects- and- GASP- throwing out ones that I hate, are ugly, or aren't worth my time anymore. I am taking Heather's advice- if I have already learned what it has had to teach me and I don't want it- out it went. Boy, did that feel good.

And I have continued on my Elements series. The first was Water, my mermaid girl. She's done up to the point where I showed you. I won't finish any of them past that until I decide how to mount them- finish them- because I want them to have some unity as a group. I want them to be able to hang as a series, even though I expect to give one to each of my three daughters and they likely won't.

Anyway, the next one I have almost finished is Fire, my phoenix girl. I actually intended for her to be a dragon, but she came out a phoenix. Funny how that happens, isn't it???

Here she is, with all of the fibers and everything laid under the water soluble plastic. This plastic is top and bottom, and helps the sewing machine glide over the fibers- otherwise it would be a mess for sure!

Here is a closer look at her face, again done on Lutradur (photocopied on there from a sketch of mine) and then colored in with Prismacolors. I have used a variety of fibers throughout. For her hair: wool and silk rovings, Angelina, and ribbon. For her wings: dyed cheesecloth. For her body: various ribbons, crinkly cardboard, silk carrier rods, and thread.

Most of her hair is quilted in the photo below and one wing is done. Once the other wing is done, the body fibers are tacked down, and her face is outlined enough to hold it down, I can gently rinse off the plastic and let her dry.

I will show you what she looks like when I get to that stage. Which should be tomorrow, because I am determined to get started on the next one ASAP. I have all of the supplies I need and am itching to get her going. She's been in my head for a few days now and needs to come out!

Getting to work!

Howdy all!

As you may have noticed, I just posted photos from all of my color class projects. I still have to go back and fill in some details, such as how the project was made and how I "did" on each assignment.

I was one of those students that made more design mistakes than not, and boy, I learned a LOT in that class. I still have a lot of questions about color, and I have by no means figured it all out. But I have a better idea about how to look at things a little more objectively and that really helps.

After the color class finished, I took Heather's six-month design class. Much of the "homework"was very intimidating but I loved every minute of the classes. It was just exciting and fun and I learned SO much in exchange for overcoming my fear and diving in.

I would highly recommend this series of classes, the color class and the design class, for anyone in the area looking to make their own original art. Though Heather is a fiber artist, both of the classes had artists of all kinds in them: quilters, weavers, knitters, even sculptors. What Heather teaches applies to all of us who have that need in us to create!

There is another after the design class, the Series class. I had signed up but due to unforeseen circumstances, I just can't do it right now.

But that doesn't mean I am not making art!

I have had some ideas running through my mind for some time now and wasn't sure how to proceed, and frankly, didn't really have the confidence to even try.

Now I know, without a doubt, that it's okay if I fail. Because there is a pretty good chance I will- but I will learn while I do, so that's not really failure. I also know that I should only start out with an idea and let my work progress as it wants to, rather than having a stiff and unyielding plan. The pieces that you listen to and work with are always better than those you bend to your will.

I had the idea of making a series of the elements: water, fire, earth, and air or wind. I wanted a way to combine something I have drawn with fibers and other interesting things.

To start with, I took a face I drew a while back because she speaks to me right now. She seems calm and serene and is everything that I am not right now- but am striving to get to. She just naturally seemed to suit water, with it's soothing palette and gentle flow of things.

I copied my drawing onto Lutradur by cutting a piece of Lutradur to fit my printer and running it through. I did not treat the Lutradur with anything.

I colored her face using my Prismacolor pencils, which I LOVE, and then fused her face to a batik that looked like beautiful water to me.

I didn't have a specific plan for what came next, but I took an idea that I saw Tamara working on at the Golden Fiber Arts Studio just recently, and went to town!

Using both silk and wool roving, I tried to form her flowing hair. I used produce bags from the grocery store, some silk hankies, and some Red Heart Sashay "yarn"to make some base underneath her.

I made a mermaid tail with a piece of silk fusion. This is a technique I learned from Tamara at a class recently, and it suited this purpose wonderfully. I cut the rows of scales and attached them with some Wonder Under to tack it all temporarily and then I stitched it all, row by row.

When everything was where I thought it should be, I put a layer top and bottom of water soluble stabilizer, pinned the edges, and started quilting! I chose thread colors in the three main colors in the piece, violet, green, and blue green, and used them all over.

Lastly, I dissolved the stabilizer and now it is drying. I have no idea what it will look like when it is dry, and I am excited to see.

I haven't quite decided how I will finish this either. I want the series to be able to hang together and look cohesive, but I expect each one to be able to stand on it's own. Mostly because my 18 year old daughter Heidi has claimed this as her own already and can't wait to hang it in her room!