Observations Worth Noting…

I love it when interesting discoveries come along.  That’s part of the fun of this artsy lifestyle.  I decided to dye paint a large (1 yd.) piece of fabric for a background a couple of weeks ago.  Normally I would paint with a 2 inch sponge brush, but because of the somewhat daunting size of the cloth, I decided to roll the paint on with a sponge roller.  I used a sturdy metal handled paint roller about 4 inches wide and probably 1.5 inches in diameter.

I was very surprised and pleased with the results.  Using the roller gave the paint on the cloth an unevenness of coverage that I found wonderfully stimulating.  With the large open background the variety of pattern and nuances of colors happened (I think) better with using the roller.  I sprayed water on to help the colors move and blend.  Try it and see what you come up with!

Where Does The Time Go?

Where does the day go?  I got up at 6:30 this morning, didn’t get dressed and immediately went to the sewing machine to finish the quilting on my new Words piece.  Some days I do that.  I stay in my pajamas. I planned on working on this art piece yesterday…but my husband has been rained out of the field since Sunday afternoon and so I never got to touch the quilt.  After he went to bed last night I worked on it, then got the quilting and squaring up done this morning.  I am still adding paint highlights to it, but here is a sneak peak.

It is called “Sticks and Stones…but Words Will Never Hurt Me”.  This is my second one.  Rusted cotton sateen, screened designs with procion dyes, handwriting, stamping, and painting.

Oh yeah, Facebook and Twitter now “demand” my time too.  My Twitter name is Katheeann if anyone wants to follow me. I spend too much time checking them since I am new to them.  I always do that with something new…play with it a lot.  I also got a good deal on a new Sony camera yesterday…I’ll probably play with it a lot too.

After the quilting is finished, now I can move the sewing machine back to my messy workroom.  I set the machine up on the kitchen table to quilt anything larger than a tablerunner because I don’t have the table room in my “studio”.  Now I can clean off the table so my husband doesn’t go crazy.  Not that we eat there…we eat in the living room in front of the tv.  The kitchen table is not needed for much of anything.

I need a whole day to clean up and possibly organize my sewing room.  Maybe tomorrow?  Unless I have to mow grass or go to town or clean the house.

Are You Killing Your Talent?

I should blog today…but since I am in the middle of doing other things, I will just refer you to another blog to read.  I thought this article referred to in Linda Matthews’ post today was quite timely and informative.  Her post is here, titled “What Have You Learned From Your Dead Ends?”.  Towards the end of her post is the link to the article from Lateral Action I reference in my title.

Blooming Pink Peonies!

…and one opening up…with a couple of critters crawling…

More Printed Cloth

Another piece of deconstructed screen printed cloth…I am working on some more…will show later since I may do more to them.  This one was printed with fuchsia and brown, then I painted the yellow dye on in places.

I am leaving to go to Evansville, IN.  I’ll pick up some art pieces at a couple of places, some shopping, and then to a shopping spree  event tonight where I plan to sell everything I can.

Blooming Peonies…

My white peonies are blooming.  They always start blooming before the pink ones do.  I don’t know why..does anyone out there know why?  I love to go out and cut both colors and bring into the house.  They have a wonderful smell.

Before opening….

…yeah, I know they look pink, but trust me…they will open up white with just a tinge of pink blush.  The pink ones are really PINK when they open.

More Breakdown Printing…

Here is a scarf I did last week.  The technique is breakdown printing and the scarf is silk charmeuse, a nice heavy weight to screen on.

…and a nice closeup of the  textures I love…lots of people commented on it, but no one coughed up the cash!

This scarf is for sale for $60.

Breakdown Printing…

I got to do some serious breakdown printing this past week. I will be doing more and sharing it, but here is what I did so far. First, I applied dye paint to my screen. Using the paint I already had mixed up, I made some blue circles with yellow centers and some blue stripes on the ends. Then I painted in yellow to fill out the empty space. It looks green here and may be a bit green because of its proximity to the blue areas.

Don’t pay any attention to that circular shape you see…that’s just the bucket that the screen is resting on to dry.  It is not part of the screen.

Continue reading…

My Week in the Garage…

Here’s where I’ve been spending a lot of time this week, working on silk scarves.  That’s my messy table.  I also did some breakdown printing. I’ll show ya’ that later.

This is my collaged piece, Surface Matters, in the Recycled exhibit at Rend Lake.

Arts In Harmony is this weekend.  Scattered showers are predicted and 60 degrees tomorrow for a high.  I may have to wear jeans and a sweatshirt at this rate.  Here’s hoping for sales.