Stitching

Relief printing on found wool herringbone.

Lately, I've been taking steps toward creating some finished pieces from fabrics I have either hand printed, upcycled or both. With the printed fabric, above, it was simply a matter of ironing and laundering to make certain the ink was set so that I could move forward with stitching it into something. Other pieces have involved a fair amount of repetitive hand stitching, often in solitude, with no music except the crackling of a low fire. I have found this activity to be extremely enjoyable -- peaceful and meditative, while at the same time, allowing the mind the freedom to roam or to focus on any given topic. 

Screen print with cream-on-cream running stitch. 

Last night, I met up with the small group of women that have continued to get together since we first met in a wallpaper design class at OCAC two years ago. Our ages span four decades and our artistic focus varies, which always makes for interesting conversation.  Our original intent was to continue hand printing wallpaper and fabric, but we've settled into a routine of simply bringing whatever we each want to work on.  Often, I bring a hand stitching project.  Other activities seem to require too much attention on my part and sometimes more space than is available, whereas the stitching is confined to my lap and allows me to focus on the conversation.  I like the fact that we have maintained our commitment to one another, and that we are part of the age old tradition of women "stitching" their lives together as they gather in the evening to discuss family and world matters while they work.

 

Hoping you've had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a creative week ahead!

:)

Discovering the Reverse Side of Printed Fabric

Screen print on organic cotton with water-based dyes 
(In suffused light.)

I know, I know....I promised I'd post some highlights of the marketing workshop referenced in Monday's post.  Well, not yet, but soon!  Meanwhile yesterday, while clearing off the table of "stuff", I discovered that the reverse side of fabric that I screenprinted months ago (above) is far more interesting than the front side!   Funny I hadn't noticed that before!

Monoprint on paper 7" x 9"

Front side of fabric (rotated).  Definitely more graphic.

Some interesting comments are coming in regarding the social networking topic of Monday's post.  Also, some amazing work is going on in sketch books....some of  it in response to the Sketchbook Project challenge.  Check out Pamela Patterson Reinhardt , Sophie Munns, and Betsy Best Spadaro's recent sketches. (Be sure to scroll down on their blogs because these three have been BUSY!!

Yay!  It's Wednesday already and the sun is scheduled to appear in Portlandia!  All is not lost -- the tomatoes WILL ripen!!

Have a marvelous day!

Print Graphics (or...Graphic Prints)

Feeling in a graphic mood today.  Above, recent relief and screen prints on lightweight cotton and heavy canvas, along with found game pieces and some wonderful "alpha marbles" that were a gift.

And here, relief and gocco prints brought into a nine-patch in Adobe Illustrator and then saved as a jpeg in Photoshop. (Admittedly, now a bit blurry due to all the "fuss.")

 

And.....here, the "long and low" perspective.

And now, shifting gears for the work week ahead.

Best....  :)

In the Works -- Relief and Screen Prints on Fabric

Mixed media on fabric

4" x 6"

The above is something I did a few years back. I painted the placket of a chef's coat (reclaimed from a barrel of scraps destined for the dump at a local industrial rag manufacturer), printed it with a paper stencil, added small fabric scraps and bits of paper I had previously painted and printed, and machine stitched it with gold thread.

Below, are a couple of textiles in the works. The first one was screen printed on wonderfully deep green linen purchased at a garage sale, using a paper stencil. (Trust me, the scanner did not do it justice!) I've begun to add a red running stitch to it which is barely visible, but if you click on the image, you can see the stitches and also get a sense of the structure of the fabric which includes a black warp thread and alternating dark green and natural linen weft threads. The central image is approximately 6" x 6" and the surrounding square is about 8" x 8" (too large for the scanner).

The second one was block printed on inexpensive muslin. I used this same block in some of the prints on paper that I posted a few weeks ago.

Oh -- a question: I've been using the older version of the editing program and just recently discovered a newer version exists. Has anyone had experience switching from the old to the new? I'm a bit reluctant to make the switch fearing it will get the best of me and my blog!