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Click on the image to enlarge
I finished working on the Klee inspired painted and stitched art work that I worked on for a recent commission. My client had indicated that she wanted to mat and frame this piece, which I think will look fabulous! Just to get an idea of what this might look like once it leaves my hands, I created a mat in Photoshop and placed the art work inside.
Meanwhile, it’s been a crazy week here in Denver! What have I been up to? I am the marketing and PR co-chairperson for a fund raising auction at my daughter’s school. Check out the blog that I put together…Steele Auction. Last year, the auction raised around $50,000 to help bridge the gap between the school budget and some of the activities and supplies that the teachers and parents would like to see the children have at school. The auction is coming up this Saturday, February 3. Needless to say, my attention has been turned away from my art work towards auction activities.
I have also been preparing for an interview for a substitute teaching position with Denver Public Schools. The interview is tomorrow AM.
As to my husband’s job interview in Steamboat Springs, we haven’t heard anything, despite assurances that he would be notified one way or the other. He did follow up with both an email and phone call, but no response. We’re pretty sure that means he didn’t get the job. I’m relieved, there really is a lot to Denver that I love that I would miss if we lived in a small town. The thought of moving doesn’t sound very appealing either.
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Starting out…
Mid-way through
Final painting, I still need to heat set and stitch.I didn’t start out with a great photo of
Mazzaro by Klee, and have had to improvise while painting this one to compensate for the poor copy that I have. But, all in all, I’m happy with how it turned out. I still need to iron, fuse the interfacing and stitch, but then it will be finished. It’s always a creative challenge for me to start on a new famous fabric painting. A little bit of discovery is involved each time I do one of these. It’s a chance to get into the mind of another artist, a different time period. So far, I’ve covered the Renaissance, 19th C and now a 20th C artist. It’s also a very meditative process for me that’s hard to describe.
When I think about it, I am really interpreting another artist’s vision. The image is recognizable, but I bring my own baggage with me when I make something. When I say baggage, I mean that I have my own way of working, my favorite color palette, biases etc. So, it never truly is an exact replica but my own take on a master’s work.
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Published in Uncategorized
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Published in Uncategorized
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A grouping of some fabric impressions I made with Shiva Paintsticks
Impression on white fabric on top and painted fabric on bottom
Impression on brown fabric
The linocut that I used to make the impressions on the fabric samplesI was playing around in my studio yesterday with my new
Shiva Paintsticks. I tried a number of techniques, but one that I think is really successful is to rub a paintstick over fabric that has been placed on some type of texture. I have some texture plates, but couldn’t find them anywhere because my studio is currently in a state of uncontrolled chaos and must be straightened up before I do anything else…toute suite!
Do you know how it feels when you know you have something and can’t find it anywhere. Then you end up making more of a mess in your desperation to find said item? That’s what it was like for me today, except that I did come across some lino-cuts that I had made in college from a print-making class. Perfect for placing under the fabric for an interesting design.
I should see if I can find any of the prints that I made using this particular lino-cut and share them with you. I also found two unused 18″ x 24″ pieces of Golden Cut Linoleum. I should cut these into smaller pieces and make some custom rubbing plates for myself. Of course, I would need to find my palm grip carving tools. They’re around here somewhere.
Now, I must wait for these fabric samples to dry. In the meantime, I started stitching this.
Observations: When I was painting the backgrounds onto the fabric I did try the Shiva Colorless Blender, which works pretty good. I think that I would go through one of these pretty quick, however, so I think I’ll stick with some type of oil based medium. I have also identified the colors that I will run out of fastest and the colors that I would like to have such as true pink, purple, lime green and maybe a few others to round out my palette.
