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Last night I painted my sketch of a double barred finch. These are normally scrub birds but because of the dry weather (we have had less than an inch of rain since April) the birds are coming to my fountain in outer suburbia as a constant water supply.
The Week in Review – This week was a mix of things, I had a fabulous idea for a nature artist book, four days before I was due to begin an online class. I felt guilty because I didn’t want to change ideas midstream I was happy working on the concept for my new book. I had originally signed up for the class because this year has been flat creative wise, I haven’t achieved in major artistic projects in between the operation on my shoulder in February, follow up physio and exercises, and of course the drugs that made me so lethargic, I feel like I have missed most of this year, so the idea of the class was to kickstart me into action, and lo and behold my brain got sick of my body’s inaction and did it for me…so I took a side trip and began making the cord that will embellish the spine of the class book..
Monday – ATC I am I Said
Tuesday – Collage Layer of my nature journal page
Wednesday – ATC Swap – Spring Flowers
Thursday – This little finch came to my fountain
Friday – Art Journal / Twitter – a – Day – I love it when
Saturday – Machined Cord for class
Sunday – Initial sketch for nature journal page
For this month’s artist trading card I made a larger piece and cut it up into several Birthday cards and an ATC. – I called it Spring Flowers
My return card “Skyscape”is from my friend Sylvia
TAD015 – 18 November 2009
Write the lyrics to a song you hear on the radio in your journal. Have a happy day! :)
An old Neil Diamond song came on the radio as I was waiting for my son to finish his end of year exams.
TAD016 – 19 November 2009
Add a piece of string to your journal. Find a way to make it artful... dye it, sew it, tie it. Have fun!
Painted and chain stitched hemp string and machined it to the tile page
TAD017 – 20 November 2009
Write about a reoccurring dream in your journal. What do you think it means?
I don’t as a rule have reoccurring dreams, but I am very interested in dream interpretation. These are the notes I took while listening to a “dream expert” on the radio.
TAD018 – 21 November 2009
Paint with nail polish in your journal. Add small highlights to already finished art for extra pop. :)
Painted the centres of the flowers on my dreams page with bright pink polish.
TAD019 – 22 November 2009
Add a fortune cookie fortune to your journal. A great excuse to get some yummy take-out today! ;)
The things I hoard, I actually had a fortune cookie fortune in my collage stash.
TAD020 – 23 November 2009
Write in your journal today using the prompt "I love it when...". Write until you fill up one page. Write any thoughts, even if it's silly.
I love it when something turns out exactly the way you envisioned it to be……….
TAD021 – 24 November 2009
Devote an entire page in your journal to favorite quotes. :)
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
H. Jackson Brown
The Week in Review – This week I continued the Twitter – a – Day Challenge. We had the airconditioning on one afternoon, and as I felt guilty enjoying the cool I brought out my knitting and even did a few rows.
Monday – Knitting – Jacket sleeves
Tuesday – ATC – failure
Wednesday – Art Journal – beginning the fabric collage again
Thursday – Art journal / Twitter a Day – Dreams Page
Friday – Art journal / Twitter a Day – Using Nail polish
Saturday – Fabric Collage finished
Sunday – Card Inserts
Each year members of my offline fibreart group are asked to make cards to contribute to a pool for members’ birthdays and other special occasions. It has been a while since I made any so the other day I found a piece of collage fabric that had been pinned and abandoned.
It comprises a layer of felt, with a layer of fabric scraps, tissue paper, hand made paper, Angelina fibres and film, and yarn scraps, held in place by fine dyed bridal tulle.
I stitched these layers together with variegated and gold thread.
Then working with a thick gold thread in the bobbin I doodled the flowers from the back.
Cut up the fabric into two card inserts and one ATC and added some beads
After using fusible webbing to fuse the fabric pieces to the larger fabric background, she suggests, painting with transparent gesso. I found the gritty texture of the gesso completely dulled the fabric.
In the directions Kelly Rae says to use fluid acrylics which I don’t own. Instead I have a complete range of full body acrylics. I had forgotten that the opacity of the thick paint meant that the fabric would be completely covered wherever there was paint. Some bizarre colour choices didn’t help either. So my first attempt went into the rubbish. I then used clear painting medium to increase the transparency of the paint. I was much happier with the results.
On previous occasions I have been able to erase unwanted marks/mistakes made with water soluble gel pens and markers by using clean water and a brush from paper. I found that either the gesso or fabric prevented erasure. I had to cover unwanted areas with opaque paint when I decided I didn’t like what I had drawn.
As part of Twitter – a – Day I wrote song lyrics from Neil Diamond’s I am I said and the number 16.
The flowers are a favourite doodle of mine. I rarely use fabric in my art journal, I worked with fibre long before paper, so whenever I use fabric I still have this urge to stitch it, hence the machine doodled flowers.
Day Eight: Write a letter to a stranger you saw today. Tuck it into your journal.
I wrote him a letter
Day Nine: Add an arrow somewhere in your journal today
Day Ten: Play a game of hangmen with a friend in your journal. :)
Day Eleven: Write your grocery list in your journal. :)
Day Twelve: Add a fabric swatch to your journal. Find a unique way to attach it. :)
Day Thirteen: Buy a bell pepper today. Slice in half. Use as a stamp with acrylic paint in your journal. ;) Have fun!
Day Fourteen: Write your favorite number somewhere in your journal today. :)
The Week in Review – This week I continued the challenge I began last week. Sarah Whitmire has promised to issue an art journal prompt every day for a year. Not very creative but I got to the mending, that has been sitting around for months, so we’ll call that creative tidying, there is no longer an untidy pile in my sewing room. My son found a great setting on my mobile phone called negative which I used in my art journal
Monday – Art journal – Willa Cather quote
Tuesday – Art journal / Twitter a Day – rubbing of my kitchen tile
Wednesday Art Journal – I wrote him a letter – completed
Thursday – Dressmaking – learned how to sew a blind hem (mending son’s sports shirt)
Friday – Art Journal - Eye
Saturday – Art journal / Twitter a Day – Grocery List
Sunday – Patchwork
This is Georgie or more precisely Georgiana Louise
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My son was demonstrating to me by taking a photo of our black cat (Arabella), that is her tail disappearing off the edge of the photo. I printed it onto heavy tracing paper and overlaid it on a page that I worked on a couple of weeks ago.
Day Nine: Add an arrow somewhere in your journal today:)
Arrows of criticism now bounce off my soul armour
Day Eight: Write a letter to a stranger you saw today. Tuck it into your journal. :)
I wrote him a letter.
Day Seven: Make a rubbing of a cool texture with a thin sheet of paper and a crayon. Glue it into your journal. :)
My kitchen tile has raised flowers, not sure where to glue the rubbing in...maybe line several up as a wall?
Day Six: Add a food label from something you ate today to your journal. :)
I ate an Australian grown orange.
The Week in Review – This week I began a new challenge, Sarah Whitmire has promised to issue an art journal prompt every day for a year. I also started a quilt for our bed.
Monday – Brown Paper Bag Stitching first colour
Tuesday – Art Journal – Eye collage
Wednesday – Twitter – a – Day Playing Card
Thursday – Patchwork
Friday – Colour thoughts for king quilt
Saturday – Twitter – a Day – Timeline of my life (sealed in the envelope)
Sunday – Art Journal Page – Timeline Finished
Day Four: Today in your journal make a timeline of your life. Mark important dates and moments. :)
I made a timeline of my life and sealed it in an envelope
Day Five: Buy or borrow a new pen today. Test it out on an entire page in your journal. :)
Well I didn’t buy a pen today, but I did have one in a packet that I bought recently while I was on holiday and haven’t used, so that is the one. It is a parallel pen used in Calligraphy.
As I haven’t done any patchwork apart from baby quilts for the new babies in our family for the last six years I have decided to make another quilt for our bed – King size – our previous quilt is now well worn and I would like to use up as much fabric as possible.
I am a big fan of the “quilt as you go” method. I do not want to manipulate a king size quilt under my machine. I began playing with the idea of rectangles:
I want small pieces of fabric in each colour way. Not only is that the way my fabrics are sorted in my cupboard but I also have a lot of what I consider “ugly” fabrics from various classes I have taught and swaps I have participated in. Small pieces will blend all these fabrics together. So my quilt is not going to be as bright as the solid blocks of colour in Photoshop.
So on Thursday afternoon at Patchwork group I began working on the yellow section
The piece above is only about 7 inches by and 1 and a half inches – I know I have a long way to go….
I have agreed to teach Quilt as you go to my offline fibreart group in February next year. I was looking through some of my books for ideas on what to use as a teaching example, when I found a quilt in Awash with Colour by Judy Turner. It immediately changed my idea for my quilt
After I sew each strip of tiny rectangles, I will sew that strip “quilt as you go” method until each section is covered.
Now:
Before:
I declined to take on a painting a day challenge offered my offline fibreart group, with the excuse that I would take all day to think about composition, gotten everything out, laid it all out in many different ways, gotten totally confused about what I was hoping to create, and at the end of the day have achieved nothing. This can be a regular occurrence for me on days when I just can’t settle and ideas just won’t coalesce into that “oh I like that” moment. So having rambled on it is strange that I have taken up Sarah Whitmire’s twitter-a-day challenge, she has promised to issue an art journal challenge via twitter every day for a year, and yes I have joined Twitter, something along with Facebook I had sworn to avoid.
So Day One was yesterday:
Add a playing card to your journal! It can be painted, stapled, crumbled, written on, peeled apart, etc. Find a way to make it artful. :) 12:30 AM Nov 4th
This is an idea that I began when I was participating in the weekly challenges of Mixed Media Monday and the topic was playing cards. I had fun with the digital manipulation.
This is my Full House which I finished tonight (Click on the photo to view larger)
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Day Two
Draw a hopscotch in your journal. Include numbers. :)
October 26 – November 1
The Week in Review – This week I continued working on the art journal pages that I began last weekend. I continued with recycling my paper bag, but am worried that I should have practised on a different one first, as I really like the shape of this bag.
Monday – Brown Paper Bag painted layer two
Tuesday – ATC swap finished
Wednesday – Knitting - Sleeves
Thursday – Art Journal – paper dolls
Friday – Art Journal - snowflakes
Saturday – Brown Paper Bag – layer three
Sunday – Art Journal squares
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