ECO Dying

For a couple of years now I have tried dying with poke root berries and I'm very disappointed in the results. Over the summer I prepped this large piece of cotton by boiling it in salt water as a mordant, hoping that it would be the thing that sets the deep rich magenta color.

I rolled the cloth with maple leaves from the yard and then in the middle plunked the berries and wrapped the bundle.  After the water started to boil and lasted maybe 10-20 minutes.  From there it cooled naturally overnight.

The unveiling started and I was excited...

Rinse cycle left the bright color very faint and almost orangey peach.  

Oh well back to the drawing board.

Contemplation

un.EARTH.ing

collection contemplation...

.

sorting, unearthing...

INSPIRED

by "findings" by ALICE FOX

As an artist most of us collect things.  The natural world makes ME feel good and I want to be reminded of time and place.  Part of my collections are rocks, shells, driftwood, tea bags and so much more that there is not enough time to post them all.  Wanting, no yearning to make art again has led me to my collections.  We are remodeling and I am purging.  There is so much that has been collected !

What do the collections say about us?  

Are we hoarders? Are we afraid of loss? 

Are we saving the world? Are we scavengers? What are we??

What am I?  WHO am I?

Feeling content to explore the making process with what I have.

We as a society are conditioned to buy, buy, buy.

I have bought, bought, bought.

The colder weather is creeping in slowly and the cozy making process has begun.

Tea bags spun into yarn then woven on silk

Seeing layers...

Toronto

Here I am again and have a surge in making!  The class with Dorothy Caldwell in Toronto was an amazing time and I met so many new people!  The theme for my trip was ADVENTURE and every chance I could I would have an adventure.

Dorothy Caldwell

Hi Hostel Toronto

Work in progress with finished project still in the works

I am back!!! Watch for the newest arrivals

Summer rusting

Happy happy happy

Angelia

 

This is a drawing done by my very talented daughter. 

I want to let her know she is amazing in many ways!

Zendala

Enjoying my morning

Creativity within

This is the second year of "the zine project" with my seniors. I loved making a zine again and at once a year that is a commitment I can handle.

Water dreams 10

Finished the tenth block for water dreams quilt. On a roll ...

Quilted memories

Using rusted fabric and tea bags I continue my quilted memories series. I found layering was necessary to cover the dark pencil marks. A final covering of dryer sheets pulled the layering together.

Alone with NEMO

What a wonderful storm...
There is no one home (a rarity)
Down to the studio and what do I see

Using a free form foot on the sewing machine

adding a few stones to the water, or eddies, or tide pools... not sure

then some tea and rust studies with encaustic...
Pleasure

My own TIME

This week I read Patti Digh's blog about a hands free life and felt an overwhelming connection.  I then proceeded to unplug facebook from my phone until furthur notice.

I have sooooo many things I WANT to do and find little to no time to do them.  Thank God my sister schedules "craft day" with me.  That gets me out of the house and working creatively.  We all need more of that.

Water dreams study

Marks

Bundle unwrapped

After two weeks I unwrapped the rust bundle. This experiment went well. This cloth originally was soaked in poke root. The rich berries turned the cloth to a bright purple. However when I rinsed it on the line it faded to a dull brown. Yuk. Then I wrapped it around some washers and rusty birds I picked up at an antique store. I added a tea bag to see what I might get. Here are the results of the experiment.

Spot

Tired. Worn.

Snow day spent sleeping

A blanket of snow. Head cold. Cozy

Mary Beth Shaw

While deciding to get back to creativelyanew the blog I was doing some housekeeping.  While there I noticed I had some unanswered comments.  To my amazement I had won a contest put on by Mary Beth Shaw, for her book "Flavor for Mixed Media." 

I answered Mary Beth and realized that the opportunity had come and gone.  However to my delight Mary Beth went ahead and sent it to me anyway!  What a gracious soul she is and when I received it in the mail I was giddy.  What I have read so far it is a wonderful, inspirational book.  There are artists that have inspired my work as well as some new ones I haven't heard about.  I highly recommend this book if you  enjoy working in mixed media.  There are a lot of interesting techniques and ways of looking at the medium.

Summer Fun

Over the summer I had been wanting to try rusting fabric.  I had collected rusty objects especially washers and finally went for it!  Sometimes we I procrastinate because I don't have all the details on how something should be done. So I took some old cotton fabric and wet with water, then placed the object in the center.  Next I folded the fabric in thirds and thirds again. I then added white vinegar and let it sit.  After a few days I unfolded the fabric and gasped at the amazing results.