mosaic table

I found a great little table at the local
thrift shop and immediately saw
mosaic potential.  Out came my
saved little stained glass pieces. 
The holes were filled with small
pebbles and glass globs. Almost
finished and then I'll grout it for
use outside on the deck.

garden window painting

I was too impatient to wait for the spring blooms so
painted some flowers on windows and hung them
in the walkway..... they bloom continually!

woodsy watercolour

I've been working on a new watercolour this week. My palette has
been limited to blue greens.... even the rocks have blue in them and
that suits me fine!

 The painting in progress...

and the photo.....

fabric 3d flower tutorial

I had fun creating a small flower from painted
fabric today.  This is just the prototype.... the next
ones will have lots more printing and stamped images.

To make the flower I took painted/printed fabric and drew flower
petals.  I backed the shape with another piece of fabric and stitched
around the drawn petals.  I then cut around the petals just outside the
stitched lines (leaving rough edges and the centre uncut).

Make a centre for the flower using heavy gauge wire (slightly more
pliable than coat hanger wire).  I made a wrapped circle for the
centre of the flower and a corkscrew stem to hold the flower up in
the glass vase)

Cut a small hole in the middle of the bottom layer of fabric.  At this point
some of the petals can be stiffened with inserted loops of fine wire or
you can use fabric stiffener. Then the corkscrew centre is threaded through
both layers of fabric until just the flower centre shows in the middle of
the bloom.  If necessary, a small length of fine wire can be wrapped
around the base of the bloom to hold the petals in the desired position.

More ideas for using similar types of flowers in 3d journaling can be
found in Cloth Paper Scissors May 2011 issue.

playing with watercolour

Took some time to play with different watercolour techniques....

wet on wet, dripping in, scoring with palette knife, spattering, 

removing with paper towel, water colour crayons, oil pastels 

and salt.

I'll print an image over this later.

Quilting Arts article FIGURE IT OUT!

Quilting Arts June July 2011 ...page 62

I used carved eraser pieces to stamp proportionately

correct figures.  Making

different poses is fun!

tiny house

Just a tiny carved house makes a whole street!

This print is ready for lots of embellishment now.... stitching, a bit of paint.... fun.

Flower linocut prints

I just finished some new hand carved flowers for printing.  I tried them
out on plain muslin to start.... with red, orange and purple.  Acrylic
paints will allow me to heat set them on the fabric. Oh.... springtime
in the garden and in the studio!

 

how to draw tutorial

For my own drawing and in work with students both young and old

I continually go back to these basic drawing techniques to begin the 

process.  They are easy and encourage fluent drawing with no 

need for erasing. By doing all three we build the techniques of 

contour, geometric shape and mass drawing. Best of all this can 

be done with simple plastic figures.  A bag of these from the dollar
store can supply hours of easy drawing practice. Here is a picture

of my chosen plastic animal. 

Contour drawing focuses on the edge of the object or the outer 

line of the object being drawn.  Begin with a small plastic figure.

(I used a dog) Observe the edge of the figure and begin drawing,

frequently looking back at figure to confirm detail in the contour edges.  

The writing tool should remain on the paper  working in a continuous line 

 until the figure outline is complete.

Geometric Shape Drawing:

This type of drawing entails looking carefully at the figure and drawing 

component parts using only two dimensional shapes such as ovals,

triangles, rectangles and trapezoids. 

Mass drawing shows the weight of the thing being drawn. It requires depth

to add a 3d quality or weight to the figure.  Draw in a series of connected

ovals to show all parts of the body with more and more ovals drawn in the 

heavier  portions of the figure. 

I would love to hear what you think!   

start with a drawing

Every lino print I create begins with a drawing.  

The contour drawing below is 

the drawing which morphed into my blog header. My closet 

seems to be full of black shirts so...............................