Update From My Studio

Lately, I've been experiencing Art ADD  - working on more than one project at a time. 

One of the projects is a woven ground from a previous post. For years now I wanted to use sidewalk cracks as a design element. This woven piece should be a good base for top stitching sidewalk cracks.

I printed an 8 ½ x 11 copy of the sidewalk cracks and drew on the back of the woven paper using transfer paper. Then I went over the lines with black pen so it would be easier for me to see when I was sewing.

I made the basic lines using my sewing machine. Then I decided to work outside my comfort zone and handstitich some of the small open areas with red thread. It's going to take me awhile to finish but I think it's the right technique for this piece. I'll post the finish artwork on a later post.

Woven Grounds

My art is evolving towards mixed media. So, I'm still playing around with different techniques and exercises from books that I've bought recently. The other day, fellow artist and friend, Deborah Stanley, recommend "Drawn to Stitch" by Gwen Hedley to me. At the beginning of the book, Gwen suggests making woven grounds as the starting point for designing.

The first ground I used used teabag paper and pages from a book. I know that some artist are strongly against tearing up books but these books aren't valuable. I bought them at a used book store for less than a dollar.

Then next ground used again pages from a book and envelopes that contained invoices from UPS. UPS is using recycled paper for their envelopes so they have a nice brown color and are heavy weight.

I really liked how the grounds were turning out so I decided to take it a step further. This next one used watercolor purple commerical fabric and screen fabric that I made. This one almost stands on it's own but I will probably add a few more elements to it.

Then I thought why not use the therapy strips that I made a few weeks ago that I posted here. Okay, I know I'm taking a detour from the exercise from the book. It can happen when the wheels in the minds start turning with the possible of creating.