I got an updated essential tool this week. My Pantone color book. A lovely system of colors and numbers that helps designers, clients and printers all communicate about the same colors. Never trust the computer monitor when it comes to judging your colors. What you see on your screen is not likely to be what another person sees on their screen. It is possible to calibrate a good monitor to be pretty true to actual colors but even then a color book is essential.
I have some really awesome graphic design projects coming up. Yes, I’m actually excited about these, but I can’t share yet. In the meantime though I can share a pro bono logo design job I completed a short while ago. Seedlings is a company that makes braille books for children. I know someone who works there and they asked if I would help them out. So if you go to their website you can see their new logo at the top of the page (the book with the plant growing out of it). They also said I could have any scrap braille paper for art projects. I will take them up on that offer.
I’m working on several new projects, two of them will have these somehow intertwined. I love to create the visual texture of a piece. Something that appeals to the eye and the hand. People usually just want to touch my work and I’m cool with that. Just don’t pet it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I work, and how my pieces look when they are all done. The term ‘consistent body of work’ has been rattling around in my head lately. I think I’m well on my way to achieving this but there is a lot more work that needs to be done. I have a tendency of over-think things sometimes and instead of just doing the work and letting those zen creative moments just happen. But I’m finding that when I do let those moments happen my work comes out with a very cohesive and consistent look. I have a lot of other things in my life to over-think and stress about, I’m going to try more doing and less stressing when it comes to the artwork. I find that I get more done that way.
Earlier this year, the fabulous Lynn Krawczyk brought me on board as production crew for her Thermofax screen shop on Etsy. It has been a really fun education ever since. This week a really cool site called whipup is featuring Lynn’s shop and sporting an awesome giveaway. And yes, I’ll probably be the one making the screens for the lucky winner! So go hurry up and leave a comment!
I donated a piece to the SAQA Benefit Auction this year for the first time. I’m rather fond of what I came up with, a fun departure from chickens.
Commercial fabric was screen printed with a vintage pattern, then I added black Misty Fuse and black cheesecloth to the surface. Wrapped it on a black gesso’d canvas, added some stained glass squares, beads and finished it with a little bit of oil stick paints. It looks like a forgotten piece of wall from long ago. There maybe more in the future.
They asked for the chicken art. People seem to really like it. So who am I to argue? The chickens were inspired by an old table cloth that once belonged to my grandmother. I drew them up and made screens, hand painted, stitched and embellished with some vintage quilt squares.
I made one like these several years ago out of an old feed bag that my grandmother kept. It was one the first mixed media fiber art pieces I created, so its near and dear to me. You can see it here.
Here’s the current pieces for sale at the gallery.
Then last weekend I got to take some supplies to the gallery and work on them while I was there. That was fun and it made the time fly by. Here was my setup.
I fully intend to do this again. Why? Eight hours surround by artwork and working on projects. What’s not to like?
While waiting for a bone to heal I’ve been busy keeping my foot up, perfecting my balance on one foot, how to use crutches and teaching my kids new chores.
There are a few big pieces I’ve been finishing up with backs, buttons and tags. But most of them have been mentioned here already. With most of my larger & newer projects on hold, I’ve been left with my journal for a creative outlet.
I’m looking forward to getting back to some normality in my life and doing silly things like walking up and down stairs, with no crutches insight.
Quoting a poem called ‘To a Mouse’ by Scottish poet Robert Burns, 1785. That is a good description of life for us in the last week. A week ago I tripped on a dog toy (yes, a round dog toy) and bent my left foot under breaking the fifth metatarsal in a very bad spot. I just learned that the fifth metatarsal is the bone in the foot connected to your little toe. When it breaks in just the wrong spot it gets a special name called a ‘Jones Fracture’. But it is not really a fracture, it is a full on break. Long story short, I had a 2-inch screw inserted into my foot two days ago because it most likely was not going to heal on it’s own. The pain was off the charts but I am doing better now. Still hurts like crazy and my foot looks like a football.
Before all this fun began I had been planning and working on several new pieces. All have come to a screeching halt as I recover for the next 2-3 weeks. Frustrating? Absolutely. But there is not a whole lot I can do about it. So instead of wasting energy on being angry and frustrated I’m going to work on what I can, doodle in the journal, work on some layout projects on the computer, get some reading done, and fully appreciate all the amazing care and help I have around me.
Here’s some of the journal scribbles…
These are pieces of fabric that were Thermofax screen printed then fused onto blank journal pages. I’m a big fan of watercolor crayons and pencils, so you see a lot of that here with various markers and pens. There will be more to come since I’m not going anywhere, anytime soon.
I’ve been working with lots of thermofax printing lately and thus generating several pieces of fabric with layers of designs. So I cut and attached some of that fabric into a new journal for doodling and random acts of coloring during a recent trip the family took to northern Michigan. I used watercolor crayons and a water pen to create washes of color around the printed images. A few markers are in there as well.
I screen print with more than just screen printing paint, so there are different textures going here.
I’m not usually one for journaling but this way of doing it is working for me. Maybe because I don’t start with the blank pages, some of the design has already been done.
After my fun day in the world of retail I really wanted to play around with something I had been thinking for a little while. I found this old blog entry by the amazing artist, Jane Dunnewold and I had to try it! I pulled out the watercolor crayons and the Golden Silk Screen Gel and got to work. Oh my, what fun! I love mixing up the colors. Jane gives a great walk through on how to do this. So pop over to the above link for the how-to. Got the screens from my friend’s Etsy shop. Here’s my results:
Blueprint screen!
Tree……
It’s a happy, colorful mess with lovely results. Will definitely be playing with it a lot more.
I have been busy the past few weeks assembling several new little pieces for the gallery. These little pieces were once a robe, then that robe became one art project and now one art project has become many pieces of art. I thermofax screen printed them to build a bit more visual texture then attached them to some black gesso’d 6×6 canvases. And because I couldn’t just leave them alone I stamped the edges using some Golden metallic paint. Stacked up they make a cool photo.
Here’s a pic of several of the blocks:
I made a screen out of a blueprint design from my brother the brilliant builder. Came out so darn cool. Kind of looks like a circuit board. Seriously addicting screen.
Oh, here’s the Log Cabin blocks:
I worked at the gallery for the first time this past Saturday. I was reminded why I hadn’t been to a mall on a Saturday in years. It was so packed full of people, which if you are selling stuff is a really good thing. Not that anyone was buying my stuff, but people were buying. The store had great sales that day and lots of amazing artwork was purchased. I also got to meet and work with some very cool artists as well. I got to see all sorts of people and for the most part the crowd thought the store was very exciting and they loved that it was all Michigan artists. By the end of my eight hour shift I was very tired and my feet were ready to leave me. They still haven’t forgiven me.
Here’s my work up in the gallery:
Here’s my snappy new tags for my work in the gallery. Love moo.com!
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