fabric doodle

even though this is  a teacher exemplar, i'm excited about this process for myself. it's another one of those "i've been meaning try this out for an embarrassingly long time" things. turns out, it's fun and almost exactly what i had hoped for. the watery painted shapes is a common element in my work so this is also a sampler for myself as well.

first, i brushed some clean water onto some spare fabric. i added more colors after i took this shot:

i expected it to spread a LOT more. i might have to soak the fabric and let it drip dry for a bit when i do this again for myself.

i skipped some steps here but i added more color and water. i was really try to get a tie-dye effect. now, you could just draw and sew right on this and it'd look pretty cool. but i think this next step is going to be a hit with the kids. i used some fusible webbing and ironed it on the back of the painted parts i thought looked the best. then i cut out those patches from the fabric. fusible webbing is great!

then i cut out shapes that i wanted, peeled off the paper and ironed them on my final fabric. since it's a "doodle" i didn't plan this out too much.

i used a mark b gone pen to doodle a bit. the lines disappear with water.

the drawing and colors are all made with kids in mind so i don't think i picked colors and the doodling i would have if it were purely for myself. not too much drawing either because the more lines you make, the more sewing you have to do! i don't want students to see something i might work on for weeks and go nuts drawing lines they won't have time to sew. eventually this will be turned into a small "no sew" pillow that the kids will make. again, fusible webbing is awesome.

gradual bursts: completed

i discovered there's a lot to consider when finishing up a non-functional embroidering piece. here's just some of the things i thought about.

1. should the raw edges show or not? (i chose no)
2. should the fabric be looser and drapey? does that mean hang it on a rod, with hooks or something else? (this seemed too difficult to worry about and was stopping my progress so i choose to move on to #3)
3. if i pull it tight, will i miss the qualities of the fabric? what's the purpose of having a sewing piece displayed as a painting? (i DO miss the fabric qualities. the purpose is still unknown but my inclination has always been to hang artwork like a painting. you know---on a wall)
4. will this hot iron ruin all the knots? (yes. just enough to annoy me)
5. i should have washed my embroidering hoop before using it. there's a permanent dirt ring around the first part. (wft?!)
6. why didn't i measure and cut this fabric out better?! (at the time, i didn't have a rotary cutter and i didn't know what it would be in the end. this is the price of winging it)
7. how did this get so crooked? (the bursts arc which bugs me but could almost look purposeful. i dont know why this happened, i drew it out before hand and it looked fine)
8. where will i put this? should i have just left it folded up for another time? (not really sure and probably)

wave

this started in response to the "burst" project. there will be mostly that neutral gold color i have started. but teal, yellow green and that red-orange color will be a focal point and add a zip of color that i've been avoiding lately. the blue markings will disappear because they are magic!

gradual bursts

chuck close hits the nail on the head:

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.” 

i had a couple projects in mind and couldn't figure them out yet. either i don't know how to start, or i'm afraid to start...honestly, i let the "waiting around" for complete understanding part slow me down. a lot. and with many things....i'm working on it.

but this time, like a grown up, i just got to work while not worrying about those other projects or "a bolt of lightning"...and as it turns out, it's been a real pleasure.

there will be a total of 6 'bursts'...a mirror image of each side. the 'walls' of each circle might get a little taller, too.

shelter flipped

recently started reading the accidental universe: the world you thought you knew by alan lightman. it's probably over my head and i think i'm not absorbing it because i'll spiral into an existential puddle. but it seems to be setting up the idea of multiple universes and the science of things for noobs like me before it gets into the relating it to nature, spirituality and the emotional fascination with understanding the universe(s). this is very untypical reading material for me and i think i might hate it.

the "tent" idea came weeks ago (before the book). at first seen as shelter or camouflage from an unknown, or maybe the opposite? at least that's where the ideas came from; it's unclear where it's all going!

the pins on top were to have a tiny flag on them but for now, i'm leaving them a little more dangerous to the touch. i've poked myself a few times handling them carelessly.

tried using my very cheap light box kit (again).
i basically have to use it "wrong" for it to even come close to making a picture that's decent.

holiday makings part 2: ornaments

thought i'd make these look like glittering gem stones or geodes. the plan was to make 2 small ones and one large one for most of the ladies in the family, myself and one family friend (a total of 18).

i attempted smaller versions and different shapes...it just wasn't happening. wrong paper, the paint made it hard to fold and glue...so i made 6 large ones and they're just okay. i decided to make open ones because gluing is easier, but i don't like the gold color glitter i bought. the brown glitter is AMAZING though. everyone should have brown glitter on hand, just in case.

these are extremely difficult to capture on camera and they look better in person (so sparkly you might call it 'dazzling'), but still moderately weird. these will not go down i history as the 'cute' ornaments i'm known for. i'm okay with that. but they made good present toppers and they are VERY sparkly.

some process photos

i did figure out a way to make little "tents" though! filing away for a different project....

the glittering process was actually way less messy than i imagined.

only 5 or 6 shown. mine's already hanging on my tree at this point. 

nearly impossible for me to get the glitter effect and a clear photo.

sorta looked like abstracted pine cones as present toppers

needs a good home: multiple diamonds

these are difficult to photograph, especially with not enough "clear space" at home.
in person they are really glowy and the imperfections of their angles make them organicky despite their inherent mathematics.

anyway, they are as non-committal as i am & they can be anything at this point. grown up building blocks---the insides are lego colors, which is also appropriate.

should they be this angle, that angle, all the angles! on the wall, in a circle, down low, holding white cotton candy (YES!), sewn together?....

i had them in a few rows on the wall & gradually they dropped off as the tape lost its stickiness. like autumn leaves and then laid there like weird snow on the ground. time lapse of that could be fun.

there's 32 of them, easily could be 30 or 31 for another type of calendar/time keeper.

comment if you have ideas; they can't stay like this. the cats are annoyed about losing surface area to stare at me from.

finished these at 3am in my Sudafed stupor this week

flat out

i love all these together in their flat state. to me, the colors and textures are beautiful. i've been putting off assembling them into the diamond shapes because then i can't hold them all at once like mysterious playing cards.

the flat shape folds into the open diamond. neat, right?!

"UNO" card colors on the back

the backs of them are just okay. i wanted something darker and a little ugly for the inside to contrast the other side. recently i've come up with another paint treatment that i like a LOT more, but i'm going to just move forward with these they way they are. it'd be too difficult to paint them all separately and keep the edges and fronts sides from getting messed up.

prototypes

sewing ALMOST satisfies my urge to build things.

but i really like how easy and immediate paper is to work with: no special or new supplies necessary. plus, i can just paint it, no worrying about dyes, big messes and washing machines. if it doesn't work out, i didn't just spend hours and hours and dollars and dollars on it. and, it's recyclable and decomposes. paper's great! whenever people ask me what materials i like to use most...i want to say paper, but that's a little weird sounding because people disregard paper, assume it's a given. like maybe they'll think "duh--paper and WHAT ELSE" as though i'm being a smart ass. but i'm not joking! paper is my favorite thing to use.

sewing paper really isn't too much fun but it's manageable. i feel like i'll use it once i have a clearer purpose.

a quick practice with chain stitching/crochet on 100lb watercolor paper. 

i still want to DRAW, but im stuck in a 4 week slump. it's sorta the worst.

for now, with no agenda, i'm revisiting the 3D geometric shapes while taking some cues from parts of previous drawings. i'm appreciating how this prototype in particular could be both tiny vessels and shelters.

already it's opened ideas up. impractical, unprofitable ones...but i have to remind myself to be PROCESS oriented and not stop myself. maybe look for "multiples" next....

final day: 30

"Art is never finished, only abandoned." --Leonardo da Vinci

though this particular 30 day challenge has ended, i'm just beginning. with what---your guess is as good as mine!

quick 30 day challenge reflection:
cons:

• unsurprisingly, developing & finishing a drawing everyday is tough work, even with clear basic rules to help take off some pressure. 
• it didn't provide a "warm up" situation for the day like i had hoped. these drawings turned into the main and only event, which still seems like not enough. at the minimum they took 45 minutes, at most and very rarely, 3 hours. i'm probably still in the "working long = working hard" mindset when maybe the actual minutes don't matter as much.
• i actually don't know what i'm going to work on next.

pros:

• i have much more done than i had 30 days ago.
• i even like almost 1/2 of them.
• leads into other ideas...i think. i mean---it must, right? maybe in a few days something will present itself.
• felt purposeful to have some accountability to myself...good practice in feeling worthwhile enough to keep promises to myself.
• a little more confidence that i CAN be self disciplined if i really want to be.

for a reward? maybe i'll FINALLY purchase this written by one of my favorite art bloggers, the jealous curator. she is really talented in so many ways, one being finding amazing artists and making a beautiful website i look forward to viewing on a regular basis.

day 29

"When man wanted to make a machine that would walk he created the wheel, which does not resemble a leg." --Guillaume Apollinaire

i try to avoid quotes that use the word "man" to mean "human" but i made an exception this time. 

day 27

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold." --Helen Keller

another unintentional shape association: granny smith apple.

day 26

"If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable... we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar."
--John Henry Newman

didn't occur to me while i was painting this that i was painting a caution cone. a flat one. i sorta don't mind that.