Hetty van Boven

ATCs swaps

2010-11-13T19:32:00.000+10:00

I have been swapping very happily through 2 yahoo groups: Art4mail and Surface Design.
I am also a subscriber to Atcsforall and thought the illuminated letters looked like something I would love to do.
These had to be hand drawn or handpainted.
I struck nothing but obstacles: I tried it on canvas paper and they looked seriously crappy.
I need a US$1 note and can't get 10 anywhere. Not the postoffice, not my bank. Then I did the hand drawn ones, they are here and I am disappointed in them as well.
Oh well....I haven't put my ATC label on the back, so now I have to wait till maybe someone whose first name starts with E, F, G or H has a birthday!
Deep sigh: should have stuck to my medium of choice although I have to say, I did enjoy making them, I just don't think they have been done accurately enough....

Paper-cloth

2010-10-21T20:23:00.004+10:00

I went to the Craft Show in Brisbane yesterday which was terrific and very inspiring.
Of course, had to buy some beads, some packets of luscious fabrics, threads, book.
One book Stitch Alchemy shows a technique to create sheets of paper-cloth.
Basically, you put a piece of fabric on some freezer paper, slap some diluted white glue on it and cover it with strips of paper. The resulting sheet can be used to paint, stitch, embellish, cut..whatever.
I did 3 today.
#1: gold tissue paper and the handmade paper our washing came back in when we were in Bali many years ago plus some junk mail.
#2: a no longer required dressmaking pattern
#3: I used pastels to colour ordinary printing paper and added a paper serviette and some coffee crystals.
The sheets are about A3, but I could only scan part of them.

Unfortunately, I cannot seem to control where this pictures go.

What can I do with these sheets?

If I want to add stitching, these are nice and firm and need no further stabilizing.

Maybe I'll make some bookmarks? Some ATCs? acrylic paint?

Mungo Dreaming

2010-10-17T17:05:00.001+10:00

And here it is!
Thank you Tessa and Neville Wright for taking the photograph.
I am very happy with it. It does what I want it to do: tell a story, pull people in, wondering what it is all about. When they look closer, they wonder more: what is it?
Enjoy!
The frame is pretty cool too and I was happy with that as well and a photo will be posted.
Although....does anyone read this blog?????

Down to Earth

2010-09-11T17:48:00.003+10:00

Whenever I am "told" I have to make something for an exhibition, I usually start by feeling annoyed and like " I don't want to do that". But often, those events were the start of work I was very happy with.
And this is what happened this time.
The outdoor exhibition is called "Down to Earth" and you have seen the tree art that I made.
But slowly another idea started to take shape and this time I just went with it without too much pre-planning or even drawing.

I had some hand woven wool that I frayed and layered. There was going to be a line that indicated the division between under and over the soil and from there I let myself be inspired by my "stuff".

I rolled some paint on the wool before I attached anything and even did some monoprinting, where I created grass on allfoil with acrylic paint, then turned it over onto the wool and rubbed the paint down.
You really need to see the closeups of the "digs" the right one has small piece of bones and even some teeth.
Well may you ask: teeth of what?
I don't know: we found a little skull, maybe it was a wallaby or maybe a hare. I took some of the teeth out and sewed them on.
On the left hand side are pieces of shell.
The stitching I did was very free, after my spell trying to learn painting, it turned out to be like painting with thread: stitching some grass for example, then adding shadows and highlights.
This is the most fun I have had for years with a project.

I bought a picture in a frame on the market and I will use that to frame it, but it needs some work to make it look "earthy" enough. I probably will use impasto gel medium, find sand and maybe some other stuff and I will be a good girl and test the process first on a board I have.

Finished Leaf ATCs

2010-08-30T18:07:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately, the pictures don't do them justice. The satiny black background caught the light of the scanner and the glitter is no where as interesting as in real life.
I tried to photograph them and that was even worse than the scan!
I hope the recipients are happy with them and I hope I get some nice ones back.

the fun about making ATCs

2010-08-22T08:05:00.000+10:00

A friend asked me: " why would you make beautiful things for strangers?"
My quick reply was: " it isn't just about giving, it is about receiving beautiful things in the mail from all over the world"

But there is much more to that: because ATCs are so small, signing up for a swap of 10 isn't too overwhelming and that is what I have done. The theme is "Leaf".
First I found a piece of peltex (it could have been fast2fuse) in my stash. I had bought some black rayon satin and I fused it to one side.
Next decision: put an all over quilting pattern over the lot or cut them apart now?
I decided to cut them apart. The only guideline in the swap was: think of the composition and I reasoned that by working with a 3" x 4" piece, that would be easier. Because heavy stitching can distort a piece, I always cut a work a bit bigger, then trim it to size nice and square ready to finish the edges.

I had 10 pieces, black satin-ed. I started to free motion some leaves on a couple of them. I added some embellishments to a couple. But soon I was getting bored and needed to look for something different.
Rummaging through my stash I found a piece of rust felt. I cut it into a leaf shape, stitched it on.
Mmmm....what else does it need? Found some thick yarn and stitched that on. I work on a Bernina and have a cording foot: it has a hole in front to feed the yarn or cord through, so that you just stitch and it attached the cord easily. I used clear thread through the needle, but in the past I have done that using metallic or complementary colours.

It still needed something else and I stitched on some "chips". Chips are little piece of stone with holes through them. I have them in a number of colours, I used the pale ones to bring some light in what was a fairly dark composition.

Here are the 4 in progress pieces. I'll take a proper photo when they are finished.

When you do ATCs, you'll have to do a back.
It needs some info on who you are.

You can print them on card, but I printed these on cotton.
No address as we are changing back to a postbox soon.

ATCs

2010-08-20T17:30:00.000+10:00

That stands for Artist Trading Cards. They are 2.5" x 3.5" . They are fairly easy and quick to make, much quicker than fabric postcards and you can swap them.
I have joined a few different swaps, but I'll share with you some old ones I did. I didn't actually swap them, but just gave them away.

You get the idea.....

Sorting my bead collection

2010-08-14T20:19:00.000+10:00

Well, that took ages. I kept finding more containers.
But it is looking good now.

This is my worktable in the middle of the process.

Next projects

2010-07-13T09:41:00.000+10:00

I was gently pushed into making an entry for the Glen Rock Quilters' Challenge: Wine, Roses and All That Jazz.
I agreed, because I happen to have something already half made!
This
This is a quilt made with gold fabric, music fabric for the binding and for a previous exhibition, I temporarily attached some postcards. They were a gift and I had to give them back, but I still have this quilt.
Unfortunately the gold organza I used cannot stand the heat of the iron necessary to have something fused to it.
But I can make some elements and just hand stitch them on.

The deadline after that is "Down to Earth" I don't want to make anything that takes too long. Painters are lucky in that respect, they seem to be able to do a painting in a week with lots of time to spare.

At the moment, my thoughts are going to a snake. This is an outside exhibition, could I make a fabric snake that curls and that can be hung from a tree?
What if: I cut a wide spiral out of fabric, wide enough to stitch the edges together, stuff it to make it into a kind of spirally sausage??

I can then decorate it with stitching, beads and whatever.

Some close ups

2010-07-12T20:54:00.000+10:00

Hands and Gloves is finished!

2010-07-12T17:03:00.000+10:00

Here it is! It is 26" square, mounted over stretcher bars.
I am very happy with it.

Stitching the gloves on

2010-06-27T13:46:00.001+10:00

This is a bit of a boring job, but it does look nice. Better than if I had been able to use a machine stitch, which was my original intention. I couldn't do that, because the foot doesn't move freely over the kid leather. I believe it needs a roller foot, which I don't have and don't want to buy.

What I do like is whipping another yarn through the stitches so, even before I finished the stitching, I am experimenting.

This is a relative fine thread that can be used with an embroidery needle.

This yarn is much thicker and I had to use a big needle with a very big eye.
It hides the original red stitching a bit more, it is marginally harder to use.
What does show well on these photos is that the kid leather is very fine and I am conscious that it really IS skin as I push the needle through.
I think I will be going with the finer thread.
I bought the yarns, threads and some fascinating fabrics at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane last Friday.
Threads and yarns from The Thread Studio and fabric from Beautiful Silks.

Also bought a "Studios" Magazine. Our house is for sale which means that, eventually, we will move into another house and I have an opportunity to redesign my sewing studio. I like the one I have, because although it is only small, we had the house built to our specs, so I have been very happy with my sewing studio, which, in fact, I have always called my sewing "room". As we very likely will move into an existing home, I will have to work with what I get!

Background

2010-06-25T06:26:00.001+10:00

This is the background, in other words: 3 layers with stitching.

Here is a close up.

I used part of Windmills of your mind to see if I could staple a quilt to stretcher frames, to get away from what I felt was an unpleasant way a quilt with various amount of density in the quilting, will hang.

You can't appreciate it here, but it is very effective and I have bought 26" stretched bars for this new work.

Creating background

2010-05-23T11:16:00.000+10:00

The quilt sandwich is made and is approx. 32" square.
Layers: Iron on interfacing on the bottom fused to bamboo wadding fused with paper backed fusible to the Dupion Silk.
I made templates of the outline of my hand in 3 sizes. (resized in CorelDraw).
25 Hand outlines are drawn on the back of the quilt sandwich, which is the interfacing.

I went through my threads and yarns and selected 2: an orangy hand spun silk thread, given to me many years ago by an 80 year old lady called Norma, a variegated jeans topstitching thread.
I made a test quilt the same as the main quilt and tried them out.

I liked the orange thread the best, with it slightly lumpy texture.

Deconstruction 1 and 2

2010-05-22T16:48:00.001+10:00

What if....
I opened up one glove, so I could applique it and see both sides at once?

This is what it looks like. Because you can't see the thumb, you can't appreciate how unpleasantly organic this object looks!

Next: just cut each glove in half, so I have 2 outside and 2 inside pieces.

OK, this was an experiment and I was very much prepared to sacrifice this pair.
I don't have to sacrifice the 4 pieces, but I learned NOT TO USE STEAM ON KID LEATHER!
It makes it shrink like plastic would.

Next step:
I have a piece of gorgeous magenta Dupion Silk for the background. Thought I could tuck it, but tucking needs more fabric than I have.

Gloves, gloves....

2010-05-18T19:11:00.000+10:00

I bid on 13 pairs of ladies gloves on ebay and I got them today. They are just gorgeous: most are soft, kid leather, short ones, long ones, some are fabric, most are cream, one black, one brown, one midnight blue...or is that black?
Now I have to decide what to do with them. Of course, they don't all have to go into the next artwork...

Initially, my plan was to stitch some gloves onto a background quilt and then embellish them. I don't want a big quilt....

I am stuck at the moment....

Don't know about this one....

2010-05-18T19:06:00.000+10:00

This actually looks better on the photo than it does in real life.
I used some paints and some crayons.

If I analyse this, I like the design, I don't like the execution, it is a bit too sloppy for me....

"Hand-in-hand"

2010-04-12T07:46:00.000+10:00

This is the theme for the next exhibition of our art group to coincide to the multicultural festival end July.
What I would really, really love to do is create a chain of paper dolls into a Mobius strip that way, either 3D or drawing, but I don't have the technical skills to do either....If you don't know what a Mobius strip is, search images in google.

What I do have is the ability to make a paper doll chain and a quilt I do not want to keep as it is.

I have paints, mediums, a brayer, which is a hard roller to roll paint for block printing, but I am considering using the brayer to roll paint lightly over the quilt, covering to top layer, but leaving the deeper, stitched lines.

I can use the paper doll chains as stencils.....

Maybe I can do something with this quilt?

2010-04-10T17:07:00.000+10:00

We went to a wonderful art opening this afternoon of paintings and small scultptures.
Looking and chatting about art, I was thinking where to go with windmills. As it is, I definitely do not like it.
I don't like the development of the design and I hate the way the quilt isn't square.
Maybe I ought to get some paint and brayer and just roll some acrylic paint over it? Maybe I can add some medium to make it transparant?
Maybe i can cut the quilt up?
Here is the eternal question:
What if.......

Windmills of you mind...finished

2010-04-10T10:43:00.003+10:00

Actually, I finished it a few weeks ago, ready for the "Musical Gems" exhibition.
Here are some images, thank you Tessa for taking the photos.

Am I happy with it?
Not altogether.
Once again I took shortcuts, was too lazy, too much in a hurry, whatever you call it, but I didn't set the printing on the organza, thinking, what the hell, I am not going to wash this quilt. No need for setting. Which only takes a quick rinse in detergent....

Then, when the quilt was completed, I wanted to flatten it. Great, I know how to do that: spray with water, stretch and pat the quilt and let it dry....

Too late I noticed the printing on the text started to run....bugger....

I was lucky to find the hand, a piece I did last year for the Beatles card " I want to hold you hand" but when I had made it, it was too large. So that came in "hand"y!

What's my next project?

I bought some gorgeous fabric in PNG where we spent Easter this year and I want to make a tablecloth.

I left my camera in PNG, the family will bring it back when they visit in a few weeks. Until then, I cannot take photos.

That wasn't a good idea...

2010-03-09T10:24:00.000+10:00

The fabric I am using for the triskele can stand only the coolest iron setting, otherwise it crinkles up.
Which means I can't fuse anything on it. :(
Apart from that: clock is on, keys are on and I am with that!

Background is done!

2010-03-08T12:22:00.000+10:00

Lots of stitching, first the triskele was stitched with a blanket stitch, then the background was stitched in a free hand spiral design with variegated cotton "King TUT".

Close up:

Beatles Songs

2010-03-07T18:26:00.000+10:00

This is another project ready for the Musical Gems exhibition.

Some time ago, I made 40 weekly postcards, these are the ones that feature Beatles Songs.

The cards are attached with small buttons and beads, after the exhibition they will be removed and returned to the rightful owner.

Getting on with it!

2010-03-07T09:42:00.000+10:00

OK, work has to be completed in 3 weeks, time to stop faffing about, just do it! Thanks Nike...good slogan.
Here is my todo list:

Clear work table
New needle in machine
Clean fluff from underneath stitch plate, maybe drop of oil
Stitch Triskele on. It is silver, but I'll use a grey rayon or maybe a contrasting rayon. ?Black??
Stitch on clock, stitch on balloon, stitch on apple.
Discard twisted score, don't like it anymore

By that time, the work itself will tell me what it wants me to do and I'll tell you about it when it happens!!

I also need to make a couple of placemats for meals-on-wheels, a commitment Glen Rock Quilters made and I want to start swapping ATCs.

I did some swaps in 2004! Must have been ahead of my time.

4 elements

2010-02-21T10:14:00.001+10:00

I was very happy with "footprints in the sand, until I pinned it onto the quilt sandwich, then the colour was far too bright.
I put a bit of organza over it, looked a bit better. You can't really appreciate the difference here, as there is a difference in exposure between the 2 and I don't want to spend heaps of time retouching the photographs.
I also would love to know how better to move pictures around on this blog, as you can do in other programs.

I am not sure where to go next, but I'll think of something!
Also my plan is to create a top layer on all of this, to make those elements much less defined.
I don't know if that is a physical layer, like organza, or a layer of embellishments, such as lots of musical notes scattered all over, which sounds like fun.
The first decision is whether to create more elements or leave it with these.

Ticky-tocky is finished

2010-02-15T15:58:00.000+10:00

This is ready to be attached to the quilt sandwich.It will be like a circle, I'll cut the excess off just before I am ready to applique it.

Round...like a circle in a spiral

2010-02-14T09:57:00.000+10:00

These are the first words of the song.

Here the music score with lyrics has been scanned in, twisted in Corel PhotoPaint. That design has been printed on cotton. It will be attached to the background with free motion stitching, keeping to the spiral design.

Until I am ready to do that, I will put it on Vliesofix but I won't take off the paper backing till I am sure of where I want to put it.

More ticky-tocky

2010-02-13T11:01:00.001+10:00

It is looking good, isn't it!

I love the way the organza mutes the design of the fabric underneath.

The stars are now defined.

Being able to design on the computer and print has made this element so much easier. especially the numbers on the clock.

What I like about blogging this project is that, even though I think I am not getting anywhere, I can see progress.

I've ordered the wrought iron quilt hanger, I am committed to enter a new piece in the Musical Gems exhibition at the end of next month. Thank goodness for deadlines!

I am going to start on another element, while I consider how to design the hands of the clock with a sense of movement. If I can't think of any way to get that effect well, I'll just put 2 hands in.....

Keys that jingle in your pocket

2010-02-08T11:56:00.000+10:00

This element is now ready, except for the stitching onto the work. Lots of mucking about, mainly to find a solution to the problem of securing, which will now happen when it gets stitched onto the work.

What has happened here?
The original image was printed 3x on Extravorganza, cut out and fused on a piece of printed fabric. By shifting the image I wanted to create a sense of movement,
The smudges you see are bits of silver Angelina fibre. Not looking to good on here, but OK in real life.
I fused a piece of fine poly organza over the lot, catching the images and the Angelina.
You can't see it here, as this was scanned in, but the edges of the fabric have been frayed.

Ticky-tocky

2010-02-07T20:16:00.000+10:00

Which is what my youngest son used to call a clock.

I designed a clock face in CorelDraw. You cannot see it well, but each number is in a little pink 6 pointed star. I printed it on Extravorganza which is a silk organza, then fused it onto a piece of furnishing fabric. While I liked the fabric, it kind of cancelled much of the stars the numbers are in, but I am going to bead the points.

Elements

2010-02-07T12:49:00.000+10:00

Last year, when I was still thinking of doing this in drawing, I made this quick sketch in ink.

The images come from the text of the "Windmills of your mind" song.

"keys that jingle in your pocket"

"words that jangle in your head"

"like an apple, turning silently in space"

"a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face"

"leave their footprints in the sand"

"or a carnival balloon"

"pictures hanging in the hallway"

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/thethomascrownaffair/windmillsofyourmind.htm

The additional element is of sheet music, I'll probably do something with the actual sheet music and then manipulate it in Corel PhotoPaint.

I played for a few hours with this drawing, trying for an overlapping effect. I am going to print multiple images on organza, then overlap them on the background. Probably....

I have done quite a few works based on something musical and find it a never ending source of inspiration..

Triskele is fused on!

2010-02-04T15:17:00.000+10:00

After printing out the triskele for the 4th time, tiled over 12 pages ( or was that the 5th time?) I could finally get onto the next step.
My quilt sandwich was already made: 3 layers, 4 if you count Vliesofix: from the bottom up: iron-on Vilene, matilda's own wadding, vliesofix, ivory dupion silk.
Centring the triskele wasn't easy, I used Coreldraw to establish the correct position on the background and took my time.

Next steps: establishing elements and embellishments.
Next time I have to be in Toowoomba (probably to get the bikes serviced) I am going to order a hanger. My previous wrought iron supplier has closed shop, he recommended Forge Metalworks. When I rang, the lady said she was a quilter. Didn't ask if that means "mate-rates"!

36" x 34"

2010-02-01T08:43:00.003+10:00

I discussed my dilemma about the size with husband Gerry. By that time, I had the size down to 24" so I could hang it from the wrought iron hanger I already have.
When I showed him the 30" triskele and discussed the impact I wanted to make, he suggested I go with that size and get a hanger to fit.
What he said was "You'll make it beautiful and it will be well worth getting a nice hanger for it"
Next I had to find the materials to make the base and a fabric to cover it: I have the iron-on Vilene for the back, wadding for the middle layer and the only fabric I had enough of for the actual background was a piece of ivory Dupion silk. Considering how much of that is going to be covered by the triskele, it seems a waste of time and materials to cover it with embellishments. It is better to embellish once the triskele is on.
What I don't have is enough Vliesofix to fuse the silk to the wadding, hopefully I can get that at Twilight Craft today.
Meanwhile there is plenty I can do: get the triskele ready to fuse on, start working with the elements. Thank goodness I have enough printable cotton!
I am now at the stage where I am happy to let the piece design itself.
What it means is that I take it the way it wants to go. For example, the decision which fabric to use for the background is simply based on a choice between the fabrics I have enough of. No agonising, no racing to the shop to buy another fabric.
The hard decisions are made, now comes the fun part!

I've got to decide on the base now

2010-01-31T11:25:00.001+10:00

I need a base on which to put a background first, then the triskele.
I've got Peltex, which is really firm, but I only bought enough to make the finished square 30".
Oooohhh....another decision made: it will be a square!
I would prefer a circle, but a circle is too difficult to hang well.
If the base is 30", the triskele has to be about 25" across. I've printed the tiled design out 3 times now!!!
But: if I don't use the Peltex, but a normal quilt sandwich, I have no restriction on the size.

The background

The base is the structure, the background is what you see behind the triskele, it is placed on top of the base.
I want it to look as if I had glued music fabrics on it, put white paint over it, then wiped the paint off, exposing the fabric in messy streaks.

These are the music fabrics. I am thinking....bleaching....covering with sheer fabrics.....fraying......

Triskele

2010-01-30T14:22:00.003+10:00

Designing a colour scheme or palette isn't something I can do in an abstract way.
And even if I could, I wouldn't necessarily have fabrics in those colours. While a design such as Fandance needs to be worked out exactly, works such as this one can be created intuitively.
Remember how my patchwork fabrics are organised in boxes by colour?
Well, those are the cottons. I also have a couple of huge boxes with satins, laces, velvets, silks etc.
There was no other way to do this: all the fabric had to be pulled out of the boxes and I separated those colours and shades I thought would work. I had already decided to use soft colours to represent the dreamy quality of the piece.

The fabrics on the left have a gold cast, but are in fact a true grey.

The one in the left bottom corner is what is left of a fabulous beaded evening jacket I bought in an op shop for less than $15! I am so hoping I have enough to use that for the spiral that will become the focal point.

Close up:

This was the first Triskele (triple spiral) I considered. I printed it out tiled over 12 sheets of paper and stuck them together.

This one is simpler, but has as much or more impact. It will be placed on top of the background and then the other elements will be placed over that in such a way, that the triskele will still not only be visible, but pull everything together.

I decided to make it 30" and at this stage, I don't know yet what the base/background will be, but probably it won't be canvas.

What I like about the Triskele is that this design has been used throughout the history of mankind, with lots of meanings at different times and different civilizations.

I love to use symbols.

Get a move on.....

2010-01-29T12:00:00.001+10:00

The Musical Gems exhibition will be at the end of March, I need to get a move on.
First: what colour scheme, colour palette will I use?

OK....look at a heap of luscious fabrics....mmmm....nothing there.

http://www.colourlovers.com/

This site has thousands if not millions of ready made palettes. So where to start.
Entered " mind" Remember, the project is Windmills of your mind. A few nice colour schemes, nothing that is very inspiring, but I'll keep looking.

Next, or rather, at the same time, I have to make decisions:

Make this project like a quilt: the background is a firm quilt sandwich, the final work will be hung from a rod or some other hanging thingy.
Put the fabric elements on canvas. Nice and firm, easy to hang.
Make the work to be displayed behind glass: extra cost, extra weight, can't be photographed well once it is framed. But...the work will be protected and framing gives the work more presence.

This brings me to another decision: the size. Oh no...two decisions: square or portrait or landscape?
Aaahhhhh....this is just so hard....I wish I could actually start cutting and sewing and designing the elements....

Hey....my work is here!

2010-01-28T15:25:00.001+10:00

If you go to the very first post of this blog, you'll see my entry to the Cyber Fyber project.
To see all postcards as well as the ATC*s, go to:

http://www.cyberfybervideos.blogspot.com/

*Artist Trading Cards: 2.5" x 3.5"

Fandance/Windmills of your mind

2010-01-10T13:07:00.001+10:00

Fandance is coming along very nicely. I am surprised how quickly the hand sewing progresses!
Once the 5 blades are machine stitched together, it only takes a good half hour to hand stitch the blades and the centre to the background.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy fondling fabric! I cannot quite see me fondling pencils, paper and tubes of paint!

I am committed to do a piece for our local "Musical Gems" exhibition in March, which is to be textile based mixed media. I will probably do "Windmills of you mind" did I mention that before?
I wonder if I could do a large spiral as a base to attach the other elements too. Not a spiral stitched to a background, but a spiral being the background, in other words, what you see when it hangs, is the wall behind it. Nice if the wall is smooth, not so nice with the tongue-and-groove at the exhibition venue. :(
Fabric Spiral attached to canvas?
By the time I decide I'll have to work full time on it to get it finished before the deadline!

Quick and easy pointed fan blade

2010-01-05T10:45:00.001+10:00

Here is a quick and easy way to make the points for the blades.
Blade template has to have a straight top.
Fold in half lengthwise, right sides together. Press.
Stitch the top as per sample.
Turn right side out. Push the point out. Use the pressed centre line to make sure the points is in the centre.
Press.

You can now stitch blades together. I don't know about you, I avoid needle turn applique like the plague, but this type of applique I can handle!

What is this?

When you use Fan blocks that you intend to rotate,the blades of one block can meet the quarter circle seam.

I made a trial block and found that didn't happen, it was maybe 1/8" out.

That, to me, is a problem, because as the blocks were joined, they would look like I was a sloppy quilter who just couldn't be bothered to have those points meet.

The solution is to redesign the block so that the points are offset, rather than meeting.

Here is how that would look.

I've taught classes where this "not meeting" really bothered some of the students and of course, if that's you, this method wouldn't suit you. However, I like the fact that I don't have so many points to meet when joining the blocks.

Revision of quilt and centres

2010-01-04T14:54:00.001+10:00

This is Fandance2. Keep in mind this will be a scrap quilt, so the fabrics used aren't final. Size 86" x 98"

Centre has 10 x 12 blocks. I have cut the 600 fan blades, I've cut 114/120 backgrounds, I'll finish them today.

I also developed a better way to do the centres, which are going to be larger than on the quilt.

I made a 4.5" plastic template, marked and cut the fabric. I ran a small running stitch along the edge, left thread ends long enough to pull up.
Placed fabric right side down on the 4" cardboard template. Pulled the stitching tight. Pressed carefully, using a bit of spray starch, let cool and cut into 4 pieces. Voila!
At this stage, I am concentrating on the centre 10x12 blocks only. Who knows how the rest of the quilt will develop!!

Still more about EQ6 and wondering about the centre of the block

2010-01-02T14:28:00.005+10:00

This morning I opened EQ6. Nothing in the Fandance project. NOTHING!!
How could that have happened?? I knew I had saved, saved, saved.
Rather than bothering Penny again, I went online to the FAQ and there was the answer:

I named a project, added things to my Sketchbook, and exited. But when I opened the project again it was empty. Why?
You may have over-written your full project with an empty project of the same name. So be sure, when you want to open a project you have saved, that you click the "Open an Existing Project" tab, and choose your project from the list, rather than typing a name in the "Name a New Project" tab.

If you type the name of a project, and already have a project with this same name, your new project (empty), will replace your existing project (full).

OK.....
Lucky I had saved the image of the quilt as a gif file and didn't really need anything else.

I've made a few fan blocks and have started adding the quarter circle. Tried a few different sizes and also considered how best to get the smooth curved applique.
When I do a full circle, I make 2 templates. A plastic template of the circle plus the seam allowance. I used that to mark and cut the patches.
Then I have a cardboard template of the circle's finished size. I stitch a running stitch along the edge of the circle, place the cardboard in the centre on the wrong side of the fabric, pull the stitching tight over the carboard template and press. After it cools off, I take the cardboard out and give the circle another good press. Voila, nice, neat easy circle.
That doesn't work so well with a quarter circle.
What is working reasonably well is this:
Make 2 templates: one of the quarter circle plus seam allowances, another on where the seam allowance is cut off the curved edge.
I cut 2 patches from the big template: one of the fabric, one of some fine white lawn.
With the smaller template, I mark the sewing line of the curved edge only on one of the 2 fabrics.
I stitch the 2 fabrics together with a very small running stitch.
Turn the fabrics, cut some of the excess white lawn off and applique stitch the curved edge over the fan blades.
The straight edges are lined up with the raw edges of the block and I baste them together.
This really seems to take longer to write it all down than it is to stitch.

Here is Fandance!

2010-01-01T11:07:00.000+10:00

OK, this is a VERY ambitious project, because it has 14 x 14 blocks and is 100"x 100"
I may well still make changes because if I make it as a large quilt for my own bed, it needs to be rectangular rather than square.
Anyway, I got fantastic support from Penny at EQ6, especially when you consider this was in the silly season, between Christmas and NewYear.
The problem lies with a another program interfering with EQ6 and one day, when I need a challenge, I'll sort it out. Meanwhile, I can use it the way it is and of course, I mustn't forget to SAVE!
So far I cut about 100 6.5" background blocks for the centre and hundreds of fan blades.
I don't care how long this takes. It is like a hexagon quilt, once everything is cut, I'll just work on it when I feel like it.

How my stash is organised, more about EQ6

2009-12-28T10:43:00.002+10:00

My stash is in plastic boxes that are on shelves in a cupboard. Queensland is not a climate for leaving fabrics on open shelves because of the fading. Besides, I am not tidy enough for that.
These are the boxes:

White to Black
Cream to Brown
Red
Yellow and Orange
Green and Aqua
Purple
Blue

As every fabriholic knows, some fabrics don't fit into a colour category because they have multiple colours. They are sorted by value in the following boxes

Multi light
Multi medium
Multi dark
Multi bright

Then there are 2 more boxes with theme fabrics

I spy and other children's fabrics
Butterfly, ethnic, sewing designs

And about EQ6: I still have problems opening the program, the opening window comes up, then disappears behind the design window and the program then freezes, so later on I'll re install. Even this can be a problem, because I think you can reinstall the program only so many times, something many users have complained about.

But.....I realised also that placing designs into the sketchbook, does NOT save them automatically, so, all that work is gone, about 14 different versions of Dancing Fans and I am still very happy that the important parts were printed out.

Dancing Fans...back to my first love

2009-12-28T10:11:00.001+10:00

In art/craft that is!
For a while I have been thinking it is time to start another patchwork project. Throughout this year I've made 3 major projects: Bernina Bling and 2 children's quilts, so I didn't abandon quilting altogether. This remark in response to what I get asked every so often: " Don't you quilt anymore?"
Back to the new project. I set up the following checklist for this new project:

This is a bed quilt: so it has to be big enough and fabrics and techniques used have to be appropriate, iow, the quilt is to be washable.
No new fabrics to buy, but I am sure I have to buy wadding.
Not too complex.
Not boring in either technique or design
Some handwork. We finally solved the problem of lighting in our lounge and I can now stitch while watching TV.

While two days ago I was wondering if I could legally sell EQ6 , yesterday morning I used it to design this new quilt. Dancing Fans is the working title, I may change it yet. However, after having problems opening the program, my project is there but there is nothing in the sketchbook!!! Shock Horror!! Fortunately, the only things I really needed: the template and the layout, I had printed out. I'll have to try to reinstall and if that doesn't work, get to support.

But this is what it is:
A Fan block with 5 blades. The blades are appliqued onto a 6" background.
I am using stash fabrics.
I considered a few different options such as a colour wash quilt , but that would make it too complex.
I made one test block

The plan is to cut the background fabrics from medium dark-dark fabrics.

Blades from fabrics in my "multi light" box

Applique a quarter circle over the end of the fan blades in the lower left corner.

"Keys that jingle in your pockets"

2009-10-30T16:38:00.000+10:00

I skipped the 2-key practice and went straight into the 3 keys!

I worked on this for 90 minutes today, half an hour yesterday. In all, I did 2 hours yesterday. I think if I just keep drawing, I just got to get better, shouldn't I? I am also re-reading "Drawing with your artists brain".

I do understand it better now than I did when I first got it.

I don't know, maybe because my designs (except the Tarots) have always been so analytic, that's just how I think: if I cannot analyse it, I think I cannot draw it either.

The book speaks about retraining your brain...

"Windmills of your mind"

2009-10-29T18:23:00.004+10:00

Our art group has asked the textile/mixed media artists to create a piece based on music for March 2010. That inspired me to do a drawing, based on the lyrics of "Windmills of your mind", at Deb's course.
Initially I was going to do a collage, then I designed a film strip that was to show "images unwinding".
I was pretty excited about that design, but it meant that each of the images had to be drawn small, to fit into the strip. As per usual, I got to the stage where it didn't seem worthwhile, especially as I missed 2 of the classes. Also as before, I didn't like my drawings.
Today I decided to "just do it!" and DRAW. I chose "keys that jingle in my pockets". I spend 90 minutes, drawing one key and I am happy with the result. I didn't draw from life, but from a reference drawing. Next I am going to draw a key overlapping another key, then 3 keys.
I will need to forget the idea of drawing small, so I am going back to the collage, something like this
Next class is Tuesday, I want to be able to have something to show then.

Deb's new course

2009-09-20T10:49:00.003+10:00

Deb is starting a new course: " Design, Development and Finish".
For a while I wasn't sure if I was ready for this. My realistic drawing didn't seem to be going anywhere. I didn't mind doing some bits and pieces, but I couldn't visualise anything I would want to work on for weeks.
Till last week when I decided to go with design and then apply realistic drawing techniques. I don't know if that style has a name, for the time being I am calling it "organic geometrics". In other words: geometric design that has become more fluid, more random and has perspective applied to it. LOVE Deb's "Wonkies"!
So I enrolled and it will start on the 6th October. Not sure if I will stick to graphite or go with colour, but that seems to be a decision that we will explore at the class.

What about realistic drawing?

2009-09-20T10:30:00.002+10:00

I tried.
I really tried.
I was even successful every so often.
However, I found myself not wanting to do the actual drawing. I knew I should practice, practice, practice. I read books and articles, I tidied my work table. I downloaded a lovely reference photo of a pair of old boots, graphed it up and intended to copy it that ways, square by square.
It went OK, but I wasn't happy doing it.
I started to think back about projects that I enjoyed so much that I couldn't wait to get back to them and I realised, I am a designer rather than a fine artist.

I love design, I love using all kinds of pencils and pens, I love working on paper. Why fight that? Why not combine my knowledge and years of experience of design and my newly acquired knowledge of realistic drawing?

Here is the last quilt design I did. "Spice Stars" Please note: this is 2.50m x 2.60m and has some very intricate machine quilting.
I was very happy with that design.
Working with fabric and sewing, there are many more restrictions than there are with drawing.
As I have mentioned before, I am a member of the newly formed Somerset Art Scy Inc. Each Wednesday some of the members get together to work on their art. I decided to join them and also decided I was going to work on something enjoyable.
Got my pastel paper out and pencils, but found ordinary pencils didn't work well. Got my pastel pencils out and just drew some curvy shapes and then filled them in with further shapes.
I made them go over and under to provide some depth, I LOVE overs- and -unders
It is still a work in progress: initially I coloured in very tentatively. RS suggested that I push down harder, to get more intensity. It stuffed up my work, because the pen outline is done AFTER the pastel pencil, having to go over it again meant I had to go over the black lines again.

You can see which parts have been redone.
I put the work where I can see it, and I know now I that the shadows I put in aren't correct. I should have put shadows where the shapes cross over, so I am not sure I want to continue with it as I can see so many ways I can improve on this now.
The main thing is: I enjoyed the process tremendously.
Deb is having a new course and I'll make that a separate post.

Having a go at collage

2009-09-20T09:39:00.005+10:00

OK, so I was all excited about finding the right technique, but being a realist, I didn't jump in immediately but got some 4" square canvasses to try it out.
The theme was to be: Kitchen. Maybe these little trials would make proper little artworks to give away or even to sell!

I printed some kitchen images from one of the Dover books. I cut them out, glued them on according to the instructions and played with some mediums ( should that be media???) and some paint.
The result is awful!
But it shouldn't be surprise. I didn't quite follow the instructions. This seems to be an ongoing issue with me! LOL The book suggests liquid acrylics, I used watered-down tube acrylics. I didn't want to have to purchase a whole lot of new materials when I haven't even used much of the ones I have!

Not only does the book suggest liquid acrylics, everything is identified by the brand name. I am not sure you can get that brand here, but the obstacle remains: I have dozens of tubes of cheap-brand acrylics I would like to use.

Anyway: I can still paint some more over it, the ugliness is partly due to the revolting colours!
I might glue some more stuff over it and I probably need to be more aware of composition. And improve on the colour scheme!

Piano improvising

2009-09-20T09:33:00.001+10:00

My friend Kathy lent me a book " How to play the piano despite years of lessons" when I mentioned I would like to learn to improvise. Us textile artists don't just chat about visual art!
Well, that book really changed my thinking and piano playing practice.
It claims" no need to know scales or chords" and that may well be true, but I have done scales and chords all my life, but I never knew how to apply what I knew.
As per usual, you take from instructional books what suits you. Once I understood how the chordal system applies to music, I had this lightbulb moment!
I got out some of my old song books. They are also called "Fake Books" because they have the melody line only plus the chord indicator and you "fake" the left hand. It was amazing, all of a sudden it no longer took months and months of frustrating practice to play a song!
It is now so much fun to play, I spent a few hours every day.
I have ordered another book " How to play from a Fakebook" so I can give Kathy her book back.
Thanks Kathy!

If everything fails.....follow instructions

2009-08-13T13:32:00.000+10:00

While I will definitely do Joan of Arc in collage, I also want to develop my realistic drawing skills.
When I whinged to Deb it wasn't happening, she asked: " Are you measuring???"
I had to say "no" and I really wasn't doing any of the other things.
So yesterday I decided to allow myself the time to set up properly: floor easel, a masking tape line on the floor so I measure from the same distance. Object set up against a black cloth.
I am attempting to draw a simple narrow necked vase and I did it all: measure, draw guidelines, then do the curves, then finetune. Once I had one half I liked, to used the tracing paper technique we learned to create a fresh, symmetrical drawing.
Today I am going to put a light on the vase and start creating some form.

Re JoA: I bought different mediums and some small canvas panels to practice the collage technique on.

That great moment

2009-07-24T21:04:00.000+10:00

My Tarot series took decades to actually come to fruition.
The next series is "uppity women": in chronological order (but not in the order I'll create them): Hildegard of Bingen, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great.
I expect this series will not take quite as long because I'd be in my nineties!
I made a start on Joan of Arc, but got a major block caused by a lack of knowledge of materials and techniques. I created a collaged background and then painted a portrait of Joan over that. Later on I wanted to add flames and a lily. But the result was pretty awful: the collages were too dark, where the portrait covered some of the collages, those papers soaked up the paint creating a hard edges corner in the middle of Joan's face!

But today I suddenly had this great moment: a feeling of absolute clarity of where I want to go with this after a long period of indecisiveness, prevarication, frustration and uncertainty.
I was re-reading the Ann Baldwin book I mentioned earlier and I really like her style, so I decided to follow her instructions. It means starting from scratch, I don't think I can fix the earlier work, but I might go a bit larger as well. I will not paint the portrait, I will not paint the lily but work with paper collages. Even to the extend where I will scan in the lily I did in my visual diary last december and use that, rather than actually painting it on the canvas. I will however paint the flames, even maybe using a modelling paste.
When I think back of all the technical errors I made, I really did learn a lot from my mistakes.
I don't think I will use my newly acquired drawing skills (basic as they still are...) that may be for another time.

My art in general

2009-07-24T20:42:00.000+10:00

Deb's new classes started last Tuesday and we're doing textures. I chose leather this week, she had a picture of a leather boot and I am having a go at that and then I may go back to my earlier "boots and hat" subject. I started the drawing at class and will work on it through the week.
I have stopped going to the Friday class, at present it doesn't seem to suit me. I have joined the newly formed Somerset Art Society. We're having an exhibition tomorrow to coincide with the Multicultural Festival and I've put in "The Chariot" and "Wheel of Fortune".
I didn't take a job. This is a bit unusual for me as I always enjoyed being part of making something happen. But right now I am enjoying my freedom of commitments just too much! Those who did take on jobs seem full of energy and enthusiasm which holds great promise. The ultimate goal is for Esk to have its own Art Gallery.

Back from New Caledonia

2009-07-24T20:21:00.000+10:00

We had a fantastic time in New Caledonia. I even did write a travel report with photos and if you are interested in this just ask me for the pdf file.
Re the french language: hubby reckon I was pretty good: I ended up being able to read signs and be polite. I could understand very short sentences. We bought the Les Nouvelles newspaper a couple of times and I could read the weather report and some other articles and reports. When listening to conversations, I could understand some words but not the meaning.
Was it worth spending all that time on it? Absolutely! It is a beautiful language and I enjoyed having a bit of a go at it.

Re Dorrie's coat: I made one, it wasn't great and I hadn't quite finished it off when I tried it on her. She wanted nothing to do with it! LOL Oh well, meant I didn't have to finish that particular job!

The Dodecahedron

2009-06-27T09:53:00.000+10:00

Click on the image to enlarge.
Yesterday I dropped this piece into the Fernvale Futures Centre for their craft show.
It really is a gorgeous piece of work! Even if I do say so myself and the photos don't do it justice.
Next time I need to enter something and need something new, I might do another one. The hardest bit will be to decide on the theme: it has to be something that I can do 11 panels for. (Panel # 12 is the base and is just calico with the details written on.

It's french, french, french....

2009-06-27T09:35:00.000+10:00

It really is an experiment: I am spending lots of time on the french study. Not only www.frenchpod.com , but there are so many other (free) sites to practice.
Phonetique voyelles is full of hearing exercises, you hear 2 words and you tick whether they are the same or different. You do not need to know what they mean, you just train you ear.
Mission Europe is a kind of game/story and it is set up by the EU, Languages Online is really fun too and importer - Dictionnaire Français-Anglais WordReference.com is a fantastic dictionary except it has an anti-animal-cruelty ad in the banner which I try to avoid having to look at because it upsets me.
RFI - Langue française - apprendre is a french radio station that has "learn french" sections.
I only spend minimal time trying to memorising lists of words or conjugations of verbs, it is all learning things in context. I find french songs: some in kids programs, others on youtube.
The experiment is to see how this kind of study will work out in practice.
My niece said to me: "Oh well, as long as you can understand what they say" but that is a lot harder than reading it, because of the rhythms of the speech and the "liasons" the way words are strung together.
Because there are so many different sites I can use, it does not get boring at all.
Of course, no drawing....

Pastels? Maybe not for me....

2009-06-14T09:33:00.000+10:00

Friday's art class was disappointing. We had a choice of 2 still lives and acrylic or pastel. I chose pastel but I found I was totally out of my depth. I don't quite know where to go with pastels from here, what I need is a specific pastel course, like Deb's drawing course. Actually I did do a 3 hour class with Helen and that was good, but there don't seem to be other classes planned.

Ah well, I am busy with french lessons and I am having a go at making a coat for our dog Dorrie. When we are in Noumea, she will have to go into the kennel and sleep outside, right in the middle of winter! She hasn't got a thick coat and is used to sleep inside.

French lessons

2009-06-11T13:40:00.000+10:00

Our 45th wedding annniversary is coming up and a reason for celebration! A family party is, at present, out of the question and a week ago hubby said "Why don't we go to Noumea for our wedding anniversary!" So now we've booked to go in a matter of weeks and I am frantically using online French lessons. I am using Frenchpod
Definitely a fun way to learn french and of course, I did french at school, grew up in an environment where I was more exposed to french and french culture than if I had grown up in Australia: living in Holland where we had as many french songs on the hit parade as english ones, seeing french movies ( with dutch subtitles) having a Belgian mother who had lived in Paris, spending holidays in Belgium which is bilingual.
I download the lessons to my MP3 player and wear it while walking, while doing the housework, etc.
Mind you, it may all mean nothing when it comes to understanding spoken French, but hey, I learned how to ask where the toilets are..that just HAS to be useful as long as I can understand the reply! As I said: these lessons are fun!

Tarot

2009-06-11T13:32:00.000+10:00

I asked forum members on the tarot site , could anyone suggest a name for my tarots. Next step, I was then going to order some blank, ready-to-print tarot cards and print a couple of sets.
One suggested Hetty's Tarot. Not bad, but I had already thought of that myself and it didn't excite me much! Someone else suggest "Threads of Fate". That I like a lot. I never thought to use the word "threads" , it is so appropriate. But then it becomes the "Threads of Fate Tarot". I thought it was a bit long, but it does have a nice ring to it!

Boots and hat

2009-06-11T13:21:00.001+10:00

As I promised: boots and hat. Plus some stuff in the background!

I haven't attempted any more drawing, because I got sidetracked with French lessons. More about that later.

But tomorrow I am going to my Friday art class and, unless Gina has something special she wants us to do, I am having another go at this, using the 2 pictures: one in colour, the other reduced to grey scale. You have to agree: it must be easier to work in pencil from a greyscale picture. I might even use my value scale: a piece of paper that has 10 shades, from white to black through grey. Deb taught us to hold the value scale against a section of the original so you can see how dark or how light you've got to shade it. Anyway, that's the theory of it.

That didn't work

2009-06-07T21:29:00.000+10:00

I set up a still life with a pair of hubbies' riding boots and his hat, but I couldn't get it done. I tried different ways: blind contour, blind contour with some looking, contour, creating guidelines, working with angles. I might take a photo tomorrow to put here. The drawings were too large to scan, I'd have to take photos of them.
I might have another go tomorrow.

Tarots and baby quilt

2009-06-04T11:09:00.000+10:00

People on the AT forum suggested I could create my own Tarot Deck. I immediately shuddered to think I would have to creat another 56 works! The 22 took over my life for nearly 12 months and I want to do other things.
But they said: "Just do the Majors". For the uninitiated: I did the Major Arcana, 22 of them. Full deck includes the Minor Arcana...another 56.
I am thinking, how do I go about that, find a publisher? But no, you can actually buy blank Tarot cards to print yourself. I can just see that: with a fancy little bag to store them in! Some people on the AT Forum tell them they would buy them!
Anyway, would make lovely gifts and definitely doable.
Traditionally, all Tarot decks have a name. I don't have one. Any suggestions?
Besides Tarots, I did a bit more work on the the first Dutch quilt. Only worked on the design. Did I tell you I have some blocks fused ready to stitch? Kangaroo, platypus and the name of the recipient. I don't want to put the name here, it is very unusual, I don't want the parents even to know i am making that quilt: let's call him Fred. :-)
Won't do much tomorrow: I am having an artist date with Kathy from Koolkat Quilting
We're going to see Deb's (my drawing teacher) exhibition and have lunch together.
An artists day is something suggested in Julia Cameron's The Artists Way book.
Saturday is Toogoolawah Show day, looking at cattle, fine art, craft and cooking entries as well as horticultural and agricultural entries. A small side show alley and catching up with people.

Tarots...again

2009-06-03T11:13:00.000+10:00

I finally put a link to my Tarots on the Tarot website
This is THE international website for people interested in the Tarot and it was started and is maintained by a woman living in Brisbane's Coorparoo. It has grown tremendously and an eye opener for anyone who thinks the Tarot is something that not many people would be interested in.
I am now a paid subscriber so I can advertise on this site.
I posted my link on two on the forums and got some lovely reactions and more lovely reactions
Of course, the ultimate compliment would be if someone would actually want to buy one, but meanwhile I am happy with those compliments!
My username there is Antoinette, which is my middle name.

They aren't worms...

2009-06-02T18:54:00.000+10:00

After drawing the wisteria stems last week, I played around with some imaginary stems. I wanted to capture form, light and shadow and the relative position of the objects. The drawing was cropped a little to fit on the scanner.
It wasn't difficult to do, although it was a lot of work. I drew the "worms" with a double line, just drawing through them. Then I used an eraser to create the "overs and unders".
After that I did the shading.
I've done a lot of
celtic type designs, so this was not altogether new to me.
Today was the last class of Deb's Beginners II course and I hope she will have enough takers to start an intermediate class in July.

Textile Art Festival

2009-05-30T08:48:00.000+10:00

I went to the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane yesterday and I had the best time!
I have always loved books I can learn something from and I bought this book from The Thread Studio. They were the busiest stall: people waited 4 deep first to get to the merchandise, then to pay.
I also did a "Ratty Tatty Papers" workshop, one of those 1 hour events.
We made a silk sheet with coccoon strippings and silk rods.
We learned coccoon fibres are naturally gummy and the whole lot with embellishments just gets ironed between 2 sheets of baking paper.
I don't know yet what I will do with it.
A bought 6m of the newer fusible that isn't supposed to fall apart: applifix. Hope it works!
There were heaps of exhibitions and they were dispersed among the stall, so exciting.

But what was even more exciting was that Bernina had all their challenges on display, including mine: Bernina Bling.
It looked fantastic: on a black background, but without the hanger.
The story about this:
I am a "Bernina Friend". I am sorry people, not my choice of title. It just means I was a professional quilter who works on a Bernina. We get special days to try new machines etc.
Last year we were all invited to create something for the new machine. Rules were: make whatever you want to make, but it has to feature the logo (the stylized "8") and stick to the colours white, black, silver and red. All entries would stay with Bernina for 12 months (since extended) and be used at shows etc to promote the new machine.
Winner would win a new $10.000 machine. It had to be completed by the beginning of Feb. I was working hard on the quilt for Sjef and Saul, which had to be finished by Christmas. In January I inially thought I wouldn't be able to get it done, then I decided to just do a small one. not agonise about too much about it and I got it completed in time.
Meanwhile: someone is producing a book on these works and their makers and that will be published by October. The cover design was at the show yesterday, very classy.
So that was very exciting. There were some absolutely stunning designs for this challenge, including wearable art. The other great thing about yesterday's show was that I met so many old acquaintances to chat to, I thought I'd lose my voice! Some I hadn't seen for many years.
So a good day all around!
Today I am going to start on the Aussie Quilts for 3 babies in Holland. Test out the new Applifix!

Some drawings and a pastel

2009-05-28T11:18:00.000+10:00

I don't know yet how to move the images around on my page! :-(

Anyway, here are some of my better efforts.
The pastel was done by using step-by-step instructions in an Art Magazine.
The nude was a copy from a drawing book, using the technique Deb taught me; using guidelines and a compass is part of it.
The eye was from a lesson in Drawspace, online drawing lessons.
The twisted stems were done in the Japanese Gardens in Toowoomba, they are wisteria stems. The fig tree was done at Gina's place.
I didn't manage to capture the actual ridges on the wisteria stems, but I did capture the twist and I was happy with that. Learning how to show the ridges is now on my drawing to-do list!
I am finding that the more I draw, the more I enjoy it. Next term we're going to work with coloured pencils with Deb. I've got a heap: pastel pencils, ordinary coloured artists pencils, watercolour pencils, coloured graphite pencils, so that should be fun.

How did I get into art classes?

2009-05-28T10:52:00.000+10:00

In June last year I started with art lessons. It happened in a weird way, although I have always wanted to be able to draw.What happened was that I won a prize with my wearable art. (see pictures) As well as some cash, I also won a $200 voucher towards the workshop of my choice at Artsfest Grafton.

What appealed to me was the workshop: "The Dynamic Pose", with Janis Lander. It required artists with some experience, I contacted her and she suggested that I do some basic drawing classes and learn a bit about anatomy prior to the workshop.

I started classes In Fernvale with Gina and also booked in for 10 sessions of life drawing classes in Toowoomba. Although I was totally out of my depth at the life drawing classes, I got a lot out of it, because the coordinator of the sessions was very helpful.

In the end, the Janis Lander workshop was cancelled because of lack of numbers, but by that time I was hooked. I did a class with Damian Kamholz, where I was also out of my depth, but then, I didn't have any depth, I was such a beginner. Again, I learned stuff there too.

Gina encouraged me to do some painting, but I didn't enjoy the acrylics. I didn't enjoy the mixing and the fact the paint dries so quickly and neither did I want to go to oils.

I did a pastel workshop and I liked it.

Earlier this year I started classes with Deb Gilmartin in Toowoomba. This was drawing for beginners and I loved it. She teaches classes in 6 week courses and they are fantastic! The classes are well planned and organised and I am learning such a lot!

I am also still going to Gina's classes, which are more relaxed and have a very social component, as Gina wants to establish an artists group in the region. The two classes are very different and I enjoy them both.

Oh...and if you like to see the full range of the Tarots I finished, go to http://www.hetty.mosaicglobe.com/

Working in Photoshop

2008-03-16T15:41:00.000+10:00

I have fully completed 16 Tarots and another one needs some hand stitching and beading. This means I am on track to complete 2 more this month and the final three in April. Hooray!!

For The Devil I needed an image of chains. (for addiction).

My attempt to draw some was not very successful. I remembered DH had some heavy chains in the shed so I got those out. I mucked about with paint on fabric, which didn't go anywhere.

I cropped one of the photos I took, manipulated them further in Photopaint and I was thrilled with the result.

This was the cropped photo of the chains on our verandah floor.

This is the image which I then printed on ready-to-print cotton and which became the background for this piece.

I have come to the conclusion that your weaknesses as well as your strengths contribute to developing a style.

Had I been able to draw, I would have done that and stopped there.

Sent the card off

2008-03-01T19:15:00.000+10:00

I sent the card away yesterday.
The background is some of my handmarbled fabrics.
Pink Spiral on the left: running stitch, whipped with pink yarn. Little dots are put on the yarn with fabric markers.
Some angelina fibres on the right. French knots in thick perle cotton as well as some straight stitches.
Small indonesian glass beads start in the pink spiral and continue to go around the angelina bits.
What else can I say?

Started my cyberfyber card

2008-02-08T08:42:00.000+10:00

I was going to send one of the cards in my stash, but changed my mind when I went through my own handmarbles. Made quite a few years ago when I did hundreds of fat quarters and sold them in my workshop.

I am always amazed at them, each one is different, each square inch is different.
The bits of angelina fibres were left after I cut out circles.
We are off for a week, holidaying in Brunei and Sabah. I am definitely looking forward to it, but I know I will be pleased to return to my studio!

Postcards, postcards everywhere....

2008-02-07T11:57:00.000+10:00

I want to participate in the http://cyberfyberexhibitionpostcards.blogspot.com/ which requires a blog, so here it is!

Fabric postcards are a big part of my life at the moment. I am rewriting a course for www.quiltuniversity.com, I am in an art2mail swap, I am sending a weekly card for 48 weeks to someone I love.

My other project is creating 22 small (A4) works based on the major arcana of the Tarot.
More details on my website www.hettyvanboven.com

I will add more to this blog when I get back from holidays!