Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Not much exciting going on at the moment artwise

Been working slowly on that embroidered and silk screened circle project. I still need to take a photo of it. Maybe when I get my camera back tomorrow or on Friday I will get around to it (loaned it to a friend for a bit who needed it to photograph her work). Also, at some point this week or next, I need to work on making some pre-felts for a felting class I am taking with Jorie Johnson come June at the SDA conference post-conference workshops. I am really looking forward to her class. I expect to learn a lot. I have her book. I wonder if it would be too fan-girlish if I asked her to autograph it? I also need to order some more Finn wool (from Misty Mountain Farm and maybe some dyed Finn wool from New England Felting Supply). Some Blue Faced Leicester from Marr Haven would be good too (and maybe some variegated Merino from them too). For Merino Wild Turkey Felt is a good supplier also. I think I have just listed most of my suppliers (I have also gotten carding combs for my mother from Pacific Wool and Fiber). As far as silk goes I order from either Thai Silks or Dharma. Although when I want silk immediately I go to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. Dharma is also a good supplier for dyes and such. I have also heard good things about Pro-Chemical but have not ordered from them as of yet. Anyway, I am off to bed, so I am going to put an end to my ramblings. Oh, and one more picture for inspiration. Goodnight.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Embroidery, Life, etc.

I have been working on embroidery lately. I have a piece that I silk-screened with four groupings of circles. I split stitch around all the screened in circles and plan to fill in the empty space around the circles with something viney (if that is a word). So, I have been practicing feather stitch. So far I don't think my efforts are too bad, but they still need a little more practice. Some of my stitches were either a tad loose or a tad too tight. I was also thinking of putting in a flower, but, I need to look into how I would stitch that. So below is a scan of my efforts with feather stitch.



When the project is finished I will post a picture of the embellished silk-screened piece. On a different note, I wish everybody a happy holiday (or at least a great weekend)!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Been A While

It has been a while since I posted. It has just been so very busy. There was a lot of work at the beginning of the year because everyone wanted to get their stuff together for taxes. I was also taking a class titled 'Embellished Screen Printing' taught by a lady named Camille Canales at the LillStreet Art Center. You can check out her website here: http://camillecanales.com/home.html . She does really cool embroidery and bead work on fabric. Anyway, the class involved screen printing and then embellishing your screen printed item with embroidery and beading. It was a really enjoyable class. If you live in Chicago I highly recommend checking out the LillStreet Art Center. If you live in the northern suburbs of Chicago I highly recommend the Evanston Art Center. Although for fiber classes LillStreet offers more. I have taken a number of classes at both art centers and both have some really good instructors.
I need to get around to taking pictures of the pieces I produced in Camille's class. I also have been working on a huge felted and stuffed form that I need to take pictures of. I have really been lazy lately about taking pictures of my work. So, I think I will put up a couple of pictures just for inspiration (from a trip I took to Wetumpka AL and New Orleans LA a few years ago). Maybe it will inspire my lazy self to go take some pictures. For your viewing enjoyment:







I hope this provided inspiration.