Sunday, November 09, 2008

Well, I think this must be the longest time ever that I’ve gone without blogging – but I’m back now and raring to go. Loads to show but will keep it fairly short for this week :)

I went to Ally Pally last month but only managed to make the one day in the end so I missed a big chunk of it which was a bit disappointing. Got a few supplies on my list though (and a few extra of course). Picked up some interesting bits too.
These Creative Colour Sprays from Crafty Notions. Just love the Scarab Beetle – beautiful emerald green with a metallic sheen to it.Also picked this up from the same stand – Moulding Mesh. Look forward to having a play with this one.Grabbed a couple of bags full of bits – carrier bags that is – from the Crazy Wire Company, some of it at crazy prices too, plus the very nice man gave me a free gift, probably because I spent so much. Amongst other things picked up a few bags of this Lametta Hair, they are coloured copper wire strands in loads of different colours.The Graduate Exhibitions were fabulous. All excellent, but my absolute favourites are these two.
Jackie Langfeld with her ‘Straw Dogs, Paper Warriors’. Had quite a chat with Jackie, was entranced with her work. Very interesting story to tell.And Sally Patons’ work, this piece in particular, ‘Ruins’.If you are going to the Knitting and Stitch at Harrogate then don’t miss this exhibition.
Managed to have a few words with Maggie and a very quick hello to Dale, whose stands were heaving as usual. Met up with Pat for a break at lunchtime, and she presented me with this truly amazing gift.And? You might be thinking, – it’s just another padfolio - but you’d be very wrong.
Open it up once and this is what you see:And again:Once more:And yet again – complete with embroidery threads!Evidently these are/were carried by Japanese ladies with all their silk threads and notions stored away inside the 15 boxes that this little booklet contains – Origami at its best. Everyone I show it to wants to play with it forever, keep opening and shutting the little boxes. (Amendment: Should be Chinese ladies - Sorry Pat, I had Japanese silk embroidery in my head - lets hope Neki hasn't spotted the deliberate mistake *LOL*)
Have also been sent a couple of gifts through the post.
This from Neki, handmade Jute paper ‘Made by Moi’ the note said :)I went through a stage of making all my own paper with different materials, haven’t done so for ages now but this has got me itching to have a go again, wrong time of year though as for me it’s definitely an outdoor activity. Same as the Indigo dyeing kit I purchased at AP from Jane Callender. Always in awe of the pieces Neki produces, decided to have a go with the real thing myself but will have to wait until the spring now.
Also received this handmade paper book from Jacqueline.A brilliant idea from Jacqueline. Photographs have been machine stitched to the pages – a permanent record of all her wonderful work. Simple, but very effective.
Slipped in at the last minute with the Calendar Girls postcard for October – well, just a day late really. Had finished it on the 31st October but having trouble taking photographs at the moment, dark when I go to work and dark when I come home so that only leaves the weekend. Bought some daylight bulbs thinking that might help, but it didn’t.
Anyway, this was the card I sent to Sharon, read the full story on the Calendar Girls 2008 blog.Close up: Remember the frames I covered with dyed fabric a few weeks back?Well, this is what happened to a couple of them.
Painted this one with Quin. NAG and Quin.BO. Following the line of the dye pattern I applied some Garnet Gel which was then coloured with Paynes Grey. The Garnet Gel sparkles when the light catches it. I then outlined it with Teal acrylic.
I really don’t know what was going on inside my head with this one. I cut the centre out (mistake 1), pulled threads from a spare piece of the same fabric and threaded them back through. Gave the surface a couple of coats of Polymer Medium.Then decided to paint it Quinacridone Crimson (mistake 2)The top threads were used to make French Knots (mistake 3) which I then had to paint over as you could still see the plain fabric underneath. And black beads were going to be threaded on the bottom threads. Something, I don't know quite what, would have been placed at the back making it visible through the threads. But it's another one of those things where you just know you are wasting your time because its not going to work. That will teach me not to think it all through first :)
The third one has been waxed and is just waiting for me to hot torch it. I’ll then ‘draw’ a pattern in the wax with a soldering iron and fill it with colour – possibly Indigo Procion.
Have been following with interest the Yahoo group and free lessons that Maggie Grey has offered with her latest book ‘Textile Translations’ – more details on the D4Daisy website.
Decided to have a go yesterday but the Gesso I have is the Golden brand and I think must be too runny so I just went off and did my own thing until I can get hold of a thicker gesso.
Although I have used a few different bits and pieces I can’t really go into detail about them as some of the technique is pretty similar, so will leave you with a few of the pieces and some close ups. Enjoy!P.S. Just need to ask this really silly question. Do you do the main part of your creative work standing up or sitting down?
I tend to stand up for almost everything except of course, machining. If I sit down for hand stitching or beading it has to be on a hard backed chair, no way could I sit in a comfy armchair – that’s for reading or watching TV :)
My Needlework teacher used to say I would get varicose veins if I kept standing for too long – well, that was several years ago now.
Just wondering.

32 comments:

Vicki W said...

That origami folio is just amazing as is all of your beautiful textured peices. I am always excited to stop be here and see what you've been doing.

Heather said...

Wonderful textures in those last photos on this post - very inspiring. I have to sit down to work except for things like making fabric paper and using messy techniques which I have to do in the kitchen. It's so comforting to know that even you go charging in sometimes without thinking things through! Enthusiasm can be a disadvantage at times!! I love the card you sent to Sharon and the Japanese folding booklet is just wonderful. Thankyou for sharing all this with us - it was well worth waiting for.

Unknown said...

I bought exactely the same things at Crafty Notions! I love your PC for Sharon, she must be trilled. And thanks for reminding me at the free lessons that comes with the Maggie Grey book, I completely forgot about them. The examples with the gesso are gorgeous!!!

Susan D said...

Blimey Lynda if this is fairly short what will you come up with when you get in to your stride. Good to see you back we've missed you.

Pat said...

I second all of that Susan, I have one tiny correction though the book I made is Chinese, not Japanese, it is from a book by Ruth Smith who lectured at our South East regional day this year. It is based on those used by the Miao peoples. I thought I had put it on my blog but it must be one of the (many) things I was going to do.

Doreen G said...

Lynda you are the Queen of long posts and this one is no exception.
I love all the bits you have shown especially the last ones.

Genie said...

Hi Lynda
welcome back.some lovely work and a lovely gift, Magies class is fun lots of textures right up my street,
I do stand for a lot of my work, especially the messy bits, i do like to sit o the floor as well, but not so easy to get back up these days.

Corryna said...

What a wonderful things you have created. I love the experiments with the dyed fabrics. The fabrics were nice anyway, but I like the colours you added. Especially the one that you pained (blue). It was worth waiting for.
Nice card! She must by very happy with it.
And about your question. Mostly I sit while working. Except if I am painting. I like standing when I paint, so I can look at it from a distance and decide what to do next.

Julie said...

It's good to see you back Lynda. I thought you were probably keeping busy. You have given me some ideas for what to do with some shibori dyed fabric I dyed last week. Lovely textures and colours here and your card for Sharon is gorgeous.

I usually stand up when I'm working which gets very tiring after a while. We've just had to order a new settee because ours is now too soft for me to sit in an evening so I shall soon be able to sit and sew and watch TV without pain. Yippee!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lynda,
Good to see you back! your post was a good read and your work nice, as always. When I stitch, I either sit somewhere or lie on the sofa, or even my bed late in the evening. The only time I stand for such work is either when seats are scarce in the train to work or when doing stuff like heat gunning. I even use a bar stool for ironing, or do it on a cushion on a table. Gosh am I lazy! And my mum always says that lazing arround all the time will give me back pain and varicose vains lol.

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda.
Glad to see you are back with a lot of very inspiring work.And very appreciative that you have the courage to show us your duds too.We all have works that look great in our mind, but sometimes they pose unforeseen problems in the execution.So glad to see it happens to others too.
Now about the standing;When I was in my teens,I did everything creative sitting down and I can even remember beading whilst lying flat on my back.Now I think that would have been a really good circus act.Nowadays I cant do anything creative sitting down, except for machine sewing.I even pin sandwiches standing at my ironing board.I guess thats what art-school did to me.No sitting at easels or tables..art is work.(and standing widens your range of motion and vision)No worries about the veins though.I`m 53 now and have pretty sore feet once and again, but no varicose veins in sight.But its good to know you share the same habit,though I am often jealous of people who can do stuff sitting down.Saves a lot of energy....greetings,Donata

Debbi Baker said...

What a fabulous post Lynda - well worth waiting for!! Pat's gift is just incredible and must have taken quite some patience and precision (neither are in my dictionary!) Your experiments all look intriguing and I love the way you share your "mistakes" although I do think you are a harsh judge of your own art! I do most of my stuff standing unless it is detail stuff or involves sewing. I don't think there is any chance of v/veins from this as I am hardly stationary - part of the reason for standing is so I can move around (and get stuff) but also so I can get a better perspective.

Carol said...

Hia Lynda, lovely post love those textures and the origami folder is soooooooo lovely. Just beautiful. I mainly stand, and if i work in school i always stand as I have the right height there. I do however paint and hand stitch sitting at the sofa. Love carol

Jackie said...

Thanks for the K&S pics. I'm going soon. Can't wait!
My husband is a paintings conservator and I was telling him all about everyone's gessoing. He says you need at least 10 coats and you should make your own with cennino cennini's recipe which starts with rabbit skin glue!
I look forward to reading about it!

Ruth said...

Wonderful stuff as usual. I have a tendency to stand up when I can to work. I find it more comfortable than sitting all the time.

Françoise said...

Beautiful work, as always!
Love the card you made for Sharon.
I haven't started working on Maggie's class yet... I'll try to do it this week.

Sandy said...

You have certainly been busy. I stand for most of my work-seem to need to see it from above.

Caroline Moore said...

Love your work - gorgeous samples at the bottom, I have to admit to really wanting to reach into the screen to touch them.
I too work standing up, kills me afterwards though.
I'm hoping to start Maggie's online class tonight!!!

Glad to see you back posting again.xx

Shirley Anne Sherris said...

As usual - lots to show us. You have tempted me with the scarrab beetle - looks different to the twinkling H20 scarab bettle which I love.
Mistakes are just a stage in the process. Keep working on them!!! If you can find the time!!!!
Cheers

sharon young said...

Great to see you back, Lynda, and very much on form :-)
Your CG PC arrived today and it's fabulous, as always much more dramatic in the flesh, thank you so much.

TracyB said...

Fabulous, as always. I tend to do most of my work standing up, which I shouldn't because I end up with horrible back pain by the end of the day.

The machine sewing, I actually need to be seated a little bit above nose level with the presser foot otherwise, I bend over the machine & again, back pain. I actually tried one of those yoga balls, which worked really well, until my cat decided to play with it :)

Pat Dolan said...

Great blog - one of my favorites!

As to how do I work, I stand for nearly everything except machine sewing or computer art. I stand for drawing (unless it's in a small journal), I stand for ironing, for collaging, for photographing, etc. Interesting question, that.

Kim said...

I usually stand , but mostly because my table is buried and I'm relegated to the counter lol. Since jewelry bits are what's at the table , I sit for that.

I love all the textural photo's but haven't quite figured out why you're giving up on the window one - there's potential there , imho. Don't give up on that one quite yet :).

Unknown said...

wonderful Post Lynda, what a feast for the eyes!!
I work standing too, apart from machining, which I have to do bare foot :)
Tracy

Laurence said...

I love textures and colors on last photos.
Very beautiful.

Val said...

Just catching up with you Lynda - brilliant post - love all the tyvek pieces and the colours just blow me away!!

neki desu said...

must keep working with tyvek
must keep working with tyvek
must keep working with tyvek

thanks for the link and the nice words

neki desu

FARBTUPFER said...

Good to see you here again and all the wonderful pictures of your art!
REgards
Waltraud

hippopip said...

NO.Neki do not bother with tyvek ife is too short.Great to have you back Lynda, you and Carol have worked so hard on the forum I am not surprised that you have not been blogging,what a fantastic present all those hidden compartments did pat make it?

fontainefleurie said...

Hi Lynda, I have found you searching for rust-dyeing. I love your work, so detailed and so refined. Lots of techniques also. It seems to me you are a very busy person. Anyway I have been tagged and I like to tag you. Feel free to do or not to do, see about the details on my blog www.dovadi.web-log.nl/fiberfusing. Thank you, Dorie

hens teeth said...

Hello Lynda ~ I have really enjoyed your post and all those comments ~ WOW.
Thank you so much for your comment about Flow Gallery. Tanks to you I now know about it and shall be heading their very soon. Thank you again ~ viv

Becky Mairi Farrell said...

Where can I get one of these amazing portfolios?