Nature Triptych

I have been working on a nature triptych for several weeks now.  I have finished all three.  These were inspired by Carol Sloan from an article in pages magazine.  I followed some of her techniques, but wandered off on my own path too.  These were a lot of fun to make and I want to continue the series.

They started out as three pieces of duck cloth with raggedy edges. I started out by putting a layer of gesso on the front and back of the canvas followed by a layer of plaster on one side.  While the plaster was still wet I pressed in joint tape, threads, and the imprints of leaves, lace, string, and many other things.  I wanted to have highly textured backgrounds to work on.  

Next I went through my stash of mono-prints and other bits and pieces to pick out elements that I wanted to use for collage.  I used bits of fabric and deli paper that I had mono-printed.  I also used a leaf and feathers that I have collected and pieces of torn cardboard. I arranged them onto the surface and took photos so that I would remember the placement later.

I took off the collage bits and added a glaze of paint to each one. I used browns and rusty oranges for my glazes.  I love Quinacridone Nickle Azo Gold and often use this rusty orangey brown.  After that layer was dry I added modeling paste to some areas and imprinted my self-carved nature stamps into it.  I let that dry and added a glaze of the Nickle Azo Gold over the entire piece and let it dry.  Then I glued down the collage pieces.  

Next I used bits and pieces of poetry and collaged them down. I also added eyelets to the top and put ribbons through so that I could hang these from sticks. The final touch was to apply some metallic Shiva paint sticks paint to select areas and rub them in. This gives some shimmer and helps to highlight the textures.  

The trees in their prayer, the birds in praise... By Rumi

...though the live-oak glistens there... solitary in a wide flat space, Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend... By Walt Whitman

For I'd rather be thy child And pupil, in the forest wild, Than be the king of men elsewhere... By Henry David Thoreau

Here are all three together.  

I plan to create more pieces like these this fall.  It will be the perfect time to get beautiful leaves for collage.  I like to pick up leaves in the fall and press and dry them.  I hope you enjoy these. Have a great week,
Janelle

Hand Dyed Fabric

I have been dyeing a lot of fabric this summer.  Summer is a great time to get a lot of fabric prepared to use the rest of the year. I enjoy dyeing fabric one color and multicolored.  I like to have a well stocked stash so that I have the fabric I need for any textile project I want to make. Here are some examples of pieces I have been dyeing this summer. I love to have fabric that is imbued with the essence of summer.  This fall I will be teaching a dyeing workshop locally.  Keep watch for details coming up if you are interested in designing custom fabric. I am also going to give away a mini quilt on my Facebook page soon.  If you would like to have a chance at that please like my page and stay tuned for the details.  Click here. Have a great weekend, Janelle

Summer of Color week-6

The colors for this week are Raspberry, Tangerine, and a splash of lemon.

I had a piece of fabric already dyed with all three colors.  I love this color combo and have dyed a lot of fabric, ribbons, and thread in this colorway.  These colors say summer to me and remind me of eating sherbet, yum!  I had fun creating my block for this week.    

This week I followed the nature theme with a close-up of a flower. Just like all the other blocks in this series I fused squares of fabric and Pellon 805 together.  Then I cut pieces of fabric and fused them to the base to make my design.  I added free motion stitching to give the flower some shape..  I used french knots for the hand stitches this time around.  I love the texture that french knots add to the fabric.    

I also finished up all the blocks for Summer of Color and put them together into one art piece.  I decided to finish them all individually instead of sewing them into a traditional quilt.  I just don't do traditional when it comes to quilts.  Here are all the blocks with the backing before I quilted them.   

Here they are after I quilted them.  

Here's what the back of the bird block looks like.

I spent a while figuring out how I wanted to combine all these into one art quilt.  I decided to follow the nature theme and hang them from sticks.  I used my hand dyed rayon ribbon to hang them and to sew the blocks together in the centers.  I also wrapped the sticks with a ribbon that I dyed blue and green.  I love how this gives a glimpse of summer scenes and invokes memories of past summers.    

I hope that you like my art quilt. I enjoyed the Summer of Color challenge once again and look forward to next year.
Janelle