rosiepink

Photos, Sketching, Chopping & Painting!

Annie

Hi there.  So how often do you take photos for inspiration for your artwork only to never look at them again?!

I seem to do it quite a lot!  I've been looking back through some of my photos this week and realised I've taken many over the years with the thought of making a picture from them 'one day'!  Time to take action!

So I randomly picked a couple of a lady waiting for a fishing boat, with her dog by the shore, and roughly sketched it on the sewing machine without too much thought, just to get it down 'on paper'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm trying to machine sketch as often as possible, although my idea of doing it daily may have been a little over ambitious! But I think this sketch only took about 15 or so minutes including dabbing a bit of acrylic paint on top, so it should be quite easy to fit in!

It felt good to follow up, even if it's just a quick sketch (that photo was taken about 5 years ago!). Have now put some more photos in a dedicated folder on my laptop so I can pick one whenever I feel like it. I really like this image so it's one I'd like to have a go at again, with a little more thought to perhaps make into something for the wall.

I also pulled a few random ideas out of my imagination for a couple of other sketches. I have incorporated our handmade felt, along with a bit of acrylic paint and hand embroidery for variety. I started with this simple image of a heart cut from handmade felt and free machine stitched around it. A man holding it like a kite popped into my head so that's what I stitched!

Then a few cheery flowers and a simple funny bird to follow.

I was running quite low on calico so I popped to my local shop to re-stock and discovered some much heavier weight canvas (almost like the stuff stretched canvases are made from) in both cream and in white. It seems to take the stitching really well and the white makes a change from the usual cream colour. The bottom 2 pieces are on the thicker canvas.

I think this will be good as I am currently experimenting with different ways to display small textiles works - has anyone had any success with mounting textile work on wood blocks? I really like the way that it looks when people paint wood blocks and the edge of the work is flush with the block. The only simple way that springs to mind is glue - but glue isn't good for textiles is it?!

I've got several ideas such as lashing the felt / fabric round the block with threads or drilling holes in the block to stitch through. Will have to have a think and a play. Small textile work can get a bit a lost on a wall - and I don't really like framing felt and textiles work - I like it just to sit as it is.

As for the big flowers picture I laid out recently - well I felted it, started to stitch it and then decided I didn't like it!  So I'm going to take the scissors to it and make a few smaller pieces from it. I haven't quite worked out which bits to chop yet but I'm playing with an old
mount (cut at each end so it's adjustable in your hands) to try and pick bits out. Small pieces of it look quite pretty and will transform into a new theme when cropped and stitched - maybe the seashore or a harbour. Or just a couple of small flowers. They could be used for small pieces for the wall, or for cards or tiny colourful pieces for brooches. That's the great thing about felt, it's never wasted, it can easily be chopped and re-used!

Here are some of the bits I'm thinking of cropping out...

My other project for this weekend has been a bit of a chore though - painting my work table.  A few weeks ago I finally bought a giant bit of MDF and attached some Ikea legs to make a table and I've been using it unfinished but it keeps getting wet and MDF doesn't like water! So to seal it I've been painting it. So far have done 3 layers of emulsion to prime it. Then a layer of gloss. But I've got to do one more layer cos I came down this morning to discover it had gone all patchy. Argh! Yuck - I hate glossing! But hopefully it will be worth it when I have a nice big waterproof table to work on :-)

 

Felt Art, Stitching & Vessels

Lyn

If you don't fancy resist work but you want to make 3D felt - you can.

Flat felt can be shaped simply by stitching - just like any kind of fabric.  For example, if you put running stitches around a circle of fabric then draw the thread up, you have a 3D shape.

Or you can cut shapes from a piece of flat felt then stitch them together, either by hand or by machine, to make 3D felt.

When you know what shape you want to make, test out your idea, before you take the scissors to the piece of flat felt, by making up your design using paper and sticky tape.

This ornamental bowl was made from a flat piece of textured handmade felt, cut and stitched.  It measures 24cms across and the rim stands 5.5cm high.  

If you like making felt vessels over a resist, then you already know how satisfying it is, and during the final stages of shaping, when your soapy hands rub around the emerging form, it almost feels like making a clay pot.  But instead of putting it into a kiln, you put it into an airing cupboard!

The inspiration for this ornamental felt vessel was a ceramic essential oil burner.  The main pot was made on a top open resist and the eyelets were added after the felt dried.  The little blue inner pot was also made on an open top resist and is suspended by a thin brass rod with beaded decoration.  It stands 16.5cms tall and could be displayed with a battery powered tealight in its base.

There aren't many creative people who just stick to one thing.  We've tried so many arts/crafts - and enjoyed them all - but we're realistic enough to know that there are just not enough hours in the day to make everything we'd like to.

But even just dabbling in other arts/crafts is a way to relax and expand your ability with your favourite pursuit.

With this month's issue of Make and Craft magazine was a free canvas tote bag.  It was literally a 'blank canvas' that begged for decoration.  

A little dabbling with applique quite appealed.

The fabric for the flowers was pulled from our stash and the petals were just rough cut. The stitching was easy on the top two flowers, but a bit fiddly on the bottom one.  More than once a few pennies were dropped into the swear box as the back of the bag got caught in the stitching! 

 

Annie

Hello, have just got back from visiting my in-laws.  Had a lovely time and got spoiled rotten :-)

Not only did I return home with an extra inch on my waist, and a hamper packed full of Waitrose goodies for my anniversary present, my nanny-in-law gave me these beautiful art silk machine embroidery threads.  I will have to find a special little project for these, they're so beautiful - the photo really doesn't do the thread's colour and shine any justice.  I will just have to make sure I don't let my hoarding "they're too lovely to use" instinct kick in!

I've also started this picture of some big moony flowers which I've tried to make look sort of drawn by a child's hand.  Some simple embroidery after felting should be just the ticket. But it's about 70cm x 70cm so its going to take a bit of elbow grease to felt.  For me that's sometimes a laborious bit of making a picture because its the slowest and least sparkliest part! I absolutely love the laying out of the fibres and the twinkly bits at the start of the process, and the embroidery and finishing at the end, but the bit in the middle can be a little bit boring on a bigger piece.  Had a great idea though - not sure why I've not thought of it before.  I've just been to the library to borrow some audio books to help pass the time during the felting process.  They're only 20p per day to borrow from my library, which is good cos I can (hopefully) see me getting through a lot this year!

I picked Mike Gayle's The To-Do List because it sounds just like me!  Maeve Binchy's Nights of Rain and Stars mainly because it is set in Greece.  And M C Beaton's Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate for a bit of light hearted murder mystery (it's also narrated by Penelope Keith so a nice voice to listen to!).   So nothing that should require too much concentration just a little light entertainment for while I'm rubbing, rolling, rubbing, rolling!