Leaf Importance

I worked on constructing some leaves with difference densities and this simple one with no fusing, just glue, seems to be the nicest.

The colour is bright, it's not too heavy and I added some rolled material for the main veins.

On the background it's not opaque so the background does come through and the intense colour jumps from the canvas.

Might have a winner here.
Now the question is how many and one colour?

The Problem with Leaves

Putting aside the issue of quilting the background I'm still tweaking the leaves.

Having decided I like the texture of the cheesecloth as much as the colour variation it pretty well rules out solid fabric.
The trick now is finishing the edges so they don't fray or unravel. The two at the top are inspirational BUT they are only fused at the bottom layer. The right one has some stitching defining the edges but I don't like the appearance. Still not happy.
The one on the bottom left has another layer of organza fused over top....but I think it ruined the colour and didn't address the edge insecurity.
So the latest new foray today is the bottom right.

I cut 2 skinny strips of fold cheesecloth and separated them into pieces, lay them on a pattern with a few pieces of organza and then saturated them with diluted school glue.
After forcing a quick dry with an iron I trimmed the shape and them removed them from between two sheets of parchment. This is a very thin leaf for now but shows lot of interest and texture as well as having crisp edges and being very secure. Yes it's very easy to tear apart but after its attached/fused it should be secure.

More play with this one tomorrow.

I think I've Got the Idea

'nuff for now.
I have another class coming up on the 14th of August.
This time I know what I want to know.
For now...................

Inking the Lino cuts

I've been frustrated in trying to ink the blocks I cut. I decided the paint was too slick so I made a quick trip into the city and bought some 'proper' ink for both paper and cloth. This foray into a new art form is starting to get rather expensive. (I've commissioned hubby to scour Amazon for better prices.)

But even though I'm not 100% happy I was pleased with what I managed to produce this afternoon.
And it was nice to finally print/see my new blocks.

The first few are on paper.

good clean print.....finally

double exposure

The last two are printed on cloth.

The tree is printed on one of my precious walnut/rust pieces left over from this last winter.
SOOOOO many questions yet.

on pima cotton

hand dyed walnut fabric

Woven Background - Yet Another option

Cheesecloth
I forgot all about this beauty until I saw is referenced on Pinterst.

Two layers of red and 4 layers of the turquoise and green, are fused to web.
Traced and then cut out.

Nice clear colour with a little texture interest.

Teasel Lino cut

Well with everything I've been up to the last few weeks, everything is chaos. Can't find anything I know I have.

But I sat for 4 hours this morning to cut a second lino.
I printed it anyways.
- without a roller to mix and load the paint with
- without ink ( I used acrylic and gel )

So I pressed the lino onto the paint and then onto the paper....like a stamp

Frustrated...... but still impressed.
(got to get back to the store and get some supplies then I'll be able to see this properly.)

Lino Block Cutting

Naomi's husband (of quilt fame photo), kindly offered to share his passion of Lino block printing. About half the group gathered at his home this morning (during the downpour from the spent hurricane) to play.
After looking at all his wonderful samples and a demo on inking your lino cut we went to work.

Deciding on what was going to be the negative space on your picture took a little bit of brain squeezing but then we went to work.

And we all came away very pleased with our efforts and ready to go home and try it with fabric etc.
( Oh no another shopping trip) 😁

two colour play

   

hand drawn mum

Finished card?

practice pages

Play with Leaves

I found a few minutes yesterday so I tested my organza idea.

I applied the web to the organza lightly. Sometimes the material burns. Then it was fused to the cotton. After tracing onto the cotton I cut it out. I'm not sure I like the black pen line but that could be fixed by using an erasable or a coloured pen.

 There is a texture that was unexpected. Thinking about it the 'glue' is probable sprayed onto the paper so it may actually be dot. Or the 'glue' may sink into the gaps in the cloth structure, Fusing two opaque materials ..it doesn't matter.

Using a method from applique work I cut a 1/4 edge of the 'glue' applied it to the organza and then fused it to the material.

But my pattern was gone.
I reapplied the 1/4 pattern and pressed the whole piece again.

It did stick but it had shifted a bit.
That's worth pursuing.

Off to play with Lino cuts today.

Woven Background Layout

After a few days to clear the wool out of my ears, and eyes I had some time to rethink this piece.

I had really liked the mottled paper leaves on the surface but on a whim I doubled them in size.
Now we're getting closer to what I want.

As for the construction..I need to play with fusing organza to cotton rather than relying on a satin stitch for the edges. this way I might get those sharp points in the maple leaves.

Wet Felting - Last Day

What a change in the Weather. I had to wear a jacket outside.

I worked a little more on the landscape I started but decided I needed to find some brighter greens.
When Judy came over we popped into the local store but I found nothing.

I even tried Nellie's suggestion of using food colouring on my blank. Interesting but the dye is still traveling two hours later.

So that's where everything is for now.


Naomi came by to check things out but we ended up discussing my Woven Background. We even tried her 'mother's scarf that she had brought to see if it would felt. But no. I must have been synthetic and it colours really didn't suite the colours I'm thinking of for the leaves.

So that ends a week in summer. I'm still out to lunch on the wet felting. But as a companion to the needle felting, they do make an complimentary pair.

Wet Felting - Day 4

I'm still having trouble getting the hang of the artistic side of this. The mechanics are is straight forward but the content still eludes me. That is the value of play.

Anne returned this morning and added to her piece top and bottom. Lovely work there.
She went from this....

To this.

I decided to start a landscape and quickly discovered I wanted 50X the colours I had.
We shared, but....

And dear Nellie came by and said she was making a trip for goodies, and came back with Iced Coffees and Frozen Lemonade!

Tomorrow is my last day..........for now.

Wet Felting - Day 3

Today got hot fast but we worked until it was probably unwise.
Nellie brought her pieces back that she decided to fuse,
Judy brought a needle felted piece she added to and Anne made a wonderful landscape in her usual straightforward, focused manner.

Me? I was thinking Nuno felting. This is the burying of a piece of stabilizer, in this case netting, to give it cohesive strength. I was thinking scarf, so I worked two sides.

Wet Felting - Day 2

I finished my piece from yesterday.

Nellie joined me again and we welcomed Dawn as well.

Wet Felting

The heat broke so friends came out to play. I made a 'blank' for future endeavors but my friend Nellie made a lovely bucolic scene.

Having read a lot about this process for a while, I jumped right to a short cut, using a small sander.

Leaves for the Background

While I do like the empty, woven piece I'm fixated on leaves. I've tried a few things but I haven't been happy.

I sat down a few days ago and wove a piece about 6"x8" and the cut the leaves from that.
They disappeared into the background more than I had hoped so on a whim I backed them with a contrasting felt.

This I like, so far.

Another afternoon I worked up some different colours combinations. It will take me another day to finish this.