Our Lady of Guadalupe

After getting ready for the retreat, the art festival and vacation,
I was very tired...

I had to take a break from drawing, painting and
making "completed" artwork.

Oh, I still did some doodling in my sketchbook
but nothing other than quick little reminders to myself
of things I might go back to later.

When I went to Colorado Springs for the "Textile Evolution" art retreat,
my friend Liz gave me a cool book mark.




It was for the "Guadalupe Festival" in Phoenix, AZ (from 2009).
It was the image on the front that had drawn her attention (and mine),
not so much the festival info itself.
I've had the book mark in my studio,
in a spot that I can see it every time that I work at the studio table.
She has been calling me...

So instead of doing housework, writing class proposals,
sending out artwork or any of the 18 other things that were on my "to do list",
I started painting.
I've asked my friend Sharon Tomlinson (check out her classes!)
to critique my work for me as I go.
Here's what I have so far.

I did have to adjust her eyelids.

I also moved her eyebrows down (they were just too high)

and lower her chin (also too high).

All in all I think that she is coming along.

Not an exact copy (which I wasn't trying to do) but coming along.

In the past, I have just made up faces to draw or paint (usually)

but I am enjoying having a reference image.

It can make things a lot easier.

This is a mixed media painting.

I've used acrylics, watersoluble wax pastels (Caran D'Ache Neocolor 2),

a tad of watercolor and graphite.

I'm painting on a 5" x 7" canvas panel that has a layer of molding paste

and a sheer fabric overlay.

I'll try to remember to scan it and post my progress as I go.

We're getting rain here in South Carolina.

And we're very thankful for it!

What's on Your Table?

This is what's on mine...

I'd like to know who put the other mess on it...
Probably Callie.

Have a great weekend and
remember to practice your drawing/sketching!

Charleston Harbor

My husband and I went on a long weekend camping trip with family members.
We took our trusty (and trust worthy) sea kayak -
as we were headed to Charleston, SC.
I'm not going to add a lot of verbiage...
just photos and to tell you where we went.
On Saturday, we kayaked out of Shem Creek.
There is a boat ramp around the corner from Coastal Expeditions.
We went over to Crab Bank - it opened up on Friday Oct. 15.
We found TONS of fossilized shark teeth!
We love to look for sharks' teeth.
On Sunday, we put our kayak in at Wapoo Cut Landing, near the Ashley River Bridge (Folly Road Drawbridge).
We kayaked around the Battery.
Which was just awesome!
It looked different from the water side...
As you go past the Battery, this is what comes into view (not quite as close).

The Cooper River Bridge.
Such a beautiful bridge, especially at night.

We went over to the USS Yorktown.

And then across to Shutes Island (Castle Pickney).

We found this sign (after we got out onto the island), tossed into the shrubs.

If you're interested in the history of the island (pre-civil war) follow the link.

Interesting stuff.

A shot of the crumbling fort with a fantastic little tree on top.

The island is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

It is beautiful.

A beach shot of the crumbling fort being circled by birds (mostly pelicans).


This was an interesting sight!

I followed it as it went around the island.

The ship, the fort and the beach.

No pirates...;-)

It was a very long kayak trip -

NOT for beginners or the faint of heart.

We were in the water, paddling for about 7 hours.

All I can say is

"Look at those biceps!"

Deconstructive Screenprinting

Well, back to the blogger photo uploading issues...
Which, by the way, I am still having.
I'm having to upload
One Photo At A Time!
Hopefully, it will be resolved soon.
Back to the last meeting of the fiber group I am a member of -
my beloved Fiber Junkies.
This month, Judy Simmons led the group
in Deconstructive Screenprinting.
Check out her blog for details on where she learned how.
It was just fabulous to learn this technique!
We have tried regular screenprinting, which I loved, but I just don't have the space (at my home) to make my own screens.
But this screenprinting technique would be easily managed at home.
And I love the fabric that we made!
Here was the first one that I made.
I used all sorts of things to make my texture - paper that had been shredded,
scraps of lace, a round rubber thing I found in a parking lot, sliced mushrooms, a pine tree tip, wadded up exam gloves...
maybe more but no less.
The round bubble shapes on the right lower side are where I had left too much thickened dye on the screen to begin with.
It dried and left small round "blobs" of dye.

This was the second print with the thickened print paste.
You can see how the print has a few subtle changes.

The third pass...

Notice how the dried dye "blobs" are beginning to take center stage as the other images change.

There was another piece of fabric between the next one and the last one but it wasn't much different.

The paint (or dye) was beginning to fade out too much

so I added a bit of another color to my thickened paint paste on this pass.

The drip lines on this next one came about from where I had sat the screen next to me while I was messing with something else.

I love the way that they add such great texture to this piece of fabric without any extra work!

The next five photos are one of the other screens that I made.
I included shredded paper, ferns (or maybe a maple leaf), a stencil, some kind of plastic wrap
and a couple of polyester flowers that Nancy brought.
You can see the progression of the prints on the fabric.

There are actually two more pieces to this screen...

I just got tired of uploading one print at a time.

I was going to put up some of the "show and tell" photos but I neglected to ask permission to show them...

so I'll save those for later.

This was a great meeting! I can see that I will use this technique again...

I've already started a box of "texture" items for my next experiment with this technique!

blog post

I tried (and tried and tried) to upload pictures yesterday
for a blog post on "Deconstructive Screenprinting" and finally just gave up.
I won't have time this weekend to try again.
Sooo - on Monday (or Tuesday!) I'll try again.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend.

Our weather is cooling off
so nicely here in upstate SC.

It was 40 degrees on our patio this morning at 0800!

Stay creative my friends.

Mountain Views

Once a month, I meet with a group of fantastic women...
Even though my husband calls us "The Fiber Freaks",
we call ourselves "The Fiber Junkies".
We are a bit freaky about fiber though...
We all have varied interests in what we do with the fiber that we work with.
Some bead, some felt, some do all kinds of surface design.
There is a screen printer.
One of the group is a master machine quilter.
I personally do all sorts of mixed media "things" to the fiber that I get hold of.

This month we met at Val's house in Asheville NC.
Here is a photo of us (minus me) sitting on her top deck at the back of her tree house.
Notice the beautiful trees around us.

This isn't a duplicate photo, just a slightly different view of the side of the porch space.

When we look out from the house, this is what we saw.

The most beautiful view that you could imagine!

I can't remember how many mountains that you can see from her house but it was a lot.

We had a fantastic day!

We did some deconstructive screen printing.

I'll show a few photos of our "show and tell" tomorrow.

Mid October?

Yikes!

My how time flies around here...
It's already Oct.11!
I've been finishing up a couple (or four) teaching proposals,
writing out instructions booklets and
messing up my studio...
I mean trying out some new paint and stuff.

My husband and I went kayaking on Sunday.
We were sitting up on an overlook
and a HUGE hawk came flying right by us!
It was an awesome sight.
As was the river from where we were sitting.

I get so much inspiration from beautiful place.
The river, the forest, the animals...
I have had a piece of artwork in mind for a couple of years now
about this area where we kayak a lot.
It has been through three major changes through the years.
I believe that my ancestors originally walked that land.
Probably canoed in the same channel.
I feel that I could honor them in a triptych.
Side by side by side.


I hope that everyone is feeling well in this wonderful weather.
I love having our windows open at night -
and all day a couple of days!

Check this out!!

Patti Digh is on a roll...

a book writing roll, that is!

Here is my advance copy of the latest one -

"Creative Is A Verb"

Notice, I said "my advance copy"...?

Yep, check out page 77 when you get your copy.

I have another piece of artwork in this book as well!

I am over the moon excited about this!

I would have shown you the page but my scanner is not cooperating this evening.

This book is filled to the brim with fantastic artwork from all over the world!

And it's also filled with teaching creative commitments as well.

I have to agree with her when she says

"If you're alive

you're creative".

"Strong Roots"

"STRONG ROOTS"

Carol Sloan

8" x 10"

acrylic, watercolor, india ink

mixed media collage on wrapped canvas

I used vintage papers/ephemera in the collage including a power bill from 1928!

The papers are wrapped around the edges of the canvas so it is ready to hang as is.

Email for price of original and/or prints.

September News

This past month was a blur...
I spent a week in Colorado Springs, teaching at an art retreat.
Four days after returning home from that, I participated in a two day arts festival in West Greenville, SC.
Five days after that, my husband and I went away for a few days - to Virginia to see friends and we managed to sneak in a day or two in DC...
After we got home late Saturday, we switched clothes and supplies in our back packs to go kayaking.
We met my husband's sister and her husband at their dad's house.
We drove the five minutes to the lake to let them try out our tandem kayak.
They did great of course!
After that my husband and I practiced flipping the kayak...
and "rolling" it...
Which is a "wet exit" in kayak terms...
I now have a few more bruises for show and tell.
Oh, and this watercolor sketch/painting of a feather that I found.

I used a travel size watercolor set and Koi water pens.
Oh, and my usual Pitt Artists Pens.
No running, no bleeding and no worries...

Get you some!