Pursuit of Color

I mentioned that I was consciously trying to use more color in my art making.
I am your basic neutral color gal - white is a wonderful color- as is cream, gray and black.
And rust.
Love the color that rust gives up.

I talked about the colorful monoprints that I made in this post.

Here is another colorful  monoprint posting.

I love to see artists use bold color and I almost envy their command of it.
But I have never really used a lot in my own artwork.
So I have set out to do a few small pieces doing just that.

Here's the beginning of the first one.

lovely sheers atop handpainted cottons

vintage purple sheer (not a lace or a sheer but...an open fabric.
I guess.

thermofax print

running stitch over screen print with reverse applique

yummmmm

More color to come!

Summer Work

I'll continue showing images of what I have been doing in my absence.

You saw some of the drawing that I did. But there is more.

I drew the following images and tweaked them in PSE (Photoshop Elements) (making the lines fatter and more graphic).

After getting the images like I wanted them, I used the outline to make the (positive? negative?) opposite printing screen. (wasn't that an awkward sentence?).
Like this -

One screen printed the color of the flower or leaf and the other screen printed the outline, enabling me to use all kinds of funky colors.

I used a piece of paper that I bought long ago (but liked the pattern on it) as a guide, I laid a pattern that was pleasing to me.

Here's a couple of shots of the project in progress.

I taped down my cotton (PDF) fabric
before screen printing.

Wonderful sparkly gold paint.

It looks beautiful after I add the outline.

I tried several different brands of fabric paint on this project.

Adding the pink background

I really don't have an idea of what I will use the painted fabric for - I just created it to stay inspired while was feeling particularly uninspired. 

Sounds ridiculous but this is the type of thing I do to keep the creative muscles pumping. 

Kinda like priming the pump to get the water flowing, ya know?

Holy Cow!

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I posted!
It must be true that the older you get, the faster time flies. It sure seems true to me.

What have I been doing in all that time?
I'll see if I can round up a few photos to show you.


I scanned one of the doilies that I made years ago and converted it into an image that is suitable for a thermofax screen.

The doily was too large for the scanner bed
so i had to seam it in PSE.

What a beautiful screen! I'll try to remember
to post photos of fabric that I screened with this.

I've been drawing some.

Okay, drawing a lot.
When I am relegated to the couch (with an ice pack) (back/hip issues), I tend to draw or hand stitch.
Or read.

Here's a few of the drawings.
I made most of them into thermofax screens for my personal use. I need to put them into my Etsy shop but haven't had the mojo to do it.
If you see something you like and want a screen, email me about it.

I love these shapes.
They look so sensual to me.

This is an abstraction of a shadow that I saw on my wall one night.
I loved the shape and quickly sketched it out at about 3am.
I went back a few days later and tweaked it a little.

That poppy shape keeps creeping back into my drawing.
I love the possibilities of it.

I just realized how out of place this image is with the other ones.
It began life as paint blob and, thanks to PSE, became this
wave type thing.
Or maybe stripes from a tiger.

More to come.
Maybe the color will appear next!