Dyeing Paper

It's that time of year again.
I can step outside, pluck a few leaves, pull up a couple of weeds and grab that bag of frozen onion skins that I have been saving, and invade the kitchen to do some natural dyeing.

This year, I decided to try a few new (to me) and different leaves/weeds/items in the dye pot.
I have fresh eucalyptus leaves from my own backyard, avocado skins from previous meals, not to mention a few vegetable leaves I thought I'd throw in the mix.

Keep in mind that even if I can't obtain any color form the items that I use, they usually act as a resist to other colors coming through the paper.

I'm going to use watercolor paper (three different types and weights) as well as a few pieces of drawing paper (Strathmore 80 lb from a spiral-bound pad).

I have a thin box full of various weights & brands of watercolor paper that I have either bought or been gifted. I have no idea about the brands (unless it is printed on the paper) and usually guess on the weight but it's all good.
This type of activity is all about experimenting - and I love to experiment!

Last night I gathered up a bunch of paper- 90 lb up to 140 lb. I folded a couple of pieces in an accordion manner and just folded the remaining in half so I can stitch it into book form later.

I stuffed it full of a variety of greenery - mostly fresh but some of it came from my file of pressed items that I have collected along the way.
An example of what went into the pot - red tip, eucalyptus (leaves and bark), broccoli, tomato, nandina, sumac, hosta, peace lily, muscadine (leaves and vine), apple, avocado skin, onion (yellow & red skin), oak, maple, dandelion, fern and several unidentified weeds (maybe a few other things...).
Whew...once I start gathering things, it's like a madness takes over and I have to grab a handful of everything in sight.
In my own defense, you just never can tell when a plant will surprise you with an awesome display of color or turn out to be the best resist you have ever seen...
so, try it all, I say.

Here are some of the initial results from last night's pot.

Some of the best color from very unlikely places-
a weed vine with stickers on it.

One of the accordion fold books that I will be making.

The upper right hand image is from a
pecan stem that I had pressed from last year.

I love the layers  of color!

See the emerald green color?
I think that came from one of the sumac leaves.

This is a young shoot from our black walnut tree.

Even the cardboard that I use as the "cover" gets a
great dye job!

I have more on the drying table to show as well as two pots full of more paper and a little fabric.

Goldfish Fabric & Thermofax Screen Printing

I shared this fabric on Facebook but wanted to post it here as well.

And show what I did with it.

The fish are apx. 12 x 18 inches and in  bold, vibrant colors.

The fabric shop only had a yard left

I had a "Living Social" coupon for Tony's Fabric in Greenville SC that I bought almost a year ago. I had forgot about it to be honest and got an email reminding me ti use it before it expired.

When I walked in the front door, there was this beautiful and bold piece of fabric hanging on one of the showroom floor racks (insert choir of angels singing).

I was hooked (sorry, couldn't resist that pun).

I don't usually gravitate towards orange fabric but I'm guessing that the subject matter combined with the awesome color caught my eye.

I looked all over the (huge) store and couldn't find anything else I liked - until I committed to the goldfish fabric. They only had one yard of it left! So it was a good thing that I snagged it when I did.

I was able to find a few small pieces of random things to fulfill my coupon  at that point.

When I came home, I fanned the fabric over my couch and just admired it for a couple of days.
If I had a wall large enough to carry a frame that large, I'd just frame the entire yard and be happy with it that way. But I don't so I will use it in other large ways.

I plan on using one piece for a large sketchbook. I want to create a cover out of the fabric, using a whole piece to show off the beautiful fish design.

One thing that I did do already was to create a thermofax screen out of the fish - purely for personal use.
I won't be selling this screen since it isn't my design but I can use it for my own purposes.

It was a simple process (albeit a time consuming one) to convert a design like this into a design appropriate for a thermofax screen. It just takes a bit of trail and error messing with it in Photoshop (Elements for me).

I cropped out a single fish from the fabric (on a scan) and created a solid white background.
Some of the white I "poured" into the b/g crept into the lines of the fish.
That's great actually.

I messed around with the color curves until I was satisfied,
always looking for a good contrast in the white & black(ish) colors.
Notice that I did open up the lines between the head/tail/etc to
get more contrast.

It took two tries to get a good screen but I think that they final result is pretty cool.
This images is a little over 4 inches wide (the original fish design is about 18 inches). Of course, you can see m uch more detail "in person" than on this scan.

I printed this on a piece of vintage damask table cloth, then cut it out to use as a patch on the front of a small tote bag that I wanted to use.

I usually use journal pages to print on when I am auditioning a thermofax screen.
I love to use the images to draw into or paint over in my journal. It adds yet one more layer to the page.

Pen to Paper

I'm baaaaaaaack...

I sketched this while looking at a photo in a book.
I did draw in pencil first (couldn't locate my pen) and then
I just drew right over the pencil lines.

Sleeping Cats

I've been rather quiet on this front - my blog.

I have spent a bit of time resting but mostly busy working on a couple of projects that will go into books that will be out by the end of the year or next year.


I have been collecting some leaves and things for eco dyeing.
I went to Clemson Botanical Garden (about 25 minutes from my house) and gathered a bag full of fallen leaves from the two eucalyptus trees that they have on site.
No worries as I did call and ask permission to do this before I did it.
I brought them home and stuck most of them between book pages.
That way they would take less space to store (for later use) and they would be nice and flat to use for printing as well.
I had a couple of handfuls of torn and tattered leaves left so I dumped them into a stainless pot, covered them with rain water and let them sit. A few days later I added two scraps of cloth- cotton and silk- to see how each one accepted the dye in the pot.
That was about a week ago. Last time I checked them, the results were as expected- the silk was slurping in the color and the cotton was just sipping at it.
I'll leave it until I can't stand it any longer then show you the results from my lazy girl experiment.

As is my habit, no matter what else goes on, I am drawing/sketching/whaeveryouwanttocallit.
I fill bound pieces of paper with pen & pencil marks.

We have a cat now after not having a pet for about 8 or 9 years so I spend a lot of time looking at and drawing him.
He has taken to jumping up in our laps in the evenings so I have taken to drawing him.
It ends up being a lot of "sleeping cat"  sketches but practice none the less.

Draw what is in front of you.

He will let me move his feet around a little bit to get a better view of his face.
He did "fang" me once to suggest I quit messing with him though.

When he curls up all I can see is the top of his head
and his feet turned in all sorts of directions.
I occasionally add notes about things I hear
or see that I want to research later.
This night it was about a WWII  group that maintained
sketchbooks while away from home.

My sketches are beginning to look more like him.
I love the stripes above his eyes.
They come together in a triangle shape on his face.
They do make him look like he is a little worried though. 

I'll try to be a better blogger and share more of what I fill my time with.

Sometimes I feel as though it isn't very interesting. I guess I could just take that filter away and see what others think.
Maybe I will do that this week.

Are you drawing?
Are you finding a way to use the everyday happenings to add some creativity to your life?

It's a simple process really - taking your creativity in hand and letting it walk by your side.
You have to learn to look at the world, your world, in a little different way.

For example - instead of sitting in front of the TV at night, letting everyone else entertain you- entertain yourself with sketching out the TV (or what's on it).
No one has to see these sketches until you're ready  to show them.
But do keep them so you can go back and see how much progress you have made!

You will be amazed at what you can do!

Tomorrow is the Day!

"Kick Off Your Heels" for women's heart disease research by purchasing an artful pair of shoes created by a group of female artists.
The pair of shoes that I created are not wearable - they are considered sculptural art.

I've copied this from the "Kick Off Your Heels" blog and want to share it with all of you.


"We're excited to tell you about how you can own a pair of art-full high heels that benefit the women's heart wing of Cedar's Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles!

The sale of the shoes will begin at 8:00 am EST Monday May 20, 2013 and will be available for purchase over the course of the week as follows:

Shoes can be purchased for $300 on  May 20 and 21, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Shoes can be purchased for $200 on May 22 and 23, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Shoes can be purchased for $100 on May 24 and 25, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST

Click here to visit the website we set up so you can preview the shoes before the sale begins.

Set your calendar alarms for Monday, May 20, 2013 and check out the website for your favorite pair of artisan made high heels!"

Go to this link and pick out your favorite pair.

All of the money collected will go straight to research!

Protective Armor

I've been spending a lot of time closeted in my studio.
Over the last year, I have felt almost suffocated by some of the art that I made.

Well, maybe not that dramatic but I felt like I couldn't get to MY art.
I had spent the year or two before that creating art for classes and I love those classes, love the art from those classes but I kept feeling this tugging in my heart.
Trying to pull me in a different direction.

If you were to look at the photos that I have taken over the past year or so, you would find a lot of abstract shots.
Texture, color blocks, peeling weathered pieces of wood.
Ancient broken-down boats, driftwood...

There are pages in my handmade books that reflect this "look".
Most of the pages that I paint for backgrounds (for books) portray this.

The last five or six pieces of art that I created have been from a place of deep longing.
A longing to find the sweet spot that I know is there.
That I feel I am getting close to.

I worked on a small piece of art this weekend, a tiny piece measuring 4 inches x 4 inches that felt like I was just basking in that sweetness.

I love it.
Just love it.

I like the color combination in this.

Love the texture

I also like the depth of the canvas - almost 1 1/2 inches.

While I loved the piece as it was above, I felt that it needed a bit more grunge or more decay to it.
Like a protective armor might have.
One that was well used and worn from years of  protecting the wearer.
So I aged it a bit more.

Protective Armor
4"x 4"
plaster, gauze, acrylic paint, joint compound, soft gel,
crackle paste, cold wax

Winging It For Women's Heart Health

This post is also on the "Kick Off Your Heels" blog today.
Run over there and check out all of the other cool "art shoes" being created for such a great cause.

I worked as a Registered Nurse for 2 decades.
Most of those years were spent in Neonatal ICU with the preemie babies.
Even though I was a nurse, I was still shocked when I read the statistics on the numbers of deaths related to cardiovascular issues with women.

When Sue asked me to donate pair of "art shoes"  to the cause, I jumped in with both feet (sorry, couldn't help it).

It's not only vitally important that we create enough noise to make our voices heard but we must also create a voice of consciousness in order to make this matter important enough for others to direct their energy towards it.
We, as women, have a tremendous power in this world - we just have to learn to come together, to harmonize our voices towards a common goal.
This fund raiser is a great example of working towards that goal.


I have never tried to make a pair of shoes into a piece of art. I recall doodling on my tennis shoes in high school but I wouldn't really call them "a piece of art".

I had been working with plaster and joint compound in my studio, so I decided to try using them on the shoes.

I started out with a pair of black heels from a local second-hand shop.

Hmmm...this shoe looks like it has two heels.
Let's try that again.

Two shoes.
One heel per shoe.

Now that we've established each shoe has only one heel, let's proceed with what I did with them.

I wasn't sure how well joint compound would adhere to the surface so I decided to put the plaster embedded gauze over each shoe first.
I knew that the gauze would adhere to itself so I made sure to overlap the gauze layers.

I cut the gauze into smaller strips in order to wrap it onto the shoe surface.
This is the standard "dip in water and place on surface" plaster embedded gauze.

all covered with plaster gauze

You can see the bumpy surface of the plaster. 

I let this layer dry completely before beginning the next layer.

Enter pirate booty supplies, I mean one of my new favorite art supplies from the hardware store (read husbands' shop) - Joint Compound!
So easy to apply, so aggravating to sand but oh so wonderful to carve!

This is the brand that I used but there are many many more brands
out there in your husbands' shop, I mean at the hardware store.
One kind is pink when wet but dries white. How cool is that?!

Just apply like cake icing!
You can see tiny specks of red paint from another project that I was working on
while this layer dried. No worries - this will be sanded off with the rest of the
uneven areas.

Iced shoes, ready for the next step.

Supplies for the next step.

Oops - forgot a really important one!
The face mask.
Do NOT sand this without a mask!

Just in case you forget who you are...

I sanded the shoes until I was happy with the results.
I didn't sand them completely smooth because I love the uneven areas, especially all the small imperfections.
It makes the surface appear old and gives it a lot of character.

I knew that I wanted to have a carving on the back of the shoe because I just love a wrap around design on that area of a shoe but felt that a heart drawing would not work unless I made the heart really wide and squatty (squaty?) (squat-y?).
I had previously made a thermofax screen to use in my journal/sketchbook from a drawing of a bird wing. I decided to try holding that up to the shoe just to see if I liked the idea.

Holy.
Moly.
It was the Perfect Size.

Don't you just love it when that happens!?
Boy, I do.
I used that and flipped the image to make a screen for the opposite wing.

I guess that you are wondering what in the heck I was using the thermofax screen for, huh?
In my "regular" art making I use them for all kinds of things but in this project I am going to use it as a guideline for my carving since I don't trust myself to carve freehand or just draw a realistic bird wing (right and left side) on the back of the shoe.
I didn't take a photo of the image after I screen printed it on the back of the shoe but you can see it here after I carved it (and removed most of the screen printed image) on the back of the shoe.

I had already decided that I wanted some type of carving on the outside front edge of the shoe.
I drew a heart shape with an EKG tracing inside of it after seeing a similar one online.

Okay - all the carving done...now the painting begins.

I made sure that all of the dust from my carving and sanding had been removed from the shoes, as well as any other debris that may be camping out there. I used a moist paper towel to remove the excess compound from the inside, the bottom and the heel of the shoe.

I painted two to three layers of red paint as well as the white accents.

You can tell that this is one of the first layers of paint
because of the areas of transparency next to the heart.

I did use a very small brush to paint the EKG tracing in red.
I allowed each layer to dry completely before painting the next layer.

Look at that deep, dark beautiful red color!

I brushed a layer of Soft Gel over the entire shoe to seal the painted joint compound surface.
When I was satisfied with the paint job, I used watered down Burnt Umber Light fluid acrylic paint to brush over small sections of the shoe (including the carved areas). I quickly wiped off the excess allowing what was left behind to sit (as well as set) in the carved lines, bumps and uneven areas on the shoe.
Its give the shoe a beautiful aged patina.

Pre Burnt Umber Light glaze.
Very white wings.

Post patina wings.
Beautiful aged wings.

An aged heart.

I decided to add a heart on the back of the shoe between the wings.
I created one out of canvas with plaster embedded gauze sandwiched around it. I cut the heart shape out, smeared some joint compound on top of it and then painted it after the compound dried.
I rolled it over my fingers to crack the compound then glazed it with a wash of the watered down Burnt Umber Light paint.

The heart is very flexible and could be sewn if desired.

I felt that the area back here just needed a heart.
A heart with wings.

 All that remained was adhering the heart to the back of each shoe and spraying a finish over them.

I must say - I really enjoyed creating this pair of art shoes! I love, love the way that the shoes turned out.

Here are a few photos of the finished shoes.

"Flying Above The Fray"
I felt that we women could use a little help flying above the grim statics
that we are faced with regarding heart health.
These sassy red shoes could definitely do the trick with that.

Having worked as an ICU nurse for two decades, I am both inspired by and familiar with
the dedication and dogged persistence of healthcare workers.
They would fly through hell as well as high water to help their patients.
I felt that these red shoes could help fly them any where they needed to go.

Thank you Sue and Jamie for putting together this fundraiser. I really do believe that this is a wonderful cause.

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

I have just finished an art project that was created specifically for donation to a very worthy cause.
Check out the "Kick Off Your Heels" fundraiser that Sue Bleiweiss and Jamie Fingal started.
I can't wait to see the shoes that were created just for this!

I tend to work on a couple of things at a time and did during the time that I was working on the art shoes for the fundraiser.
Here's a peek at one of the plaster/joint compound pieces that I made.

I love the way that the surface accepts the paint differently
based on how much sanding I do or what resists I use.

I really am enjoying playing around with this medium.

This is what started it all.

I've had the book for a long time (almost a year) but only picked it back up several months ago.
Of course I do the same thing that I always do...read through it, start a project thinking that I will go by the instructions in the book for a couple of projects only to find myself veering off after the first step or two.
But that is a good thing too - I create my own work most of the time. It's way too easy to create artwork that really isn't your own if you never jump off of the page in a book, or put down a workshop instruction booklet...

I keep thinking of ways that I can use this medium. I've got a book cover (or two) on my work table as well as several small mixed media canvas panels going.
I've started another 3D piece as well as the triptych that I am continuing to look at during all of this.

Looking.

Thinking.

Allowing the art itself to speak to me.

It's sometimes difficult for me to quiet all of the "other" chatter in my head and just listen.

So I spend a lot of time just looking and thinking.

And Listening.

Are you listening to your inner voice? Or are you trying to wrestling control away from your intuition?
(you will beef up the wrong muscles if you do this)

You gotta flex YOUR creative muscle!

What's On Your Table Today?

I'm working with items that I found on walks, kayaking trips, bike rides or just being outside, enjoying Nature.

Here's a few of them. Be sure and click on the photo so you can see the details of the white feather.
Beautiful!

Bird feathers, tree bark, worn turtle shell

Pier Sketching

I sat under the shelter at the end of the pier at Shem Creek Park, watching people come and go,
kids run and play, fishermen (and women) fishing, gulls flying and people just enjoying each other and the lovely weekend weather in Charleston SC.

Here is a sampling of the people that I watched.

Lots of kids, women with buns and fisher-women.

This man fished all day long without catching anything.
That, my friend, is dedication.
(or as he said "It's just what a fisherman does.")

Pardon the shadow on the page.
I scanned the page and the book is getting
pretty full.

As you can see, everyone was looking out to the Harbor. I was sitting behind them looking the same way.
Nothing like spending a day listening to the birds, looking at the ocean and doing some urban sketching.