I realize my last post was about our trip to Maine in a hurricane but I never showed any of my sketches. Our cabin faced the water with small islands leading to the Atlantic. Steps lead down to a small cove with a beach. So even in the hurricane I could still sketch. Many days were foggy, some were wild and stormy, and some mornings were breathtaking.
Fog came and went
Weather Changes
Maine Mornings
Getting back to my sketching. Working with a variety of media.
Mixed Media Sketch
The one below added ink with one of my home made brushes. I like it but think I get a bit carried away with the ink. Having too much fun!
Need to not to get so excited about my media!
Well, my leg is healed – PT almost over, so all that’s good – Days have been warm and sunny. Sometimes it’s just wonderful to sit outside and enjoy the garden, the birds, and the sun.
Opened traditionally
I’ve working on this project – on and off for a good while – sketching in the garden in a simple book that looks more complicated than it is. It’s all made from one sheet of paper, cut and folded. I love the way I can fold and arrange it in different ways so different pages appear next to each and how it can be opened in different ways. Fun to play with.
Playing with folds
Closeup of pages
I started by dying sections with tea and rusty objects-one of my quick and easy way to mark things up. Very serendipitous. Never sure of the result. Then the sketching began using pen and ink. Pages run into one and other. One day I might start a new area and another I’ll work back into a page. Our garden is very organic, and I wanted this book to convey that feeling. It’s nearing the end and I will have to deal with a cover – I have some ideas but it will probably tell me once it’s finished.
This has been a very difficult time personally and I haven’t been in my studio for a while. In one month, I both broke my tibia and worst on March 4th lost my brother, Senter, to cancer.
I still haven’t been able to work but have started to document some smaller work I’ve done this past year in a small sketchbook. Mostly mark making, collage, and simple printing, resulting in mixed media books and other explorations. Some of this work was done in courses lead by Lorna Crane and by Sally Tyrie through Fiber Arts Take Two. Revisiting work is calming, a chance to slow down and think about my direction – how will this work influence future projects. I still have a ways to go with this documentation but here are some results to date. It’s a work in progress.
Mark Making Explorations: 1. Mark Making Book, 2. Painted Fabric Samples
1. Print: Incoming Tide, 2. Small collage using various types of simple printing
1. Prints, acetate images and machine stitches, from a series of 14, 2. More explorations, didn’t go with these
Three earlier fabric books, combined together with a leather cover. I’m still working on the cover.
Very happy my project was featured on the cover of the Fiber Arts/taketwo “Reveal and Conceal” exhibition online catalog. Titled “Forest Floor”, this piece consisted of a monoprint cover tied with handspun wool. Inside is a semitransparent page with a collagraph print on dyed teabag paper. Concealed under this page is a small print from acetate which is revealed when open. It is one of a series of eight.
“Reveal and Conceal” exhibition catalog cover
My second course was with Sally Tyrie. She focused on developing a body of work with a single theme. Here is one of my series. The base layer is mono printed on paper with acetate layers on top. I digitally printed the acetate with my photographs I had manipulated in Photoshop. The final layer is machine stitched to add texture and to hold it together. The concept for this group was taken from walks at both the Jersey Shore and the Wissahickon Creek. This was very fun!
“Mixed Media Layering”