Well....yeah, kind of. I just haven't posted anything in almost a year!
I was inspired by the work I saw, so decided to have a little art show of my own.
These pieces are all part of my series, Layers. I explored many techniques, playing with adding layers to a background.
The top quiltlet is created with a commercial batik. It is all the same fabric, but some of it was treated to a bleach discharge. I then used the resultant fabric with the original to create a simple grid. For some reason, this reminded me of a beach and the hidden treasures that we find there, hence the name of this piece: Hidden Treasures.
The background piece was quilted directly onto the quit base and then distressed. Each approach produced a slightly different result.
In the upper corners of the top quiltlet are eyelets as I have an on-going desire to explore different ways to create holes in quilts.
The piece really didn't feel complete until I place it on the back layer. Once I did that, It felt happier.
The close up shows the banner fabric as well as more rusted cheesecloth, and embossed metal pieces. The circle in the mid-right hand is a washer, and the rectangle at the bottom is a scrap booking file/label frame. Scrapbooking shops are a great resource for fabric artists!
Pretty much dead center is a long,hand crafted bead made by wrapping painted Tyvek around a straw, securing it with glue and then distressing it with a heat gun! It is couched onto the quilt with strands of beads.
The piece reminds me of the rich humus soil found along a stream bed or deep in the forest....dead leaves, branches, mud, grasses, all decaying and creating the bed from which new life will spring.
I laid out a layer of tar gel and then introduced a variety of color media into it including interference, and pure pigments. A bit of metallic paste was applied to add a bit of glitz...a girl can never have too much bling! The tar gel was applied directly to the fabric to see how it would perform and to determine if I could quilt through it.
To my great joy, I discovered that it did, indeed, like being stitched on! Alas, I had done the experiment on a little scrap of ugly hand dyed and rusted fabric. But I liked it so well, that I added a patch in the upper right hand corner and made it into this little piece. A simple uneven four patch background and a strip of painted tyvek combined with some simple straight line quilting, and I had created one of my favorite little pieces!
I loved the inspiration I got at the Art Show....I have not had the luxury of time to work on art for a while, and this has made me realize that I am desperately missing it. I can feel some creative time headed my way. Who knows, maybe I will even find time to share some more of my "profound" thoughts on my blog!
I hope for you a time of creativity and joy....
Ta ta for now......