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It has been some time since I posted anything on this site. My last visit was over a year ago, and somehow the work "My Place in Canada" never saw the light of day. I made a valiant attempt, but was unable to meet the deadline. Subsequently, Life intervened, and time in my studio was in abeyance for the better part of a year. But recently I have returned to my work, and actually finished this piece, for better or worse, and I thought those of you who took an interest might like to see what became of the lovely dyed fabrics. The title is "A Place Complete with Friction".

                                                       

I haven't posted for a while. There is a project underway, and that involves thinking, and reading, and drawing, AND, dying fabrics. This little lot were all dyed with natural dyes, found either in our wood, the garden, or in a few cases, the kitchen. The project is for the upcoming SAQA show, "My Corner of Canada", and I now have only a month to pull it together. We'll see how that goes.

I am, as often, (I hesitate to say "as usual") late getting going. I could not find the impetus, or, even more importantly, the place. However, I was checking some geneology information for my family, and realized for the first time, that my ancestors have been clinging tenaciously to this rock, the Southern coast of Nova Scotia, for over three hundred years. My "corner" was suddenly obvious, so I thought to do a piece about here, and now, in recognition of my forefathers, and so of myself. The fabrics are the beginning.

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Here is the next stage in the screen print of Ozymandius. It was rather tempting to grab a marker and just draw the lines in over the other three layers, but no, that would be cheating. I cut the stencil and screened the lines in over top. Now to fix my stupid spelling error, and add the bottom rows of text, and sand. Then to the stitching ....

I am back from the "Making Marks" workshop with Dorothy Caldwell, which was a success in all respects. I had a lovely time (although I"ll admit to feeling rather like I've been run over by a Mac truck, following two week-long workshops in quite rapid succession), learned a great deal, and feel inspired by both the material and the other artists. In addition, the Arts Space in Annapolis Royal, where the workshop was held, just opened a new show of work by Carol Mahtab. The work is stunning, and with the rare added opportunity to view a large selection of Carol's sketchbooks this is truly a show not to miss. I feel as if the exhibit was planned to dovetail perfectly with our workshop (which it clearly was not) ; this had the effect of making an already information and inspiration packed experience, doubly so. I feel as though my head might conceivably explode. And to top it all off, Dorothy Caldwell is a delight, and it was a privelege to spend the week with her.

 

We scritched, and scratched, inked and swooshed, punched holes, burned and smoked (my personal favourites), discharged, and practised stitching while wearing blindfolds .... Then we bound it all into a book wrapped in Kantha stitched covers. Oh, and I learned to make string. Thousands of women have been doing this, much more successfully than I, for thousands of years, yet it gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment. Go figure.

I fully intended to upload these pictures earlier, but I discovered an embarrassing, and potentially hilarious spelling error in the work as soon as I returned home, which comes of working upside wrong using teeny tiny pieces of tape to write text, as well as an inherant inability to remember the number of esses appropriate to the spelling of desert and dessert, respectively. I had no paint (situation rectified, oh blessed G and S dyes) for the correction, and being at home, home type things would, and did, keep happening, and so on. But at last here are two of the final pieces of work produced in the screen printing workshop.

The shapes in this print were appropriated from a book on screenprinting by Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan. They were simply cut from newsprint, laid out on the cloth, and printed using first yellow, then red and finally blue green paint, over the course of three days with plenty of drying time in between subsequent printings, and repeated cutting of shapes.

The above piece is based upon the well known poem by Percy Shelley, titled "Ozymandias". The first run of printing was the blue area which covered the taped (and dismally spelled) text of the first four lines of Shelley's sonnet. The next three runs were used to define the coloured areas of the face, using stencils cut from newsprint. A fourth stencil will further define the image with line work.

The bottom desert area will contain further text and colour, to be determined. The piece will then be stitched and framed. Sounds relatively straightforward ... We'll see.

I had a wonderful time at the work shop, and would recommend to anyone that they take advantage of the offerings made by the Lunenburg School of the Arts. Great facility, great people, and lots of fun.

I have now completed day two of the screen printing workshop at lunenburg School of the Arts. Nancy Price, a NASCAD Instructor, is putting us all through our paces, offering valuable experience, support, and information.

Screen printing is definitely one of those techniques where learning basic skills and procedures is a necessary first step, requiring lots of hands on exploration and experimentation (not to mention the ability to think in negative images). I can already see the wealth of potential that screen printing offers, limited only by available (and sometimes pricey), materials and time. I am definitely learning a lot, having fun, and amassing a wealth of ideas ... eager to get back to my studio to play. Here are some of my fledgling attempts.

i just got back from a two day retreat with members of the Fibre Arts Bee, and the enthusiasm and level of productivity made me feel like a snail in an ants' nest. I learned quite a lot, ate quite a lot, and had a generally good time.

The second piece in the colour challenge (for this very group) is now ready, and I think I will be framing the work from here on in, including the " infernal combustion engine" already posted. I think a frame transforms the work somehow, from a little piece of stitching, to a finished piece of art. Now I have to decide whether or not to use glass.

I am heading out tomorrow for a week long workshop to learn screen printing. It takes place in Lunenburg at the lovely new facility "Lunenburg school of the Arts". I am looking forward to it, and now that I have figured out how to photograph and post from my I pad, I hope to be able to keep this blog more current, even from afar.

I have finally finished this little piece, not entirely to my satisfaction, but ready to move on. I'll start the piece using 'analogous' colours, later on today. Perhaps it will make more sense ...... Or not.

At last Something is happening to this piece. I've decided to use this 8" by 10", 10 piece (God help me) colour challenge, as an opportunity to improve my relationship with my sewing machine, which is testy at the very best of times. It is newish, digital, and not my old Bernina - all things Not in its favour. Here's hoping that familiarity breeds, not contempt, but some sort of co-operation, possibly even guarded friendship. We'll see.

This is a photo of my new collograph plate, which I did have fun making. I thought that I'd show it off a bit Before I mess it up printing tomorrow. Here's hoping the print works.

Clearly I had no "inner" notion of just how small, and limited, The dimension of 8" by 10" really is. I feel cramped. But I guess that is what a "challenge" is all about. We'll see how this turns out.