Elemental Dance

Journal Quilt Project II: Elements-Earth, Water, Air, and Fire: Elemental Dance

Elemental Dance is the first Journal Quilt I have ever made. It is inspired from a desire to create naturescapes using both conventional and unconventional materials and methods in a somewhat realistic manner. This piece began as a study on how to convey water working with fiber as a medium. The ocean background was formed using both commercial and hand painted cotton. Transparent and opaque fabric paints were incorporated along with pearlescent powders. Trying to capture the waves crashing against the rocks was especially challenging. Sheer fabrics, sparkled organza and cheesecloth were used to impart a wet and foaming feel to the piece. Angelina fibers and tinzl were also added to reveal the sparkle effect that water carries. Still, it needed more of a textural feel. The first few months, I began collecting all sorts of plastics from everyday household use. Some of these items included cellophane and wrappers from packaged products, assorted foam packing materials and really anything I could get my hands on. I spent a lot of time trying to determine how these synthetic materials behaved when they were heat distressed either with an iron or a heat gun. The prospect of recycling plastics to include in a naturescape was so appealing as I felt I had a hand in keeping the environment clean. The sky was hand dyed with procion fiber reactive dye. Rocks were raw edge appliquéd to communicate a rugged feeling. Machine pieced, appliquéd and quilted; metallic threads and cotton batting. Elemental Dance refers to the show that Mother Nature orchestrates as a cool brisk ocean breeze accompanies the rolling tides dancing along the rocky shore. Earth, water and air are major players in this audio and visual interplay that entices all the senses of the human body.

Emerald Treasures

Emerald Treasures was created quite accidently. The backdrop was painted for another piece I was working on but when I finished it, I knew it was not the place for the blue jay, I had intended. Still, it was a nice background and it had such wonderful highlights. The piece reminded me of an ocean or lagoon type setting. Having returned from the Atlantic, I had some great pictures of turtles and so I set out to making a shell. The basic shape was made of commercial cotton with fused pieces to emulate the back of a turtle and layered with several layers of high loft batting to give dimension. Hand dyed cheesecloth and scrim along with roving were added to try and create an algae-like appearance and needle felted to the shell. It was cool but needed something more so I began adding glitter, textile paints, gel medium and beads for embellishment. When the large shell was done, I laid it on the background and immediately knew this was the mom and she needed a couple of babies to interact with her! The piece went together in such a hurry, I was amazed. Wish I could always be in that zone!!!! LOL Their heads and appendages were painted and machine stitched in a low relief trapunto style. A painted background shows the water stitched with metallic thread and the coral outlined with trilobal polyester thread and painted with 3 dimensional paint. My goal with design principles in mind was to create a pleasing composition that would draw the viewer in. And so that is how Emerald Treasures evolved. This weekend I went back to the studio to paint another home for my blue jay but still missed the mark. I created a forest scene with a field in the foreground, still not the right home but again, very cool. I think I've just started another series which I will call Evolution as these pieces seem to do just that, evolve!!! Eventually, my blue jay will find his home.

Austin Area Quilt Guild celebrates A Legacy of Quilts Pearls of Wisdom From Our First 30 Years

Austin Area Quilt Guild celebrates A Legacy of Quilts Pearls of Wisdom From Our First 30 Years 2008. The show opened last night. This was my first time entering this venue and I really learned alot. I volunteered on Wednesday for checking and hanging. We finished hanging the quilts at 6 p.m. It was so interesting to see how the show was made ready for the public. I really enjoyed getting to meet so many talented people here in Austin. The show was judged by Cynthia England, Sally Hatfield, De Leclair, Connie Silber and Marilyn Hardy. I was completely surprised to learn that Ruby, Contemplation and The Fertility Goddess were awarded Honorable Mentions! Wow, talk about a windfall! This is the first time, The Fertility Goddess, a double sided quilt was hung such that both sides could be seen. It was such a thrill! My other entry, "Contemplation" really was bothering me before the show so I decided to "fix" the river the day before check in. I think it looks much better!!! This was Ruby's first outing and I am pleased she fared well. The show runs from September 25-28, 2008 at the Crockett Center located at 10601 N. Lamar in Austin, Texas. There are over 400 quilts on exhibit and many wonderful vendors. There is also a Children's Exhibit providing fun activities related to quilting and a Silent Auction where you can purchase both supplies and finished artwork. If you are in the area, please come see the exhibit.

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International Quilt Festival 2008 World of Beauty

Yesterday, I received news that Little Boy Blue and Little Rascals were accepted into the Houston IQF World of Beauty show. It is my first time getting into Houston and I am thrilled. Wow, what an honor to be among those receiving letters of acceptance. I am especially humbled to be in such good company. It makes me want to continue my quest to be a better artist and hone my skills to the best of my ability. I can't help feeling that the bar has been raised. I am encouraged to proceed with my Nature series and am currently in the process of making a blue jay that is alot larger in scale than what I am accustomed to working on. Today, it is raining and I always look at rain as a sign of growth and renewal. I really enjoy sewing on a rainy day!

Cara Mia

Cara Mia is a self portrait measuring 16 1/4" X 23 1/2." It is machine appliqued and quilted. The background consists of silk dupioni and cotton. The hair is made from commercial cottons and hand dyed corduroy. This piece is inspired from a 3 day workshop I took with Pamela Allen. I really enjoyed playing with fabric to achieve different tonal values of the skin. I used Derwent Inktense pencils to further blend the colors in the face. I feel as though this has really opened up so many ideas in my mind. I really enjoyed doing this exercise and look forward to doing more larger scale pieces. I really felt that her face needed softening so I added a vine for interest. The trailing vine to the left is made from machine wrapped cording. There are two different kind of leaves on the vine. One set of leaves is thread painted on organza, a technique I learned from Maree Caplin while the other set of leaves are made from textiva film. Having been inspired by Frances Holliday Alford's article in Quilting Arts magazine, I layered one color of textiva film running vertically on a piece of timtex and then layered a second color of textiva film perpendicular to the first. I pinned the layers together and began stitching leaf shapes with veins. I then cut the leaf shapes out and heat distressed them with a hot air gun. The veins on the front of the leaves were painted with Tsukineko inks as well as the back (timtex side) to add more dimension. Leaves were heat set before attaching them to the vine. Edges of the quilt are satin stitched.

Contemplation

Contemplation is part 2 of Nature Series Part II focussing on negative space. It is 37 X 29. My goal was to create a pleasing nature scene that involved depth and interesting negative spaces. I had hoped that the viewer might contemplate the beauty of these dark negative spaces in a dense forest and let the mind fill in the rest. This piece is inspired by a photo I took of the Big Thompson River that flows through the Drake and Loveland area in Colorado. The background was painted and inked. Trees were appliqued and leaves were fiber etched, layered with bits of thread and Angelina fibers, covered with dark misty fuse and quilted. Pine tree on the left and the bush in the foreground were threadpainted on watersoluble stabilizer and appliqued. The large set of trees to the left of the pine tree were pieced and the surrounding foliage was raw edge appliqued and machine embroidered. The river is composed of various cotton fabrics, sparkled organza and organdie, heat distressed painted cellophane, old dryer sheets, cheesecloth, Angelina fibers and tinzl, stitched with metallic and opalescent kaleidoscope thread. I tried to capture the muddy bank along the river by adding dark cotton fabric and black lacy tulle. A ridge of white fabric forms the bubbles that lie along the muddy bank. The illusion of depth in the forest was attempted by changing the coloring from one set of trees to the next. This year, I have been experimenting with recreating water using both conventional and unconventional natural and synthetic materials. While this piece comes close to what I had wanted to achieve, it still missed the mark. It is a step in the right direction, but I still have a long way to go in achieving what I set out to do. I guess it's back to the drawing board as they say. LOL

I've Been Tagged

Tag - You're It!
I've never been tagged before but I am learning it is a great way to get to know people better. I've been tagged by Cathy Winter! Cathy and I were both exhibiting artists at the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts Deep In the Art of Texas show at the State Capital in May. It was a fantastic display and a wonderful opportunity to meet so many talented folks here in Texas.

If you've been tagged, copy and paste the questions and post your answers in your own blog. Be sure to let your chosen tagged peeps know they've been tagged.So... here we go.... the questions are: 1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago, my daughters were 3 and 6 years old. Julie was in kindergarden and Elena was in preschool. I had a job working at United Blood Services testing donor samples for viral markers (HTLV, HIV, Hepatitis, etc...). 2. 5 things on today's to-do list: start the week's laundry, work on my journal quilt for Houston, clean my studio, take a nice long hot bath and attend the opening night reception at the Wesley Gallery 3. Snacks I enjoy: hot chili (I am so addicted to it that I even carry it with me in my purse), dark chocolate -- yum!, chili con queso, sushi and fresh salads of all kinds 4. Things I'd do if I were a billionaire! Pay off the house and buy a summer home in Colorado, make sure the kids had enough $$$$ for college, travel the world, rennovate my studio, have my own personal fitness trainer, hire a maid and a cook 5. . Places I have lived: Albuquerque, New Mexico where I was born and raised. Love the chili!!!! Phoenix, Arizona where we lived for about 8 years. Miss the palm trees. Fort Collins, Colorado, the absolute cleanest place I have ever lived. Really miss the snow!!!Austin, Texas where I reside now is beautiful and the people are very friendly. --- will I move again? My family wishes I would move back to Albuquerque but I think I prefer to visit instead!!!! 6. People I'd like to know more about: Diana Ramirez, Pamela Allen, Helen Cowans, Maree Caplin, Susie Monday, Betsy True

Wesley Gallery Fiber Art and Textile Show

The Austin Fiber Artists are having a Fiber Art and Textile Show at the Wesley Art Gallery in Dripping Springs from June 20-22, 2008. The show will commence with an opening reception party on Friday, June 20 from 6-9 p.m. where wine and appetizers will be served. There will be a wonderful array of fiber arts displayed and demonstrations offered throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday. Two of my pieces were juried into the show. They are Moroccan Play and A Leap of Faith. Moroccan Play is a surface design quilt incorporating Shiva oil painsticks, Lumiere acrylics and fibers. It is the backdrop for the invitation shown here. A Leap of Faith features a pieced and appliqued, quilted interpretation of planets using heat distressed plastics, sheers, acrylics, thread painted embroidery and swarovski crystals. If you have a chance, please stop by and visit the show. It is a fantastic opportunity to see the many types of fiber art that is being produced by fiber artists in metro Austin and promises to be a "feast for the eyes."

Little Rascals Awarded Honorable Mention at the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts

The Texas Museum of Fiber Arts is presenting "Deep In The Art Of Texas" fiber art exhibit at the Texas State Capital building on May 24-26, 2008. This is a juried show featuring more than 40 artists with 55 fiber art entries judged by Dr. Katherine Jay of University of Texas. I am honored that "Little Rascals" and "The Fertility Goddess" have been invited to be part of this very special celebration to commemmorate fiber art in Texas. Additionally, I am especially blessed that Little Rascals has received an Honorable Mention for this venue. If you are in Austin, please stop by and visit the show. It promises to be a fantastic display. For further information, please visit http://www.austin360.com/calendar/events2/etc/userEventDisplay.jspd?eventStatus=Approved&eventid=179481

Little Boy Blue receives Honorable Mention

In January, I entered three pieces into the Quilt Guild of Dallas "Timeless Traditions Quilt Celebration" reputed to be the fifth largest show in the states. The event ran from March 14-16, 2008 at Market Hall. The Guild put on a wonderful show with nearly 400 quilts and over 130 vendors from all over the United States. Distinguished Judges for the event included Scott Murkin, Cynthia England and Bobbie Aug. I was so happy when I learned that Little Boy Blue received an Honorable Mention in the Masters Art Quilt category.

Ruby In The Emerald Forest

Ruby In The Emerald Forest is the first quilt (29.25" X 35") in Part II of my Nature Series where the main focus is negative space. Part I was a study on depth perception, consequently, the goal here is to contine with this depth perception while adding in another factor regarding negative space. Ruby consists of 50 pieces that are machine appliqued and embroidered. The tree that she rests on is made of various upholstery fabrics. For the leaves, I hand dyed some warm and natural batting and perle cotton, cut out each leaf and couched some yarn along the veins. The background is a piece of hand dyed cotton by Ellen Anne Eddy that I further embellished with Caran de Ache watersoluble pastel crayons and Shiva paintsticks to similate the water and shrubs in the foreground and middle ground. This piece is machine quilted with over 50 different colors of predominantly rayon thread with some metallic thread in the water. The tree trunk was constructed separately from the body of the quilt and acts like an envelope that encases the right side of the quilt. Edges are satin stitched. While I am happy with the overall results, I think that in order to fully gain an understanding of negative space, I will have to venture higher into the tree branches for the next quilt in my series. With regards to this study, I have to wonder if depth and negative space are one and the same thing for in order to have negative space, you have to have depth. And in order to achieve depth, you have to zoom out thus giving you this sense of void or negative space. I think that the two act in tandem to give dimension.

Little Rascals

Little Rascals measures 21"X27.5" and is the final third piece of part I Nature Series. The goal was to achieve depth in the knothole of a tree. In Little Boy Blue, I came close to achieving depth but shadows were not present to really carry out the theme, also the bark on the tree was not as realistic as I had hoped. Screech had bark that was more realistic but the depth was not there. Little Rascals started out with a layer of commercial cotton as a backdrop. Using strips of commercial, hand dyed and upholstery fabric cut on the bias, I began laying over color starting with light highlights (top right) and working clockwise to medium and then dark shades and back to medium (top left). Once the coloring was right, I began texturizing the bark with hand dyed cheesecloth in the same manner as described previously all the while blending to avoid any hard lines. Sheer crinkled fabrics. fibers and dyed tatting was added followed by dyed lutradur that had been zapped with a heat gun to build the surface up. Still, I felt the bottom left corner needed something to weigh it down both in color and texture so I added pipe cleaners that had been wrapped with dyed cheesecloth and couched them down on the surface, a wonderful trick I learned from Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn's Trees As A Theme. For the knothole, I used a commercial cotton that similated wood grain, a rust dyed black fabric for shading, black lacy tulle as well as brown tulle to impart depth in the hole. The raccoons' bodies were appliqued and machine embroidered to give the illusion of texture and depth. Next, I turned my focus on those Little Rascals. Working from a sketch, I enlarged and printed their faces on cotton and painted them with Tsukineko inks. Having come from a five day workshop with Hollis Chatellain, I was encouraged to try shading with her wonderful Living Colors thread line from Superior. On each of their faces, I used about 20 different thread colors to convey shadows and highlight in their fur. Eyes were painted with shiny black and specks of white for highlights. Their heads were layered with 2 layers of batting and backed with the same material as their bodies and strategically tacked down to allow them to "pop" out of their hole. Side edges were bound in a pillow case style binding while top and bottom edges were left rugged to carry on the texture of the tree bark. I think I finally achieved the depth I was looking for in this series and am moving on to part II of Nature Series where I will focus on negative space. I've already started on my sketch of Ruby, a beautiful red macaw perched on a branch where I can play with negative space in the tree branches. I'm thinking some Angelina fibers are definitely in the works!!!

Screech

Screech was made from both commercial and hand dyed fabrics. Bark like texture consists of dyed batting that has been felted with yarns and dyed cheesecloth. Yarn has also been felted onto background fabric to create further grooves and texture in the tree trunk. The knothole is layered with tulle and fibers that were fused to wonder under to add shading. Painted with Derwent Inktense pencils. Inner circle closest to owl is made from the back of an upholstery fabric to impart a rough edge. The owl is made from dyed cheesecloth layered with snippets of fabric that have been fused and thread embroidered in a featherlike pattern. Machine quilted. The sides have a wrapped edge binding but the top and bottom are left with a rugged edge that is machine stitched and painted with Tsukineko Inks. Screech and Little Boy Blue can be seen at the Heritage Museum in Seymour, Missouri on Sep 8, 2007

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue
Just finished the first quilt in my tree series. I decided to name it Little Boy Blue. It is 18X24. My focus is on trees but trees by themselves can be a little boring to some, so I added a Bluebird for interest. I really enjoyed making this quilt. I tried to concentrate on texture and so for the bark, I took both commercial and hand dyed fabrics and fused them on a background. I painted some Tyvek with Shiva oil paintsticks, cut it in small pieces and applied heat to give a raised effect, then touched them up with brown Tsukineko ink. I also took a fat quarter and wet it and then tied it up in a ball and let it sit in the sun for a week, then dried it in the dryer to give it a crinkly effect. I cut it in smaller pieces and added some dyed string and fibers, topped it off with dyed cheesecloth and stitched the whole thing down. For the knothole, again I used hand dyed fabric, and played with trying to achieve depth by using Caran de Ache watersoluble pastel crayons and Derwent Inktense pencils. I worked from a sketch, which I blew up to get the pattern for the bird and layered blue cheesecloth over a blue piece of fabric, then added snippets to try and attain a feathery feel. In the end, I learned alot and am stimulated to try and create some more pieces similar to this one with different colored birds. I think the next one I do in this series will be a Screech Owl. Guess I better get sketching.
Posted by Barb Forrister at 5:06 PM
Labels: Little Boy Blue

4 comments:
Sherryl said...
Very, very nice.
August 11, 2007 5:46 PM
Tina Marie Rey said...
This is a great piece! I love love love it! what amazing texture - bravo!
August 11, 2007 5:59 PM
Russty said...
The depth you achieved on the knot hole is amazing. I wanted to reach in and pet the bird. This is really beautiful! I can't wait to see the others in the series. Thank you so much for sharing this. :)
August 12, 2007 9:57 AM
Jeanne Turner McBrayer said...
This little quilt has amazing texture and is quite realistic. I would say the little bird is an indigo bunting, not a bluebird. I enjoyed looking at all the posts on your blog. Jeanneallthingsquilty.blogspot.com
August 17, 2007 8:13 AM


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A Leap of Faith

A Leap of Faith was made in response to What's In A Name Challenge sponsored by Quilting Arts Magazine. While sadly it did not get published, it has received many offers from potential buyers. This is a close up view. It is machine pieced and appliqued, thread painted on solvy. Planet has a textural feel from both directly applied paint and cellophane that was colored with wax pastel crayons and subsequently ironed to a lacy like appearance. Embellished with Swarovski crystals to simulate stars.

Calm Before the Storm

Calm Before the Storm

Sky is handpainted with DecoArt SoSoft and Pebeo Pearlescent paint. Clouds are made of polyester fiberfill captured under blue tulle. Lower strata cloud layer is composed of painted batting and dryer lint that has been hand felted to a piece of acrylic felt. Bottom edge is irregular to further convey that stormy feeling. Sides and top edge are bound by matching raw edges of binding with front of quilt, sewing and turning inside out. Edges on back side of binding is slip stiched. I love the calm and tranquil feeling this piece imparts

"Fire" and "Marisol"

I have just finished "Fire" and "Marisol." They were both fun to work on. Fire was composed using lots of Angelina fibers and different cottons and sheer fabrics captured behind tulle. It was sent this morning to my SIL for a very late BD present. I am hoping it will find a good home.

"Marisol" the mermaid is machine pieced and hand appliqued. The beach she sits on is made of Angelina fibers, threads and yarns that were layered on clear plastic material and subsequently heat distressed with an iron. Seashells and flowers were added for interest. Her face was done with both colored pencils and ultra fine Sharpies. I have since tried to remember exactly what kind of plastic was used so I could duplicate it but to no avail. This has taught me to keep a notebook with samples handy so I can remember materials and techniques used for future reference.

The Fertility Goddess

The Fertility Goddess finished!!! This is a double sided quilt that is machine pieced, appliqued and quilted. It is embellished with Tsukineko inks, acrylic and Lumiere paint, heavy metallic threads, beads and Swarovski crystals. She was an absolute joy to make!

Over Easter weekend, I found I could not close my plastic container full of scraps. It was too full so I decided to liberate some fabric from it and came up with my rendition of the fertility goddess. This piece is heavily quilted and I am currently in the process of inking and painting the back of the quilt. My plan is to further embellish front and back with thick metallic blue/green/purple threads and beads. I would like for people to be able to see the goddess on both sides of the quilt. I think it's a neat concept.

Dyeing Days

I love painting on fabric and have decided to try dyeing some pieces. I have used procion dyes and experimented with dyeing in plastic bags as well as low immersion techniques in flat pans. I also tried dyeing with shaving cream to get a marbeling affect. And while I was at it, I just had to try dyeing some tyvek, scrim and cheescloth. Here are some of my results.

Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta

I finally decided to enter some of my work into shows to get some feedback. I just had three of my pieces juried into the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta. While it is not my first exhibition, it is the first time I have had my work juried into a show. I am so excited. Arthur's Quest was accepted into Pieced Innovative category. Scarlet Apasionado was accepted into Small Art Quilt category and Face of Serenity was accepted into Pictorial Art category. The show runs from May 24-26 2007