more painting
This one is on A3 size cartridge paper. Again, it's layers of paint and torn paper table napkins, stencils and brush work. I love the teacups and pots and tried to continue the theme with lettering.

The centre leaf arrangement doesn't really work as a focal point ... so this piece may be broken up to become a series of gift cards ;-))) But it's been fun getting here and nothing is ever a waste of time, even if it doesn't work out as planned.

Or in this case, not planned.

Therein could lie the problem, lol!

closer

The piece below is the final sheet taken from leftover paint on the glass. I really like the depth of layers in this one and I think it has potential to become 'something' ...

Thanks for visiting!

Have a healthy and productive Christmas and new year.

cheers
Cait

sun printed postcards sent
Our theme/technique for Australia NZ art quilters' last fabric postcard swap for the year was sun printing.

Here are mine, finally posted (very late) today, ooops! Sorry everyone - but you should get them in time for Christmas ;-)))  Fabrics are cotton or iron-on interfacing, for texture.

I used some Procion dye in a large jar, left over from another project. A variety of leaves, stems and flowers from the garden create the sun printing shapes, although I had some trouble keeping them on the fabric - they kept blowing off, despite being weighed down with pegs and small rocks. The circular stencil worked quite well. I managed to get 2 postcards out of it, so that was a bonus!

I didn't realise how monochromatic mine were until comparing with the ones I received (below). Hmmm, point taken for next time ...

blobby geraniums, stems and petals

stencil top and bottom, with bamboo leaves and

a stem from a shrub (NZ Christmas tree?)

in the centre

sun printed postcards received
The first one to arrive from Wilma is dyed with liquid radiants, salt and shapes to create the sun print. The flower is coloured with crayons.

Jenni S's background fabric was sun printed using metal washers and buttons - flowers and leaves were coloured using Inktense watercolour pencils.

Wilma's sunprint postcard (top)

Jenni's postcard (bottom)

Ann H's arrived next, using solarfast dyes and a stencil. I still haven't worked out exactly how you did this Ann (squinty eyes here) ...!

Ann H's postcard (top)

Evie H's postcard (bottom)

And today my final postcard arrived from Evie H in New Zealand. Evie has stitched the metal circle shapes on top to echo the sun print design - very clever!

I also received a surprise 'extra' from my friend Ann B in NSW - great design idea and also very clever!

 Thank you everyone - I've really enjoyed this swap (now that it's over, lol)!

finished and started
Here is my first finished piece on paper. I added a dash of blueish mauve to give the stone shapes some depth.

I think it's finished, but sometimes it's hard to tell. You only know when you've done too much, lol! So I'll just let it rest for now.

This week I started on canvas with an inspirational pic from a book - will add the pic and book/artist details when I get them.

It's progressing well. To start, I used different paper tissue napkins and a piece of old music sheet to create some background texture. 

 

 

 The layers are coming up, but I need to paint out the foliage a bit more.

 

 

 It's coming along OK ...

 

I need to knock back some of the dark ocean around the lower section - perhaps with some swirly stencilling or something, in a lighter shade, hmmm ...

Also have to straighten the horizon and tweak a few bits at the bottom ... but I'm very happy with it so far. It's nearly there :-D


some jam
Made last week for family, tomorrow. It's yum if I do say so myself.

strawberry jam

Too much creativity is never enough!

cheers
Cait

mixed media with paint and print
I'm attending a workshop with local artist CHRIS SKEGGS over 3 half days. On day 1 we tore and glued paper napkins, music, newsprint and pictures at random then glued them to a watercolour paper background.

After that, we drew our image on the back and laid it face down over an inked glass, then gently traced around the image.

Here's what I have done so far.

inspiration pic

glued, printed and painted

The 'inspiration' piece was from something I found on Pinterest (favourite escape place!). There's a little more work to do in the rock shapes yet - I'll be adding some blue/grey to give them more dimension - and Chris may suggest extra work ...

Happy with my interpretation and it's only the test piece on A4 size. The next step is to transfer it to a larger canvas, but I might try something else. Much as I love it!

I hope you have been doing something creative too!

Thanks for visiting.

cheers
Cait

wishing well
We went to a beautiful beachside wedding on the weekend and gave a wishing well gift, so I made this envelope to put the $$ in, with the card. I love the appropriate wedding headline that was unearthed in an old magazine, found when auditioning papers and fabrics!

And another birthday teacosy for a friend. It turns out I had given her a teapot a couple of years ago and when she opened the parcel with the cosy in it, she told me she'd since lost the teapot! I did wonder how you can 'lose' a teapot, but you've got to laugh.

 

with shells from the beach

and beads in her colours

 

Alison Holt workshop
Many months ago I booked to attend this 2-day workshop in Margaret River. I don't claim to be much of a machine embroiderer and almost baled a couple of times thinking it wasn't for me ... but so glad I didn't.

Great venue, good light and fresh air, lunch supplied and a whole work table to ourselves. Alison is an excellent teacher and it was worth doing, just for the tips!

My inspirational pic - it was quite dark and bright

so I had to tone it down somewhat

I started stitching in the left bottom corner.

Very happy with this.

Closer.

There's clearly an art to photographing silk

and I have yet to learn it, lol!

 

Getting there ...

Framed by L cards to crop.

Still more to do - and flowers to come yet,

in the foreground ...

I didn't get shots of everyone's work unfortunately - there were 16 of us. Click on the pic below (or any of them) to enlarge and see more detail.

Alison has very generously put our work up on her website under Student's Work ... go HERE to see more under Landscapes: A Picture.

You can also have a look at other workshops and Alison's beautiful work on her home page and gallery pages.

It's so nice to be creating again ;-)))

cheers
Cait

teacosy
I made this for a friend's birthday last month and added a shell from here to remind her of me, aaaww!

Happy post birthday Sue xo

The colour looks pale blue/grey here,

but it's actually a soft teal blue/green

More teacosies coming soon ...

Thanks for visiting

cheers
Cait

last two gelli printed postcards received

Aren't they lovely?

Ann B from NSW has added a stamped leaf, hessian and silk, with hand stitching and gorgeous French knots.

Ann (top) and Sally's postcards

Sally W from Tas has used a fern frond as a template, with machine stitching around it and butterfly outlines stitched over the top. Sorry it's upside down Sally - I didn't realise until it loaded!

Thank you Ann and Sally.

Our next swap will be 'sunprinting', due by early December.


cheers
Cait

paintings and an old quilt
Himself is having an office re-vamp and I offered to make him a new wall quilt (eventually), but on Friday he brought home the old quilt and two paintings I'd done 8 years ago, which meant his walls are bare!

Well, I might be good but I'm not good enough to whip up two paintings AND a new quilt in one weekend!

So I started with a couple of simple paintings. They were both based around beach glass, shells and ephemera we find when walking on the nearby beach, which I love. I added some paper, card, fabric and paint. After painting the canvases, the pieces had to be stitched to the backgrounds and glued on.

shells

 

close

beach glass and driftwood

(that's a tiny piece of glass on the distant horizon!)

close

I'm not a painter (in case you hadn't guessed, LOL) but I'm happy with these and Himself really likes them. They'll certainly brighten his office, along with ...


Matching Tie & Handkerchief (thank you Monty Python)
This quilt was made for a small group challenge in 2006 from a Stargazey pattern by JAN MULLEN.

We had to cut the arms, fronts and backs off men's shirts and swap/select them unseen at random from a bag. Consequently, some of the fabrics aren't exactly my choice! But we also had to use some of all the samples and it was an added challenge to make it work.

I really enjoyed incorporating collars, cuffs, pockets and button hole facings in unexpected places.

Matching Tie & Handkerchief quilt

[click to enlarge]

closer

incorporating a cuff with button

 

I couldn't do much quilting - it was so bumpy and uneven with soft/worn and firm fabrics and several layers in some places - it would have created too many ripples and puckers.

This will (certainly!) brighten another wall until I can make a new quilt for him.

I hope you have had fun being creative this weekend too.

cheers
Cait


 

gift sent
My friend Ann was on my list of 4 recipients, so I made this for her. Had to keep it a surprise until it arrived!

postcards received
Here are the two beautiful gelli printed postcards I have received so far. Two more to come!

 

Top: hearts and background are all gelli printed,

from LINDA STOKES, Perth WA

 

Bottom: plum blossoms welcoming Spring,

from JENNI STRACHAN, Victoria

 

Thank you Linda and Jenni.

cheers
Cait

gelli printed postcards
Here they are - what an addictive process and so easy - loved it! I only had to make 4 for the online swap, but I became a bit excited with experimenting and finished up making 8!

They will be hand stamped at the PO tomorrow and posted across Australia to ACT, NSW and Tasmania.

white Paddington cotton background,

gelli plate printed with fabric paint

the beautiful feathers were found on the beach

 or in my garden

 

Thanks for visiting!

gelli printing
It's great to be here again after such a lapse in time :-D

Here is my first attempt at gelli printing for a postcard challenge in my online AusNZArtQuilters group.

Click on them to enlarge for more detail.

This one (above) on silk with comb,

bubble wrap and found bird feathers

 as templates

White Paddington cotton, combed paint,

overlaid with grey and black

Cotton - the feathers are less obvious than

in the silk (top). Also stamped with

 antique Indian flower stamp

Cotton with white paint underneath -  

muddier brown than it shows here.

Text stamp, which came up backwards of course!

The black circles were randomly painted

 onto gelli plate before final stamping.

 

Sections of these prints will be selected to enhance with more paint/stencils (maybe), foils and lots of hand/machine stitch, before making into 6 x 4 inch postcards.

Stay tuned for progress!

Thanks for visiting.

cheers
Cait

calling all mixed media artists ...

See you HERE next week!

 

 

cheers for visiting

Cait





some detail pics
If you are a member of Australia New Zealand Art Quilters online group, go to the Living Colour Entries album to see members' entries that didn't make selection in the exhibition (previous post). 

balloon detail

basket with metallic bunting tips

and stitch detail in sky

bon voyage!

sky and sunrise

There will also be an exhibition of entries that missed selection, entitled 'Le Salon des Refuses' at BERRY PATCHWORK, Berry, NSW on 30-31 August 2014.

It seems I named my quilt in anticipation of this French connection, LOL!

Hope you're enjoying the weekend.
cheers
Cait

Living Colour!
My piece wasn't accepted for exhibition :-((( but Himself is happy, because he wants it on his office wall.

There were 177 entries received and only 32 selected for exhibition, so it must have been very difficult to choose. I can't wait to see them.

This project was fun to work on and I learnt heaps - it can only be beneficial for future challenges!

C'est la belle vie!

[This is the life!]

40 cm x 95 cm

 

 

Artist statement

The colour and majesty of early morning hot air balloons

evoke a conflicting sense of excitement, adventure

and tranquillity.

Imagine being so immersed in the freedom of the wind,

with birds' eye views of the changing shapes and hues

of the landscape!

Although the Chinese created paper sky lanterns in the

third century BC for military signalling, it was

the French who achieved lift-off in the first manned

hot air balloon in France in 1783.

I love the whimsy and romance of these beautiful vehicles

full of life, fun and recreation.

 

Hand dyed background cotton sky fabric, stitched over

tear-away; appliqued commercial cotton batiks; machine and

hand thread stitching and embroidery with cotton, silk and

rayon threads; machine and hand quilting.

 

 

Here is a list of the exhibition venues LIVING COLOUR! TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

Thanks for visiting!
cheers
Cait