pictures and patterns

I always have good intentions of blogging regularly, however life always gets in the way... I am working on a larger piece with a base of felted wool, and will soon post some in-progress pictures.  In preparation for creating that piece, I spent a lot of time going through my 14K or so Flickr photos, looking at patterns and seeing what I photographed repeatedly.  Here are some pictures that I really like.

I love rocks.  I pick them up from everywhere.  I have rocks from the Atlantic, from Ireland, from hiking trails... rocks, if you are the kind of person who looks closely at them, have lines and shapes and colors.  I've even started a small collection of heart shaped rocks.

Trees and plants are important to me.  The shapes of sticks and roots, the tendrils and offshoots of a  plant, and the glorious colors of flowers can often inspire me.

Grids fascinate me - straight or curved lines, in layers and juxtapositions.  I use grids a lot in my art.  And I love drawing or writing on graph paper instead of lined paper.

And of course, color.  Right now aqua continues to be my favorite color.  This was a small color study that I did for a Cloth Paper Scissors reader challenge.  It didn't get in, but I still like it. 

I am so glad that I have a digital camera, and can take bunches of pictures without worrying about the cost.  Out of the many shots, one or two will be exactly what I want, but I have to take all of the shots to come up with those one or two.  

color combinations

I have been experimenting, well, actually, having fun dyeing yarns and fabric.  I am not at all precise and sometimes am surprised at the color combinations I come up with.  In an effort to be more organized, and to maybe be able to reproduce some colors, I've been collecting paint chips and yarn samples and sorting them into possible combinations.



lime, blue, teal, violet





lime, pink, purple





blue, lime, teal



khaki, brown, pink



lime, aqua, teal, pink, and will use black as an accent

I remember my mother teaching me about color - the blue purples and the red purples, and never wear navy and green together, unless it's plaid, my sixth grade concert dress of white lace and cotton, with hot pink tights and lime green jewelry... we had an avacado colored kitchen and a raspberry bathroom long before they became popular colors.  She had a great eye for color, and I think of her evey time I dye yarns and fabric. 

vignettes on red - a recap of my solo show

My solo show, vignettes on red, recently finished at Strolling Village Artisans in Ballston Spa, NY.  It was fun to create the pieces for the show - I got to play and forced myself to work in a color that is not my favorite.  Here are some pictures of the show, and then I'll show some of the little book I created during the process.

looking into the gallery, the red triangles piece is directly to the back.  It's all hand dyed fabric and knitted triangles.

mother's apron - hand dyed fabric, vintage apron and potholders, glass heart.

cherry tree quilt - a remnant of a commercial coverlet that my grandmother used on her bed.  Eventually it became part of our vacation bedding when we stayed at a cabin.  This is the only piece that survived.  Vintage doily and potholder, buttons.

detritus - hand dyed fabric and leftover found objects

no more dolls 2 - vintage hand made child's dress, vintage trim and buttons, vintage dolls and doll parts

and here are pages from the small book I made telling about the creative process I was experiencing.

 words

quotes about the color red, and all the different names of red.

thoughts about the way the pieces will look and loving the combination of teal and red.

on to the next set of projects!