Testing Watercolor Media on Fabric

Our group, Fiber Art Fusion (formerly known as the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Art Alliance but nobody liked the acronym for our website -- caqa or the formality of the name so we changed it a few months ago) met a few weeks ago. Our workshop was led by an incredible artist named Heidi Miracle-McMahill. She does wonderful work with watercolor crayons and utilizes her art on fabric. We all experimented with watercolor crayons on paper and then on fabric.

I decided to test different methods of using watercolor crayons on fabric and then to test colorfastness.

I gathered my supplies: Twinkling H2O's from LuminArte Inc.. a bottle of Delta Textile Medium and a set of watercolor crayons. I used 100% PFD cotton from Dharma. I mixed 1 Tablespoon of Textile Medium and 1 Cup of water.

WATERCOLOR CRAYON EXPERIMENT:

For my first experiment I colored on dry fabric,
then I used a brush and brushed on the Textile Medium/Water solution.

I let the piece air dry, then ironed for 30 seconds with a hot iron and pressing cloth.
I cut the piece in two and washed one piece in the washing machine in hot water.
You can see the color remained virtually the same. This was the most successful test.

For my second experiment I soaked the fabric in the Textile Medium/Water solution. Then I colored with watercolor crayons.
then I used a brush and brushed on the Textile Medium/Water solution.
I let the piece air dry, then ironed for 30 seconds with a hot iron and pressing cloth.
I cut the piece in two and washed one piece in the washing machine in hot water.
You can see the color almost the same, with the right side fading just slightly.

TWINKLING H2O's EXPERIMENT
Twinkling H2O's are little pots of watercolors which when used on paper give you great color and a lovely glittery shine.

For my first test, I painted the Twinkling H2O's on dry fabric, using the Textile Medium/Water solution as my water. (1 Tablespoon Textile Medium and 1 Cup water.)
I let the piece air dry, then ironed for 30 seconds with a hot iron and pressing cloth.
I cut the piece in two and washed one piece in the washing machine in hot water.
The color faded significantly but the sparkles were remaining. This was the most successful test.


For my second experiment I soaked the fabric in the Textile Medium/Water solution. Then I painted the Twinkling H2O's on using the Textile Medium/Water solution as my water.
I let the piece air dry, then ironed for 30 seconds with a hot iron and pressing cloth.
I cut the piece in two and washed one piece in the washing machine in hot water.
Not only did the color fade, but there seemed to be a total lack of sparkle.

Posting neglect

I have not posted much these days. I have not been very prolific and feel that I have not had much to post. Then I poked around a few of my favorite blogs and realized that not everyone posts finished works. Art is a process and the process of fiber art can be relatively slow. It is all those little things in between finished work that make a blog interesting and feed the art we make. It's part of what I enjoy reading on other blogs, so I'll add a few of my own.

On the third Tuesday of each month, I meet with a fantastic group of fiber artists at Fiber on a Whim. We are working through the Littlejohn and Beaney books. One exercise was to make a tissue paper picture and then take that picture and make it out of fiber. Here is my finished piece. The beading technique I learned in a class at Fiber on a Whim taught by Larkin Van Horn. I love Fiber on a Whim and will have to dedicate an entire post to this one-of-a-kind place.


Drawing inspiration from other activities. I always am rejuvinated and inspired by children. My husband and I have an hour-long program o children's songs and stories. We performed at our daughter's school for Multi-Cultural Arts Day. 40 kids per set, three sets. It was incredible. Children are so open and available to art and music. It truly is inspiring.

On the same day I performed with my husband, I raced to my youngest daughter's school to hear her perform in a Mother's Day concert. She was wonderful.

My 6 year old daughter wanted to make a gift for her teacher. My friend Sharon and I went to Beads by Design and selected some lovely stone beads for Sarah to use. Here she is intently stringing them.

And proudly displaying her nearly finished necklace.


And finally, I recently tye dyed t-shirts with my 4 and 6 year old daughters and a 7 year old friend. The shirts came out fantastic. My husband is a true supporter!! He opened the fridge the morning after and found these bottles of dye where he usually finds his milk.

And now I will get back to my studio and a small project I am working on in the hopes that I finish in time to submit to my traditional quilt guild's show. If you are in the Atlanta area, mark your calendar for September 14-16 and check out the East Cobb Quilt Guild show. I'll be doing demos for Fiber on a Whim and in general hanging out and helping as much as I can.

Exciting News

My work appeared in British Patchwork & Quilting!!

I received an email last week from my best friend Sharon. Attached to the email was a picture from the February 2007 edition of British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. Featured on the page were two quilts -- one was Sharon's quilt "Into the Void" and the other was my quilt "Lost." Accompanying the quilts was text about each piece and Open Hearts, Helping Hands, a juried exhibit curated by Laura Cater-Woods where the works appeared.

For a newbie in the art world, I cannot tell you how thrilling this is. Not only did my work appear in a magazine, it appeared on the page with my best friend's work, and in the same article featuring work by Claire Fenton. What an honor.

Focus on Fiber Retreat

One week blew by, then another and another. It feels as though I am caught in a whirlwind of activities and events. This morning, before taking my shower and setting out for this day's activities, I am taking a moment to update my blog.

The Focus on Fiber retreat was fantastic. I experienced challenges to working in a group. I anticipated that I might and should have brought a project to complete. I made a small accordian-fold book, dyed and batiked fabric. Next year I will go with a project in hand. It was a challenge to create in a group setting. Perhaps it is the style of my work which makes it less spontaneous. My self-consciousness about my work was the greatest hurdle.

The setting was beautiful, the weather was awesome. It was cold for a few days, mostly sunny and it only rained one day. One of the best parts of the whole trip was the food. I didn't have to prepare a single meal and I didn't have to clean the kitchen.

I met some wonderful women. Pamela Allen was a jewel. Funny, friendly and generously kind to all. The residents of the wet studio (which is where my space was) really clicked. I've been reading Deb Lacativa's blog for more than a year and was thrilled to meet her in person. She rocks. Marlene Glickman had the table next to me and we spent most meals together talking. The creativity flew off her and it was fascinating to watch. Her markings are fabulous.

Sadly, all my pictures are obscured by my lense cover which never fully opened. But Deb Lacativa took some great pictures.

I have already paid my deposit for next year's Focus on Fiber. The chance to get away for a week to work, meet other artists and get a break from my daily routine is invaluable. I returned refreshed, inspired and ready to work. Now to find the time. . .

Countdown to Artist Retreat

It has been more than a month since I have posted. Where has the time gone? Life has taken over -- the schedule with my girls has been hectic and full. Tae Kwon Do, Talent Show, ballet lessons, homework, birthday parties, etc. There has been little time left over for art.

I have spent the month with my sketch book -- recording ideas, exploring shapes and colors. This has been a valuable exercise in creativity -- in capturing the ideas that come to mind. Many of them are not worth pursuing, but trying them out in the sketchbook is less time consuming and less costly than beginning the exploration in fiber.

In three days Sharon and I head south to the Atlantic Center for the Arts where we will spend a week at an artist retreat -- Focus on Fiber. Here is a link to the architect's website with pictures of the ACA. I am so excited I can hardly sleep. Pamela Allen, Claire Fenton, Rosemary Claus Gray and many other very talented fiber artists will be there.

One question keeps haunting me -- what will I work on? I have a box packed of supplies to dye and batik. I have my sketchbook and the beginnings of a floral landscape. A floral landscape? you ask. Yes -- but how ridiculously safe. I have an idea for a three dimensional piece with political undertones. To be true to myself and to the art I want to make, I should work on the political piece. I ask myself -- what part of me is afraid of being rejected by the other artists because of my subject matter? And why do I care? Do I care?

Isn't art is an isolationist's pursuit? I work alone in my studio. No collaborators -- no critique of the process. This is both comforting and scary. In the vacuum of the studio I can pursue any idea I wish, yet I sometimes wonder if the idea or finished work is any good. Working in a group setting, as we will be doing next week, will be challenging. That journey of idea execution will not be private. It will be viewed by others.

How will that viewing affect my process? That is the ultimate question and I am curious to know the answer. When I return I will post the answer.

Happy Dance!

I received an email from Thelma Smith yesterday informing me that my piece featuring Dolores Huerta was accepted into the She Made Her Mark Exhibit. I am delighted by the news.

But happy dance? Not really. I had already moved on from the three pieces I submitted. Ready and eager to cash in on the creative surge I experienced while creating them. Yet, I still haven't cleaned my studio, and other than a few attempts at painting this month -- NOTHING. Not one creative idea has popped into my head.

Sharon recently spent two weeks at Callaway Gardens with Littlejohn and Beaney. During the first day Sharon reported that L&B said to spend time with your sketchbook, and not to work out of your head. Sketch your ideas, paint them, and work them out on paper before committing to fiber (or canvas I suppose). If you don't spend time in your sketchbook, and you always work out of your head, eventually you could run out of ideas.

Gasp. Could this have happened to me? Is my mind the proverbial blank slate -- images escaping my capture? That is a frightening proposition.

Luckily I work in a sketchbook, but the pages for January are filled with exercises and techniques. Practice in the arena of realism. A few forced attempts at the abstract. Perhaps I'll resurrect an old idea and put it to fiber. Perhaps that will pull me out of the drab winter doldrums.

Mom, do I have to clean up my room?

I read Jules post today about her studio. She actually can let her children share it with her. Mine is a total wreck. I've been working since November on three pieces for the She Made Her Mark exhibit (I promise this is the last reference, unless I do a happy dance). Here is the result. My studio is a total disaster area -- I think Sharon calls it "creative chaos." Chaos schmaos, it's a wreck. At one point I was on my hands and knees, under the ironing board (with the iron on) trying to find a piece of fabric. Joel walked in and asked me what in the world I thought I was doing.

Ah, but I made it to Federal Express, the three entries are safely on their way to Thelma Smith, who is curating this exhibit. Did I mention it is the She Made Her Mark exhibit? ;)

Now off to the studio for a little, I mean alot, of cleaning and putting away.

This is the area next to my sewing machine.
I had to use the stepstool to reach stuff that is to the left, on top of my counter.

This would be under my ironing board (see the cord)?
This is where I was caught kneeling and trying to reach fabric.
It was just too much of a hassle to move my ironing board.
I think I had a piece of foam core on top of the ironing board
in order to work on a piece.
All my available table space was used up with supplies.

My fabric corner where I throw fabric after using or auditioning.
I actually enjoy cleaning up this corner because
I discover fabric I don't remember having.

My cutting table. ha ha ha.
I used the kitchen table for the last two pieces.

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been? I've been working in the studio. For 9 days, my darling husband has watched my two daughters all day, all night, including meals and tantrums, so I could work in the studio. What a fantastic Christmas present.

I have been working on two pieces for She Made Her Mark, a juried exhibit being curated by Thelma Smith. I'm glad to say they are both finished, although I am not allowed to post pictures on my blog -- but if you want to see, you can email me and I'll send you a picture.

Happy New Year! I wish for all of us the same opportunity I had -- to work creatively in a supportive environment.

Surface Design

When I moved in with my husband (before we married, shhhh don't tell anyone) I promised I would not batik. Now why would I make such a promise? It was his house. He saw my house full of wax pots, vats of dye and mess everywhere. No thanks. So I painted, did assemblage art, made traditional quilts and remodeled a room in his (our) house every time he went on the road. (Really, remodeled. Once I took a sledge hammer and knocked out a ceiling, a wall and pulled up a floor.)

Last month our fiberart bee batiked and I brought a waxpot home. Joel sighed and said "Okay, I'll set you up." And he proceeded to set me up a wax studio in the garage. I have a really nice kitchen counter, cabinets, light and a radio. "Please, no dyeing. It's too messy," was his only request.

This month, our fiberart bee dyed fabric. I forgot my batik piece so I just dyed plain old PFD. I tried to imitate Laura Wazilowski's ArtFabrik which is beautiful. Laura Wazilowski I am not, but I am pleased with this attempt and will try again. The good news. . .
Joel saw the fabric and said. . .

"Okay, where do you want a sink."

Gotta love that husband!

Now I'm off to begin quilting Dolores.

Young Artists-in-training

Last week we had a passel full of girls playing at our house. I had asked my eldest daughter (6 1/2 years) to play with Barbies, Groovy Girls, Polly Pocket or any of the millions of toys they have -- and NO ART. I just couldn't face a huge cleanup with 4 girls making art and the associated mess.

A while later my daughter came in search of scissors. I asked what she needed them for and she said: "For my art project." I scolded her and reminded her of the request to play with anything, but not to make art.

She replied: "But Mom, all I like to do is art."

That statement blew me away. In the fraction of a second it took my mind to comprehend what she had said, I realized she was right. That is what she likes to do.

So I handed her the scissors and told her to have fun. The mess was huge, but "feeding" that budding artist is important.

Today my daughter asked me about my current piece and how I made it. I showed her, and then she asked if she could make one. Out came my box of fabric scraps (I save everything, as evidenced by the condition of my studio) and she selected a picture as her pattern. She and Sophia worked on their pieces for about an hour and then went outside to play.

Why do I write about this? To remind you to feed your kids art. It is as important as vegetables, fruit and protein.

Now back to the studio.

Here we are looking at Dolores and counting the number of fabrics I used.

Here is Sophia with her Christmas Egg.

Getting Reaquainted with My Janome

Two More Sweatshirts -- these for Sarah and Sophia.

No reindeer for Sarah -- she picked Santa! She loves Santa!

I realized today, as I finished two more sweatshirts, that it has been a long time since I sewed. I worked on Sally for most of the summer, and that work was done by hand. Another piece, not yet finished was also worked by hand.

As I get ready to begin quilting Dolores, it was a good thing I "wasted" two afternoons making sweatshirts for the girls and their friend. Now Janome and I are reaquainted and ready to work together to finish in time for my January 5 deadline.

Now back to the studio.

I have a Mary Akers original

"Foo Fee" by Mary Akers

I love art. I have a few original paintings by artists I admire. In November, I landed a Pamela Allen postcard from Virginia Spiegel's FiberArt for a Cause.

Tonight surpasses it all. At our "White Elephant" gift exchange, I was able to steal this from my good friend Sharon (I think she is still my friend). It is a piece by Mary Akers. Mary is an incredible artist and I am proud to have a piece of her work hang in my house!

I met Mary while taking Laura Cater-Woods workshop at Fiber on a Whim. Mary, like myself, found her art completely changed after the workshop. Powerful stuff.

The $72 Dollar Sweatshirt and how to waste an afternoon

My daughter has a standing playdate with her friend every Monday afternoon. Today, I knew I needed a craft activity to top the one they did at the friend's house last week.

Oh, I know, a little sweatshirt. I'll let them pick the picture and the fabric, I'll fuse and cut, they lay out, they can iron with supervision and I'll sew around the edges.

Only I needed a sweatshirt. And a red one since I was hoping for a Christmas theme. Off to Target, KMart, Big Lots, Kohl's, and Value City. No red sweatshirts. How can this be? It's December for goodness' sake, no red sweatshirts?

I resorted to the last resort, the place I hate most on this planet -- the dreaded Wal-Mart.

$72 later, I had three PINK sweatshirts (even WalMart didn't have red), some leggings for Sarah, a roll of parchment paper, a black turtleneck and a bottle of hand lotion.

Turns out the girls didn't really want to make sweatshirts.
Imagine that -- they just wanted to PLAY.

I can't believe I did it again! It's like being an ex-smoker (which I am). No matter how long you've been off cigarettes, just one puff and POOF you're hooked again. One step inside the doors of WalMart and POOF. . .

A good time for all!

The WLA at our best!!

Last night a group of friends got together and had a great time! We played in the studio, drank margaritas, enjoyed homemade salsa, carne asadas tacos, and delicious cheese and chocolate fondue.

Sally is going to IQF Houston in 2007

Sally is going to Houston!

This little guy is very fat and looks like he wants to bite your toe! Watch out!

I just received an email from Ann Flaherty that the Fabled Fibers Challenge quilts are going to be on display at the International Quilt Festival (Houston) in 2007. I made Sally Sells Sea Shells for that challenge, so folks. Sally's going to Houston!!

I guess that means I need to sew a 4" tucked sleeve to the back!

To read more about Sally click here, or here, or the funny story here!

P.S. Or here.

A sneak peek at my latest project

My very very messy studio. There is a box of acorn tops, half painted, half naked. Left-over supplies from homemade Halloween cards. Yarn and snippets from another one of my brilliant million-dollar ideas, my empty sewing machine tote, and gobs and gobs of leftovers from October and early November projects.
Really as soon as this one is done. . . . . Creative chaos!

Since my life changing weekend with Laura Cater-Woods, I have been working. I have ignored pages and pages of Quiltart.com and the dust on the mantel and the laundry in the upstairs hall, and the mess underfoot in my studio to focus on two projects. And still, there never seems to be enough time to do as much work in the studio as I want. How much time do I want? Unanswerable. Even an hour a day is hard to scrape up between my beautiful girls and my "job" as a volunteer mom at school.

My "job" at school entails writing the weekly communication bulleting and the quarterly PTA newsletter. Doesn't sound like a big job. Especially for someone who has words spilling out of her mouth-er-hands at a rate of 140WPM. But it is the information gathering that is so slow and tedious. If folks would just email their info and keep me from hounding them for it, or guessing what they want to go in it, things would go a lot quicker.

Today my friend Jules posted her finished rag quilt. Jules has four children, including her newborn son, Sam. When Jules was at my house a few weeks ago, we played with hot wax. It was great fun. Here she is batiking away. Her daughter played with my daughter, beautiful Max slept the entire time. Blissful.

So here I am with only two, both in school, no babies suckling at the breast, wondering why I don't have time to finish anything!?! Hmmmmm...... Jules could it have anything to do with communications? ;)

Here's a sneak peak at my more "traditional" piece for the She Made her Mark Exhibit. I have another very "non-traditional" piece I am working on. A new friend gave me the courage to pursue it. However, it will remain under wraps until it is accepted, or rejected.

Who picks your fruit and vegetables?
This is something we should all take into consideration every time we go to the grocery store. This is Dolores Huerta. As a child, I remember never eating grapes because my parents were big supporters of Caesar Chavez and the National Farmworkers Association (now the United Farm Workers Union.) Dolores Huerta played a key role in the Delano Grape Strike of the 1960's and hasgone on to be the leading champion for farm workers in our country. She's an incredible woman and my choice for the She Made Her Mark Exhibit.

THE PICTURE of my piece depicting Dolores was removed in order to qualify to enter the She Made Her Mark challenge. But here's the inspiration picture -- click on it to read more about Dolores and the Dolores Huerta Foundation website.

And now, I have a rare afternoon, when my children are playing at a friend's house, I'm going back to the studio instead of playing on the computer.

You too, scoot.

Post Script: In the picture of my studio, see the roll of wonder under laying right next to the parchment paper? It is. And Wonder Under looks just like parchment paper, especially if you are in the throes of creative excitement. Which I was when I fused a nice large piece of it to the top of Dolores' face! Ugh. Another hazard of a messy studio!

A life changing weekend with Laura Cater-Woods

Thursday night I heard Laura Cater-Woods speak to the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Arts Alliance. Friday and Saturday was in her workshop Tempting the Muse at the studio of Fiber on a Whim. Today I am floating a little closer to the ground, close enough to try and post something about this experience.

Tempting the Muse was like intensive therapy. Laura’s piece "Peeling the Onion" would be perfect to grace the cover of a marketing brochure for this workshop. She peeled us. Along the way, we cried, we discovered, we created and we celebrated.

I don't know if all of her workshops are like this. Most of the participants in our group knew one another, we were connected, and we knew we could trust one another. By the end of the workshop, the entire group shared an intimacy and connection that will continue beyond this weekend. I have written and rewritten this post many times trying to capture the magic of the weekend. Yet no matter how hard I try, it eludes me. In our cohesive group, it was personal and raw. Perhaps it is just too personal to share. It was magic.

The experience was life changing for me and I suspect it will have significant impact on the work I produce. It already has. My morning journal was filled with more images and less words the past few days. My senses are more tuned in to the world around me. I feel peeled and exposed. This peeled feeling is nice. It is raw, it is vulnerable, it is scary, but it is real.

Batik with the Bee

Finished piece and close up.




Friday the FiberArt Bee met at the studio of Fiber on a Whim. We played with hot wax. It was fun.

My primary form of fiber art back in the 70's was batik. I used to batik and dye in the basement of our house. The street was stained with a rainbow where I poured the dye out (of course I would NEVER do that now, but I was young and didn't think about the environmental impact).

It has been more than 20 years since I have picked up a tjanting. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to paint fabric with hot wax. Sharon was a true sport and brought me a pot of good old-fashioned beeswax and paraffin.

I batiked a piece of black fabric, came home and discharge dyed it, gave it a good soak in anti-chlor and then ironed it.

My husband will be hard at work this weekend setting me up a wax studio in the garage. Now I'm off to Dharma to order tjantings and wax.

After discharging and a soak in Anti-Chlor.

What have you been working on?

This is one of my favorite questions on Quiltart.com. I love to read the responses of the members as they relate their current experiments and projects.

As the mother of two children under 7, I've been working on Halloween. The girls love Halloween, and Sophia pretty quickly decided to be a cheerleader. Sarah was a little bit more indecisive. First she wanted to be a robot -- a costume Joel and I happily embraced and were excited to make. She drew up the plans, decided the colors, helped to pick the electronic components -- it was going to be fantastic. Then the next day she decided she wanted to be a princess, a pretty pink princess. Then a doctor, a monster, a ghost and finally a hula girl. Yes, a hula girl with a leigh and grass skirt. She was adorable.

This is most of the gang of trick or treaters.
Two more caught up with us a few minutes
after this picture was taken.

Creepy Halloween Cupcakes were required for two parties.

The week before Halloween, and Halloween week, I stayed focused on a project I"m working on for our school's PTA -- Reflections. Reflections is a fine arts program where students submit their entries for literature, photography, video/film and visual arts. This project was FANTASTIC.

I know I am a bit overanalytical about my work. Putting it down on paper is easy, but taking it to the final medium of fiber is always a bit daunting. Perhaps it is the expense of the medium, or the commitment of time to complete the piece. I never had this hesitation when I painted or collaged.

But back to Reflections. . . it is easy to see when a child suddenly becomes very interested in the finished product. About third grade. The entries from Kindergarten and First and Second grades were so free and colorful and BIG. Those kids filled up each and every page. And if stuff was available to glue on, well they used the supplies with abandon.

Then came the third grade entries which show the artists have become very careful about their work. They started in pencil, you can see the erasure marks, the hesitation and (okay I'm projecting here) the worry that it might not be "right." That continues in fourth and fifth grade, although the realism is better.

The winning entry for Fifth grade visual arts looks very much like the winning entry from First Grade. It is colorful, BIG and FREE. It is fantastic.

And hopefully I'll take some of that artists' permission-to-self to be free and let loose. To not worry about things looking exactly as I think they should and let the fabric take control every once in a while.

Boo!
Go back to work!

More fun! Silk Fusion

Silk Fusion Heart

It started with a simple question: "Want to meet me for a cup of coffee?" Sure, I replied, but only a quick one, I have tons of stuff I have to do (stuff=work for the family, errands, dry cleaning to pick up, bank deposits, oil change, etc.)

2 1/2 hours later, I'm running out the door trying to make it to preschool on time to pick up little bits.

But what a fun couple of hours, spent with Jan, Kristin and Sharon as we played with felting and silk fusion.