Sunday, January 30, 2011

blogging from the beach



A friend has been asking what our strategies are for beating the winter blues. I have many but this year I am fortunate to do the best one....escape to a warm beach for 3 weeks.


 Now, one can not spend ALL day basking and reading and swimming in clear turquoise waters can one? No, one needs a project.   

I just happened to watch a video of Susan Carlson (www.susancarlson.com/) on The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com) demonstrating her collage technique using glue. Perfect. This could also be an exercise in working with value for me. I DO have bags and bags full of tiny scraps from all my projects. I wanted to take my whole studio. What if I needed that one scrap of silver or that purple with the gold bee? How could I leave all those precious pieces behind? I decided it would be an exercise in working with what I have at hand and brought some packets of batik jelly rolls and 5 inch squares I have been collecting. So here is the work in progress.

  I am finding not enough contrast in value and colour in the batiks. Colour and value are not absolutes. Both depend on what they are next to. It seems to me the batiks are too similar. We'll see. I am however having a lot of fun. Stay tuned and please send your comments and advice.

5 comments:

  1. I just got her book. It's amazing how similar her technique is to mine ( but she has done some really really wonderful stuff)
    Looks to me like you are getting the idea nicely. It's so freeing, isn't it?

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  2. Hi Phyllis,
    I really loved working this way and plan to do more. I just took that piece off the frame and will get the binding on this week. I love it! Do you fuse your pieces? I likes working with glue because I didn't have to bring an iron.

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  3. Wonderful work! Not sure anyone notices the dates or the absence of blogging so would say you are a great blogger... lovely photos of your work.

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  4. Thanks WW. Still working on studio, hoping to be working on sewing soon!

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  5. I do a lot of layered work, mainly in landscapes. I sketch on paper and then work directly on a base layer. I like 'misty fuse' because it is so soft. and it makes a solid fuse of the edge for when I go to the Innova to sew. I have the same machine as you do ... I love the process of sewing.

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