Recent ATCs

Some new ATCs from my growing collection.  Have a great weekend!

This Week's 9x12

This week's journal quilt was more experimental than the last few.  I started with a background of mostly fabric, with newspaper in the upper left quadrant...then quilted it...then sealed it with acrylic medium.  Then added a small piece of CitraSolv'd paper over the newspaper...then dry brushed several layers of acrylic paints over the whole piece.  Then stamped with acrylic.

Glad I tried this, but not sure I'd do it again.  It was the sealing with medium part that I liked the least.  I'll try nearly anything at least once!

05.17.2012

05.16.2012

Home Is Where The Art Is

Today is reveal day for Fiberactions' 3rd color challenge, split complementary colors.  Instead of doing two pieces as I've done for the last two challenges, I did four!  The grouping is called Rose Cottage Quartet, each piece measuring 19x14 inches.  And meant to hang in no particular order.

I loved this challenge because I don't usually work with such contrasting colors, so it was a release of freedom to do so.  And I love the vibrancy of these colors together ~ turquoise (green-blue on the color wheel), red and orange.

I've also really been hankering to create quilted houses, which many other quilters have done.  And especially I was inspired by the paintings of my dear artist friend, Joan Gold.  The fact that these pieces are far more whimsical than my usual quilted fare honors the fact that I am letting myself loosen up as an artist.

Embedded in each piece, quilted in contrasting thread color, are the words "Home is where the art is."  The text is most evident in the bottom quilt on the right.  So apropos, since I live in my art studio!

05.14.2012

05.12.2012

Friday's Child

This week's 9x12" journal quilt.  The foundation fabric is a piece of cotton duck that I painted on Wednesday.

The image is printed on homespun cotton -- I first tried various methods of image transfer and no combo of anything worked to my satisfaction (printer paper, inkjet print, water transfer, acrylic medium transfer, print on transparency then transfer, et al) so I resorted to the method that always works well for me.

The lace I've had for 40 years...used some of it back then on custom dresses I made at the time.

My obsession with ATCs continues ~ I've done about 15 this week.  I'm just loving them.  I especially like that I'm happy with what I'm creating, not trying to emulate others' work even though I'm using common techniques.  This is the way art should be ~ we learn from others and do our own thing. 

Tomorrow I'm going with a friend to the monthly meeting/workshop of NorBAG, the North Redwoods Book Arts Guild.  Looking forward to dipping my toes in the book arts arena.  Have a great weekend!

05.10.2012

Tiny Art

The first time I created textile collage postcards was three years ago and I've been wanting to make more.  So that's one of the things I've been up to in dribs and drabs over the past week.  I posted 11 pieces for sale last night on my Sales Blog, so do check them out.  The rest are going with two quilts to a show in Chico, CA called A Sense of Place, one of California Fiber Artists' venues for 2012.  The show runs from mid-May to mid-June at the Avenue 9 Gallery.

I've also begun making ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), which I'm totally loving.  What fun they are to create.  A handful of last year's 4x4" collages are being turned into 3.5x2.5" ATCs, but mostly I'm starting fresh with ideas that pop into my mind as I go.  What a great way to try out different techniques that I'll use on larger mixed media collage pieces in the near future.  New loves ~ ironing paper, fusing paper, and stitching paper!

A few words about what goes into making a textile collage postcard ~

1. It begins with a fabric collage, the small pieces fused then zigzagged onto the background fabric
2. The top gets overpainted with metallic textile paint
3. The postcard back is 2 layers of muslin fused together (so the subsequent quilting on the Peltex between the layers doesn't show through)
4. The words "Postcard" and "Postcard Art by Constance Rose @ 2012" are printed on pre-Bubble Jet Set treated fabric, then cut out, fused and stitched to the backing
5. The top is fused to the Peltex and quilted
6. The back is fused to the Peltex
7. The postcard is satin stitched around the edges

I have a lot of irons in the fire now and I'm really happy to be working at full steam again.  

05.08.2012

05.07.2012