GirlMeetsArt

It’s been way too long since I posted, I know. Crazy/maddening/depressing stuff going on at home and with family. But I actually have been at play. Finally, at least three years after screenprinting a pattern of abstract houses (at a Penland class taught by Clare Verstegen), I am now working on embellishing the fabric to tell a story about some of the places I have called “home”: West Seneca, New York; Chicago; and Falls Church, Virginia.

The project finally ripened, so to speak. During the course, I completed this print as a study in color rhythm and registraton. I really knew nothing about embroidering, and little about sewing except for putting on buttons or hemming pants. Since then, I learned to embroider. I’ve spent countless hours soaking up books on fabric collage, scrapbooking, altered art, and image transfer. I took a workshop in fiber art. I’ve gained confidence to push back that nagging internal editor/dictator. I’m settled into my new apartment.

Now, as I proceed, I have to keep telling myself, soldier on, girl! Don’t make this into yet another overly complicated, overly thought-out project. Just go with the flow and have fun!

 

 

Well, this week there was bad news and good. The bad news: I couldn’t sleep Monday night. My mind was racing with all the things to worry about regarding my pending move. I took some meds supposedly to help me sleep, but two hours after I went to bed, I woke up and tossed and turned. Finally, 45 minutes later, I gave up hope of getting back to sleep.

Here’s where the good news comes in. I got up and finished Doggie Heaven at long last. I’d been chipping away at it for many weeks, an hour here or there at night. Some (okay, many) nights, not at all. I really felt that I’d bitten off way more than I could chew when I signed up for the Art League School workshop, thinking I would have a piece done over the two days. Hah! That was in March. But something kept me chugging along. Guilt? The thought that I didn’t want the cost of the workshop and supplies to go to waste? The desire to see a fun concept come to completion? No doubt, a combination of all three.

Having caught the embroidery bug at Penland, when I saw that the Art League School was offering a two-Saturday workshop to make a fiber sculpture, I quickly signed on. Being a dog lover, I decided to create a stylized dog figure that would be large enough to use to hold the day’s mail and my cell phone and keys.

What would a dog’s version of heaven be? Well, for one thing, biscuits would rain down from the skies. Fire hydrants would be plentiful for those calls of nature. And of course, there would always be a hand to rub the tummy. These are a few pics of the work in progress. The head and tail were made from Sculpey. The fabrics have been hanging out in my closet for years after I picked up a pack of remnants at an outlet store.

Update June 20, 2009:

The dog gains some clothes.

I did this print in 2001. It was originally a black monotype, but at the request of a friend who liked the design but also loved color, I applied washes of water color to give it its “tropical” feel. Hence the title: Tropical shoes. It hangs proudly in my friend’s apartment.

This year, the creative urge hit me around the time I began considering what Christmas cards to send out this year. How could I combine some of the many techniques I’ve learned at workshops over the years? So I dug out some fabric I’d screenprinted, pulled out the embroidery stitches guide, and started working.

Thankfully, I only send out a few cards these days. Each one is unique. Half use those neat Italian paper clips as “ornaments.” Some include “snow.” Ho, ho, ho!