My little boat has been on and off the background of this picture a lot. And not just one boat - but lots of different sorts of boats - long boats, boats with lots of oars, two masted boats, etc.

Anyway today I took the plunge and stitched a boat - below are the stages.

Step 1

I am doing this boat as a type of "Reverse applique". I lay dark coloured fabric over my sunset background.

Step 2

I lay water soluble fabric with the drawing of the boat on over the dark fabric and background fabric.

Step 3

Stitch the boat, with free machine embroidery in a thread that goes with the dark fabric.

Tomorrow I will dissolve away the water soluble fabric, and cut away the dark fabric from around the outside of the boat, leaving a silhouette - which hopefully will be sailing along in the right place .... watch this space!

Ho Hum

Picture so far ........

Lots of faffing about this afternoon placing fabrics and papers on the piece; and taking them off again ..... on and off ....... on and off ........

This is where I have got to now. Layers of fabrics and papers for the "sea" at the bottom.
Layers or sheers, organza's and some tissue paper at the top.

There is supposed to be a boat sailing away in the middle - but when I cut out a paper template and placed it in position - I didn't like it. The sea and sky overpowered it.

So I am having to have a re-think about the design. Meanwhile I still have the original design in my head.

I think in preparing this background - I strayed away from my original design - which was quite ethereal - and have done a more literal sea scape - sort of on automatic pilot - and now I don't know where to take it!

Anyway - no studio time tomorrow - and I must tend the veg garden on Sunday - so that will give me lots of thinking time to resolve the design and process.

Oh ..... my piece "Sacred Mysteries" has been accepted for hanging at the open art competition, so I am pleased about that.

New Picture Started

Guess what? ..... it rained today! Got completely washed out gardening this morning - and was not very settled in the studio this afternoon.

However I have made a start on a new piece - and got a working title for it - currently "Beyond the Stars"

It is based on a section of Sacred Mysteries - the sailing boat section.

Background

The background is a rough sunset/water painted onto vylene - I always rough out the background colours - even though they wont show in the finished piece as it gives me a starting point for the fabric, papers and stitching - and it is far easier to make a first stitch into colour than untouched white - rather like its hard (sometimes) to draw on the first page of a new sketchbook - I always start a couple of pages into the book.

Starting the layers

For the sea I wanted words in the background. I have transferred a letter onto tissue paper which I have ripped up and placed on the background.

Building up the fabric layers

I am now starting to build up the fabric layers of the sea - that's all I had time for today - but when I next get time in the studio - hopefully tomorrow - I will continue to build up the fabric layers in the sky. At this point they are only pinned down - Giving scope for tweaking when all the fabrics are in place, prior to stitching

To days Journal Page

Tissue Paper, print and fabric layers stuck together, then cut and re-pieced.
Stitching and felt pens.
(size aprox 8ins high)

Very fed up with all these grey skies we are having just now. Not much time in the studio to-day - just enough to do a journal entry.

To Day in the Studio

Had some time today in the studio - but was not very focused!

I was contemplating these papers - When I paint bondaweb - these are the backing papers once the bondaweb has been removed - and they are a happy accidents - and far to good to chuck away - but didn't come up with anything I really want to do with them today - maybe tomorrow!

The next "event" that I have to prepare for is a craft fair here in the village in September - and I want to make some greetings cards.

When I do "small embroideries" as greetings cards, they take a phenomenal amount of time. So I wanted to do something quicker and I am playing around with paper layers and stitching - using papers I created over the years.

Golden Music Paper

This is a piece of paper I made last year (size approx A4) It is made from layers of tissue paper, some of which were stamped or drawn on. Pages from a music book and loose fibres, with more tissue paper on top. The whole piece has been brushed over with quite a thick gold acrylic paint - which was quickly rubbed away. It also had some pearl ex powder sprinkled on top and rubbed in.

I am going to cut this up to make "toppers" for greetings cards - hearts and flowers are always popular. So I have started cutting out hearts from another piece of laminated tissue papers - and stitched this onto the background.

Close up detail of heart



size approx 4 inches high

Still quite fed up with the blog being off line for a day or two this is why;-

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Is it going to happen again? - If they check you out once does that mean it wont happen again? Should I take my blog elsewhere? All these silly little questions going on in the back of my head. I am glad it happened after I finished the big piece - because the piece and the blog were very linked in my mind.

Locked Blog

To anyone who tried to visit my blog yesterday or today - sorry for the inconvenience of being
"locked" however - google has now verified I am a "real" person and this evening my blog was unlocked.

Piece Delivered .....

"Sacred Mysteries" has gone - I delivered it to the gallery today - and the selection panel meets next Tuesday. They let artists know if their work has been selected by post, so I will know one way or the other by the end of next week.

When I got home after delivering the work I felt a bit lost - this is how I usually feel when I part with a big piece - especially so soon after it has been finished.

Usually on completion of a big piece, or series of pieces I take a day to clean my studio - returning everything to its place ready for the next batch of work - but this time before I start on the studio, I will have to tidy the house for visitors that arrive on Wednesday.

I am not tidy by nature - and my home bears testament to this. However, the cleaning of the studio after a batch of work is therapy. It is a meditation on the pieces that have been finished - and those that are to come. It is a time to pause and take stock - before the next flurry of activity. As I write this I am reminded of those snow globes - which you shake and the glitter and snow flies everywhere, fast at first - then slowing down before gently sinking to the bottom - ready to be shaken up again.

When I tidy the studio - this is sometimes when wonderful "What if" moments occur - which will be triggered by the juxtaposition of carelessly discarded elements from the just completed pieces;- Bondaweb on top of foil. String under foil etc.

Above is a small glimpse of an old piece of work - layers of hand made paper and copper - just a little eye candy!

Thank You

(This post was in response to a variety of comments which have now been deleted).

I would like to thank all of you who visit my blog and take the time and trouble to comment.

I believe that art has no boundaries - neither place nor gender, nor age.

I make my art and put it out there for the world to see - if it touches someone, amuses someone, brings someone joy, makes someone think, or irritates - than that is all well and good.

I work from my soul, expressing what I need or want to say. I started this blog as way of showing how I work, what my decision processes are and if the pieces themselves work or not.

I have friends to stay now for 10 days - and will not be in the studio much - although I will probably post about how it feel to have completed a big piece later in the week.

I realize that I will not get my commentary right for all of the people all of the time - and that is something we will all have to live with. But I will take on board suggestions that make it easier for viewers to understand (ie 20cm = 8 ins)

This blog is about my art, my processes and my musings on an artists life and I will welcome comments on these matters. In future I will moderate comments that are not related to the above.

What's in a Name?

The naming of a piece of work is always something I find thought provoking and interesting.

Sometimes the name comes first - I will hear or read a phrase and immediately it invokes the idea of a piece of art. Other times - as in this case - I was working to a brief "In a country churchyard" and the name of the piece is still undecided.

While working on the big piece - in my mind I was calling it "Fabric of Life" - however I like this title so much that I really want to do a series of work with this title - or use it as the theme for an exhibition.

I have been toying with variations on journeys and songs - as the piece has a "journey line" in it - which is a theme I enjoy but nothing I thought about was really right.

Friends came around this evening to have a look at the art before I submit it for selection tomorrow. We were all playing with thoughts and ideas - what the piece was saying to us as individuals. Trying to find the appropriate name.

One of the group said "Sacred Mysteries" and I knew that was right - Again for me it is an internal click - I suppose like putting in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle; Click the jigsaw is finished; Click the piece is named "Sacred Mysteries". The title says everything I want the piece to express, and I am happy.

The Gift for a Friend
This piece is now finished, and it is called "The Gift" (Size 20cm x 20cm)
below is the finished piece, and some details.

THE GIFT

The embroidery has been mounted onto a board which has been covered with a copy of the service sheet. I have aged this by washing it over with a wet tea bag. Then when this was dry I washed it over with a mix of Gesso and Parchment coloured acrylic paint.

Detail showing ExtravOrganza scroll

The scroll was made by printing a quotation onto ExtravOrganza with an inkjet printer.

Detail showing the service sheet background
(in Welsh)

The complete picture

photography Nigel Thompson

A Gift for a friend.

Rain again today - so another studio day as no gardening!

I wanted to make a piece as a gift for my cousin who became a priest on Sunday - and I wanted to complete the piece in one day. I nearly achieved it - but I have got a few finishing touches to do tomorrow.

I have taken the angel element from the large piece - as this angel is meaningful to both of us.

For the background I layered dyed pieces of tissue and tissuetex left over from the last project. I bonded these layers together using bondaweb. As I really did not like the colours - I was left with very dark blue and acid yellow - I over painted the bonded papers with golden and pearl acrylic paint - this left me with quite a strange plasticy surface - but that was fine. I then cut an arch shape out of the bonded papers.

I printed the angel onto ExtrvOrganza and then bondawebed the organza onto heavyweight vylene - which had all ready been coloured with a dilute mix of fabric dye and gold acrylic paint.

I placed the tissue layers over the angel do that she was sitting in the arch - then machine zig-zaged around the arch in gold thread. Then I did my usual thing of putting the whole lot onto water soluble fabric as a support while I did the machine and hand stitching.

As for my big piece - I have ignored it all day - and looking at it this evening - it is finished!
And ...... its OK

Still Thinking

Rain today - very grey and wet.
Still thinking

I think it might be finished

I think it might be finished! So I shall leave the piece alone until Friday when I will stitch it onto the background! Oh - and photograph it.