a Commission Phase II

The first thing I did when I woke this morning, before coffee! I went over the painted fabric with some pewter, silver, light green and off white- to tone it down, add more depth and texture.

Hmm- we'll have to wait till this dries to see if the color is what I want.

I should share the previous work that inspired Joni to choose me for this commission. It is called Essence.

Essence


        The fabric is dry and I'm ready to cut into it- almost hate to do it! I even like the back!

The fiber photo is sewn and ready for border. I want the placement of borders to echo the color placement in the photo. 








I use an old iron to steady the clear ruler for long cuts. I’ve had too many wonky borders. It’s like a third hand holding the ruler at one end while I cut. Sometimes I use two or even heavy beach rocks.

I trim all the threads on the back and seal the seams with medium. This ensures no loose threads will show though the silk organza ‘window’ and secures the seams. 

I choose the mediums I will apply to the front/face of piece, which I decided to call “Clear Light”. 
I use a satin varnish to seal/UV protect the painted fabric borders and gloss medium for photo. The gloss medium adds a little punch, shine and deepens the colors on the ink jet fabric photo. Do not do this in direct sunlight! There is some kind of reaction and it turns white! Make sure you shake any product you use thoroughly and if you haven't used it in a while test it. 

I also add a small bit of pumice gel to accent shadows, some pearl-x mixed with medium to highlight shine on the water and glass bead medium to really bring this home. When you add the medium it is milky white but will dry clear.

This is a bit like an act of courage because once it's dry, it's on!

a Commission

I was contacted by a friend, Joni, in a gallery I have been with for years, Art 3, Manchester, NH.  here They took me on as a newbie when I first starting pushing my artwork out of my studio.
Last week she phoned me with a commission for the Elliot at Rivers Edge which is part of the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH. Great! But it needs to be done before March. OK I can do this!
After looking at some of my previous art, she decided that the piece is to be a combination of digital fiber, holographic imagery and painted/silkscreened fabric with a water theme.
I sent a variety of pix to her to choose from, my artists price and got the approval to go forward.

original image

image simulation 

Next, I worked on the photo to enhance the colors, change the hue to meet a slightly different color scheme and divided the photo into parts that will be sewn together. I needed to figure out the size of each piece and the painted borders to fit her size requirement of 30x40.
     Next to the printer! I use inkjet prepared fabrics. This coating gives the best colors, makes it permanent and are UV protected. My Epson printer Ultrachrome inks are guaranteed for 200 years, light fast and water resistant. I feel confident in the durability of the finished work.
I choose a durable canvas for this project. I ran a couple tests to see which setting gave me what I wanted, then cut and printed the fabrics.

printed canvas and organza ready to sew

I like to allow this to dry at least over night before sewing or ironing. I feel it has a chance to set and won't smear when I iron it. These fabrics are practically water proof then.

     While I wait. I paint the fabric I will use for the border. I choose a hearty cotton duck and got the color palette out that Joni sent me. I want the colors to work with the image, playing off the contrast of blue and orange, while enhancing the room it will be displayed in. This is the fun part. I really enjoyed painting on fabric. 

     While these dry, I go back to production work for Craft Boston which will be coming up in March. here

In addition to my art which is now hanging at my solo show at the Lincoln Levy Gallery (see previous post), I did a line of silk chiffon kimono and scarves. They are in various stages of dyeing, painting, ironing, labeling. Plenty of work. 

But this allows my mind to gestate on the commission piece... more later!

Solo Show in Portmouth NH

The show just before the opening. Up until Feb 25...

The combination of my mixed media/fiber and sculpture is terrific! Deb and I both use the circle and bird motifs, and connect with nature. This was unplanned and a serendipitous surprise!

I hope you can see the show.

It really is, Flying with Light!

Away

Underneath the snow and layers of crystalline ice,
The water is still flowing,
Making its way silently,
  darkly.
Away, away,
Always moving quickly away.

ONE more collage

ONE more Collage from my Movin' On Series for ONE- One Cause, One Wednesday, One Hundred Collages. An all-star lineup of artists have donated artwork for this fundraiser to fight cancer.

MORE here!!

ONE Day Feb 16, 2011

Surface Design Conference Confluence 2011 is coming!

This workshop opportunity came with the 2005 Surface Design Conference. Dorothy is one of my fiber shero's and I was very lucky to be accepted into her workshop.
If you ever get a chance I recommend her mind bending workshop!
And the Surface Design Conference is coming up this June 2011!

I am lucky to be able to teach at this venue!

WORKSHOP OFFERING- MIX IT UP! AT SDA CONFLUENCE CONFERENCE JUNE 2011

click here for INFO
video can be seen on UTube- here

Flying with Light

You are invited

Flying with Light

a collaborative solo exhibit of artwork

with artists

Sculptor, Deborah O’Leary

and

Mixed Media/Fiber Artist, Wen Redmond

Feb 4 through Feb 25

at Lincoln Levy Gallery

136 State Street, Portsmouth, NH

Meet the Artist and

Reception Feb 4, 5-8 pm

Gallery hours: Wednesdays thru Saturdays 10 AM to 5 Pm

Sundays Noon to 4 PM

Deb's website here

Movies!

I have posted some video's on my website, including one on how to use up left overs, paint that is...

I would love feedback. I'm kinda new to the vid-making process.

No Holds Barred

The New England Quilt Museum announces the opening of NO HOLDS BARRED, a juried exhibit of recent art quilts by the New England region members of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA). Jan 20-April 9. Yours Truly will host a Demonstration and Trunk show! There is a schedule of events, not to be missed!

more info HERE

ONE

Another Collage from my Movin' On Series for ONE- One Cause, One Wednesday, One Hundred Collages. An all-star lineup of artists have donated artwork for this fundraiser to fight cancer.

MORE here!!

ONE Day Feb 16, 2011

New Website

Same Address
New Site! Exciting!
Please travel there and tell me what you think!
here

Thank you

Blue Door Gallery

Accepted in NYC at the Blue Door Gallery!

I dreamt I knew a man who was a tree. He described the wonderful lights that he could see.

Detail

Digital Fiber

Digital manipulated interpretation of a photograph.

Printed on inkjet prepared cotton satin and silk organza.

Creatively stitched.

19x27

SAQA's own Arlé Sklar-Weinstein, Director: Blue Door Gallery, was the Juror for Fiber PLUS!

more info here

non-speaking, speaking

Captured

laughing until I reach a zen moment, I remember to forget...forgetting, I remember it all again-
cycles of time, 
spoken out loud 
to my inner self.

Elmer's Glue Crackle Technique

I just learned a really cool and inexpensive crackle technique.
Paint your cloth or base. I used acrylic paint- what ever I have open or ready at hand. Spread on your glue and immediately paint with a contrasting paint.

Let it dry and watch the magic crackle appear.

easy!

Apply Elmer's Glue to painted base

spread glue with brush or old credit card

Paint without drying glue

Finished, Dried and Cracked Surface

Give Away is Finished

I was recently published in CPS and have one sealed, unopened copy to give away. Please email me at wenreddyatyahoodotcom and I will send it to the lucky winner. Thank you Everyone! We have a WINNER!!

Sense of Touch

     Ever notice how sometimes you just start to work and pieces fall together as if by magic. As if just showing up in the studio is somehow like catching an ocean wave and riding with it. And OH what a ride!

Sense of Touch completed

Yesterday I had just such a day. I put down a background and played with some collage materials leftover from another recent spurt. I ended up with 4 wonderful pieces. Sense of Touch is one. This will be an entry for an upcoming exhibit.

the starting point

detail

     I started with a manipulated and digital collage printed on a molding paste substrate. The surround is a combination of paper compositions created earlier and painted cloth. I overlaid parts with silk organza and stitched into the piece as a mark-making tool. 

      I feel I was definitely in touch with the energy of creation. A sense of touch.

New Hampshire in DE-Light!

Clouds Kissing

U

P

T

O

M

Y

E

A

R

S

in Holiday 'FUN' and the 'pleasures' of my studio.

I take myself out into the back woods- just under 50 acres with ajoining properties.

I can tramp around to my heart’s delight, creating mind reflections.

Being the age of my body and concerned about slippage, I take a stick cast off by a tree to steady me. 

Instantly, I am transformed into a Druid YoDa-like woman of the forest. 

Woman of the Woods

I am traversing looking for omens and other odd events to throw light on the thoughts harboring inside my mind. Do you see her in above picture?

Dare I Wander and Ponder?

The snow still beneath my feet,

Except for the occasional leap-

from my heart.

I tread a slow path though the woods.

stopping to stare and wonder. 
Stopping to gaze and ponder. 
These moments spinning

into golden memories.

Collage Series Movin' ON and ONE to fight Cancer

Just created a whole new way of creating collage. I am practicing my techniques for a workshop I will be offering with the Surface Design Association's Summer Conference 2011.

I will be donating 5 of these collages to ONE: One Cause, One Wednesday, One Hundred Collages. An all-star lineup of artists have donated artwork for this fundraiser to fight cancer.

MORE here!!

ONE Day Feb 16, 2011

Collage Series Movin' ON 

Collage created with hand painted and embedded fabric & papers.

Mounted on hand painted watercolor paper. stitched.
 Good cause, good art!

Featured on Cloth Paper Scissors E-Promo

I recently published in Quilting Arts, Dec/Jan 11 and Cloth Paper Scissors, Jan/Feb 11 magazine issues.

It is a pleasure to works with these folks. They make it easy and fun to work with. I was thrilled to see Pokey choose my article to feature on the E-mail promo for Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine today!

Read the article here!

Sketch Book Project

I sent in my finished book.  I wanted something very organic.  I called it-  ONE.
My profile here...

Finished Cover

Inside the second from last page

Backlit Window

One earth, one people.













Each page has the word "one" on it. Can you find it?

for more info click here

Happy Holidays!

 “Seeking Quiet from the Outside In”

     Image taken on First Star Farm, Strafford NH

 Seeking Quiet,

`Into the Outside`

Treading soft winter’s snow.

Happy Holidays and Good New Year!

                      LOVE, PEACE AND LIGHT

Fuse it and Collage

I CAME SINGING
One of the ways I like to collage is to use a fusible 'medium'. The fusible I use is an HTC product called Trans-Web. It comes on a paper backing. 

There is a similarly named product on a sheer plastic carrier sheet- not THAT!

It irons with absolutely NO show with sheers.

(Note from 7 years later. It has not yellowed or frayed on any of the works I've used it on.)

dyed silk organza fused and left on carrier sheet

Tip- To ready a bunch of fabrics to collage at a moment's notice- use a 'spread sheet"!

I cut a section of fusible and spread it out on my large ironing table and arrange sheers and other fabric scraps from projects on it! Get them as close together as possible. Cover any sections of fusible that is not covered with fabric with plain paper, extra carrier sheets or parchment paper. This will prevent the fusible from sticking to your iron.
Fusible is difficult to remove from your iron. If you do get fusible on your iron. Iron over a dryer sheet. It usually comes off.

I store my fused scraps right on the sheet until ready to use.

Always keep the carrier paper the fusible is on. It offers great protection when ironing large quantities as I have just suggested. 

Additionally, I use it to compose on. You can iron your fused pieces on it and arrange as you would on a design board. Simply peel and rearrange. 

When composing on cloth, I just hit the fused cloth lightly with my iron to position. That way it can be carefully removed and recomposed.

When you're ready to complete your project, iron with steam and gusto!
more here
buy it here

Holographic Workshop at Northern Lights

This past Saturday I taught my Holographic Images Workshop to the Northern Lights Quilt Guild in Lebanon NH.

One of the terrific pieces constructed at the Holographic Images Workshop

framing

What a terrific bunch of women! They were gracious, enthusiastic, and well, just great! ( Think of Tony the Tiger when you say the word 'great'!)

the photo shoot of the photos

The workshop went smoothly and everyone went home with a completed image.

Working with hand-painted fabrics turned out some serendipitous surprises!