POSTCARD FABRIC ART THE NEXT 4 MONTHS

It's a while since my last post so I thought I had better do a bit of catching up. 

I posted the January challenge earlier in the year and here are the next four months pieces, starting with February.  The theme was ancient Rome and Greece so I thought of the Greek goddesses and Aphrodite came to mind along with the Acropolis in the city of Athens.  I found an image which I traced onto a piece of sky printed fabric and as I wanted the picture to be a standard 30 x 20 cms I decided to add the greek key pattern along the top and bottom and machine embroidered then coloured with inktense pencils.  For my goddess I have a photo of my granddaughter dressed like this which I copied onto piece of flesh coloured linen then added her clothes and hair with applique and embroidery. I cut her out carefully and hand appliqueed her to thebackground and finally made a frame with a navy heart printed fabric.

The subject for March was the Mediaeval era and I started thinking of some of the ancient castles we've visited here in France.  Carcassonne is one of my favourites so I found one of my drawings and transferred it to some beige linen before machine embroidering the outlines, then colouring with my Inktense crayons which I wetted with fabric medium.  The figure is an applique of different silk fabrics with hand embroidered gold threads and details, then the picture finished with a frame of batik in deep red and russet colours.

April's theme was the Renaissance and after studying some paintings of the era I remembered I had an old duvet cover printed with just the right kind of images for my background.  For my figure Elizabeth I was the perfect example with her fabulous clothes, all appliqued in silks and lace with red yarn for her hair and red beads stitched for decoration.  The frame is a lovely gold printed royal blue, ideal for the regal image.

The latest theme for May is the 1920s and I soon came up with a plan using a beautiful art Deco fabric as the frame and also printed on paper in light blue for the background.  I overprinted the blue art deco with an image traced from a costumes through the ages book then layered a piece of white organdie, then the print and then some blue coloured netting to complete the background.

Here I have machine embroidered most of the ladies in black thread but my machine suddenly stopped working in mid flow.  

You can see from the back of the picture that I had to stop on the third ladie's arm.  Fortunately Bob is an electronics engineer and after completely dismantling and reassembling the machine she is now in perfect working order. He said how lucky I am to have such a useful husband!  I'm lucky too that my beloved Bernina has lasted 30 years with no trouble at all till I overworked her!

So the rest of the picture was done with hand stitching to make the costume of the main character and here are the ingredients before I started. She was traced onto organdie backed with fine interfacing and various scraps appliqueed for her coat, dress and hat with beads added later for a necklace.

The finished front of the piece measuring 30 x 20 cms with the picture stitched to the frame.

For the reverse I embroidered the caption on organdie so that the stitching on the back was just visible and added a couple of cut out shapes from another fabric scrap.

I have now joined the first 4 pieces with split rings passed through eyelets on each corner and hung them on a net curtain hanger in my studio.

  I'm thinking maybe this will turn into a much larger wall hanging so watch this space!

HOMETOWN CHALLENGE

 

I belong to a Facebook group called Postcard Fabric Art where we are challenged each month to make a postable work of fabric art using the prompts set by Ann Hillman Lamy.  This summer we had an extra challenge, to depict our hometown in any way we wanted.

 

I  like to work from my own source material if at all possible so I started by browsing through my sketchbooks looking for drawings of my home area here in Perros Guirec and came across plenty. They are all done from life, sitting at the harbour or on a fallen log in the case of the woods overlooking the marina.

 

I had drawn the propeller from our yacht after I cleaned and polished it a few years ago before we sold it.

 

I scanned each sketch, printed them on paper, then printed the script and cut out and assembled the pieces till I was happy with the composition and rescanned the sheet ready for the next step.

I bonded a piece of plain white cotton fabric to some vliesofix (bondaweb) and then printed my scanned image on it.

 

Now the fun begins, I found some pretty sky printed fabric in my stash and ironed on the bonded image before I coloured the background and pictures to match the border with my inktense pencils.

I then wetted the pigments with a fabric medium to bring out the colours as I've found that wetting them with water tends to make them run which doesn't happen with the medium.

I started on the embroidery using mainly running stitches to enhance the pictures, above you can see that I've done the right hand side only.

 

 

 

As I worked I started to realise that there were a few gaps that needed a little something extra and came up with the idea of adding the seagull at the top and a puffin which is the mascot of Perros Guirec. 

 Back to the sketchbook and a search through some photos and I made some more drawings to trace onto the vliesofix, iron onto fabric, cut out and stick to the picture.

 

As you can see they made the picture complete after a bit more embroidery. The border finishes it all off nicely, for that I did a line of running stitches in a blue thread  along the edge of the top layer of fabric and then wove the turquoise yarn through the stitches.  The whole picture measures 21 x 30 centimetres, just the right size to fit in an A4 envelope or frame. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my process and maybe have a go yourself!

 

 

MORE FROM OUR TRAVELS

Staying at Montreuil Bellay for a week we had plenty of time to relax and explore the area.  We cycled out a couple of times along the 'Loire à velo' routes and found some pretty places and interesting sites. On the day we went north towards Saumur we turned back after about 10 km as the weather became too wet and we knew a storm was forecast, we were passed by a line of cars full of wine pickers on their way to the vineyards to start the harvesting before the grapes were damaged. 

 

When we went south we found a different landscape, fields of sunflowers instead of vines as far as the eye could see. Some had been harvested but most were brown and waiting for the farmer,  however there were quite a lot of self seeded plants in the fallow fields as well as along the verges and I managed to pick one and get it home safely in my saddlebag to draw in the sketchbook. It lasted for over a week in a plastic water bottle vase until after we came home.

 

 

 

The stormy weather blew a lot of bark off the plane trees and I couldn't resist picking up this brightly coloured piece to draw around and colour in using the inktense pencils.

 

We used the 'escalier St Pierre' to go back down to the campsite from the village after our daily beer in the café.  It's a pretty flower lined stone flight of stairs with fabulous views from the top and along the side an old wall with this partly bricked up interesting old doorway.

 

 

The yew tree continued to keep me fascinated while I was stitching it's portrait and one day I took a few twigs back to draw. There lots of berries and it was interesting to see the way the unripe ones were hidden under the leaves till they turned red.

 

 

After a week we were ready to move on to Chinon, one of our favourite towns where we've been several times since we started our camping car life.  I have already drawn the chateau so this time I sat on the wall by the river Vienne to draw the alley of plane trees and since then I have started another stitch picture which I'll share when it's finished.

 

Here is my interpretation of the plane tree bark and lichens, stitched on a scrap of linen in running stitch and buttonhole stitch.

Have a good week and I'll see you again soon.

BACK FROM OUR TRAVELS

We're home at last after a lovely trip in the camper car to the Loire valley.

  We started with 3 days at Nantes with some friends who come over from England with their caravan to spend the autumn searching for the sun.  Their dog Florrie is adorable and managed to keep up with us as we walked over 20 kilometres around the beautiful city but had to be concealed in a shopping bag to be allowed to take the tram back to the camp at the end of the day.

 

We moved on to Montreuil-Bellay, a 'Petite cite de charactere' only 20 km south of Saumur. The campsite was by the river and just a short walk up the hill took us to the town and a handy bar to refresh ourselves in. This old Labrador kept watch on all the passers by and greeted all the regulars as they arrived for their morning coffee or glass of beer.

There was plenty to inspire me to draw in my new sketchbook, this is the view of the chateau from the ruins of Saint Peter's church. The chateau that dates from the 11th century and has been added to over the centuries is still occupied by the same family for the last 200 years.

 

I sat on a tumbledown wall and drew this in the inktense pencils I've had for years but keep forgetting about.  I love the effect when they are washed with water and the colours are perfect for this kind of subject.

 

The yew trees in the cloisters were incredible with twisted trunks and incredible canopies that spread almost to the edges of the space, giving lots of shade.  As I drew I was imagining the monks all those centuries ago, wandering about meditating.

 

This is the view along the street towards the chateau entrance from the terrace of the bar, actually across the road to catch the sun in the morning.  The waitress had to negotiate the traffic and several steps to serve the drinks but she kept everyone well served without spilling a drop.

 

 

On another day as we sat in the sun with our beers, I drew the bar itself and the next door cottage with it's pretty woodwork and plants.

On the Friday night at Montreuil-Bellay there was a heavy rainstorm with strong winds and in the morning the ground was littered with pieces of bark blown off the plane trees.  They caught my eye with their bright green lichens growing on the surface.

We walked all around the pretty town and found all the sights as well as the ancient walls where a lovely avenue of horse chestnuts had been planted.  I couldn't resist picking up a handful of conkers and a few golden brown leaves to draw.

 

 The yew trees in the ruined cloisters really caught my imagination and I decided to make a stitched picture using some variegated wool as well as fine sewing threads.  As the work progressed each day I went back to study the tree again and soak up the historic atmosphere.

There is more to come from my sketchbook and needle case so come back soon ...

A NEW STYLE

 

I've rediscovered my Inktense blocks and pencils thanks to my friend Jacqueline Holmgren in Sweden.  She's the lady I met in Norrkoping whose sister worked for my father in the 1960s.  She is an amazing artist, specialising in acrylics and collage, how I wish I could attend some of her classes, they look so exciting when she shares them on Facebook. 

 

However, last weekend she posted her latest videos and I was hooked!  I had bought some inktense blocks a few years ago to complement the pencils which I have been using for a while, although the Museum pencils seem to have been top of the pile since I discovered them 3 years ago!

 

https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=WxmEIPmlxYY&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKR67WvEYlfE%26feature%3Dshare

 

I hope this link will work as I'm sure you'll be as inspired as me when you see what can be done.  One of the most important tips was to use gloves as the blocks really are very messy to use.  The second video in the set is on the pencils which is also excellent as it shows some good ideas and although on fabric, the method is the same as on paper.

 

 

So, having seen all this I got stuck in and look what I've achieved!  Some very loose paintings on watercolour paper, larger than I would normally attempt and quite liberating  as I worked standing up, splashing water around and getting through lots of kitchen paper.  I had to be quite patient as well and take tea breaks to let the paper dry between layers otherwise the pigments turn into mud!

 

This is the first attempt in my sketchbook before I started on the loose paper.  I was copying a photo taken by Luba, my Belarussian friend who's grown up with wild mushrooms so she knows a good one when she sees it!

 

Here's a sketch I did earlier in the week and as you can see it's still in the rather careful style of before. 

I wonder how long I'll be able to hang on to this looseness before reverting to normal?

SWEDEN 2 KALMAR

 

When I was planning this trip of a lifetime I did a lot of research into towns and campsites so that we could travel easily without worrying where we would be staying. I booked each one in advance too as I thought that being the summer it would be very busy but I was wrong, until midsummer all was very tranquil.  I was so pleased to have found this camp about 15 kilometres from Kalmar, right by the sea on a beautiful wooded peninsula.  We were able to cycle in many directions to explore and this little vignette caught my eye as we cycled along a country road.

 

We went to Kalmar on the Sunday and found a beautiful clean town with old walls, a castle and a lovely church in the centre which we spent the morning exploring.  What a shame all the shops were shut, I would so have loved to do a bit of browsing!  (Bob was pleased though!) 

This page shows a few of the other places we visited, including the Orrefors glass factory where we bought ourselves a vase to celebrate our 40th anniversary.

 

As we were camped at the water's edge we had a ringside view of the creatures that lived in the reeds.  These dragonflies were almost tame, coming to sit on my green clogs to sun themselves.  While out walking along the shore one evening Bob spotted this big wooden box and when we went to take a closer look I saw a dried up shell attached to the outside. We realised it must be some sort of nesting box when we saw another with a half emerged nymph which gradually opened it's wings as we watched in amazement.  I carefully took the empty shell back to camp so that I could draw this sketch later. 

When we arrived home a few weeks later I found a dead dragonfly that must have got trapped in our boot when the doors were open.  It's now safely stored in a little box so that I can draw it again sometime.

 

Everywhere we went in Sweden we were delighted by the wild flowers growing at the roadside and even the middle of the dual carriageways were full of colourful blooms.  Under the birch trees the cow parsley was like a froth of foam covering the ground and deeper in the shade the wood anenomes

were abundant. It was wonderful to see masses of cornflowers at the edges of the cornfields too!

 

I painted this view as I sat next to the camper car one afternoon, in fact it goes further to the right but I couldn't get it all under the scanner.  The weather was very pleasant while we were in Sweden and although a few clouds passed over it was never too cold.

 

The camp at Kalmar was a haven for birds and I spent quite some time watching a pair of Great crested grebes building their nest in the middle of the reeds right in front of our plot.  I was waiting to see their courting dance but  unfortunately missed it.  As you can see in the sketch there were lots of other birds to watch too!

 

A family of swans passed every day at the same times with their brood of cygnets and the heron flew past regularly flapping his enormous tablecloth of wings.

 

I pre-painted a few of the pages in this watercolour sketchbook with acrylic ink so that I could have a bit of variety in the drawings.  I used the acrylic as it is permanent and wouldn't pick up when I painted over with watercolours or the inktense pencils I took with me.  These fishermen's cottages were right at the end of a lane and we had been hoping there might be a café we could use for our lunch but this part of the country is wonderfully unspoiled so we had to cycle all the way back to camp instead! 

The colour of the buildings  is very typical of all the rural houses we saw and I really like the way they contrast with the green of the trees and grass.  I can just imagine them in winter standing out against the white of the snow too.

MY 100th BLOG POST

 

Well it's almost a year since I started to post on my blog and as I've reached a landmark of 100 posts I thought it might be an idea to do a flashback over my last couple of year's work. 

I set up the blog originally in July 2012 because Cathy Johnson invited me to contribute to her Nature Sketchers group after seeing my drawings on the Artist's Journal workshop facebook pages.

It took me till December to get going on the blog with my Nature journal I had started in January 2012 after being inspired by 'The country diary of an Edwardian Lady' which my sister had given me for my birthday.  I used a bought book and after experimenting with watercolour I switched to coloured pencils because the paper buckled when it became wet.

 

 

During the summer of 2012 Bob and I took a trip I had been dreaming of for many years: to visit the country of my birth, Sweden. I prepared a specially covered watercolour moleskine sketchbook with maps and completely filled it during and soon after the journey using paints and colour pencils.

2012 was also the year of our 40th wedding anniversary and we took a lovely holiday in Corsica to celebrate and I have another mini sketchbook full of sketches from that trip although I didn't post many on the blog. One day I will find out how to make albums on the blog so I can put the pictures together all in one place!

 

 

Also during the winter of 2012 I took up the 75 day challenge to draw something every day in pen only without drawing in pencil first.  As I have used pens for drawing ever since I started sketching in books it wasn't too difficult! I decided to use my pottery and ceramic collection as a subject and had a lot of fun using all of my rather large collection of pens, markers and waterbrushes to make a record of what I hope will eventually become family heirlooms now with all their stories attached.

 

 

I completed the challenge in February 2013, just in time before our holiday to Tenerife for which I took one of my first home made sketchbooks filled with pale tinted mi-tientes paper. This kept me well occupied while we relaxed around the pool and enjoyed some very welcome winter sun.  I challenged myself to draw some of the very interesting architecture and mountain landscapes I could see from the hotel grounds.

 

 

This summer I took another home made sketchbook with darker tinted paper for our trip to England and then to Provence.  I really enjoyed the way the coloured pencils worked with different coloured backgrounds. I have just finished sketchbook 21 and I always carry a small one in my handbag as well so I can draw anywhere the fancy takes me so I think I have counted up to 8 sketchbooks completed in 2 years not to mention the black paper one which is still only half full! 

My only regret is that I didn't label my posts from the beginning because I didn't realise at the time what purpose they served but now I do and maybe I can go back and edit the older posts to make it easier for my followers to find particular subjacts.