The Butterfly is a flying flower. The flower a tethered butterfly.- Ponce Denis
PLEASE JOIN IN THE FUN AS WE CREATE FLYING FLOWERS!!!
PLEASE JOIN IN THE FUN AS WE CREATE FLYING FLOWERS!!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
FLY!!!
Butterflies abound - a new workshop to teach how to outline, shade and add details! Once this technique is mastered, it can be used for any image you like.
Class will take place at Coastal Art Supply in Beaufort, SC, on September 14 & 15. All materials including hand dyed silk chiffon will be provided and I will teach you an easy modern way to felt. No bubble wrap, no noodle just enjoy the transformation to a gorgeous nuno felted scarf with little effort. You will have plenty of time to design your butterfly and the surrounding flowers.
Snacks and lunch will be provided with perhaps with afternoon 'sip' and chocolate from the famous Beaufort Chocolate Tree!
Supply list will be provided upon registration. Limited seating so make your reservation soon!
Cost for this two day experience including lunch: 150.
Contact me for more information:
email: hermajestymargo@aol.com
cell: 301-325-3225
Planning Ahead
An experiment that I'm in love with - it will be perfect in the cooler months as it will be quite warm! I love the colors and how the rayon embroidery thread, stitched before felting, stands out and gives it a wonderful texture. Post dyeing and little stitching was done after the fact, just because . . . I do love to hand stitch! I will try this again in a lighter weight!
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Catching Up
Trying to play catch up - so going to post pictures of news and work for these last few months. First let me say that I have been searching ever since we moved to Beaufort, SC, for a happy place that is a good fit for me and my fiber work. There really are a lot of galleries in Beaufort as well as Bluffon but mostly display painting, jewelry, wood turning and ceramics - I have tried a couple of those, but although they are really wonderful places to display art, my work was not a good fit.
The exciting thing, is that I was invited to be part of the Maye River Gallery in Bluffton on Calhoun Street directly across from Spartina. If you know anything about Bluffton, you will know this is the prime location as there is a ton of foot traffic always and in winter there are a lot of tourists from up North so I am hoping that my work will appeal (and sell!) I have been very fortunate so far and have made my rent and some to spare so I am encouraged. Not only is the location great, but the 15 members who make up the artists in the gallery are among the MOST talented artists ever and they are so very kind and supportive of one another and of me, a new member who is is learning about all of the intricacies when I have to work (everyone works two days a month, it is a real blessing to be part of their family. http//:www.mayerivergallery.com
I think fiber lovers want to see and touch the textile - I know I do to enjoy the color and texture; this is one reason that I haven't done much with etsy although my studio was beginning to be overwhelmed with my work! I don't mind mailing things occasionally but I don't want to be making trips to the post office when I can be in my studio
In any event, I confess to posting pictures mostly to Facebook - they make it so easy and I love sharing information and techniques with worldwide friends and learning from them as well.
Now to what I have been working on: eco printing - always!, shibori, indigo, ice dyeing, joomchi still obsessed when I have the time and of course felt making. I have also become enthralled with Alabama Chanin so have been working on my first hand stitched dress using hand dyed fabric - bottom layer indigo, top layer logwood that has been spent but still gave a lovely creamy color. This top layer was stenciled using a huge stencil I cut out of pennant felt - ugh not a fun job (so I bought a Cricut for next time!) and used pearly grey for the paint. Each leaf/flower is hand stitched and then the center cut away leaving a margin (reverse applique). Yes, it is a lot of stitching but I love doing it for a couple of hours in the evening - find it very soothing. Two and a half panels done - one and a half to go!
Another thing I have been doing is taking a few classes from Botanical wizard, India Flint; she does possess a certain charm and her ideas are helping me immensely to think outside the box; her voice is sooo soothing, I love listening to her talk as the wind whistles, the fire for the cauldron crackles and the ocean in the background as she works. So all of these things involve hand stitching - no machine. I'm loving the slow stitching which is quite a movement at the moment and since I consider myself a textile saver, loving the thrift shop searching for just the right pieces to cut up and put together again in a different form before bundling - and then! there is always the great reveal
I have taken all three (so far) of her workshops - Japanese Bags, Alchemist Apron and now Conscious Clothing - all of which are hand stitched, bundled and dyed.
First the Japanese bags from India's Bagstories workshop using all sorts of fabrics and dyes.
Secondly India's Alchemist Apron workshop:
Created from linen shirts with embellishments from the heart
India's Consious Clothing workshop - great for a textile saver like me - this is just the workshop I wanted needed! I LOVE being immersed in these delicious decisions as to what, how to combine since I had no clue otherwise!
The first picture is before the dye pot - a combination of all sorts of fabric and textures.
This is the dye pot - what will happen?
The reveal before being rinsed - I'm just thrilled with the outcome; have since rinsed and it is a bit lighter. I will make a sleeveless dress next using the same techniques but all that work was so worth it!
In between all of this, we had some beach time at Harbor Isle, and our granddaughters visited from their farm near Gettysburg - they are grown now so they had a great time going to the dock and pool with some site-seeing and visiting thrown in as well. We also had a dye day because I wanted them to give them some lessons on indigo as well as ice dyeing.
The girls at the Paris Market always a must visit in Savannah enjoying a lavender spritzer and macarons:
Ice dyeing fun
Indigo - silly me forgot to take pictures and a huge box was shipped off to their home after they left!
More ice dyeing on thrift store linen shirts
Now for some willy nilly work accomplished over the past few months:
The exciting thing, is that I was invited to be part of the Maye River Gallery in Bluffton on Calhoun Street directly across from Spartina. If you know anything about Bluffton, you will know this is the prime location as there is a ton of foot traffic always and in winter there are a lot of tourists from up North so I am hoping that my work will appeal (and sell!) I have been very fortunate so far and have made my rent and some to spare so I am encouraged. Not only is the location great, but the 15 members who make up the artists in the gallery are among the MOST talented artists ever and they are so very kind and supportive of one another and of me, a new member who is is learning about all of the intricacies when I have to work (everyone works two days a month, it is a real blessing to be part of their family. http//:www.mayerivergallery.com
I think fiber lovers want to see and touch the textile - I know I do to enjoy the color and texture; this is one reason that I haven't done much with etsy although my studio was beginning to be overwhelmed with my work! I don't mind mailing things occasionally but I don't want to be making trips to the post office when I can be in my studio
In any event, I confess to posting pictures mostly to Facebook - they make it so easy and I love sharing information and techniques with worldwide friends and learning from them as well.
Now to what I have been working on: eco printing - always!, shibori, indigo, ice dyeing, joomchi still obsessed when I have the time and of course felt making. I have also become enthralled with Alabama Chanin so have been working on my first hand stitched dress using hand dyed fabric - bottom layer indigo, top layer logwood that has been spent but still gave a lovely creamy color. This top layer was stenciled using a huge stencil I cut out of pennant felt - ugh not a fun job (so I bought a Cricut for next time!) and used pearly grey for the paint. Each leaf/flower is hand stitched and then the center cut away leaving a margin (reverse applique). Yes, it is a lot of stitching but I love doing it for a couple of hours in the evening - find it very soothing. Two and a half panels done - one and a half to go!
Another thing I have been doing is taking a few classes from Botanical wizard, India Flint; she does possess a certain charm and her ideas are helping me immensely to think outside the box; her voice is sooo soothing, I love listening to her talk as the wind whistles, the fire for the cauldron crackles and the ocean in the background as she works. So all of these things involve hand stitching - no machine. I'm loving the slow stitching which is quite a movement at the moment and since I consider myself a textile saver, loving the thrift shop searching for just the right pieces to cut up and put together again in a different form before bundling - and then! there is always the great reveal
I have taken all three (so far) of her workshops - Japanese Bags, Alchemist Apron and now Conscious Clothing - all of which are hand stitched, bundled and dyed.
First the Japanese bags from India's Bagstories workshop using all sorts of fabrics and dyes.
Secondly India's Alchemist Apron workshop:
Created from linen shirts with embellishments from the heart
India's Consious Clothing workshop - great for a textile saver like me - this is just the workshop I wanted needed! I LOVE being immersed in these delicious decisions as to what, how to combine since I had no clue otherwise!
The first picture is before the dye pot - a combination of all sorts of fabric and textures.
This is the dye pot - what will happen?
The reveal before being rinsed - I'm just thrilled with the outcome; have since rinsed and it is a bit lighter. I will make a sleeveless dress next using the same techniques but all that work was so worth it!
In between all of this, we had some beach time at Harbor Isle, and our granddaughters visited from their farm near Gettysburg - they are grown now so they had a great time going to the dock and pool with some site-seeing and visiting thrown in as well. We also had a dye day because I wanted them to give them some lessons on indigo as well as ice dyeing.
The girls at the Paris Market always a must visit in Savannah enjoying a lavender spritzer and macarons:
Ice dyeing fun
Indigo - silly me forgot to take pictures and a huge box was shipped off to their home after they left!
Now for some willy nilly work accomplished over the past few months:
Monday, January 15, 2018
Clitoria Ternatea or Butterfly Pea Flower
I freeze blue flowers to use for eco painting/printing and dyeing so when I found this recently, I was excited to try using it as a dye. It is such a pretty color, that I wondered about how it would work on paper and fabric so I tried on silk, paper and wool, mordanted and unmordanted and had a great time.
Butterfly Pea Flower is sold as a tea but can also be used to color food and drinks; there are several brands on Amazon, some more expensive than others. I steeped the flowers in hot water but I did read that it can be more effective heating with the microwave so I tried that and didn't find much difference.
Experiment Conclusions:
On paper: Blue (lovely periwinkle color) using straight tea; violet when lemon is added; green when baking soda is added. I found that painting on after eco printing has interesting effects depending on the mordant used.
On silk: I had high hopes I could make this work by being patient and mordanting first. The most success I had was with Uzbec silk (unmordanted) which is very fine; the results were best when dipped, left for a while then steam ironed - I washed it several times and it kept its color;however, a ph neutral soap must be used for this or the color will change. When I tried habotai, the color didn't last. It looked beautiful at first but faded quickly.
On wool: I tried a scrap of prefelt - it did not hold the color at all
Promise to Myself
I'm making a promise to myself to update my blog once a month if not more. It is a great way to keep track of what you have been up to when looking back. Facebook has become that, but posts and pictures tend to get lost in the shuffle and when you experiment as much as I do, it helps your efforts to become clarified - rather like making something that you are not quite sure of and leaving it for a while to come and revisit later.
Our Fiber Group had a show and sale in Bluffton in early November at SoBA - it is a wonderful location for foot traffic - both for locals as well as out of town visitors. But the space is really too small for our needs. Although we love being there, we want to grow our fiber group; new members inject much needed inspiration, new work and new expertise which will keep us from getting stale so the need for a larger venue is one that our group spends a lot of time thinking and talking about. The members of our group are so talented with everyone having their own approach to working with fiber.
This was created for an auction to benefit a local elementary school - it has a variety of locks, a felted flower and glittered feathers to add some 'bling.'
Our Fiber Group had a show and sale in Bluffton in early November at SoBA - it is a wonderful location for foot traffic - both for locals as well as out of town visitors. But the space is really too small for our needs. Although we love being there, we want to grow our fiber group; new members inject much needed inspiration, new work and new expertise which will keep us from getting stale so the need for a larger venue is one that our group spends a lot of time thinking and talking about. The members of our group are so talented with everyone having their own approach to working with fiber.
This was created for an auction to benefit a local elementary school - it has a variety of locks, a felted flower and glittered feathers to add some 'bling.'
Saturday, August 19, 2017
August - More
I've had a lovely grey and white floral silk extra large dress and jacket edged trimmed with bugle beads found in a thrift shop a while back; I used it as a backing with white wool and white Uzbek silk on top for a nuno wrap. Although it had scrumptious texture and shimmer - I have to admit it was a little blah - so what do? Hand paint of course!!! Now I'm thrilled. Such a difference and you can see the grey/white peeking out at the neckline took on a soft periwinkle tone too. Next up - a fancy closure!
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