Artists' Trading Cards

This month we made some ATCs to swap, based on our March playday with Helen. Here are the results: They are by Carol, Beverley, Prue and Nola. (I didn't get to photograph Helen's, sorry!). Each was based on group drawings we did, inspired by various artists. I made some extras, which will be travelling to their new owners this week.

April 27 - own work

Today was a non-experimenting day, so we all brought our own work. We all seem to have been making books this month. Helen brought two she'd made. This one is a gift, to be used as an autograph book. I really like the touch of blue on the page edges. This one was harder to photograph but it has Helen's beautiful embroidery on rug canvas.

Carol also brought two books she'd made for the EWES sale of work last weekend. Aren't they gorgeous?

Nola shared a textile book she's been making this month, a page a day. This was the page for the last Fibrecircle day, based on the collage she made. We all went on with the various work we'd brought. Nola was making the edges for her book pages. Prue was beading a cardigan, adding gorgeous beads and sequins around the neck and on the front. Beverley was making samples, which will probably be book covers: They're really interesting - I can't wait to see what she does with them. Carol had to leave early, because today, though not a public holiday, was an extra school holiday. I can see we'll have to speak to the Department of Education most severely for denying her children this extra day in which to learn!

More collage

Today three of the Fibrecircle group tried another collage exercise. We actually did two exercises, with an optional third for those who felt energetic. The first was working from the imagination, using any materials. The first exercise was to make the house of our dreams. We painted the background of our piece with white acrylic paint, and added some colour, which we rubbed in with rags to disperse it a bit into the wet white paint. Then we tore scraps of paper and attached them to the wet background with gel medium. Some of us crinkled tissue paper and glued it on top. We all stopped there, because it was lunchtime and we were hungry! We had stamps and other media to add to our backgrounds if we wanted to, but no-one did. Later,once they were dry, we began to construct our dream houses, using paper scraps and tissue. The process was interesting because one person was working on paper, another onto fabric and the third onto a canvas-like material.Most people didn't get very far with this, and no-one finished, but it will be fun to see how these pieces develop.

While the first exercises were drying, we did another quick exercise using paper napkins. The brief was to construct "my heart's garden", working quickly with paper napkins. We coated our backgrounds with gel medium and then cut and tore elements from paper napkins to add to the background. We used some of the white layers to build up depth, and added paints to blend the images together. Here's how mine looked: I'm very happy with how it worked out!

Paper collage isn't my favourite medium, because it's so messy and often quite uncontrolled. I prefer working with fabric layers, using fusible web, and adding paint and stitch - very similar in style but much less messy! But it was fun to work with different media.

After everyone left, I started a collage journal cover, which was a third exercise, but I didn't work on it for long. I'll add some more to it over time, when I have the paints set up.
Nola

Later: Carol made this dream house: and this is her "heart's garden":

I am still working on my house, but, after going some different directions, it now looks like this: Nola

March Collage

I've finally finished task 2 that Helen set us in March. She gave us brown paper envelopes - no, not the kind with bundles of illegal cash! Each one contained an article from an Australian Geographic magazine. She challenged us to make a collage from our pages, on the spot.

I didn't want to make a paper collage, so I chose to collage onto fabric. It's taken me some time but I finally finished my collage.

I've talked about how I made it over on my own blog, if anyone wants to know the gory details.

Nola

A present for a friend

Our friend Norma participated in ATASDA's neckpiece round robin last year. Norma's theme was based on the poem called Warning, by Jenny Joseph, which begins "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me". Norma's neckpiece was exhibited with the others in the round robin project at ATASDA's Palm House exhibition in the Botanic Gardens, and then returned to their base at Dence Park, Epping. Then it vanished. Norma was, understandably, distraught.

We were very upset that this had happened and Prue suggested that we make her a replacement, as a group activity. Here are some of the charms we made (sorry, Beverley's is not included, or the book we made to comment on our process for Norma):
This is Carol's first charm - a clever rendition of the start of the poem.
Carol also made a red hat, to get things going.
I think this one is Prue's contribution? Another red hat, from Prue also? Helen's gorgeous miniature handbag in red and purple Nola's inchie of a pair of sexy red shoes and the charms on the neckpiece that Carol made. Doesn't it look great? Carol also made a box for it: We presented the neckpiece to Norma at the ATASDA March meeting. It was a feel-good moment in what had become a pretty nasty experience.

Wait there's more!

I used the Sun Paint Kit for Kids by Klutz. Inside the kit were 3 mini bottle's of Pebeos Sun Colors in primary colours, a foam brush, a bandanna and very good set of instructions/ ideas that included colour mixing. I provided my own muslin squares precut into 16cm squares. The paint was surprisingly thick compared to the normal Pebeo Soleil paints and had to be diluted 1 part paint to 1-3 parts water. I eyeballed it and added more like 4-5 parts water which is why the colours aren't as vibrant as they should be. I taped the squares to a board which is why they have narrow borders. The squares were premoistened before washes of colour were added. I scattered (from top left down to bottom right) the following objects - scraps of yarn, leaves, feathers, foam net that you find wrapped around expensive fruit, grains of uncooked rice, paper fern cutouts, foamie alphabets and tiny seashells. The whole board was set out in the sun to dry and was ready by the time I finished Nola's choc biscuits and my first cup of cofee. I like the way the colours pooled around the edges of the objects. This was a very easy project and fun to do. I must get more paint (in larger bottles). I can see my kids wanting to join in the fun.

And still more sun printing

Prue's first sun print. You can see where it had the glass over the top, which obviously blocked out the light a little. This is an absolutely gorgeous piece of fabric and the photography does not do it justice at all.
Prue's second print. This one has an interesting effect from condensation on the glass. Again, you can see the distinct change of colour at the edge of the glass sheet.I'm not sure what was laid on this one.
Prue's third sun print - I think this one used opaque paints, including some of the Shimmer range. Despite Beverley's experience with opaque paints, we could not get successful prints using them. But the fabric is gorgeous and rich and shimmery, even if not very sun-printed.
Prue's fourth print. This one used rice as a resist, but it hasn't made a very clear print, perhaps again due to mixing in opaque paints, though the print may be clearer once it is ironed. The rice mostly gave a very delicate effect, though it was clearer on Carol's samples.
Prue