Everyday Matters. "Do not fear mistakes. there are none." Miles Davis said that.

Everyday Matters. "Do not fear mistakes. there are none." Miles Davis said that.

fiber fantasies

fiber fantasies

fiber fantasies

fiber fantasies

Loobylu

Loobylu

Art. Projects. Inspiration. Birds, Bugs. Pie.

Art. Projects. Inspiration. Birds, Bugs. Pie.

whalefish studios

I was toying with ideas of working on a doll/creature/figure for one of my exhibition pieces. This guys work is just amazing. whalefish studios

Sundancers, Wild Women and DreamWeavers

Sundancers, Wild Women and DreamWeavers

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S ART REGISTER

This site AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S ART REGISTER might be worth keeping an eye on and using sometime down the track. (when I actually get something finished!)

Craftartists Directory Victoria

Craftartists Directory Victoria

NAVA's - VISUAL ARTS NET - Home

NAVA's - VISUAL ARTS NET - Home

I'm terrible at this goal setting thing.  I go home with good intentions, open the door, sit down on the couch and all promises go out the window.

I did do some work on my visual diary.  I didn't get a page completed as I wanted, but I did some painted pages which I can use on a couple of pages.

What to do with my painted pages?...
        - cut or tear into strips and weave together
        - cut or tear and reassemble into a new design
        - use them as a canvas to write, or draw onto
        - add more washes, wax crayon, gold pen
        - fold and/or pleat
        - Stitch into
        - tear into pieces, reassemble onto bondaweb and stitch

I'm sure there are heaps more things I can do, but I can't come up with them right now. At least I have something to go on with tonight.  I'm going to keep trying to work at this achieving goals thing.  Tonight I have to attempt to finish two journal pages.  I'll also try to get some more pictures of my projects (and my completed journal pages) up online.

I didn't get tto muh work done this weekend, and as expected I didn't make my deadlines.  I managed to organise my folder but it wasn't complete.  As for the " ball of trees" it's at a bit of a standstill.

I had Saturday off and took the opportunity to get my house in order, or at least attempt to.  Over the last two weeks I have spent every spare minute that I could gather to work on my project, and as a result the housework has gotten away from me.  So I have managed to do several weeks work of washing, fold the previous several weeks worth of washing, wash about a weeks worth of dishes and put away several weeks of accumulated STUFF.  I even got a chance to de-mould the bathroom which really was an effort!!  Not all that exciting, I know, but it looks and feels much better. 

I did find time to get in a little shopping too.  I bought a lamp at Ikea to put in the loungeroom.  One that shines up and is a reading lamp as well (one for me to use, one to watch telly with that doesn't shine in your eyes or reflect on the screen).  Also found a good clothes sale and ended up with two pairs of pants and two tops for $40 which I think is pretty good. 

Tonight my goal is to finish off the housework.  I need to get back into the "ball of trees", but I should get a wriggle on with the visual diary first.  Perhaps that should be this weeks goal.  One VD page every day... now what will I do tonight?...

New look blog

I have been playing with the look of my blog today.  I wanted to add a links section so that I could add addresses both from home and work.  It's not as pretty as the other one but it does the job.

1. Machine embroidered group photo (TTT)
2. Assemble folder for Media Exploration 2 (or at least get the bits together to do at M's on Thurs)
3. Write reporst for and assemble folder for Art Appreciation (again get it together to do at M's)
4. Get at least the outter round of trees on my "ball of trees" completed and possibly the base of the inner round.
a) need to make more base fabric
b) need to continue wrapping wire sections
c) assembly
5. Start working on next exhibition pieces (this one's wishful thinking but was hoping that it might prompt me to get moving)

I have a production line happening now, and things are running quite smoothly at the moment…

I now have two trees attached and the bones of a few more underway. Still haven't attacked it with the heatgun. If all goes well I should be up to that stage tomorrow night. At this stage I can't see it being finished by Friday, along with the other work that I have yet to complete for my other subject. I am aiming however to complete the outside round and perhaps make a start on the base of one of the inner rings.

It's growing!

I have made a start on the construction of my "ball of trees" over the weekend.  I am aiming tohave it finished by Friday but given the fact that I am getting only one tree completed each night (and there are lots to do) I may not reach that goal.  But I do need to try, otherwise I will be very behind.

It is coming along as I hoped, however as expected the outer trees do need to be reinforced at least along the main trunk section - this means even more wrapping of wire!!

I currently have the base and one tree attached, with a second well underway.  The base still needs a little work as there is currently a hole in the middle which needs to be filled in.  It too needs some reinforcing but I anticipate that this should happen as I attach the additional trees, and the inner circle of trees.

I also need to attack it with the heat gun at some stage.  I'm not too sure of when I should do this - probably should have done it prior to assembly.  Might attach a couple more trees and then give it a go.

I have also decided that I will make each successive round of trees separately and then join them.  This will make attaching them to the base much easier.  I can then shape the branches at a later stage.  I did have a thought that maybe I should have started from the inside and worked my way out, but too late now!

My hands are beginning to ache and I have only just begun, but it is fun to watch the whole thing literally "grow"!

9am to 5pm??

I love the way this works.  It's 4.20pm and I am the only one left in the office - to answer phone obviously.  I'm really not sure what the point of this is, considering all the people who make the business work aren't here, and haven't been for most of the day!!  Given me lots of time practice the stock standard answer "I'm sorry he's out of the office at the moment, can I take a message and get him to give you a call when he gets back? (bullshit bullshit bullshit!!!) 

Really should bring in my project to work on - not like anyone's here to care!!

Long Weekend

I've had a busy long weekend,spending most of it working and the rest sleeping cause I was so tired from working.  I got roped into doing the cooking at the hostel (as task I'm not overly keen on) and therefore didn't get the time to work on my project that I'd planned on.

I did some time yesterday while B was at work however and things are progressing (albeit slowly).  It must have been Wednesday night when I got up in the middle of the night to work on the fabric (the chiffon sandwick), so I spent yesterday sewing it but only after once again getting frustrated with my sewing maching and relegating it to the floor and working with the one I've borrowed from a friend.  I seriously think that it is time to start looking for another that can handle the work that I do.  Anyway after 5 bobbins of thread I finished my piece of fabric (which is only about 1/2 metre square) which will later be burnt and melted.

I have now begun wrapping the fencing mesh which will overlay the stitched fabric before I attack it with the heat gun.  This is slow work but I think that once I get a couple of trees done that it will start to come along much quicker.  Besides the wrapping is something that I can do in front of the telly where it is warm.  My plan is to get in and wrapp lots of lengths of the mesh and then do some assembly.  I still need to make a decision about how many layers of mesh I'll use.  I think that to get the strength that I want that I really do need two layers, however I am also toying with the idea of using plain wire, sprayed black, machine wrapped (and maybe some chiffon) and then wrapped around the whole tree (like a vine), this could end up turning into a branch and would give more strength to the structure.  It may also be quicker if I can machine wrap it - will give this a go once I start assembling. 

Before I start assembling I will need to make a base to which the trees will be attached.  Again more decisions!!  Do I use a circle of the base fabric and stitch radiating lines from the centre and then attach pieces of mesh also radiating from the centre? Or do I make a number of small segments (about 10-15cm by 2-3cm) and join them radiating from the centre?  Either way the mesh will help to give the piece a curved shape.  I think I might go with the second way, making some longer, and overlapping the trees, so it all becomes part of the assembly, rather than joining two pieces.

I will also have to get a wriggle on with my visual diary.  It has taken a back seat again since I've got a go ahead with my 'ball of trees'.  I still have quite a number of pages to do and I'm running out of days.

Left - black chiffon (both sides) with snippets, bondaweb, and more snippets 

Right - black chiffon (both sides) only one lot of snipets

The results of my testing last night. 

Left - grey chiffon, overlayed with black
Right - grey chiffon on both sides

Well, the end of my work week is here.  That means I have a chance to get my hands dirty and really get in to my textile work.

Got a bit more 'testing' done last night and I'm still happy with where things are heading.  Should get a bit more happening tonight and take some time tomorrow to really get into it.  I am confident now that I can start working on the real thing so that I can start seeing some results - should have something to show by the end of the weekend (that is my goal at least!!)

My stitched sketch - a pair of dangling feet I found in a magazine 

As promised here is the finished stitched sketch that I did last week. I spent another 15 minutes on it whilst at the beach with B. Obviously it's not a resolved piece of work but I am really pleased with the result. I have since found a few more images that I would like to try.

We have also been drawing faces at TAFE and would like to give that a go in hand stitch as well. That may take a bit longer as we are working on tonal studies, however I think that hand stitching would be a great way of creating tone (and a good challenge too). The other thing I'd like to try is eyes in stitch - I have seen some good images that lend themselves to this really well.

It's a goer!!

I did some testing last night and now have a much better idea of where I am heading with my "ball of trees" - am going to have to come up with a better name than that sooner or later.

My chiffon sandwich was a success.  Still have to do a bit more testing to work out exactly what colours work best, and whether to use painted vliesafix or torn pieces (was reading that idea in a book last night - might give a result not as dark as what I got.

What I have decided to go with is a chiffon sandwich (with or without painted vliesafix) in either black or grey chiffon (will try that out tonight), with scraps of red, gold, and bronzy coloured chiffon snipped and sandwiched between (the maroons and greens will come in as I get closer to the tips of the branches).  I'm also going to see how distressed scraps of tulle will look in there as well (heated it with a heat gun - rather than melting like chiffon, it shrinks a little and becomes brittle whichs allows you to break it into jagged little bits - quite a good effect although the smell is horrific!!)

So the sandwich will then be stitched in vertical wavy lines that overlap and mesh together - resembling bark.  Another thing I learnt with my testing was that I need to ensure that the threads I'm using are cotton and not something that will melt (as mine did - forgot to check the bobbin thread and found it was polyester which melted), not a major thing but it will help to maintain the shape to a certain degree.

Before I head the sandwich I'm going to apply the wrapped fending mesh.  The mesh will be wrapped in chiffon and stitched down with a cotton thread.  This way the shiffon will melt in some places but the cotton thread creates a resist (especially if I work some areas more heavily than others).  I will also need to paint the mesh so that I don't get lots of shiny silver bits showing through where the chiffon melts (as in my samples).  That is also something that I have yet to test, what type of paint to use (so it doesn't melt, or break/peel away after it is heated), and what colours to use as it will inevitably show through.  I'm not sure if the heat will have any affect at all as I only have a little heat gun, however I know that renovators quite often use heat to strip paint back so I'll have to check that out.  I figure that a spray paint would be the quickest and easiest method of application - would also give me some interesting stencilled effects on the surface underneath tha might be worth considering.

The last step will be to heat the whole thing.  Still a few questions there too.  I want the mesh on the front and back - do I apply it to each side of the sandwich and then heat?... Or do I apply mesh to one side of the sandwich, heat, then apply another single sided piece to the back?... Or do I make the whole piece wider and fodl it it half, allowing it to become a tube?... (this may create difficulties as I get up into the branches of the tree).

Where to from here?
1. Spray some mesh and test the effect of heat (try normal spray - then perhaps an enamel if this doesn't work)
2. Test the colours of the chiffon sandwich using torn pieces of vliesofix (uncoloured) - grey with flecks of balck, grey, red gold, bronze etc, - black with flecks, - one side black, one side grey. Also try torn/distressed tulle.  If none of these are affective, go back to painted vliesofix and test different coloured paints with different coloured chiffons

3. Test the construction.  A) One chiffon sandwich with mesh on both sides then heated, b) two complete pieces joined after heating, c) two pieces joined, then heated, d) one piece folded in half (tubed) - will also need to test flexability of this and test out methods of dividing or adding on for branches.

I think I've had a break through!

After struggling with my ideas (or lack there-of) and my sewing machine, I think I finally have made a break-through.  I probably shouldn't shout so loud just yet, because I havent' quite finished testing things out yet, but at least I am happier about my progress.

I have been working on creating my "ball of trees" and came unstuck last weekend as I battled with my sewing machine.  After countless broken threads on my machine (each less than 1 minute apart), I then attempted to use the machines at school, breakinga needle within the first 5 minutes.  I then took an hours drive to collect a Machine that a friend was lending me, only to find that it too wasn't going to cut it.

My problem is that I am using free-machinging to create a texture resembling burnt bark of trees.  This in itself is ok, except that I am also trying to create a 3-dimensional piece and therefore need to have a certain amount of strength and structure in it.  There-in lies my problem.  All of the machines I have tried can't handle the thickness, yet I can't reduce the thickness because it just won't stand up...

So I picked up a scrap of fencing wire yesterday as I was about to throw the whole thing in and attempted to stitch that onto a piece of fabric.  I think that this would work but would need to be extremely careful not to go too fast as a broken needle along with potential eye damage could be on the cards.  But then I figured that I could probably hand-stitch the wire onto the ground fabric - after some fidling I have found that if I wrap the wire first, then attach it to both sides of the trees I get a quite strong piece that has a really good bark texture. 

From there my mind has started running.  I have a few ideas of how I can create a better ground fabric. My tests yesterday were onto a piece of macihne stitched tulle with soluble vilene between it.  I am going home this afternoon to have a play with sheer sandwiches, painted bondaweb, scraps of fabric, machine stitching, and melting.  Wish me luck!!

A Vessel for my thoughts

Found a link to this vessel and was quite impressed. http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/blog/index.php?cat=4

The prayer part is not for me but I like the idea of a vessel that I could put my worries and concerns into.  Kinda like a journal in 3D.

Soooooo behind

I don't know how (or if) I am going to make it to the end of this year with any work done. Should have completed my folder for one of my subjects at TAFE today, but only realises that when I woke up this morning. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

It seems that I get focussed on one thing and forget all others. I actually got some work done on one of my main pieces this week. For the interim I have named it 'ball of trees' until I come up with something better. It was going well last weekend but of course work starts and nothing else gets done. And then of course I spend the day at the beach with B and wipe out the only day I've had off in a fortnight.

I need to start scheduling my time and MAKING myself sit down and DO IT!!!

Better go - should be getting ready for TAFE, and rushing through some drawing that I should have done during the week. The folder that's due today will just have to wait... Surely I can come up with a decent excuse in the next hour...

Sketching with thread

I gave this a go this morning.  It was a 15 minute excersice whilst should have been getting ready for work this morning.

I am really happy with the results.  Because of the limited time I only got halfway through the image that I was creating (a picture of two bare feet that turned up on the fron cover of our free local magazine when I got home yesterday afternoon).  Will take a photo when I finish (I'll give myself another 10 minutes) and post it ASAP.

B and I are going down to the beach this afternoon so I'll be packing my needle and thread along with the usual sketchbook and pencils.  Hopefully I can get a bit done while B is surfing.  It's also a great opportunity to get some more ideas happening for the exhibition pieces (which seems to be a bit slow at the moment - partly due to lack of time as I have been working a few extra shifts, and partly due to lack of ideas, and partly due to my frustrations with my sewing machine which does not seem to want to play fair and keeps breaking threads every few minutes).

Bored

Bored, bored, bored........

Would much rather be at home with my sewing machine droning away creating than sitting here pretending that I am working.  Not that I am avoiding work, just that there isn't anything for me to do until the phone rings.

Hand sewn figure drawing

Was searching through some blogs this morning and found this link http://www.melanietesta.com/mtype/archives/000037.html.  This person decided to use needle and thread instead of pencil at a figure drawing session.  The results are very interesting. 

I like the idea of using thread to capture the image.  It would be a much slower method but one which I'd like to try.  Might give it a go for my journal entry tonight.  Just need to find a willing model...