Friday 31 May 2013

Dreaming on a sunny Wednesday in May

Hi there Blog followers
May I take this opportunity, Dear Reader to thank you for following the Textile Maids blog spot. It is great to know you are interested in our work so thank you all for your support.

We had a really lovely day on Wednesday working on our projects-Revival for some and for those up to date, organised members a fresh start on the new challenge of Textures.
 We were really delighted to welcome two new members to our group and look forward to their response to our monthly challenges. So a great big Textile Maids welcome to Jill and Michelle. It is great to have you on board.  We are all really getting to grips with the new subjects each month and in fact eager to rise to the challenge. So far, as you know we have had Heartlands. Close-up, Seeds, Dreams, Revival and now Textures. So, nothing too off the wall or obscure (wait 'till mine are picked out of the tin) just some good meaty ideas to stretch our minds.
At the 'Show and Tell' session looking at the Dreams challenge pieces it seems wonderful how we all approach the subjects so differently, amazing that in a group of people so in tune with the same discipline that no two pieces of work are remotely alike. This is diversity in action. In fact there is probably a scientific name for it.Or if not, there should be.
My favourite  piece is Rebecca's Do Androids dream of electric sheep. It is clever and fun.
I really love the electric sheep complete with flashing LED eyes. With my work I am always aware that I need to free up but Becca is so free she floats!





I feel we are really bedding in (or should that be gelling in modern speak) as a group now and everyone is so generous with ideas and support it is becoming a real unit. Not quite as Bertie Wooster would say ' Two minds with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one' but certainly several ladies on the same wavelength having a blast once a month. The next blast is at Trebah Gardens at the end of June where we will be making the most of the facilities on offer. I have heard the restaurant  highly spoken of  in the cream tea department not to mention the home made quiche. Oh yes.
 The challenge will be Trebah of course so I guess those of us who can will be sketching  and painting and those of us who cannot will be taking photographs. Hooray for digital cameras (and posh phones)
Check in again soon for more blogs from the Maids.
Pip pip
Margaret

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Do we dream in colour or black & white?

I was a little slower completing the 'Dreams' challenge.  After looking on the web for 'dream' sayings and phrases; I kept coming back to the questions "Do we dream in colour or black & white?"

I think I dream in black & white but the rest of the group thought it was in colour...........who really knows?

Design work




Anyway with this in mind I decided to use a photo that I had taken on a lovely spa day that our daughter had treated us too.  I printed the photo both in black & white and in colour and ironed it onto both cotton fabric and tuile.  The background fabric for both pieces is dyed using Inktense.
Inktense on Cotton















The piece is reversable, an idea that I got after seeing Liz's piece for the month,!!

'Do we dream in clour......'




'or Black & White?'















I hope you like it.

 I am now busy with 'Revival' our latest challenge...........and I am enjoying it so far!!

Carolyn








Wednesday 8 May 2013

Yes - Androids do dream of Electric Sheep


Well, I have to say that this has to be my favourite project so far; all my own create fabrics and the inclusion of some electronics!

And thanks to Jane's suggestion of stretching the work over a canvas I now have a very nicely presented piece (just don't look at the back!)

Now on to 'Revival' and yes, I am thinking of hand embroidering the whole thing!

- Becca

Thursday 2 May 2013

How many french knots.............


..does it take until it's finished.....when the piece tells you I reckon. That's what this piece felt like anyway.

My Dreams challenge was based on my dream to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum  The title was to be 'Dreams Do Come True'. But as I worked through sketch book ideas my recurring thoughts were for the people of those two beautiful cities, their dreams ended so sudden and tragic in 79AD that I changed my title to ' Traces of Dreams', their's lost and mine in memories and photographs.

I wanted to create the effect of layers and texture, to reflect peeling back the layers of the excavations, discovering the artefacts, paintings and mosaics on the walls and floors.
For this process I layered acrylic painted and stencilled torn fabrics, free machine quilted cable design, stone wall pattern and a markel paint stik urn. French knots to add more texture, with chiffon laid over and a heat gun used to distress. 
The edges are free machine stitched. I finished off by gently smearing gold paint over to pick up the textured areas.

Here are a few of my sketch book pages 

   





'Traces of Dreams' detail

'Traces of Dreams'


Thanks for reading
Sue

About Me

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‘Textile Maids’ is a group of like-minded Contemporary Textitle Artist in Cornwall, providing encouragement; creative direction and the enhancement of techniques, with a view to collaborating in exhibitions.