Print Day

This is where it started.  I tried cutting circles out of the long piece in the photo above and there were too many gaps between the fish.  Then I got up this morniung and had to face the prospect of making a plane reservation for Nick, my husband, who really didn't have a plan.  Not to mention that I can't go on this trip for various reasons.  So I was in a funk.  Art is a funk breaker so I set up a table and went to work.

It took a long time to get the ink right.  I though I had printed with way more black, but I think the match is adequate-once it is cut up and stitched.

A mandela arangement of the salmon stamp.

Another killer whale that I am not too happy with.

Humpback which I totally love-I plan to cut circles out of this piece.

Humpback Mandella

The best of the first set of killer whale stamps.

Another new less than perfect Killer whale-getting better though!  Like I said-art is restorative.  Even though it is not perfect work, I am feeling much better!

Kodiak Bear Paw Quilters Annual Quilt Show

The Kodiak Bear paw Quilters hold a quilt show every year.  The show is Saturday and Sunday, October 8th and 9th, at the Kodiak High School auditorium Foyer.  These are my entries. The photo above is called Big Dipper.  It is 21.5 x 20.  This piece started out with a piece of hand dyed fabric.  I had a block left over from a reduction print I made in Liz Mitchell's print workshop, with which I printed the distant mountains.   I decided to extend the mountains beyond the silk border.  The gradations in the border are hand dyed.  I originally printed the stars with gold Lumiere paint, but they weren't  as bright as I wanted, so I stitched with gold metallic thread.  This is the quilt that led me to a thread crisis about a month ago.  I ran out of thread with only 12" of the border left to quilt!  I asked the wrong daughter to quickly send me thread!

 This quilt is 15 x 20 and is called Joy.  The print is an Alutiq petroglyph.  She is actually the only recognizable female figure.  Arms upraised signifies dancing.  Although I am not Alaskan Native, she is my Goddess.  The people who carved these images in the rocks many, many years ago, came to this island from someplace else and made it their home, just like I have.  I was not born here, but after 35 years, I am from here.

 Alaskan Sky is 21 x 12.5.  This piece shows one more stage of the reduction print.  The stars and the Northern Lights were printed first, then that was cut away, and the mountains were printed.  I really like that the red border does not extend into the mountains, making them look more authentic.  The gradations in the border are hand dyed.

 Kings is 15.5 x 20.  One morning, I just decided to start cutting this print up and inserted strips thinking sea grass.  I was happy with the layering effect, and though everything matched up quite well for freeform work.  I don't normally do alot of hand embroidery-I am pretty much hooked on beads, but the stitching on this piece was fun and I am pleased with the results.  I used 3 stands of red embroidery thread on the distant blades, and  hand dyed purple Size 5 pearl cotton on the closer blades.  I will not try that again-multiple layers of pimatex is not easy to pull that thick of a thread through.  I used hand dyed size 12 pearl cotton to outline the starfish, which turned out great.  I bought both of those thread at Visions in San Diego last Spring.  Then, of course the required beads and buttons were added.  I used higher contrast thread than I normally do.  I have thought that my stitching gets lost when i use lower contrast thread, but I am not all that great of a stitcher.  Of course, when my thread really show is when my sewing machine started misbehaving and eating the thread.  I tried new needles, rethreaded, put on some thread treatment.  She just was angry with me that day, I guess.  Our first bad day!

 A close-up of my starfish and button creatures.

Over the Mountains is 12 x 12, with a portrait quilt measuring 4 x 6.  I posted about this piece several months ago.  i wasn't happy with the placement of the mini quilt.  I moved it around for months, then I read somewhere to leave blank space in the upper left corner, which works for me.  This is my donation for the silent auction.

I have been playing with Decolorant and paint with stencils this week, as a means of procrastinating binding and hanging sleeves!  I had some ugly scarves that I experimented with.  I used spray decolorant on one which was a mistake-it crept under the stencil.  Then I did three with plain decolorant paste.  I was working on a table with batting, covered with plastic.  I guess paper or cotton underneath would be better.  The paste went through the scarf and seemed to just sit there on the plastic.  You can't move the scarf until it is dry, also.  Anyway, one of those is beautiful.  Then, I used yellow Decolorant and a leaf stencil on a red scarf.  That one is pretty awesome.  Finally, I printed Lumiere paing with a stencil.  those turned out OK, but it is hard to apply the correct amount of paint.  Tomorrow, I will take some photos and post them.

And I almost forgot-my SAQA Auction quilt sold for $250.  Of course, there was family politics involved-it was purchased the Aunt of my daughter, Kristin's, fiance.  All the same it sold for a good price and I wasn't shamed by having it sent back like last year. 

Prayer Flags #3-#7

 My granddaughter, Olivia, spent the night last night and we got up this morning and continued with the Prayer Flags for Her Grandma Darlene.  I had some commercial foam stamps and some word stecils that were perfect for her to work with.  The flag below needed a little something more and I was itching to use my new thermofax screen, so I added the little birds.

 On this one we decided to have her write her name more than once so it became a design element.

 I am continuing with my Home theme.  My stamp did not take the lumiere metalic paints very well, so I stamped it again in a different color so there is sort of a shadow.  Anyway that was the intent, successful or not.  These are a great way to try our new products and techniques.  I love, love, love my crab stamp.  this is the first time I printed with it.  It will be clearer when I print with ink.

 This is the first print I made with the Kingfisher stamp, also.  this was carved from linoleum, and once again didn't take the paint I used as well as I would like, but it will be great with ink.  I am really pleased with this stamp, also.  I had never printed with sequin waste before.  I used it as a stencil and as a stamp.  Again, not perfection, but experimenting with new toys.

 And here is my partner in crime for the morning, Olivia, with all of the flags strung up behind her.  I like them!  I am probably through, now, unless Truxton wants to make some next time he comes to visit.

Here is Olivia with a piece of fabric she painted to take home to he Mother.  I carved the leaf stamp.

Prayer Flag for Darlene

My daughter-in-laws Mother has been ill since last Christmas.  In fact, she has been away from home, on Kodiak Island, in Seattle for treatment since then.  She has been on my mind alot lately.  Although Alexandria is working on a project that I am going to take part in(don't want to give it away if it is a secret), I wanted to do something.  I read about The Prayer Flag Project on jane LaFazio's blog.  Last night when I came home from work at 10 pm, I grabbed a beer and headed for the studio, if that is what you want to call my closet down in the dungeon(but that is a story for another day).  A prayer flag was not my intent but that is where I eventually ended up.  Obviously, I did not read any instructions, since my flag is much larger than it should be, but it is what it is.  I think that this first flag of mine is about 12" x 18".  Smaller will be much less consuming, but this is the size the elements I wanted to use required.  My prayer is for Darlene to return home soon.  Her family is here.  We live on an island in the North Pacific where salmon is a huge part of the culture.  Salmon return home to spawn, so i wanted them as an element in my flag.  I had some wooden letters that I glued to a piece of mat board and covered it with matte medium before I left for work so when I got home tonight it was dry and ready to print.  I am not totally satisfied with the print job-it is a bit splochy, but adequate for this project.  I enjoyed the hand embroidery alot.  I worked on it on the down times at work today.  I mostly sew beads by hand-thread is nice.  You don't have to pick up a bead with every stitch. 

Anyway, back to my point.  I think it would be awesome if, upon awakening after her surgery next month, if there was a string of prayer flags to greet Darlene.  Then she can hang them outside her house in Seattle, and all the good will and love in the creation of these flags will bring her peace, love and home to her family. 

 You can look at Jane Lafazio's blog and see her wonderful flags here: http://janeville.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-flags-5-6.html. 

Here is a tutorial:

http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/p/tutorial.html

And here is the main page of the Prayer Flag Project:

http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/

Like I said, I got a bit out of had with this first flag of mine.  The size is 5" x 8", and they are to be completed in an hour.  Anyone interested?

SAQA Auction

My Quilt, "Homeward Bound" is in the third line on this page for the SAQA Auction.

http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1900

It is grouped with the work of some very illustrious artists.
You can read about details of the quilt in an earlier post, here:  http://sallysartquilts.blogspot.com/2011/06/saqa-auction-quilt-complete.html

King Salmon

I carved these blocks a few months ago and only now have found the time and the motivation to print them on fabric.  I am pleased with the way they look on my hand dyed fabric.  I carved 2 blocks-one headed in each direction.

My motivation came from a workshop with Evon Zerbetz on Saturday. My piece is not finished, but each of the 15 people attending carved a block, then all 15 pieces are asembled into a 3-D piece. Pretty cool. I will post a picture when it is complete.