Folded Fabric Ornament

I was planning to attend a fundraiser painting workshop today that I had signed up and paid for last Spring, but this past week has been one of several meetings/events I had to attend. Two days I even had to be 3 different places so I ran, ran, ran all week.  Add to that the fact that I am not at all ready for the November Art Mart this coming Wednesday in which artists and crafters display their work and sell to Woman's Club members and residents from the Crescent Oaks community who come in to browse.  We donate a portion of our sales to the club's scholarship fund for a Tarpon Springs High School student.  The past two years we have ben able to donate $1000.

So today, I made the first ornament for the collection I will be displaying for sale.  I started with a large remnant of satin in a plaid design:

Then I cut 3-in squares of the fabric and sorted by color.  I needed 8 of one color, and 16 each of two other colors.  Then started folding the fabric and pinning it to a smooth styrofoam ball which is sold specifically for creating ornaments.  It even comes with the hanger in either silver or gold.  I chose a gold one to coordinate with lovely gold and taupe tones of my fabric.

It takes approximately an hour to complete an ornament.  No sewing involved -- just folding and pinning.  If you google, "No Sew Fabric Folding Ornaments," a large number of links will come up.  Some are in Etsy.  This one is not -- it is a free design in YouTube.  This is posted by DIYCrafts.

My completed ornament.  The bottom is just like the top but smooth without the hanger.  Looking down or up at it, it is a star pattern.

I have other fabrics, too, that are a vintage satin brocade in white, light pink, lavender and a deep rose. I'll eventually get to those.  I have lots of ideas to try.

So, while I missed being with my friends, I am enjoying the quiet here at home.   Butch and I really missing our little buddy and trying to establish a new norm.  He has been helping me with this project.

I think it would make a fun workshop for my Crafty Ladies group.  What do you think?

Beau

Butch and I lost our little buddy today.  He hadn't been himself for some time now and old age was creating big problems with his immune system.  Today he was diagnosed with acute renal failure and we made the decision to let him cross over the Rainbow Bridge.  We are both devastated but know it was the kindest decision we could make for him.  

"Beach"

"Beach II"

Birches II

 

"Beau"

Zebra

Zebra in Technicolor
Alcohol Ink on Yupo

My Manatee

Manatee
Watercolor on Paper

Barn Reflections

Barn Reflections
Alcohol Ink on Yupo

The Puffin

Puffin
Alcohol Ink on Yupo

Maui Palm

Maui Palm
Watercolor on Yupo

18 Days

18 days since I last did a blog entry.

I've been busy.

Still taking my watercolor classes at the Dunedin Fine Art Center under the tutelage of Taylor Ikin. My latest paintings from that class:

Dogwood Blooms
11" X 20"
Watercolor on Yupo

Coral Aphelandra
20" X 26"
Watercolor on Yupo

I have discovered a real love for this fabulous substrate.  I am so glad I decided to take these classes.  And what I love about Taylor?  Anything goes.  She sees beauty in everything her students do.  She doesn't treat us as "students", even though none of us have her expertise.  She never takes a brush from your hand but does gently suggest what you might do next or what to watch for in the movement of the watercolor on your painting.  I have not tried to emulate her painting style.  She doesn't want us to do that.  But I have learned to be more patient.  I wait for the paint to dry enough to lift it out and create more detail -- and try to back away before I screw it up.  (Smile)

My intermediate class in alcohol inks starts next Saturday and I have the materials list.  I plan to sit down with that later today and put everything together in a project box so I will be ready to start when the first lesson is made available to me.

I also have several books and a DVD I have been working with.  I want to do a portrait of Beau, And another subject that needs to remain a secret until it is finished.  I started a Facebook page just for my paintings.  Please visit Sherri Patterson, Artist if you have a mind to.  My new paintings will be posted there instead of my regular page.  Last time I looked, I had 13 "likes." 

This summer is half over.  When I haven't been painting, I have been spending time at the library working with the book donations for the Friends' Bookstore.  I've been working with a friend on plans for a series of art workshops for the Woman's Club and a flyers for three fundraiser events I will be involved with in the coming year.  And, I have spent a lot of time with my husband.  In a little over a month we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary.  A second marriage for both of us. I still enjoy just sitting and talking, listening to music and reading, watching TV, just generally "being" with him. This morning he brought me three lovely blooms from our plumeria trees.

They are from two different trees.  We have several red trees. They are a variety called "Key West Red." The white with pink and yellow are blooms from a tree we have been watching grow for several years. Some varieties bloom the first year. Others make you wait.  This "Makawao Rainbow" waited three years, growing taller every year but not blooming.  The friend who ordered it from Maui gave it to us as an anniversary gift passed away the year after he gave it to us.  This will be another wonder memory of him.

The plumeria in the front yard are all blooming and so are my roses.  The avocado trees are growing wonderfully. This tropical summer seems to agree with them.  The banana plant is growing like a weed and the tangerine tree is covered with hard little green balls.  My Bird of Paradise even has a few blooms.   

But our tomatoes are done...done...done.  And they were very good.  Especially the Cherokee Purples.  We will be eating the last ones this week.

Have a great day.  It will be another busy one for us. 

My Latest Bird

In my watercolor class yesterday, we were asked to pick a favorite flower for our subject.  The rose, plumeria, hibiscus and bird of paradise all came to mind -- and the bougainvillea.   They are all blooming right now.  I looked at my palette and and thought through it.  I could save time by avoiding  a preliminary sketch of my flower if I did something simpler than the rose or bougainvillea. I decided to divide my large 20" x 26" sheet of Yupo and do both a bird of paradise and a plumeria.

I did the bird first so it could dry while I was doing the background for the plumeria.  Then I did the shading and lifting of color on the bird, added more orange and softened the green while the plumeria background dried.  By the end of the class, I had a completely finished bird and a somewhat messed up plumeria.  I will be reworking it tomorrow.

But for now, here's my bird.

Bird of Paradise

I haven't signed it yet, but I do like it and think it's a "keeper."

Now to fix that blasted plumeria.......

I'm Done!

I finished this last tile project for my online class today and am completely hooked.  I asked Sheryl when she will be offering an intermediate class and she will have it ready to go in late July.  She let me see an overview and I will definitely be taking it.  I learned so much in her beginner's class.

I showed this to Butch a little while ago.  The camera just cannot catch the purity and clarity of the different colors of the alcohol inks, but this is a pretty good shot.  It just doesn't pick up all the different blues and greens.

All I need to do is sign this one.  It is a keeper.  And it is a convincer.  I know there is no such word, but it convinced me that this is something I really want to pursue.

Really.

It makes my heart happy.

My First Poppy

After I completed the tile I posted yesterday, I began the next lesson which is an exercise in controlling the ink for more realism in my image -- which, as most of my friends know, is my preferred style of painting.  I have a second one I am in the midst of doing now with a different background.

I still need to improve on my brush strokes but, overall, I am happy with the outcome.  Primarily, I think, because of the beautiful background effects and vibrant colors of the alcohol ink.

I'll finish the second one today and start the third lesson in this last group in the beginner's class.

There will eventually be an "intermediate" online class for alcohol inks.

I plan to be the first person to sign up.

I am sooooo loving this medium.

Alcohol Inks

The more I work with alcohol inks, the more I love them.  Though I have a long way to go before I become proficient.  Today the final week of the online beginner's class downloaded and I just completed the first lesson which was to pour a "Dreamscape" -- a process trademarked by June Rollins -- on tile and to use a coffee stirrer or old credit card to create texture.  This last week is called "Putting it all together."  These two techniques were taught in the first week.

I selected Salmon, Citrus and Mermaid as my colors for pouring the dreamscape and decided on the credit card for creating texture. I poured along all four sides of the tile and let the colors flow.  The result was a dreamscape that looks like blades of grass in the foreground and I'm not sure what in the background. ;-)

Whatever it is, I really like it.

Almost like looking through aquarium grass?

Getting the Hang of It

I am much happier with this second piece and still may rework parts of it after tomorrow's watercolor class.  That's the beauty of the Yupo paper.  It does not absorb paint the way watercolor paper does, and sections -- or the whole thing, for that matter -- can be reworked as the artist feels the need to do it.  I may end up reworking some of the water and rocks.  I'm pretty happy with the tree.  This painting is based on a photo I took in the little village of Keanae on Maui when we were stopping along the road to Hana.  I'll sign it after I am completely done with it.

Tomorrow's lesson will be painting water and seascapes.    I'm looking forward to it!

Alcohol Ink and Compressed Air

One of today's lessons in my online class was applying alcohol inks to a 6 x 6 inch tile.  This was so much fun that I may decide to buy a little compressor for my art studio.  My husband offered me the use of his but we both believe the compressor he has would blow the tile away even if I was coordinated enough to manage the hose and nozzle and my wet tile -- and I didn't particularly relish painting in the garage -- especially in 95 degree weather!

So I played with the texture tools for awhile and made a chart of the different effects:

I used alcohol on cotton balls, felt, Q-Tips. an old toothbrush for spatter effect, a mister, and a fan brush as well as a coffee stirrer and old credit card.  I had done a number of these with creating texture in my acrylic paintings over the years and it was interesting to see how they worked with the inks.

I did the same thing with wet ink on tile.

And, THEN, I got a fresh tile and my can of compressed air (the type you use to clean computer screens and keyboards of dust) and started applying ink and then blowing it.  I loved the effect and know I will be doing more of that.  I will keep this one and do something with it in the future.

Fun.

That's what all of this is.

Just. Plain. Fun.

Loving Summertime

There are lots of things I love about summer here.  It's not as crowded because the winter residents have left for the most part and, Glory Hallelujah!, school is out and all that neighborhood traffic is gone until mid August.  Living smack dab in the middle of a triangle where the elementary, high, and middle schools form it's angles has its drawbacks between 7 and 9 in the morning and almost every hour on the half hour in the afternoon has some major drawbacks.

But most of all, it's a nice change of pace in my volunteer activities.  Especially this year as I have promised myself and my husband that I am going to take more time for myself and both of us are spending more time with each other.  He loves it when I spend time in my studio -- and so do I.  I find it relaxing and energizing at the same time.  Because I really need to get back into my painting, I enrolled in a 6-week watercolor class at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center.  It is a unique class taught by artist, Taylor Ikin, who is teaching watercolor painting on non-porous substrates, Yupo and Terraskin.  Both are papers made from recycled products.  Yupo is like a plastic and Terraskin is made from rock.

Both of which have presented me challenges and I figured I needed expert help.

Taylor is wonderful.  She's happy, flexible, talented (extremely), and so much fun.  My classmates are happy, flexible, also talented and a barrel of fun.  Tuesdays are my new favorite day of the week. I'm not very good at it yet, but here is my first attempt.

I am finishing up my second painting this weekend and I already like it a lot better.  I'll put it in my next post.

In addition to this class, I am also doing an online class with artist Sheryl Williams who is teaching through a series of videos.  That started today and I can work it at my own pace.  I worked on that a good portion of today and really enjoyed the exercises that demonstrate how the inks flow and meld with other colors.  I did the following:

Applied in Drops

Just drops of three colors, watermelon, citrus and sailboat blue and a few drops of blending solution.

I tried a different set of colors for the next exercise:  Bottle, Rust and Denim

Applied in Streams

I have mixed feelings about that color combo.  I will probably use it again but with a different application technique.

Next up -- Circles.  This was like applying in drops, but you touch the tip of the ink bottle to the Yupo paper to make circles as opposed to drops which spread differently on the surface.

I went back to the first set of colors which I really, really like.  I also added a couple of blending solution "circles" which lightened it in several places.

But my favorite and the most fun?  Applying a drop of color and then blowing on it with a drinking straw. Loved this exercise.  Fun to watch the the different shapes and colors that formed.

Drops blown with a drinking straw:

I truly love that last one.  Same 3 colors but so many new colors that formed as the inks melded.

It will end up on some one's birthday, get well, or thinking of you card some day.

That was Week One, Lesson 2.  I just did a color chart in Lesson 3.  Looking forward to learning more in Lesson 4 tonight.

This summer is mine.  All mine.  And time with Butch (#40 coming up soon.) Except for my Fridays in the library.  But that's for me, too.  A few happy hours in one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people.  ;-)

Layer 3 of Floral Tile

Evolving Piece - Alcohol Ink on Tile

Yesterday, I posted this tile:

It dried overnight and I did a second layer today:

I really like the shape it is taking, but I want to get some of the earlier colors back into my "bouquet." Especially the orange.  Maybe where the yellow is on the top left quadrant and the bottom.

So I'll do some more this afternoon some time.

Memorial Day Memories and Some New Art

Memorial Day always brings bitter sweet memories of my Dad, a veteran of WWII and Korea, career military man who moved us many different places around the world over his 21 year career in the Corps of Engineers.  He was admitted to the hospital on Memorial Day 1977 and died on June 12. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on my mother's birthday, June 15.  She was only 54 and lived 19 more years.  I don't believe that she was ever really happy after Daddy died.  19 years is a long time to live without the love of your life.

I let other memories get to me this morning and then I made myself go to my "Happy Place" and play around for a few hours.

The first thing I did was pull out two cards I had created last month.  They are on black card stock, 5" square.  I like this one with the bottles.  It was the first one I did so it is a little messy.  I'll have to do another.  This is created using a substance called, "Perfect Medium" on the card and then embossing powder of different colors are brushed onto the wet medium.  Then brushed off, leaving the outline.  I mist with a fixative or water to set the powders.

I used a Gelly Roll pen made for writing on dark backgrounds.

My second attempt was a little more successful, I think.  I loved how the leaves turned out.

After I took the pictures of the cards, I pulled out my new alcohol inks and started creating a sheet of samples of all the palette colors and, just for fun, I dropped a little of each color in puddles of blending mixative on a tile as I worked with each color.  When I finished, I dobbed the tile with a crumpled tissue and took a photo of it.

Then I put a little more color and mixative on it and covered it with Glad Press n' Seal wrap.  I will pull it off tomorrow to see what pattern has been created and decide what else to do with it.

By the time I picked up the laptop to upload my photos, I had dispensed with the feeling of depression I had experienced this morning.  I am so grateful, it is that easy for me.  I know there are other people like my Mom who cannot seem to be able to do that.  But then I still have the love of my life with me every day.

Tomato and Pineapple Update

Picked up a banana plant from my friend, Neila, yesterday.  Butch says I need to tell him where I want to plant it.  I'm watching where the sun hits the yard and will decide today.  No pictures of it yet.  While I was out there taking pics of the plumeria the other day, I got some of Butch's tomato plants.  They have blooms but no fruit has formed yet.

There are five of them altogether.  I just took a picture of two of them.

Butch gave me an owl last weekend.  It will end up out there guarding the tomatoes.  But right now I have it sitting on the lanai where I can see it through the sliders.

I was tempted to keep him on the dining room table where I first found him.

But he looks good out on the lanai table.

And my pineapples are really coming along!  I can hardly wait to pick them.

One is quite a bit larger than the other, but I wasn't expecting twin pineapples to get that large when they share one pot full of foliage.

I'll be planting the tops from these two in separate pots later this summer.

Our Plumerias

This blog entry needs no words.   Even the newest sticks have sprouted big, healthy leaves.  We have some out in the front yard, too.  These are all around the lanai.