Drafts not published till now

I took this photo and changed it to  two different designs. with kaleidoscope.

The embroideries remind me of hot air baloons

  

This would make a lovely circular embroidery

A circular embroidery from a silk ribbon I worked for Tast

another circular design from my Iris painting

Once I discovered the kaleidoscope programme I became obsessed, (I guess as everyone else did) and had to be very strict with myself to concentrate on catching up with the other lessons I missed while in hospital.  It is just amazing what one can do to a simple image with this programme.  Who would have thought a small sample of embroidery could finish as an entirely different amazing design.

Coloured Sands

The above was an exercise from  week 1.  I used watercolour and salt to make a picture in water colour of the Coloured Sands, (sand dunes on a stretch of beach North of Noosa in Queensland).  Then I rubbed over parts of that with oil pastel to create some  different effects, and finally cut it up  into several smaller pieces, which all turned into small pictures of their own.

Sneak Peak WIP

WIP of "Desert Dawn"

Thought I would get away from all the misery stuff and show a sneak peak of the piece I am working on which is a result of one of my studio journal projects

On the design I worked with Gimp I had the flower petals lime green, and used a variegated thread that I thought had a similar green, but the colours hwere not as limey coloured, more lemon, and have not come up in the photo very well.  Themajority of the colour is  a bright blue, and I think that will work just as well.

The size of the project is postcard size, and I am hoping to make a postcard out of it.

The couched and stem stitch lines are actually magenta with royal blue french knots.   I am please I am actually working something from my journal class.

Studio Journal progress

Firstly I spread some modelling paste thickly over my journal page.  Then the bell was used to make the circles, the wire basket to make the design inside the circle and the pastry gadged for the lines between the circles.

After that I used water colours to paint the differnt parts of the page.  When it had dried I decided to try to do something with the design that I could put onto fabric and embroider.

So this is what the fabric looked like after I coloured the fabric and dripped the blue circles (well sort of circles) onto the wet paint.

This set me off onto a "now what else can I do with that" so I went to my gimp programme and played with the photo of this stage of the proceedings and this is what I came up with.

All I have to do now is to turn this into an embroidery when I have another moment.

Gesso Collage

Wow, this living on one's own certainly has some advantages.   I have been able to work on my studio journal stuff to my heart's content, today, and not have to talk, entertain, or make food for a hungry man.... just do things I wanted to do., and eat when I wanted to...what a great life eh.  I am even blogging in my pj's today, because it is a dull day and wants to rain.

My friend Dianne suggested that my gesso piece reminded her of what the Aussie landscape would look like from outer space, so began considering all things Australian and this is what I have come up with.

The fact that the gesso had gone hard in the jar only served as an asset since it retained all these lovely lumps when I mixed it up.  The first layer of paint was acrylic, then I used watercolour over that....and the colours that resulted reminded me of some of the colours of the sunsets in"The Centre".

I also wrote a little story about the word "Matilda" and how I felt it fitted into my collage. I had been looking at one of my "Matilda's" feathers for days, and really wanted to use that.  Isn't is funny how one word can lead to different trains of thought.

Now it is time for a Nana Nap.

Studio Journal progress

I have been neglecting my poor blog lately, so thought I would post about the progress so far of what I have been doing in the studio journal workshop in between "sojourns".

 

I took some shapes from one of the grid patterns, and traced them off onto fabric, and this is what I have come up with so far.   The small green tree has been moved temporarily to allow for some stitching.  However I have lost the train of thought I had for stitches and patterns.  Did not get a chance to make note what I had had in mind.

The exercise  proved to be a bit of a challenge because of lack of knowledge of some computer workings, however, I did manage to come up with a couple of designs eventually very loosely based on the picture of the grid over the window.

 I copied and pasted the wingding in open office until I had a full page, then printed them out and cut them up to make the design.   Ater arranging and glueing the design coloured them with water colour and  crayon.

Below are two designs that could be used for borders  taken from using "wingdings" or as I prefer to say "dingbats" because they nearly drove me batty.  Sorry they look crooked, I did rule off the page, but am not what you would call a good photographer.

I am really enjoying this workshop, thanks to Sharon Boggon, but will be glad to see the top of the dining room table again.

Studio Journal

I have been very diligent over the weekend, trying to catch up with the Studio Journal lessons.   Have not got to the stage of working on samples, just the basic lessons, but am thoroughly enjoying it.   I have particularly liked the lesson of marking a grid on images and then cutting them up and re-arranging them.  It could have been one of those addictive things like the kaleidoscope programme.

So here are some of the images from the lessons.  I dont profess to see any designs as yet, but I think that is in the eye of the beholder.   This is going to be a very good learning curve for me, to be a little bit more organised when preparing to work an embroidery.  I have discovered from the workshop that taking various things into consideration will make for a much better design than just "going for it".  It gives you the chance to correct anything that is not quite right before you put needle to fabric.

Studio Journal Class and Update

POSTED BY DIANNE:

Shirley is not sitting idle in hospital.  She has a whole box of arty stuff so she can get a start on her online Studio Journal Class with Sharon B. 
Shirley is improving every day and is now out of ICU and is hoping to be discharged from hospital mid next week.  She is feeling a WHOLE lot better.

 
She is 'wired' up to this!  She was hoping to get it off last night.
 
Various items in hospital were targets for Shirley's rubbings exercises.  Shirley has allocated stitches to these already.

"Starry Night" - Shirley's interpretation.

Elements from Van Gogh drawing and how she would work them.

 Watercolours and cling wrap exercise.  Shirley found all sorts of shapes in this.  Mushrooms, butterflies, faces etc.
She will let nothing get in the way of her creative side!!!!  She used the cling wrap which was wrapped around the newspaper.  Very resourceful.
Yet another lesson I have learned from Shirley over the years - always make time for your creative side.