Studio Kit

As you know, my word of the year this year is "intention" and part of that is that I'm no longer going to be making things just to make them (with the exception of my work for And Then We Set It On Fire, although I'll try to incorporate that work into what I'm doing for "real" as well); but I also need to do what I call "journeyman" work, stuff that doesn't really have a purpose other than to help me improve upon something I'm having trouble with.

And you know what I currently have the most trouble with, don't you? THOSE DAMN LOLLIPOP TREES!!!!! lol Why is that every time I try to do foliage I end up with lollipop trees? (Rhetorical question). Anyway...

You may remember this piece from back when I was doing the fugitive media experiments - this one was from the charcoal on fabric session and I decided to get away from the lollipop shape by building it up with acrylic paint.

Well, as you can see, all that happened as a result of that little experiment, was that I ended up with a deeper, more highlighted lollipop shape:

and I liked it better BEFORE I began fussing with it. Oy.

See what happened next on Monday. 'Cuz on Friday, I'm doing a giveaway in tandem with Chris Daly at Dye Candy two chances to win! Until then...

Remember I told you that I had wrecked my prior ironing pad with my transfer painted work in November and I had to make a new one? I finally did. :) It was pretty simple: I used a piece of the melamine boards I had cut for the tables (which meant it was the same width as the tables - perfect!), covered it with 3 or 4 layers of batting, a layer of insul-bright and this strippy-stripey blue/green/yellow striped fabric and I had a new pad! (I've used it already for transfer paint work and it's perfect. No heat getting through that sucker!)

I also made...

New covers for my sewing machines (much simpler than the other ones); a new cover for my mini-ironing board (same method as above) - I use this one for sewing clothes; and a little pin cushion/snips holder/thread catcher.

I wasn't sure whether I would actually use it so I didn't make the thread-catcher of my dreams (mostly 'cuz I didn't have any); but I actually use it a LOT. Who knew?

My little transfer paint piece is complete. I've been reading Game of Thrones and my head is filled with images of that magical realism world; the kind of place where supernatural happenings and creatures blend seamlessly with the "real" world.

The Weirwood trees are white I know, but this one is in shadow, at dusk, in late autumn.

And it can both hear you and see you.

Process here and here, how to do transfer painting here

When I left you on Monday, I had just finished fusing my cuts of transfer painted fabric to my batting. As you may know, my usual practice is to happily throw stuff at a piece and be pleased with the result at the end, which was fine when my goal was to just "try" different techniques. But this year, I have chosen as my word of the year "intention" and so have decided to not start a piece without know what it is I'm trying to accomplish, before I cut a thread.

Remember back in November when I was teaching transfer paints at And Then We Set It On Fire? This was one of my experiments.

I always liked it and thought it would make for a great, moody, sort of atmospheric background. But I couldn't leave it alone, so....

I cut out an interesting shape and laid it on fusible batting....

And then I selected several more pieces of transfer painted fabric that I had made during that period of time and cut them to the shapes I wanted to make the background I saw. And then I fused 'em.

What next? Find out on Wednesday!