ArtFiberFest Journal

Preparing a journal is one of the pleasures of going to an art retreat. I've wanted to make a fabric art journal for some time and decided to create one for this conference. I stitched small pillows, hooked a variety of fibers, ribbons and fabric strips onto a canvas mesh spine and embellished it with trades, beads and printed images. The signatures are made of drawing paper.

The first page highlights the ArtFiberFest 2009 theme- Orbs (thus the fabrics with circles).

One page includes the fabric inchies that I received from our swap. Thanks to everyone who participated. I like the different creations all in one inch size.
I add notes, information and handouts from my workshops, artist contact information of new and old friends, future teachers and ideas for projects.

The back cover contains a couple more trades.

Now I have all of my retreat treasures in one place. In upcoming posts, I'll share what I created at ArtFiberFest.

Hughes Water Garden Sketch

Today we sketched at Hughes Water Gardens- one of my favorite places to visit.

Inchies for ArtFiberFest

Next week, I'm off to ArtFiberFest at Reed College and decided to participate in an inchie swap with an orb theme. It's hard to work this small. I sandwiched two fabrics back to back on a piece of Lutradur. The back fabric is yellow with multicolored polka dots. I cut one inch strips with my rotary cutter, stamped inch rings using a bottle cap with acylic paint, outlined orbs in red ink and sewed on sequin and bead embellishments. The edges are colored with a red Sharpie.

What workshops am I taking? Jen McGahan's soft sculpture animals; Ty & Marcia Schultz's discovering paverpol; and Mary Stanley's charm school.

Nature Gathered Elements Mandala

This weekend, I worked on my Nature Gathered elements piece. Mandalas inspire a spiritual aspect in their creation. An ancient art form used across many cultures and religions, creating a mandala is a meditative process, an act of devotion. Across Asia from India to Tibet to Japan, mandalas symbolize sacred art that reflects the soul or luminous consciousness. One can use mandala paintings to make a mind-body-spirit connection to heal and reconnect to our essential Being. Below is the process I used to create this piece.

the drawing-

Copied drawing using Saral paper to prepared collaged and gessoed canvas.

the painting-

addition of gold-leaf foil and pin lining with 3-D dimensional fabric paint. Then I painted three layers of amber shellac to finish the piece. I learned this creative process from Anahata Katkin.

Art Retreat, Kitchen Spirit Doll & Journal Stencils

Each Spring our Portland Art Collective members attend a retreat at Menucha in the Columbia River Gorge. It's a time to create, enhance friendships and enjoy nature. Below is a photo looking west just before sunset.
The sunset on this hot day colored the sky.

I finished a kitchen spirit doll for Mme Corbel Elisabeth, our five star chef at her Keraret Bed & Breakfast in Plouguiel, Brittany. She loves dolls and I promised to make her one.

Then, Cynthia and I got our our spray paint and stenciled in the calm morning. I took my journal that I made (see here) in January and sprayed away. I like how the red paint integrates the cover.

Here is another page with the red paint stenciled on to it. The red paint on the dark yellow on the left really shines.

This page, I sprayed with yellow paint.

Here's a page from my black and white journal.

If you are interested in stenciling, Mary Ann Moss is offering her online Stencilry class this month. I highly recommend it. It's full of resources, interesting videos and lesson plans.

Peonies & Roses Bloom

We're having warm weather and the sunshine brought out the peonies and roses this week. The Peony Place is a a farm sitting on a hill over looking Mt St Helens southeast of Portland.

The varieties and colors of these peonies never cease to amaze me.

If it stays hot this weekend, they won't last too many more weeks.

In my garden, I love to grow roses and here are two of the first blossoms. "Double Delight" boasts beautiful variegated colors and a lovely fragrance.

"Dainty Bess" always remains so delicate.

For NW gardeners, the end of May and June is time to reap the bounty and beauty of the earth in these flowers.

Berry Botanical Garden Discovery

It took a morning of sketching at the Berry Botanical Garden to discover the name of a plant growing in my home garden- Tellima grandifora fringe cap.

Below is a photo of my garden and the fringe cap. This year it reseeded and made a wonderful ground cover.

The wisteria also caught my eye. I experimented with painting the wisteria's hanging flower clusters, then added the branches and leaves to get the feel for the wispy, flower softness.
The columbine wanted my attention, too. I love the woodland, native plants that grow so well in Oregon gardens and forests for all of us gardeners and hikers to admire.
Here's my sketch.