CALYX 1

I made four different flowers out of copper shim for shows in past years and have one left in my stock. They featured embossed metal and free machine embroidery mounted on different backings.

The one I had left was a poppy mounted on a quilted black linen, and in discussion with my daughter on why we thought it never sold, we decided it was too stark of a contrast between the solid geometric background and the very organic flower.

So I decided to just go for it and pulled out coloured pencil crayons and start adding texture to the background - I love how it turned out!!

The before photo showing the solid background with selection of colours to be added...

  

Me working away...

 

 After I finished it I had to 'fix' the colours onto the cloth and this toned them down slightly. The final results, with detail shot...

 Will see what reaction it gets at the sale this weekend!

Art sent to Winnpeg...

I have shipped off 5 pieces to Winnipeg along with art from other Articulation members in preparation of the September show. Lesley and I spent a morning packing and finished with three large boxes filled with 18 pieces of art - and Canada Post was successful in delivering it all within two days - thanks to them for a job well done!

I was especially happy with how my two new pieces turned out. I ended up painting matching canvases to mount them on and came up with a fabric-looking backing to sew them onto. I love the colouring and textures they add to the entire piece. Can't wait to get them out for public viewing!

How To... MYRTILLE

Blueberries!

This piece was inspired by a photograph, blown up of blueberries - but for something different, I used metal to make them out of!


I started by making a background to mount the piece onto. Using a multi-layered base of Pelmet Vilene + upholstery fabric + painted Wonder Under + fused and melted chiffon scarves, I free machine embroidered across the entire surface in a controlled pattern.

I then fused on some Metallic Foils in two shades of blues and a purple, which came out really bright so I heated them with a craft heat gun to dampen their effect. Then, onto the metal.

Using ArtEmboss Colored Foil in green (a 3-mil aluminum sheet that is soft enough to emboss into) I traced the blueberries from the photograph and added textural details. I then heated the metal with a miniature blow torch to change the colour of it from green to blue. It was then painted with a black acrylic and when partially dried, rubbed to remove most of the colour but keeping enough to highlight the detailing. Working quickly while the paint was still damp, I sprinkled embossing powders to be embed into itself. Heating these with a heat gun added more layers to the colours.


The metal was then free machine stitched onto a piece of acrylic felt and cut out. Here is a detail:


Looking through my yarns to add a little more colour, I found this one that I wrapped around black pipe cleaners and then machine stitched as an outer border onto the background piece.


Then it was layout and adding 'interest' pieces.
Going through my various stashes, I found a piece of mesh that had been dipped into a paper slurry with the paper drying onto the crossbars. This brilliant magenta matched the border yarns so perfectly that I had to use it!


I made some fabric beads out of hand dyed cotton bits and stitched felt that had been zapped by a heat gun; and a small tile made out of Friendly Plastic.


When I stitched the metal down onto the background I formed it into a 3D shape by stuffing it with quilt batting - this gave some dimension to the piece.


Here is the final creation before it was framed in a simple black frame on a white matte board. I am pleased with the end product and how it all ties together.