Bubble Girl stencil test drive

I was honored to be invited by Jessica Sporn to take part in one of her stencil test drives. I love Jessica's spirit, creativity, awesome art work and her fab stencils....so for me, it was a no brainer .... I was in.

Then began to ponder what I'd do....

 I am not a painter, but having just received some canvas boards from a friend cleaning out her basement, I thought I'd just play and see what I could come up with. I had nothing to lose. I started in one direction...shades of yellows and oranges. Not at all my palette. Something went seriously wrong, so I began to just slap paint here and there just to cover up my disaster. Hmmm.. I kinda liked what I'd done so far, so I kept going, adding the stencil, newsprint and metallic paint. Oh boy.. I just love Bubble Girl.. 

The finished piece: Bubbles Brighten a Grey Day

Then I wanted to do something with fabric since I'm a textile recycler. I grabbed an old quilted bedspread that I've had hanging around for just this occasion. I did a crude measure of a spiral notebook and hacked away.

Next I stenciled the image onto the quilted fabric, then did some thread sketching in between the lines. The bubbles are metallic paint and outline stitched in black.

Last I added some text. A light lavender wash was applied to a small piece of fabric for some background to add text to. Then I just wrote the balance directly on the piece. I'm not totally thrilled with the ink coverage of the pen I used for the text, but I still can't wait to start using my new notebook cover!

I had been mulling over from the beginning what I really wanted to do with this stencil. The plan was to use some sheer fabric and do a really cool overlay with some piecing and stitching. But every time I got close to pulling the bits and pieces I needed, something else caught my eye and I was off in another direction. So after switching it up a handful of times, I landed on this vintagey fabric.

I cut some flowers and leaves from another fabric, then added it to the background, traced my pretty little bubble girl onto muslin, painted her, added her to black felt to add dimension. Did the same with the butterflies and bird. Then I fiddled around with various pieces of lace and decided to frame my gal. Last the entire piece was applied to a 12" x 12" canvas for a nice dimensional wall piece.

The finished piece: Leaving the Garden with Butterflies

So there we go... three uses for Bubble Girl;

in a painting, thread sketching and applique.

For a chance to win your very own Bubble Girl stencil, just leave a comment on this blog by October 27 at midnight EST telling me how YOU would use Bubble Girl.

Click the links below to see how each artist blogger

has used her Bubble Girl stencil!

Jessica Sporn 

Marcia Beckett 

Marsha Valk 

Kirsten Reed 

Maria McGuire

Susi Pichler
Corinne Gillman 

Leave a comment on each of their blogs and you have even

more chances to win your very own Bubble Girl stencil!

 The more times you comment, the more chances you have to win!

And while you're at it, be sure to check out the
fabulous selection of cool stencils at Stencil Girl Products

Thanks for stopping by. Happy stenciling!

Sunfest 2013

Last week I was in sunny downtown London... Ontario that is. Sunfest. Ah yes... a wonderful place to be if you're a music lover. What kind of music you ask.. all kinds... Salsa from Puerto Rico to Cumbia from Columbia and Reggae to brass from Rumania --- and let's not forget the jazz stage. Yummy.

Normally at an event like this I would take tons of photos, but I just didn't have it in me. I had badly twisted my ankle and broken a toe so moving back and forth thru crowds of 200,000 or more seemed like a recipe for disaster. None the less, I met some wonderful folks, saw some old friends, soaked up some glorious sun and did I mention the music?? OMG.. it was so wonderful.

Here's a short video of the sights and sounds from my week at Sunfest:

So again, you may be wondering... how the heck does this relate to recycling! Well never fear, I found some treasures to add to the recycle fabric pile. Let's see what I can do with these:

The AAW Caroline (Heidelberg-esque) Project...

So the school year is done, the kids are gone... even the art installations have been removed. Here's another look at the work in progress......
 

...... and the end result for the four groups.

Below is a long shot of the front of the school with

the art installations.

The kids really responded well to this project and ran with the opportunity to create art in a new and unexpected way. 

I think the expression on this young ladies face says it all...

Can't wait to see what the 3D class does with it next year....

Gelli print 'mop cloths'

I've been dyeing fabric now for a good number of years. I love it. There are a lot of dyers that keep records, use precise measurements and get predictable outcomes. Not me. I tried it. Didn't like it. It took all of the fun out.... besides, I really like the serendipitous nature of dyeing without measuring. Opening every bundle at the end of the process is like opening a  lot of little gifts. 

When I dye, I always, always have bits of fabric handy to sop up any spills.. or clean brushes, what ever.... I work pretty clean, but even I still have a spill now and then. So the 'mop cloth' is always there, ready and waiting. A lot of times the mop cloths looks so cool that I use them in projects!

With my gelli plate printing yesterday, I tried to use some fabric for cleaning brushes, brayers and stencils but it was not as effective as paper... so now I have some painted paper pieces for projects too!

 Here are just a few paper 'mop cloths' from yesterdays session:

Of course, had to try it again while gelli printing today.

I like the throw-away, 'clean up cloth' paper as much as the actual pieces I've been working on.... This a great distraction but way too much fun to stop!

Gelli plate, stencils and paint... oh my!

This past weekend was fairly uneventful. Did some things around the house.. and had somewhere to go for a hot minute. On the way home I hit a garage sale or two. No shock. I managed to find some treasures as any good self respecting junker would do. One was a somewhat dirty wad of canvas ...

Today I just needed to do something creative. It's been a long long time and I'm itching.. So I turned to the lump of fabric that had been tossed onto a dining room chair. Here's a photo of a small hunk of canvas cut from the larger wad after a spin in the washer and dryer.....

 

...then a rather quick meet & greet with an iron, gellli plate, stencils and paint, I ended up with this:

 

 These 2 are close ups:

I need (or want) to add more layers, colors and contrast. I think this is a good start for my first attempt at using Gelli Plates... What fun!

Now, it's back to business.....

Heidelberg-esque Project

I went to the high school today to see how the Caroline Project was coming along. You may have seen the post about our field trip.... 

A few weeks back we took some of our kids to the Heidelberg Project in Detroit to expose them to 'found object art'. The kids had a great time and some super ideas for creating their own installations on the school property. They were broken up into teams. Each team had to 'find' their own bits and pieces to create their work.

Since it was such a nice warm and sunny day, I thought it was a perfect day to take some 'in progress' pix. You can see that they're making pretty good progress. Each team still has some interesting pieces to add along with paints and other treasures... but here's where they are at the moment:

I can't wait to see this project finished! Sadly for me, some of these great kids are graduating in a few weeks. They have been fun to spend time with and get to know. I look forward to seeing what wonderful creations they come up with in the future... they are all so very talented.

 Click this link to see Heidelberg post

The Universe does it again!

I had a wonderful experience this week. I was invited to accompany a friend to attend a 'business persons meet-n-greet networking event'. I've been working with her by bouncing ideas back and forth to help her grow a new business, and just being an extra pair of eyes, ears and hands. She's a great gal, so going was a no brainer. 

When we got there it was not exactly what we thought it would be. Not a lot of people and at first glance seemed more like a very very mini trade show. We walked, looked, talked, introduced ourselves and it seemed over in a hot minute. Then as we contemplated leaving, a woman came up to me, introduced herself and started talking to me about what she does. What a gem! We found that we do similar type creative work and have walked the same path for many decades. Then her gal pals started falling in and joining the conversation. Again, I was happily amazed. What a nice and fun set of women to spend some time with. Maybe it's because we are all cynics, or maybe because we love to manipulate and mutilate fabric, I don't know, but whatever it was, we got along and quickly bonded. 

The thought of sharing ideas and techniques is invigorating. Doing it with some really awesome people makes it even better. With these chicas I can tell that there are no expectations either, no stress to perform.. just do what comes naturally, creatively speaking. So getting together, having fun and seeing what direction we all end up is the plan.. I look forward to connecting with them real soon. Thanks Universe. Good job.

Gelli Plate or Slacker?

Just this once I'll allow you to laugh at me and call me names. I deserve it... here's why:

I began making gelatin plates quite a few years ago. I wanted a way to create unique, crazy & cool painted fabric and paper. Then suddenly Gelli Plates came on the market and I scoffed. (I know, who uses that word any more). 

Seriously.....who could possibly be that lame. You mean to tell me that you can't just throw some gelatin in hot water and then in the fridge? Really? I don't believe you. I know you can... if you really want to.

What a slacker. You have to really be a lazy so-and-so to take the easy route and buy a ready made plate. Sheesh.

Well, I spent years of trying to juggle things in the fridge to make room for the container of giggly stuff. Most of the time my refrigerator is just too packed...not an inch of room to spare for food let alone a pan of gelatin. So, I gave in. It took me a few years to get to that point and get over the fact that I would become one of those lame-o slackers, but alas..... I am. I finally succumbed. My new Gelli Plate arrived today and I can't wait to rip into it and paint, paint, paint.

So laugh at me ... call me names ..... say rude things about me, I can't hear you anyway. I'm squealing with glee while I pull out my new Gelli Plate. Go get yours right now.... let's have painting party....

Trash or Treasure?

Ok, so we all know that I love to recycle....mainly textiles... but not exclusively. I'm a happy camper any time I'm around cast off or thrown away materials, before of after being turned into something else. I get especially excited when it's turned into some type of art.

Well, Tyree Gyton of Detroit has been doing it for decades. His Heidelberg Project is an ever changing landscape of shoes, grocery carts, doll pieces, vacuum cleaners, bent and mangled metal, cinder blocks and so much more.... all whimsically assembled to create art that gives the viewer either the giggles or pause to think about the message.

I recently spent a morning there with a local high school art class. The purpose was to expose the kids to various types of art and materials... and think about what they could create themselves. So the message is that you don't have to have big money to create art, just an imagination and some found objects.

Here is a peek at our morning.

at the beginning

not sure what to do with all those old records?

hello, hello. anyone home?

yipes. who put those shopping carts up there?

the middle of the shopping cart tree

charred beams from an abandoned house

medical folk create art & make statements too..

Detroit's in trouble...this says it all

hmmm, there's still empty space up top

do you know what time it is in the D? take that Flavor Flav

coming and going,
every sidewalk is painted with faces & crosses

So that should give you some idea of what the Heidelberg Project is and how we reuse trash in Detroit. Love it or hate it, art IS in the eye of the beholder. It will be interesting to see what the kids come up with for their own projects.

I'll keep you posted.