Making Paper

Posted on by under paper making

 Our local fiber art group met today and we made hand made paper. I’ve never made paper before because the preparation always seems too overwhelming. But Carole really made it simple. She had all the screens ready and showed us a simple way to make small sheets of paper.

 I have tons of dyed paper towels that I have been saving so I tore some green, yellow and blue ones up and soaked them in warm water. Then whirred them up in a blender and poured the pulp in a tub with extra water. I got so involved that I forgot to take any more photos. But you take the screen and scoop up paper pulp and then squeeze out the excess water.

Here are some of our finished sheets of paper. The bright colored pieces are felt that we used for soaking up excess water. My pieces are the two bright green pieces towards the bottom. It was lots of fun and now I have to see what the paper looks like when dry. Next time we are going to learn some bookbinding techniques so I think I’ll save my paper for that.

Craft in America – Threads

Posted on by under Craft in America

If you’re in the USA, I thought you might be interested in this program that’s coming up on PBS. Here’s information from Carol Sauvion about the program.

Dear CRAFT Professional :
We are pleased to announce a new episode of the Peabody Award-winning PBS series, “Craft in America: Threads” – will be aired on PBS stations nationwide on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 9pm*.
Please check your local station for exact airdate/time and tune in!
And PLEASE let all you friends, family, craft community, social network followers… and all craft lovers nationwide know by forwarding the attached postcard – your help is so important to us!
Craft in America: Threads explores work by Faith Ringgold, Randall Darwall, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, and Terese Agnew – nationally acclaimed fiber artists who through story-quilts, fiber collages and woven textiles go beyond pure technique. Throughout history, man has sought ways to craft a domestic environment that is warm, comforting, and redolent of meaning and memories. Through interviews with nationally acclaimed artists working at the forefront of their media, artists devoting their lives and pushing boundaries of technique in the pursuit of their art, Threads looks at ways in which the needle arts have evolved from the functional to the meaningful.
The Craft in America series is the result of years of advocacy, research and filmmaking. The story of American Craft is integral to the history of America – its immigrant experience, natural resources, and vital creativity – a story of creating beauty from humble materials.
*check local listings
Please take a look at the “sneak peek” preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en77AmkHItA
We very much appreciate any help you can give us in our efforts to tell craft lovers across America about this upcoming episode!
The story of American Craft crosses all cultural, geographic and political lines.
Enjoy the show and THANK YOU for your invaluable support!
Carol Sauvion & Craft in America
1120 S. Roberston Bl.; Suite 301
Los Angeles, CA  90035
Tel: 310.659.9022
www.craftinamerica.org

Cocoon Jacket Class

Posted on by under class, nuno felting
On Friday, I taught the first session of the Cocoon Nuno Jacket class at Camas Creek Yarn. I had four students but one had to leave early. We worked on making a sample and then the rest of the day was spent designing, measuring, figuring and deciding what yardage was needed for each jacket.

 There was lots of calculating, measuring, trying on and re-calculating.

 We used newspaper and muslin to make a pattern and to see how the jacket would fit.

 Here is Judy’s sample (not really this green). She is going to make some changes on her final jacket as she didn’t like the dark blue blobs.

 This is Vicki’s sample. She is planning on doing much thinner edges and thinner strips of wool on her jacket.

This one is Diana’s sample. She is planning on dyeing her jacket after it is felted. She used a yellow piece of silk but will be using white on her jacket.

The class meets again in two weeks and we’ll be felting all day. I can’t wait to see the finished jackets 🙂

Picasso Challenge

Posted on by under artist challenges

 Here is a photo of my piece I made for our group’s Picasso challenge. It’s my hubbie on his tractor. And I have to say it looks just like him! LOL

It was fun putting this together. I didn’t spend a lot of time on it thus the use of packing tape but it was fun.

This is the sculpture by Picasso that inspired me. I have never really liked his paintings so when I was looking him up online, I searched under sculpture. And this intrigued me. So I tried a cardboard sculpture. Have you studied any artist’s work and then done something in their style? My local group is doing just that each month. It’s been interesting.

Picasso Dogs and New Silk Screens

Posted on by under surface design

 I met with my surface design group on Friday and we had fun playing with a drawing exercise and making new silk screens. We used the EZ Screen Print sheets and Bunny’s Yudu machine.

 This is the result of the Picasso dog drawing exercise. I heard about this idea from a podcast that I listened to here. It might have been the one from Diana Trout but I can’t remember. Anyways, you keep turning the page and adding an eye, a foot, a tail, a snout etc. Then you connect the lines to make a Picasso dog. Mine is the bottom left one. It was fun for our Picasso exercise we did this past month. I don’t seem to have a photo of my Picasso tractor sculpture that I made. I’ll have to show you that later.

 Here are some of the silk screens we made. Most of us were going for background type texture to add to our projects. My four are on the left. Several of mine look like bark, can you imagine? Jan’s are in the middle and Louise’s are on the right. Isn’t her cheesecloth one cool?

 These are Carole’s. The one on the bottom right is my favorite.

 And here are Bunny’s on the left. Her flower on the top left printed out really well. I am planning on doing something with these screens soon so more photos to follow.