small progress

Machine stitching on vellum. All of the vessels are connected with jump stitches (loose threads that connect the stitching). I like the sketched quality of these and that you can see the jump stitches from the back as well.

Machine stitching on vellum.

Machine stitching on vellum.

Watercolor, tea and machine stitching. These vessels are also connected with jump stitches.

In progress. Tea and machine stitching with jump stitches connecting each vessel. I am going to go back into this one with watercolor and see how the loose threads affect it.

4 small postcards. Earth pigment, tea and machine stitching.

You might remember this one from the last post. I took out the read threads and appliquéd a tea bag over the tea stain.

rest.

Something I will be needing after Thursday, but also what I am thinking about for a new series. For this sample I traced the silhouette of one of my fallen birds and made a resting quilt with the trapunto technique.

I sewed tea bags together, appliquéd it onto muslin and echo quilted. I am in the very early stages of thinking about this series but it completely relates back to my ideas and work I was doing a year ago. I want to use these silhouettes as a starting point for exploring this concept with process. As many as possible. I think I should exploit the shape and do as many things as I can think of. The only thing I am concerned about is the bird shape. Is it too played out? Too overdone? I feel like Im jumping on the bandwagon a little bit, but it really works with my concepts and I’d hate to overlook an interesting idea because of something like that.

 

We had a little photo shoot in my studio yesterday because Chris was looking so handsome in his outfit that inspired the color palette for the Autumn Harvest quilt. Look at the little baby looking up at his proud daddy!

He’s been sleeping with us every night and he always finds a way to wedge us out of the way.

They got restless so the photo shoot wrapped up quickly.

 

Im almost done with the travel quilt so I’ll be back soon with photos! Have a great day!

new work

Ive got a bunch of photos so be ready. I’ll start with some dailys:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book is almost full! I have really enjoyed this project and I plan to make another one very soon.

 

 

Tea bag collage.

Tea stained organza spine.

 

For this one I screen printed my neck x-ray (can you see my scull and jaw bone from the side angle at the top, and shoulder at the bottom?), then embroidered on top of it. I am just learning to embroider and am still getting used to it. Im definitely enjoying it tho.

The very beginning of another embroidered screen print.

Screen printed x-rays. Im thinking about making a new daily that includes the screen printed x-rays and embroidery. Some could be quick and some more involved. What do you think? I’d love some feedback!

And since this is such a long photo post I thought I’d add one more and give you a little sneak peak into my studio.

I have posted a lot of images of my work from this quarter, but I feel like I dont really have any “finished” pieces. Of course, this happens and I had several breakthroughs this quarter, so I feel it was a success. I would love to know what you think and get some feedback on my work. What are your initial reactions? Are you seeing any connections? Your opinions are very important to me! Speak up!

 

 

studies

 

I have been saving every tea bag I use this summer so that I can possibly use them in the fall in a quilt. When I looked at the bags last week I discovered some of them had gotten moldy. It was almost heartbreaking to think that I would have to throw them away, so I boiled them all again in hopes it would take care of the problem. I laid out all the bags on a piece of watercolor paper to dry. Their impressions are much fainter than the first round but they look beautiful. I love the shadows of the tea bags.

 

 

The daily teas werent working very well under the rock so I started playing with them. I plan on finishing it this weekend (hopefully) so I’ll show pics soon.

 

 

 

My daily practice has changed a few times this quarter so this is the new book to hold the dailys. I am sticking with the same 5×7 format, but I am allowing myself to use whatever materials I have, not just scraps, so I can paint and draw as well. I really like how the book came out. I have short pages to attach the dailys to.

More pics on my Flickr page.

(Im having some trouble with the editor, for some reason it does not want to left align, but I (Chris actually) downloaded a Flickr uploader so I can upload in batches from iPhoto!! Can you feel the excitement?! Wow. And it was like right in front of my face, but downloading programs makes me nervous so its nice to get a second opinion from the expert.)

impression

I have been playing with the idea of “impression.” As in the impression of an object, something left behind after that object is gone. I just wanted to see what would happen with the tomato….

But what I am really interested in are tea bags. I have been saving my tea bags from this quarter to possibly do something with in the fall and I had this idea last week to also have the impression from each bag. So I began on this piece of watercolor paper last Monday.

I love the ghost-like image that remains. The contrast between the hard and soft edges are beautiful and they almost resemble cocoon shapes.
The blue-green impressions are from a green tea with berries. Its supposed to suppress the appetite, but I dont think it works. I like the taste tho and the colors from the impression are intense and deep.

I am going to start a daily practice of collecting the impressions from my tea bags. I have made small pieces of paper into single signatures (just a folded piece of paper that would be sewn into a book) but instead of binding them I am stacking them between two blocks of wood.

Once the stack gets very high it will be hard to balance, which is ultimately what this piece is about. Drinking tea brings me a calm and balanced feeling. I try very hard to have balance in my life, I need it and I thrive on it.

Thats it for now, I am trying to figure out whether to post my daily collages all at once because I have about 16 to catch you up on. It would be a super long photo post, but I guess that wouldnt necessarily be a bad thing.