Collage with silhouette

   I certainly don't know where my days/weeks/hours go...seems I am always busy!!!  I did get the 12"x12" challenge quilts in the mail this week so that's off my list!  Can't wait to show what I've received from two of the ladies already!!!  This is a great challenge to do with a small group.  

I've been working on creating some silhouette designs to use for our theme in Hilary's MIP online class.  This one was from a cement walkway at a park in Florida and I think it will make a good silhouette.

I do like feathers and think this is a cool design but lots of detail so would need just the perfect background for my theme.  Only problem, I still don't know what my theme is!!  

In my last post I showed a drawing I had finished based on our lesson last week.  Mainly, we're just drawing 'lines' vs actual piece.  I was happy with this design and used it as inspiration for creating my collage piece for this week's lesson.

Colors were just some papers I chose from my 'stack'!  Although, I really need more painted/dyed papers.  Hard to believe, I know, but just like fabric, you never have that particular color/shade you want, right!  

Here is the start of my piece...the center is a piece of deli paper I printed...background is a screen print paper.

I just added a blue/gold piece in the center...

And now overlaid with a stencil....not the best stencil but just wanted to play with the 'lesson'.  This piece is only 8"x8".  OK, let's be honest...I didn't do a lot of detail with choosing background papers...but sometimes less is more, right!  Give me fabric and I can create a patchwork piece...using papers I think I try to hard.  Hence, less is better for me!  

One of my friend's, friend in Florida, who does photography, sent me a great silhouette from a picture he took!  I think I may have found the perfect silhouette and now just need to decide on the background!  I am now excited about this module we're working on.  I just have to work on more drawings for my background to go with my stencil (which I'll show later!).  

Drawing Backgrounds

 

Well, ya all know how much I love to draw, right!  NOT!!!  Guess what we've been doing in Hilary's online class this module?  Yep, drawing.  First up, we were to look through old magazines or books for pictures as inspiration for drawing background work to use for our silhouettes. 

So, we aren't suppose to 'draw' the picture, which is what I was doing...but I did add some of my own touches, right! 

OK, how about this for my inspiration picture and my drawing!  Doesn't look like the picture does it!  HA

Now this worked out the way it's suppose to...at least I think so!  

I like lines/abstract work so I am going to work with this design a little more.

I can see where I may want to tweak it and to create a good background.  Hilary suggested we use our design to create a collage or to color in our drawing.  I'm going to print out a few pages of the design to color in.  Not sure if I'll use some of my painted/printed papers and create a collage or not...I'll work on this later in the week.  

  

She's Back!

 

Yep, I am back (again!)...stitches have been removed and I've been sewing finishing up the 12"x12" challenge quilts that need to be sent out to the four recipients! Can't show pictures until I send them out but here is a sneak peak!   Hard to see but there are two dogs on my lap while I was sewing!  You can see Gigi and only part of Kalee!  

Back working on our online class with Hilary!  We started working on silhouette designs two (or more!) weeks ago.  I did get some designs traced and cut out. 

It's only fair that Kalee gets to be showcased too!  She was sitting up on my table in my wet room while I cut out silhouettes!

Playing with layouts of some silhouettes. 

I wanted the reverse and had cut out extra pieces so I l painted the back of it!  I kinda like what was left on my paper!

Back playing...there are two different sizes on this piece.

Lonely little flower!

This is a larger one I cut out (fills 8"x11" page).  It's fun to reduce or enlarge a design.

I like the simplicity of this one too.  It's interesting that we're doing this technique for our latest module.  Check out what a wonderful piece Mary Stori did adding a silhouette to her piece!  Mary has used this technique in her work often and I love what she did with this simple patchwork (not simple to sew all those squares! ) piece and how the silhouette just added to it beautifully!  Check it out here: Bamboo at Dawn.

 We're now working on creating background pieces for our silhouettes!  One step at a time, right!

Stitched Paper Collage 2

And she had an idea...yep, that gets me on a tangent from time to time...so I had an idea to create a background using one of my stencils...but first I had to decide on which color of printed paper to use. 



I settled for this deep lime green piece for the stencil and the brown stamped piece for the background. 

I stamped this with the arch stamp I made a few weeks back. 

Again, this was just an effort in trying to create something from an 'idea'.  I just traced the abstract leaf stencil on to the paper (I had fusible web on the back of the green paper).  Then I carved out each piece.

Stencil pattern all cut out!

I fused the stencil cut on to my background piece.

 

It's a little hard to see but this was actually my inspiration for making this stitched collage.  I used the same stencil on this poster board then I stamped with a real leaf.

9" x 12" paper collage

Funny, but I forgot I had used a real leaf so I was digging in my stamp 'tub' and couldn't find the large leaf!  Well, duh!  So I just used a small leaf stamp I had.

I fused the entire piece onto some batting and then free motion quilted the leafs. 

First cut around 5" x 12"

Then I got another 'idea'...I didn't really care for the piece as a whole so I'm playing with the camera and slicing the piece to create a diptych!



This is the first so called 'cut' I did via photo program.

around 4" x 9"

And the second piece cut.
Now to get the nerve to slice them!  But I'm liking the smaller versions.  This is practice for the 'idea'...you can see some of the lines I traced...just because I used a pen to trace and my cutting isn't the best! 

Now to the next phase!  Whatever that will be!

Back to the drawing board...kinda

I have to admit that I was struggling with some of our drawing lesson the last week or so in our online MIP class..but we have to move on, don't we, if we're going to learn anything!  Hilary is really good at being aware when her students are struggling or needing encouragement and she did just that this past week.  Actually, we're doing a bit of a recap in next week's lesson(s) as well.

This was a picture I saved from a newspaper clipping several, several years ago!  I had to color it in because it was fading!  I've always liked the design/layout...so I used it to crop two small 2"x3" images.

And my two little crops.....I had more fun coloring them in than I did drawing them!  HA

Based on some of Hilary's input I worked on this piece and enjoyed it!  Who knew!

This page was made up of several cards and pics I found in magazines that I liked.  Gives me lots of choices, right!

From that grouping of pictures, I ended up making a drawing of the elements back in May.   I have decided that I prefer leaves/foliage vs flowers so I'm anticipating my final design for the end of 2020-2021 for Hilary's class will be composed of leaves.

Next up, we were to crop from our picture (and you could do more than one).  I had already done a crop from the drawing above in May, so figured I'd just go with it.

We're to select one that we would like to collage in paper and I thought this would be a good choice and easy.   

And this was my end result using above crop for my inspiration.  I collected some of our previous stamped/dyed papers in colors for my collage and created this piece!  This is small, 5.5" x 8.25" and I put it in my  accordion journal.

I am happy with how my collage came out and it really gave me a boost to get back to looking at my saved pictures or previous collage pieces I've done.   Our next step is to pick a favorite that we want to reproduce in fabric!  Yikes!  I'm going to have to work on doing more cropping and collage work before I get to this step.  We're going to draw onto felt and fill in with cut pieces of fabric(s).  Should be fun but I'm just taking my time working on small collages.  We'll resize those collages to a size we want to work in.  Until then...back to the "drawing board"!

Now back to our regular programming or art work!

We've had a few weeks off from our MIP online class with Hilary!  Poor lady has been suffering from 'shingles', which is so painful.  BUT she's coming back next Monday!  Now, just because Hilary has been off sick and we've not had our lessons, we still could go back to last years video's or this year's video's and practice, practice and play!  But this chick didn't do much!  Go figure!

 I went through some of my saved pictures to look for inspiration for drawing and cropping.  I only found one...well, actually, I found more than one...but I only drew one and cropped it!  HA

I think the cropped trio look better than the drawing! 


Had I been really ambitious, I would have colored it in!  But I was being lazy. 

Does it count that I stamped/painted/dyed some poster board for making another book??  I wasn't sure what size I wanted so I cut them into 6"x6" squares.  They'll be used to make a book containing pictures for my grand daughters birth (1999) up to this year (2020).  She turns 21 in August and I thought it would be fun to have a picture of her for each of her 21 years!

 

And I'm back knitting another project using the leftover yarn from my lace shawl.  This is more of a practice  piece for  adding beads to the scarf pattern.  It's another pattern from Laura Nelkin.  

This is Laura modeling her Beadkershief!  Mine may be a tad smaller because I'll most likely run out of yarn!  But it's just to practice.  And Lord knows I need practice!!

Just a few items....

I finished another sketch and cropping this weekend...and I cleaned up my dye/wet room and sewing room!!!  Woohoo!!!

The inspiration picture is at the top left...my attempt at the bottom!

These were my cropping attempts.  Actually, I kinda like them!

I found this so called 'cropping' tool inside of a photo frame!  I think it would be cool to have a piece of art work made in this triangle!

Not bad!

I think this is a fun exercise to do!  Now to find some other inspiration pictures!!!






AND the best news!!!!  I found the yarn I needed (in the right color!!!) and finished my lace shawl!!!  Here it is being blocked!!!!  I squished the entire piece in water, squeezed out most of the water and pinned to the carpet downstairs. 

  I am so excited to wear it but don't have anywhere to go right now!!! HA  I'm sure it will come in handy later this summer when we go out to eat at a restaurant that is freezing and I'm cold!  Not that the lace will keep me warm but I'll look good, right!  HA

It's Cropping Time!

Here are the results of our lesson this week.  We had to crop from our original drawings....this was fun but I was using the wrong pens then the wrong pencil - although, Hilary did suggest we just use a pen to redraw our crop pics...she said you'll spend more time erasing, which was true!!!  HA HA


This was my original inspiration ....

My 'drawing' on the left and cropping on the right.  These crops were around 3"x6"..the others were 2"x 4".

I didn't want to draw the flower...duh...but I did use the leaf and stems on the left for the next design and crop.

I added the leaf when I did my original drawing.

This was actually from a birthday card for either Bob or I.  I just like the front of the card...good inspiration,right!

And my inspiration drawing on the left and cropping on the right.  Yes, I took a lot of liberty and changed the leaves!  My crop so I can do what I want!  HA 

I really like this abstract leaf picture...

Probably my favorite crop.  Have to say this was a fun exercise to do.  I really enjoy Hilary's online class.  We're working on design and construction this year.  Fingers crossed...still don't know what 'theme' I'm going for!