As some of you know, four weeks ago I had total knee replacement surgery on my right knee.  I’ve been working really hard at my recovery – to the point where I had to add “rest” to my routine because I thought I could/should do everything right away.  I am recovering and this week I’ve started out-patient physical therapy and even driving again (eeks).

Before my surgery I got all sorts of little projects cut out, ready for stitching. I’ve kept my sketchbook and water colors nearby. And… nothing.  I’m afraid all creativity has vanished for the moment. I’m sure the pain plus the pain medication aren’t helping and as that eases, I’ll feel more comfortable thinking about projects.

I’ll keep you posted.

I found the sketch of this crow yesterday while cleaning out papers.  I decided it would look lovely in a hoop so I reworked the design a bit and it is working up nicely. I love the dark silhouette against the linen. And I love my washable markers that let me draw right onto the linen.

I love the embroidery designs of Andrea Zuill. So between projects I embroidered a couple of them.  These are destined for our little cottage at the shore.

Who hasn’t followed Cmdr Chris Hadfield these past few months? Yesterday he landed safely back on earth.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a class from the amazing Larry Calkins.  I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately and this was just the thing I needed.  Larry has a very distinct style which he brings to the class but it in no way limits the type of work that you do. It is the techniques that he concentrates on, creating cloth that can be a piece of art in and of itself or a piece of cloth to be used in making something new.

I tried to do a bit of both, all concentrating on insects and birds as motifs.  We started by coloring the fabrics using everything from liquid water color, instant tea and clay.  Then we adhered images to the fabric using image transfer techniques, white glue and wax.  From there we built up the collage, adding more images, stamping, stitching, using an encaustic pen, and other techniques brought by the students.  Here are some photos from the class.

I’m really pleased with the work I came home with. I’m going to let it sit for a day or two and come back to it. I think that it does need an injection of color, beyond the red stitching that I’ve used.  Maybe some silk scraps or images that pop.

You have probably heard of the “slow food” movement and now apparently there is the “slow blog” movement.  Slow bloggers only blog when they have something deeply meaningful to say, not worrying about their stats or the number of followers.  I’ve decided that this is what I’ve been doing the past few weeks, slow blogging.  Sure. Yeah. That’s the ticket.  So today I have another deep and meaningful post. About art. Abstract art. How can abstract art be anything less than deep and meaning ful?

The newly annual “Around the Square” show is coming up in a few weeks so this year I thought I’d try something new to me, abstract fiber art. I’m so pleased with the results – I love the colors, the threads and the motifs that I chose. As I mentioned, this is based on some woodcuts that I did some weeks back.

For applying to  juried shows. I just sent in my applications for two shows. The first is the Kirkland Arts Center show that I have participated in before. It’s a lovely show made up of art from members of the center and runs in the summer.  The second show is new to me – the Surface Design Association (Washington) juried show which also runs in the summer. These are the pieces that I’ve submitted. I’m really proud of both of them.

The print is an intaglio that I did last summer. It is called “falling apart”.  If you look closely you can see the silhoetter of a person facing right in the middle.  I’d like to say that this was entirely planned but it was really just happenstance and created a really strong image.

The birds are made from the linen I dyed with forsythia then layered with cotton and did reverse applique.  I love this method and love this little flock of birds. In fact, it is called “flock”.

A few weekends ago I got busy carving some woodblocks. The designs are simple and similar, using the same basic shape as a design element.  I ended up with five or six blocks and printed them up just as test runs. My idea though was to incorporate them into my textiles somehow.

Today I started playing around with them, seeing how they look as applique designs, playing with fabric choices and printing the blocks on linen. I like the direction they are taking so far.

What surprises me is that the colors I’ve chosen are quite muted, I’m using three shades of linen and light gold silk.  The threads are the same shades and the ink was “copper”. 

For my printmaking friends, I just used Speedball ink as it dries really quickly on the fabric and I’m not a patient person when I get an idea in my head.

I’m still working on my little birds and made their legs all at once to get them over with. Still not my favorite part of the bird to make.  I have a deadline with these guys so I’ll be finishing them and getting them off to the photographer by the end of this week.