Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?

                                                                            29" x 54"

Detail:  This is the second work I do in this way.  In this detail, draped over my cutting and ironing tables, you can see the first stage of the design.  I have painted over white cotton using setacolour paints for fabric.

Detail:  I have included this detail because if you look closely you can see some of my pencil sketch that I wasn't happy with.  I didn't know if I would be able to remove the pencil marks completely but I did manage.  I consider the cotton much like paper, and erased the pencil marks with an eraser.  However it is easier to use the erasable marker that can be erased with ironing.

Detail:  In this photo you can see the big difference between when it is quilted and where it is not yet quilted.

Detail:  Highlighting the negative space;  not sure if there isn't too much.

                                                                               

                                                                         

Details;  Having always been interested in the animal kingdom I was motivated to create a piece that highlighted animals in a whimsical way.  As I started the design I realized that they were moving around and about, as if they are dancing and having fun.  

Detail:  This work is slightly wider than the previous work that is barely 26" wide.  

I am wondering if the narrower shape is better.  

Detail:  The echo quilting emphasizes the movement of the animals and suggests the dance.

                                                                         

                                                                          

                                                                

Details:  Some of the animals received hand embroidered embellishments such as this goldfish.  But I didn't feel it was necessary on all of them, and sometimes too much is really too much.

Details:  This was a lot of fun to make and went much faster than the first one because I felt more confident using the paints.  I used more than just the opalescent collection and they were very easy to blend and apply.  I proceeded in a slightly different way this time.  For example;  I outlined each subject with free motion stitching through all the layers before doing the hand stitching but the product is the same.  I found it better to stabilize the layers earlier.  I am not sure how many of these I have in me, but I plan to carry on for now.

 

Florals in Fibre

 

                                                     Florals in Fibre

26 x 53 "

detail: 

 This work began as a painting on white fabric.  A new idea.  I used 'Setacolor' Fabric paints that were Pearlescent.  I had ordered them from Dharma Trading, a small sampler pack to try out, but I have since found out that they are available in Toronto.

detail:

I began by drawing the design on the fabric and then painted. I enjoyed the painting process a lot, and will try this idea again.  For my first try I chose a simple floral design with the inspiration of the bugs and flora that I could spy from my window in the woods in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec, my happy place.

details:

The painting process took some time.  There was a bit of a learning curve to understand how these paints behave, whether they are blendable, how they 'lay on the fabric'.  In fact they are quite easy to use, and I would highly recommend this product if the idea of painting on cotton interests you.  I was able to achieve the details I sought and found as a first layer, it was quite successful.

details:

After the painting was done, I covered the motif with embroidery stitches, using a 6 ply, divided in half.  It is a bit more difficult to sew through the paint, it makes the fabric less porous.  It changes the hand of the cloth.  Not an insurmountable issue (obviously😏) but you do need a thimble.  My embroidery stitches are pretty simple.

                                                                                                                                                                      

Details:

After I was satisfied that there was enough embroidery floss on the canvas, I layered it up and covered it in free motion quilting echo'ing the motif.  I learnt some time ago, that quilting on top of the motif created the inverse of what I expected.  It pushes the motif to the back in effect.  I had hoped that not quilting on the flowers, but around them would bring them forward.  I do believe this is what happened.

Detail:

The echo quilting had another unanticipated result:  It gives a bit of a vibrational effect, as if the flowers are moving.  I went around each element until it 'bumped up' against the next element which creates a sense of movement that I am quite happy with and will try again.

Detail:

I left a few negative shapes at the top unquilted.  This too created an effect that I wasn't sure would work, but I like it.  It looks like little white clouds floating.

Of course, never one to leave well enough alone, after the quilting and finishing was done, I added  some beads to some of the flowers.

This took me about 4 months to complete, working on it pretty steadily.

 

Home

                                                                            22" x 44"

This project has been a very personal exploration which I picked up and put down over several years.  It began with Adobe Illustrator wherein I gathered together all the places in the world where I have lived.  This compilation of many different maps became my own map, my life journey.

Detail: After the map was printed onto cotton, I layed a layer of batting  behind the surface and began stitching.  Many of the threads I used are irridescent and so 'in person' this piece glimmers while reflecting light.  The stitching became a fairly obsessive meditation on where I have been and what has landed me to where I am now.  I like to think of each stitch as a step on my path.

Detail:  At some point in the making process, a poem, my version of a Haiku, came to me.  Trying to respect the idea of adding words, out came the fabric paint  and on went the Haiku:

Placed

re-placed,

grounded.

Search for Connection,

Exploration is the Home.

Detail:  Where the stitches created circles was where I have spent larger parts or more significant parts of my life.  In this image one can see Toronto.  I added extra batting before I added the backing fabric behind these places and so they come forward towards the viewer.

detail:  Some of my steps led me in circles and some were linear.

Detail:  shot from the side, this image is an effort to illustrate the extra dimension of the places of significance.

Detail:  The map of Lac Notre Dame is of great significance,  This place has been my home away from home since my parents purchased a piece of land there in the 60's.  I covered the lake in white embroidery stitches to indicate its significance.

Detail: view of Lac Notre Dame

I have been working on this piece on and off for many years.  I gave myself time to think about what I wanted to do with it and how I thought these thoughts might be best expressed visually.  It has been a personal journey, but then, aren't all life journeys ultimately very personal?

 We try to grow in a positive way, create a meaningful impact, and leave a helpful trail for those who follow.

High Holidays Torah Mantle

Torah Mantle for the High Holidays

 Rabbi Elkin, of the Narayever Synagogue, was very pleased with the Torah Mantle I had created for their new smaller Torah.  So pleased in fact, that he asked me to create another one that would be used exclusively during the sacred High Holy Days.    This would mean that it would need to have a background of pure white as all the Torah Mantles used for these holidays are white, but beyond that I had artistic license to create.

Doodling on fabric with thickened Procion dyes

I knew that I wanted to create something completely different, and decided on an abstracted, rather than literal design, and my sketches led me to the notion of a twist,  or a spiral type of shape.

It occurred to me that this shape connects everything.  We can see it in the twisted vine, the trunk of a tree, the shape of a ram's horn, and even as it turns out (pun intended) in the shape of our DNA.

I found a beautiful bright white cloth with heavy weight, intended for outdoor furniture with a coarse weave.  It felt right. It absorbed the thickened dye well after I found the right consistency.  My first efforts to create a three dimensional image of a twist were woefully sad--see above--- but after some practice, a few tutorials, and some input from other creative spirits, I began to like what was happening.

I worked with the composition, as it needed to be effective even when only viewed in part, but especially when only the central part could be seen.  I chose the colours to represent honey, an important element of the rituals of our new year celebration.

When the painting was done, I wanted to add some stitching and embellishment.  Something that would be a very special addition.  A secret element appliqued.  For those who have a deep desire to investigate and know all..... see answer at the end..... but at this point in the story, try to imagine what those round gold filigree shapes are made from.  They are found in nature, and are provided by very small animal after her work (which is highly valued) is done.

The completed composition on my work table

Just checking it out from a distance

Detail: focusing on the central element to make sure it still 'dances'.

Rabbi Ed Elkin, receiving the new Torah Mantle.

Artist Statement

Preoccupied with the shapes that we share I notice the twist in a rose covered vine, a ram's horn, or the mapping of our DNA strands. These shapes are found everywhere, one only needs to pause, look, and notice.  True too these steps are necessary for creating connection between us and others as well as between ourselves and mother nature.  In this work I chose to highlight these curved twists to allow the viewer to imagine what they may represent.  The colours were chosen to represent the honey that sweetens our new year celebrations: the gift of the honeybee who offers us her bounty.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who have given up trying to guess what the gold round filigreed shapes appliqued onto the Torah mantle are:  they are gold Cricula Cocoons lovingly spun by the industrious Cricula silkworm.  They are the lacey caps the wild silkworm spins and attaches to a tree branches from India to the Philippines, Sulawesi, Java, and Sri Lanka.

The gold colour is completely natural, all I did was cut out the round shapes and flatten the forms.  when examining them closely one can see a very intricate lacy filigree design:

another wonder of Mother Nature!