John Willard workshop

Hi and I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

A few weeks ago … a number of us from the Burlington Fibre Arts attended a workshop with quilt artist John Willard. It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon, with so much to learn and friends to share it with!

Below you will see some photos on my piece from the start with a small 8x8 black and white printed square and the addition of strips and more strips and the some angled squares until finally the finished quilt top. You will see some of the squares from my workshop mates as well!

Enjoy!

My piece at the start

Workshop mate - amazing!

This is an attractive pile of fabrics …

And this how many of the quilt tops turned out at the end of the day! A beautifully riot of colour and personality!

We had a great time and enjoyed the teachings of John … and of course each others company!
Have a wonderful spring and Happy Easter

Many best wishes,
Barbara

Finding Your Voice

Just a little bit a go … a dear friend of mine (ours) and wonderful quilt artist gave a workshop with our little group of fibre artists from the Burlington Fibre Arts Group.

Sandy Simmelink - artist, judge, and teacher, both traditional and innovative … shared with us her own thoughts on finding your voice.

We all struggle at times to find our own unique voice or to make it more clear, sometimes struggling more often than not.

Sandy walked us through a series of questions meant to invoke what it is we really want to do with our artwork and what was truly important to us. It was nothing short of enlightening …

Here are some examples of Sandy's work - her free, experimental and playful side and then her traditional work that may take years to complete …
Both are Sandy's voice and both sides tell a story of how you can have two sides(loves) or maybe more, whichever works for you and your work. Maybe you have one voice, maybe you have many but practice, determination and experimentation are a sure way to recognize your own individual voice.

All this blogging … while watching the ladies long program from Sochi and witnessing artistic voices in all its amazing, beautiful and emotional forms!

Enjoy and many, many best wishes,
Barbara

Northern Lights over Boreal Forest ~ completed

a few details

Well, this piece has been completed and will be part of a small exhibit of ~ forests ~ at the Burlington Art Centre.

I learned a lot with this particular piece and will start a second in the series soon.

Sometimes, though the vision that I start with doesn't always translate into the finished piece ~ not that it is a bad thing.

I will work again with a different composition but the same subject matter of the Boreal Forest.

This is acrylic on wool with some hand stitch and lots of free motion.

Northern Lights over Boreal Forest

Just the first start ~
and detail




Ok, so I have always been fascinated by the Boreal forests ~ like a green scarf around the northen shoulders of the continent. Also, I have memories of seeing the Northern Lights when I was much younger and living further north ~ it is like nothing you have ever seen. The light and colour is so different from the normal evening light with green and purple streaks across the sky.

Colours cover the sky and dance in a captivating show!

I am hoping to finish the piece this week and will post the finish soon.

This is acrylic on wool with free-motion stiching. I have enjoyed painting the fabric as much as designing and stitching

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Unravelled - ready

Hello again, and I hope all is well ... I have been working busily on this piece "unravelled" which will be part of the Brott Music Festival here in Ontario, and one of the featured composers is Ravel.

So, inspired by Bolero ... this is what came about.

It was thought that he suffered from Alzheimer's or some form of frontal dementia and late in his life offered himself for experimental surgery to try to help ~ he died not too long after that.

It seems that things can become unravelled and confused at times ...

This is vintage fabrics and sheers, nylon netting and cotton 12w quilting threads - hand stitched.

this butterfly is finished

I guess really only nature knows how long it truly takes to make a butterfly but this is my version. The final layer has been added to liken an early 19th century corset ~ a couple of my friends have already picked up on that!

I will let you know if it gets juried in to the show I have made entry to ~ for showing in the spring into summer.

Truthfully, that is not the important part ~ I had a great deal of fun, enjoyment and learning from completing this piece and hope that you like it, too!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ~

next stage of the butterfly project

This is where this is going ~ I have finished the perimeter in soft cream and white varigated, 12 wt. cotton Sulky, the extremities could suggest paths and wanderings. The next and final stage is a sheer layer but I am still (of course) working on the sketches and on paper cut-outs before I actually use the fabric.

Now that I can see the end stages of this work ~ my mind has been straying to my next piece ~ I am thinking landscape ...

Wishing you all a great and happy week

Butterfly project

Well, it has a temporary name ... and here are some of photos as to how it is going. This batch of photos turned out much better than the last in terms of the light ~ so the colours are so much more acurately depicted. The last detail photo above shows the final point of this piece ~ the female form. This is for a juried show and the ideas are still coming together but it will be a statement and contrast of the female image and self image. I am still avoiding the sewing-machine but I do have a sister piece completed by myself and my daughter with all free-motion, when I take my next batch of photgraphs ... I will include it. ~wishing you well ~

New Fibre Work

I am thinking to myself ... what have I been doing, and then I remember that Christmas is almost upon us. The handknits to finish, the packages to post and the unwrapping of those decorations that have been around forever but come back every year as old friends. There are stories to read, cards and cookies to make ... it never all gets done as one might envision but that is perfectly fine by me. I find it is the small things that make it special ~ the walks at night, the music and more time by the fireplace ... I think those are the things I cherish the most.

And of course, starting a new piece (which has no name or final goal yet) but will eventually have layers of sheers, some vintage fabric and perhaps the addition of watercolours. I am looking forward just working on this in which ever direction it might take me.

I wish you time to linger!

Lilies 1 of 2

and some detail work below

I showed this as a work in progress a while ago ... so here it is finished (with some details) and the second piece of "Lilies" is well underway. I have been reading about everyone working in their gardens, collecting,and harvesting. It has been the same here ... I love this time of year and find it so hard to come inside.

This is watercolour on muslin, with wool rovings and hand stitch

Lilies in Progress

details

This piece is progressing well, although sometimes it heads in a totally different direction that I certainly never expected ... and then I say "hmmm' that is not what I had in mind a week ago. I find it very interesting how the work progresses and changes through apparently no cause of my own, at times I really like it and then other times, I take it out and work in a different direction. I find my work with fibre is more susceptable to that than my paintings were, perhaps I am planning less now. Not a bad thing ~

I hope to work a lot this long weekend and to all of you I wish a wonderful September weekend.

New work ~ getting started

Details ~ (and pardon my basting stitches)

OK ~ I think I am back, this is a piece I have started in the last week or so, inspired by lilies in the garden. This is the first of two ... also watercolour on muslin, wool rovings and hand-stitch. I have discovered for myself that hand-stitiching is so very calming, methodical and quiet. I love my machine but find that I have to walk away after awhile as the sound can become too much.

I hope to do a good mix of both over the next few months ...

Will post the finished piece when it is done!

The Sedum Series

This is the second in the series ... of sedum heads from last fall. I hope you like the colours and the stitches, and the bits and pieces of stitch left behind. The second piece seemed softer that the first ... maybe not so controlled or anticipated.

This is watercolour on muslin, with rovings and handstitch.