Bark Cloth embellished and in the post

The next step for working on the barkcloth for the Hands Up for Uganda Barkcloth to Artcloth exhibition. You can read more about Hands Up for Uganda a project overseen by Bobby Britnell. here.

This was the second set - I found I could get two sets from the barkcloth I was sent. The flat disks at the bottom are Coconut Shell Beads. The green coloured flat bead which comes next are also beads that were from South America.

I added a little sample on the end of the 3 different embellishment patterns. This is for the book to commemorate the project.

Here is a better photo of the parts for the shoes.

The shoes will be exhibited at two of the ICHF shows: 20th to 23rd at NEC Birmingham and 3rd to 5th April at Excel London where you will be able to see them along with other work done by women of Uganda.

Bark Cloth embellished

Once I got the little Afghan girls in the post, I started working on the barkcloth for the Hands Up for Uganda project.

I worked out that I fit 2 sets of the templates for the shoes Janet Middleton from Starchild Shoes will use. It is used for the front section of the shoes. So, this is the first set. The flat disks at the bottom are Heishi Shell Beads. (originally a type of bead made by Native Americans.) The rust coloured flat bead which comes next are beads that were from South America.

I added a little sample on the end of the 3 different embellishment patterns. They hope to make a book to commemorate the project.

Here is a better photo of the parts for the shoes.

The shoes will be exhibited at two of the ICHF shows: 20th to 23rd at NEC Birmingham and 3rd to 5th April at Excel London where you will be able to see them along with other work done by women of Uganda.

Girls carrying water

The next thing was to discover an edging. I thought of using the same fabric to make binding - endless desert idea - but it seemed it wanted something.

So I remembered this random muddy brown fabric from one of my not so successful attempts at ice dyeing.

I decided it would look good if I did a very narrow binding.

Next I quilted the landscape and highlighted the detail on the girls. Put on the narrow binding, and voila!

I have called it "Little Blossoms of the Desert". Here is the blurb that I have sent with it.

Brightly clad little Afghan girls carrying water.

For centuries warring in the Afghan area has made the land unsafe and infertile.
How safe are these heavily laden little ones?

Still each drop of water counts.

Will these little blossoms grow and bloom?

Is it just the beginning of their life of toil?

This little 10in x 7in piece will be part of the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk show. This is from the SAQA site.

The 2014 Anniversary Trunk Show will premiere at the 2014 SAQA conference in Washington, DC, and then travel all across the United States and around the world. A group of quilts from this exhibition will be chosen by jurors Linda Colsh and Margaret “Peg” Keeney to become a permanent part of the collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.

So I don't know if I will see it again, but I may use this idea to make a larger work. At the very least I don't think I am done with using my work to raise awareness of issues like this.

Girls carrying water

After I built the little girls to add to the background, I tried them out on the piece I thought would give the idea of a desert-like wasteland.

I made this piece of fabric some time ago when I tried a technique called flour resist. You mix up flour and water to pancake batter consistency and spread it on the fabric. Leave to dry. Then crumple it a bit and paint it with thickened dye or thinned down paint. Leave to set, then wash away the resist (not as easy as it sounds)and the pattern remains, looking a bit like wax crackle pattern. You can make marks in the flour mixture before it dries, which is how I got the stronger marks...the mixture is thinner there, and so lets some of the paint through.

Up to now, I haven't found a use for it, but it seemed just right for this without trying to go into detail of trying to represent the actual Afghan landscape.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 19-25 Jan

2014 - Week 4 Daily Beads

outer frill beads continue from last week

no.19


no.20


outer frill beads change

no.21


no.22


no.23


no.24


outer frill beads change

no.25

Girls carrying water

I have been drawn further into the needs of children in 3rd world countries following a more research when I was doing the "Menina de Favela e Água" work. Which I then followed up with the piece"Working for Her Daily Bread " with the Nigerian girl.
So, I thought this theme would be a good one to visit for the SAQA 25th Anniversary Trunk Show. The Trunk show works like the Suitcase Collection which will travel to various groups in the UK. A very good audience for raising awareness on issues.

So, I have been working on a piece for the trunk show. The size was to be 7in x 10in. And in this photo I have made a start. I decided to do a piece with some little Afghan girls carrying water. Last year Meike Laurenson came and talked to us about a programme about helping women to have a way of earning money by embroidering. One thing she said stuck with me. It was about the fact that the land is no longer fertile after centuries of wars in that area. This means it is quite desert like. One of the images that stuck with me was several little girls in brightly coloured clothing carrying water. So, that became my inspiration.

Here is where I started. Cutting the shapes of the girls in felt.

and then developing the girls by cutting and fusing the clothing piece by piece onto the felt like a jigsaw.

Pink Dragon

Remember what I said about seeing shapes that look like some sort of creature or other?

I went to press this piece of cloth and there he was staring at me! So, good thing I only needed a wee small section from the side. The rest has been saved to get him out of there.

Do you see him? All twisted round a bit like the dragons on the Dragon Robes in the China section of the V+A.

Isn't it cool!

A reward for soldiering on with something more serious.

***********
Trying the distraction method of coping with pain. In other words, I am doing another piece that has to do with 3rd world children working. If I get it done tomorrow and in the post the latest Saturday, it may get to be submitted to the SAQA Trunk show. If not, well there will be something come up I can use it for.

Postcards 33

Another funny little scrap. Now on a postcard and on its way.

This scrap looked like a strange elephant.

I always have been able to see something in shapes...like the idea of looking for shapes in clouds. Carla Sonheim does a lot of that by finding imaginary animals in strange patches of torn posters on lamp posts or cracks in the pavement. She has a book called Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop. That and other books can be found here.

You can get her newsletter where she sends a photo of cracks and you send in your found 'blobimal'. She is doing an online class a Year of Fairy Tales for 2014.

Lots of links. Lots to see!


************
I might be a bit patchy this week. I am trying to cope with a bit too much pain, so anything I get done this week will be a plus. Things may have to be crossed off the to do list.
But hopefully it is just a flare up, and I shall be at coping level again in a few days.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 12-18 Jan

2014 - Week 3 Daily Beads

outer frill beads continue from last week
no.12


outer frill beads change
no.13


no.14


no.15


no.16


outer frill beads change
no.17


no.18


Each one of these makes me want to make more! However, I only have enough curtain rings for the month, so it will have to wait! I do think the glimmer of the ring adds to the whole look. It would be quite different, say, if you had white rings or even silver. But in that case, you would choose a different arrangement of colours.

Barkcloth to Artcloth - auditions

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have received some barkcloth in the post. This is to be embellished by me and then will be made up into little shoes. It is all going for a charity to help create jobs in Uganda, and to keep from losing the traditional methods of producing the barkcloth.

Anyway, this week I have been sussing out ideas for my design. I think I can get the design for two pairs of shoes from this piece.

I decided to use some coconut shell disks - also from Africa. And some shell disks. The natural textures compliment each other. I also have some flat beads I bought in Houston in 2007! They are from South America. I have quite a few, but so far they haven't really been right for other projects. But as they are green and rust coloured, they also work well for the barkcloth. and then to hold the stacked beads down, I have some seed beads that are creamy white with green and orange stripes! So, there is the idea. Now to do something about it.

Today is the TVCT meeting, so I will be busy all day with it. I can't believe it is our 5th birthday! If you want to find out more about the group, you can follow that link to our website.

Sketchbook 2014 - pages 22-32

The last pages from the Sketchbook "Punctuation and Symbols".

22+23

24+25

26+27

28+29

30+31

32

The back cover is blank.

As you can see, I could have worked into these in a variety of ways and made it much more artistic. But I am satisfied with it as a 'sketchbook'--a place to explore ideas.

I didn't pay for digitising the book this year. The cost went up quite a bit. So this will be the online record. It is registered though, and in the list of projects I have done for the Brooklyn Art Library. The venues for travel have been restricted, too. So I have selected the North East Tour. (United States)

These posts about the "Punctuation and Symbols" sketchbook are now linked to Off the Wall Fridays at Nina-Marie's.

Sketchbook 2014 - pages 12-21

The next few pages from the Sketchbook "Punctuation and Symbols".

12+13

14+15

16+17

18+19

20+21

Sketchbook 2014 - pages 2-11

The next few pages from the Sketchbook "Punctuation and Symbols".

2+3

4+5

6+7

8+9

10+11

Sketchbook 2014 - finished and posted

It took me a bit longer to finish the Sketchbook to send to the Brooklyn Art Library, but it is done. And I have posted it!

So a photo today of the front cover.

the little guy was from a scrap of fabric from an experimental session with Margaret Cooter years ago to try to learn how to screen print fabric. He has been tossing around here and there in boxes and cupboards for quite some time. So, it was time for him to come out and play. No relation to the topic, but makes the cover more interesting.

 (I decided not to chance messing the barcode up again this year!)

And a sneak peak of the first page.

Full Stop

Then I will show the other pages over the rest of the week. They may all be rather fuzzy like this one. I hope not! But I was rushing to get a record of it before I sent it off.

As you can see, I changed my plan. Instead of stitching into the fused pages. I went a step further from letters. (Last year was Letters and I am also involved with A Letter A Week.) I have cut punctuation marks and symbols free hand from a variety of fused fabrics and fused them into place on the pages. The only writing is labelling each particular symbol.

It is quite interesting and gives me the idea of exploring these further, mainly because they look quite different when not in context. It would be interesting to develop them into design motifs as well.

Postcards 32

Should be in the post today.

I found this scrap whilst fusing the pages of the sketchbook. It looked like a little dog, so I decided it was! My family member's dog is quite old and often stands like this - trying to work out what is happening. She had quite a few dogs and this is the only one left, so perhaps he really is wondering just what is missing.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 5-11 Jan

2014 - Week 2 Daily Beads

I am really enjoying these!
no.5


no.6


no.7


no.8


outer frill beads change
no.9


no.10


no.11