In the Studio

I've been working on new wool and silk nuno felted bracelets. Here's the process step by step.

Hand dyed silk ironed to heat set and placed on top of bubble wrap.

Pulling tufts of wool and placing it in designs on the silk

I place wool close to the edges if I want the edges finished or place the wool in from the edges if I want ruffled edges.

I use a hand soap that smells like vanilla, mixed with room temperature water. Not hot because then the wool felts to it's self before it has a chance to work it's way through the silk.

After they bracelets are soaked lay bubble wrap over the top and roll it up over a swim noodle, rolling pin or rolled up bubble wrap.

Roll it up in a towel to soak up the water and roll it back and forth for about 5 minutes

At this stage I unroll it and trim off wool that is coming over the edges

If you don't want to trim just push it back onto the silk

Roll it back up and roll it back and forth some more then unroll it and check to see if when tugged on it feel attached. You can also check the back to see if the wool fibers have worked there way through the silk.
If not you can run your fingers back and forth over the back with it face down on the bubble wrap.

Okay now that the wool is laminated to the silk you rinse it in warm water and then throw it down hard on the table or in the sink 200 times at least. I break it up by rinsing it with warm or hot water a few times thinking this probably aids in the wool's shrinking process.

When the silk starts to ripple and get wrinkly then throw it on the table some more. You heard me, it always shrinks a little bit more with the last 50 times it's thrown down hard. This is called fulling.

Here are my bracelets after a final rinse, let them dry then they can be trimmed and snaps or other closures sewn on for finishing them.

New photographs of finished bracelets.

I listed the black and white one in my etsy shop last night and plan to list more soon and send the images to a gallery in Philadelphia.

Nature Photograpy

Yesterday I brought my camera along on my walk through the woods. I rock hopped down the middle of Naaman's creek stopping here and there to take pictures of the water.

I didn't bring a tripod so I steadied the camera against my face or knee as best as I could.

I love how you can see bits of blue sky reflected in the water.

Since art imitates nature, this is what I worked on when I got home.

This is painted fabric that I then spray painted with rocks as resists.

The top half of this shot is a painting on plexiglass, I'm holding it up so the light from the window is coming through. This is something I'd love to work on scaling up for the gallery.

Another piece of fabric I worked on. And now I have some really cool spray painted rocks.

My Kids Are Artists Too

People often ask me if my kids aged 12 and 15 are artists too. My answer is “hell yeah!”. I’m really proud of their work but sometimes I wish they weren’t so busy all the time and would learn to clean up a little once in a while. They wrote, directed, acted, filmed and edited their own movie this summer. I love how my kids can make their own entertainment out of the dress up bin. I hope they never outgrow this. Will the finished piece be a masterpiece? I think probably not, but what a great experience. I bite my tongue when I see the incredible messes that are left in the wake of their creative flurry.


Here are a few pictures of what they’ve been up to this summer.

Delaney's abstract paintings

Delaney's art portfolio from summer camp

Savannah's watercolors from summer camp

This was actually Delaney's lunch one day, that's Larry Cat checking it out

Delaney helped me make wrapping paper with some left over paint and newsprint

Delaney has to wear collared shirts to school and she's not going to wear boring solids every day so she splatter painted her shirt

Here's a shirt I made for her with fabric she chose

Fabric she painted to make a pillow for her room

I painted the wall purple in her bedroom to surprise her for her birthday and together with a friend we painted the spiral. Here she's gluing pompoms to her lamp shades.

Delaney also made cute animals out of plastic eggs, paper flowers from a tracing of her hand and cool jewelry out of buttons. Today they were off to their friend's house dressed as cats.

When I was a kid, the neighborhood kids were always at my house where my sister’s and I were allowed to make costumes out of old clothes and odds and ends and we wrote scripts and put on plays all the time. Our Christmas gifts were always craft kits like a pottery wheel or glass cutting kit. My mother sewed and my father had a wood shop in the basement. I was always making things, and still am. My craft room is a mess! I cleaned my studio this week though and can't wait to get in there and start making messes!

Vacation

10 Things I love about vacation, in no particular order:

1. Staying up late and sleeping in

2. Taking the time to cook breakfast

Cinnamon Swirl Baked French Toast

3. Reading (especially other artist's blogs)

4. Hiking, biking, swimming and kayaking in nature

5. Photographing nature

6. Hanging out with friends and family

7. Shopping

8. Daydreaming

9. Painting

10. Crafting

My new painting pendants

Oh yeah, make that 11 things that I love about vacation with number 11 being watching the sun set.

Naomi Lake, Poconos

New Painting

I'm motivated by deadlines. While teaching the kids in Arden 3 hours a day with another hour of prep, I usually just collapse in the afternoons. This year with one of my kids away at camp and the other one spending most of her free time at the pool I was able to get to my studio once or twice a week. I was working on a new large diptych. I didn't know if I could finish it before the Delaware Division of the Arts grant application deadline but that was my goal. I photographed it on Sunday and the deadline was Mon. Here it is.

Running Forth, 48 x 92 inches

It's quite different from my last large diptych done 5 months ago but I think I like it. I'm suspending judgement until I return to the studio full time in a month. It's much more complex than Crash, Hush.. but it feels more expansive. You can really see the aerial photography influence. Here's a close up.