Joyce Makes Art

Studio Sunday

Among the joys of a rainy three day weekend is having a lazy studio Sunday.

 

I'm spending some time dyeing; but as you can see, this one is a surprise for now.  Any guesses?

The multi-blue square I've been working on for the knitted Barn Raising Quilt is finished.  I'm meeting my goal of one a month -- I didn't want to shut down all of my other knitting to work on it, but it's hard not to.  The squares all look so pretty together.  I need to pull them all out soon and do a photo of them together for you to see how it's coming along.

 

I'm devoting most of my day to working on a collage piece.  I started this a while back, prepping the canvas and dyeing a piece of silk organza to lay down as the background.  The problem was, I liked that simple, paler-than-ballet-shoes-pink rectangle so much I became unable to work on it.

Yesterday, an old post card of the Capitol caught my eye and I decided to play with this piece.  It is evolving into a multi-page altered book spread, done on one canvas.  This is an idea I've been playing with for a while.

 

The basics of each of the three pieces are blanked in, but I'm still working with ideas for unifying the piece and I'm still auditioning the embellishments.  I'm hoping I can find a larger skeleton key tucked away somewhere, as the one thing I definitely want is a long key that stretches all the way across the middle collage.

 

I like the buttons anchoring the bottom here, but am thinking I may want some darker buttons.  Either way, I'll sew them on as the last step.

 

I'm still debating how to adhere the mica here.  I rarely use mica, but it seemed just right on this piece.  And that sweet little flower, which came off of an old hat, is definitely destined for this piece.

 

This last segment is still very unformed.  In the studio it isn't shiny as in the picture, but rather it's a very textural bone colored base for the tiny collage I've temporarily adhered with nail heads (who knew you could make them gold by smashing them into a gold stamp pad and baking the color on with a heat gun?)  This part is very much in play still.  Really, the whole thing is.  I'm glad to have some time to see what it's going to become.

Sally Jean Alexander's Soldering Class: The Love Bird Necklace

 

A day with Sally Jean tends to be fun, silly, educational, and ultimately exhausting!  I was so engrossed in the work that I never made it out of the classroom for work.  I'm part way through my Love Bird necklace.  You can see the pieces laid out above.  I still have some sterling chain to solder in place.  Sally uses a clever design involving lobster clasps to make the whole thing go.  I'm really looking forward to wearing this piece.

The class starts with collage, moves on to doing the artwork to go behind each piece of glass, and then on to soldering and assembling.

   

Sally Jean likes to give out random pages of text for her students to use.  There is always an element of serendipity to the pages.  But never as much so as with mine today, which made reference to Judge B.  Since the Judge is at home, minding a household of children (and hopefully not feeding them too many Hot Pockets), this seemed like a fabulous inclusion for a necklace about love.

   

Tomorrow is the last day of Art and Soul, and I'm sticking with my theme of soldering, doing one last class with Sally Jean.
  

More Felting -- Chad Alice Hagen and the Amazing Mokume Scarf

If you are reading along from earlier today, we picked up after lunch with the amazing process of turning the fulled and stitched scarf into a tightly pleated snake, that was ready for a second bath to over dye the original colors.  The stitching and pleating acts as a resist.

 

The snake went into a deep purple dye bath, and an hour later, out popped the most beautiful thing imaginable!  Unfortunately, due to the joys of hotel room photography, you're going to have to imagine the colors for now, but the photos at least give you an idea of the patterning.

 

The actual colors are a deeper purple with soft earthy brown variations.

 

Unfortunately, better color pictures will have to wait for tomorrow, but at least this gives you the idea.  I adore this scarf, and imagine that between the soft merino, the fabulous bark-like texture of the pleats, and the beautiful colors, this one will be a favorite.

Today: Felting a Scarf

Today I am felting with the wonderful Chad Alice Hagen. I've admired her work from afar for years -- having the chance to take a class with her was an incredible opportunity.  The class is called "hand felted bark scarf" and is based on Japanese Mokume dyeing.

Because we only have one day to work, Chad pre-dyed our batts for us.  Mine looked like this.

   

We've spent the morning, first felting the batts and then stitching them for the Mokume patterning.

 

I think they look sort of pretty just with the stitching in.

 

Next in store for them is a second dye bath.  I'm leaning towards purple, although a rich brown still isn't out of the question.  It has been a great class so far!

Soldering with Sally Jean

Today I soldered with Sally Jean.  I'm not in it for jewelry making like everyone else in the class.  I like making charms to include in collage and assemblage pieces.  And, it's fun. 

 

Aside from popping a very hot soldering iron out of a sal block and into my hand at one point, I'm pretty much unscathed.  And, I have this charming bracelet around my arm.

 

The little charms are tiny collages.  It's hard to get good pictures of them individually with my IPhone, but they are sweet and make a fun charm bracelet.  I'd like to do one like this with pictures of my children.

Art and Soul 2010

A little bit of down time seemed like a good idea, so I'm spending some time at Art and Soul this week, playing with collage and power tools in a series of classes and visiting with old friends.

Today started with a Michael de Meng class.  He is such a nice, encouraging teacher -- it's all about messy and using power tools to cut stuff down to size, which makes for a fun day.  I have a start on a piece I'm tenatively calling "The Evolution of Sheep."

 

 

I spent the evening with Stephanie Rubiano -- she kindly let me back even though I broke more jeweler's saw blades than anyone she had ever had to deal with in a class a couple years ago.  This class, which involved working over the edge of a collage with metal embellishments was lots of fun.

 

 

Isn't Stephanie cute?

 

Both of these teachers are definitely people you should go out of your way to spend some time with.  Tomorrow, I'm soldering with Sally Jean, which means I'm off to start some collages now.

A New Favorite Yarn

I have a new favorite yarn -- Malabrigo's Rasta.  It's extra bulky, single plied (or unplied, depending on your point of view), and extraordinarily soft.

 

Knit up in the Mirror, Mirror Reversible scarf pattern.

 

I liked both the pattern, a simple, wide cable, and the yarn so much that I'm contemplating a Meathead Hat from it, and perhaps a sweater for Ollie to wear this fall.  This is definitely knitting nirvana.

How to Knit a Bird's Nest

Thanks to some inspiration from the good knitters at the PurlBee, I've knit a nest.

 

Isn't it fun?  Instead of stuffing, I've used dried lavender blossoms in my eggs.  This nest will ultimately perch in one of the walk in closets, perhaps the one where much of my yarn is stored, as a deterrent to moths.  These first two eggs are knit from Manos del Uruguay's Serena, a lovely yarn that would make a fantastic little baby sweater.  I'm going to knit a few more from Blue Sky's silk/alpaca blend.

More Squares

I'm eternally optimistic.  

I'm pretty sure that given my current rate of progress, I am fully capable of having the Barn Raising Quilt  I'm knitting for Miss Princess completed by the time she leaves for college in, oh, about, six years.  Such confidence.  But then again, was it really me that thought knitting a blanket on size 2 needles was a good idea?

 

Nonetheless, I adore this pattern and enjoy knitting the little squares, although I'm far too ADD to stick to just one square at a time.  I like to keep them in different stages of development.

   

This square in KPPM is turning out to be a favorite.  I'm trying to insure a good mix of light and dark squares and different colors without being too intentional about it, so I'm randomly pulling yarn out of my stash of sock leftovers but trying to insure that if it's blue one square I'm on to green the next time.

   

This is some Elliebelly yarn, leftover from one of my favorite pairs of socks.  And then I moved on to more KPPM, but in a much lighter value of colors.

   

This one is so new it's hard to see, but I think it's going to be a favorite.  In fact, I'm thinking more of this yarn may be needed to knit a sweater for a friend's new baby that is on the way.

There is definitely something very pleasurable about knitting these wee squares that are simple enough to knit over coffee while talking with friends but have just enough going on to keep boredom from setting in.

And, while looking ahead to finishing it some day, I discovered a picture of my friend Susan's absolutely stunning finished quilt.  Isn't she amazing?  She used a crocheted edging on each square to create the outline.

 

Knitting Round-Up

Last week was one of those weeks where a bit of knitting fit in over morning coffee, some more late at night, a bit while waiting at the doctor.  By the end of the week, I felt like I had a good bit of progress to show.

(1) Another Square for the Barn Raising Quilt finished

 

(2) Great Progress on the Mirror, Mirror Scarf

   

 

   

(3) One-third through the Caterpillar Cuddle (I am not a lace knitter.  I should not pretend.  I am sure this is full of mistakes, but I am deeply attached to it and think both the pattern and the yarn are beautiful.  Fortunately, I think it is unlikely that the young lady it is intended for will notice my poor knitting skills)

 

(4) The very teensiest start of Sparrow's Nest.  I'm planning to knit the eggs and stuff them with dried lavender to make a very cool sachet for a walk in closet.

 

 

Isn't that shade of blue amazing?  I couldn't resist a few extra skeins of it, but don't have a pattern in mind for it yet.  I like it so much, I wish I had the patience to knit slip covers for my living room chairs out of it.  In case you think that is just wishful thinking, I marked this fabulous pattern as a favorite on Ravelry several months ago.  I continue to hear its siren song.  Maybe in another lifetime!