... because it's getting a fine workout. I got playing with white paper (including unpainted dryer sheets) over black this week.
I can't decide whether I like them better on a black background or a white one, but I'm definitely liking the combination of commercial white filigreed papers with the dryer sheets I admit to finding it impossible to resist adding that pop of red on it.
I didn't stop there, naturally - I added another layer to each of the pieces I spray glued last week.
I suspect by the time I add a judicious layer of mediums, they'll both be juicy enough to eat.
I worked on the mini books as well this week, finishing another six of them...only seven more to go and they'll be heading out in the mail.
And just in case you want a closer look at some of these papers, here's your chance!
And just a tongue-in-cheek accolade to the Town of Creston, who have started work on a level slalom course for gophers near one of our local parks; they expect to have it ready for the 2021/22 winter season. We're excited - are you?
Happy week, my oh-so-creative friends - see you next Thursday!
...because the sun is shining and I've moved my glue cave outside. This means, of course, that I've been gluing dryer sheets and pasting them onto other stuff. I started small just to suss things out, and these two pieces on paper were quick to do.
Then I got to wondering how it would look with darker tone cutouts beneath the dryer sheets and now I have a good background on which to play.
The glue cave got a good workout
and now I've got a couple of large pieces that I can chop and slash to my heart's content.
Of course, I'm still working on the mini books, and with four completed I feel like there is progress being made - only 13 to go!
Given that we've had some slight lifting of the restrictions, I tore over the mountains this week for a quick visit with my daughter and grandson. We did the Castlegar Sculpture walk together and found these beauties!
Owen insisted on some time out in the park, and he was absolutely right. It was the perfect day for it.
I hope that your week has been filled with as much creativity, fun and beauty you could pack into it. Summer vibes are definitely in the air!
...from fabric, and suddenly I'm back at it again. This time, I've gel-printed a lace doily onto a canvas.
I've brayered the living daylights out of a spread in my journal in the process of painting some
cheesecloth, dryer sheets and baby wipes in the same colours. As I've chopped, slashed and cut, there are a few odds and ends that will get added to the journal pages. Nothing goes to waste here.
I've created some rosettes out of the various fabrics, and shredded some of the green dryer sheets to act as part of the foliage.
The Nosegay for Alice is already starting to look presentable, even without the addition of embroidery to be added. I'm loving the organic look of the cheesecloth overlaying that gel print.
Here's a closeup of the stitched leaves (dryer sheets overlaying baby wipes) and rosettes of all sorts.
This project is going to be part of a memorial piece created by Alice Saltiel's artist friends. She was an amazing mentor to so many of us, and it will be a wonderful group memorial to be seen at her Celebration of Life next month. I've chosen colours that were an essential part of her palette and the nosegay is a nod to the hundreds of floral paintings she created throughout her life (over 900 in one series alone!).
Will I ever get back to painting? Maybe.... How about you? What are you up to? Do let me know in the comments below, and feel free to post a link!
...and Rochelle has walked the plank runway wearing The Lunacy Gown. I have to say she is the best looking daughter I have - a knockout. Fortunately, she is much less of a braggart than her mom.
Here's a video of the runway walk . . . in case you can't hear what the MC is saying, the patter that accompanied the walk is as follows:
'Crafted from about 200 used dryer sheets, thrift store
embroidery floss, tank top and threads, this Lunacy Gown has been created by
Win Dinn and is being modelled by her daughter, Rochelle Christensen. The skirt
of the gown is comprised of dryer sheets that have been used to mop up leftover
paint in Win’s studio. For modesty’s
sake, it has been backed by a host of unpainted dryer sheets. The floral neck embellishments and wristband
are designed from the painted sheets that have been stiffened with GAC400, an
aptly named Golden Artist's medium. A
Facebook APB brought in a host of donated sheets for the project, and three
months of hand-stitching, blood, sweat, tears and embroidery brought the outfit
to completion. It's perfectly clear that nobody in their right mind would
conceive or complete a project like this one, hence the name of Lunacy Gown.'
Of course I know some of you are macro fans and want a closer look.
Of course John and I had to get in on the act, too.
There were some amazing outfits there, and I thought you should take a peek at a couple that I managed to photograph the next day. I just love this newspaper dress by local textile artist Anne Fetterly - the thought of ironing all those pleats just has me boggled (says the woman who washes and iron dryer sheets so she can mop up paint with them).
This dress crocheted from plastic garbage bags is dynamite.
The evening, part of Focus on Youth, included some fascinating and vibrant Trash to Treasure projects from school children as well.
Brenda Brucker, organiser extraordinaire of the evening, created this Procrastinator's Apron
and her quilt club entrants were given oddball 'gifts' with which to create something as well. Love the photos of their scores accompanying the items they crafted.
I was truly stunned at the variety of work in the Trashion Show and the Trash to Treasure show by adults and children alike. The creativity in this town is overwhelming. I only wish I had more photos, but I think you're just going to have to come and see for yourself. The show closes tomorrow, so make sure you stop in!
And now, of course, it's on to the next project, whatever that may be . . . life as an artist, tbc.
