More pastel paintings and an exhibit.

I seem to still be in winter, not a winter of discontent, it is more like apathy. The weather is right there with me even though it is April. I am still expecting that spring will make things better, that I will find some energy to care enough to do more than just hide away in my art. I am doing things but just still feel like I am slogging through mud. So blogging is still in the category of 'who cares, what does it matter anyway'. Today I read a blog post by someone else and that made me remember my own blog, and I really don't want to abandon it just because I feel like it is pointless and too much work. I know that this feeling will pass....eventually.
I have not been felting. I have been doing a lot with pastels. It has been very therapeutic, I lose myself in them because it is so new to me. There is so much to learn. I am determined to try to paint everyday....and have managed to do some most days but it is easy because it is so new. Here is what I have done since the last post.

These pieces I am done with; AKA, some I am happy with, some I am just not interested in putting anymore time into.

This painting was working on some cold press watercolor paper that I applied an acrylic pastel ground to. I did not like the texture.

This cat was done for a challenge on WetCanvas about using color to depict a black object. Here are the colors I used.

 This little painting I did to play with some of the new colors I bought on a shopping trip with my sister who I got addicted to pastels.

This painting I even framed. It is an image that I did in felt years ago. Here is that felt.

It is one that I did not do any needle felting on, leaving the lines very squiggly.

This painting I really liked but I knew something was really off about the composition. I asked for comments about cropping it on WetCanvas. One idea was to make it square.

 One suggestion was that I really have two paintings, a skyscape....

 And a seascape.

I would like to frame it but that involves a decision.
This is another piece that just does not work because of the composition. I never felt that composition was hard for me. In fact in school teachers would point out how I added this or that to make a good composition when I had no idea that that was what I was doing. The advice I get is to figure out what my painting is about. I guess it has to be more than just making a pretty picture.

Here is the piece I am working on now. I plan on finishing it today.

I also made a start on a color pencil drawing, but it has been sitting for quite a while.

I do think I will get back to it since I actually finished that Sunlit Grapes piece after it sat for years. I am very pleased to say that it got into the Academic Artists Association 64th Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary Realism. I probably would not have entered it if I knew it was a national exhibit...I am honored. I went to the opening and could not believe the works there, or that mine was hanging with them! My photos do not do them justice.

BTW, I post things on my Felt Inspiration page on Facebook much more regularly.

An 'I am still behind' post

I guess I have to admit that I am just not going to catch up with my blog. I wish I did not make it such a big deal to just sit and write and post. I do much better with my Facebook posting since I don't write so much. I could do that here as well but that does not seem much like blogging. Yes, I have strange ideas about doing things the 'correct' way even when I am the one who decides what is 'correct'. So, admitting that I am not going to catch up on everything here I am going to just post photos (the best part anyway) and do some descriptions.
I have been doing a lot of non-felt art. It is too cold for me to want to get my hands wet. I think I also needed a break from it...or something. My winning that award for my color pencil drawing also gave me a boost to want to do more of that. I did this new piece.

I also have been doing a lot with my new pastels. Especially a lot of experimenting with different surfaces to paint on.

I took a one day workshop at the West Hartford Art League with  Frank Frederico since I had never taken any classes in using pastels. Here is a photo of Frank's demo piece.

 And my piece at the end of class.

I did more to it when I got home.

I did this piece after the work shop and I can see a difference.

I have done some fiber art in the form of stitching on a piece I made while visiting my friend Joei. I wanted to do an all white piece but I guess I could not resist adding some soft colors. I am not sure what it will become if anything. I am viewing it as a sampler since I am playing with new embroidery stitches. It is a fun thing to just pick away at, working along without any real plan. I will let you know if it ever tells me it is finished.

The story of creation: My Winter Survival or The WORK of art.

I am so far behind on posting it is too overwhelming for me to try to catch up today. I will try to do it eventually since this blog is how I remember what I have done and when I have done it! I wanted to share my latest piece so I decided to write a post about how it was created with all the little details as it is a very detailed piece. And at the risk of giving away my secrets and giving the copiers out there a bit of help I will show the materials I used as well. (As an aside, I don't find copying a form of flattery unless I am somehow credited). I hope this will also show how much WORK goes into creating something like this. This post will also be part of my clean up from this project. I will photograph the things I used as I put them away! This is what PART of the mess looks like. When I am really into a piece and/or rushed I make a huge mess.

I created this piece specifically for the West Hartford Art League's Out of the Loop fiber art show. The deadline for delivery was 1/28/2014 and I began on 1/18/2014. I had another deadline to meet before I could start on this piece. I was thinking spring and getting through my usual (although a bit deeper this year) winter season depression. It was also inspired by many other things: the workshop with Silvia Watt at Wiawaka, Van Gogh's Almond Branches, classic Asian depictions of cherry trees in bloom, a trip to Delectable Mountain Cloth, and a closing Jo-Ann's store. I think it was also a way for me to justify all my recent purchases of fabric, beads, threads, etc... a way of saying "see I do use them"!  Here is my haul from Delectable Mountain....

 and a little bit of what I bought at Jo-Ann's.

I have been doing too much buying (not all of it shown here) and that is bad not only because I can not afford it but it can be a symptom of a mixed state of mania and depression;either way judgement and impulse control are out of whack. Even with all my stash I still NEEDED to go buy some more threads...
at JoAnn again...

 and the special thread store; Thistle Needleworks.

Some of those threads are a gift for my friend though so they don't count, right?

Now to the process: I began with a layer of cotton gauze and white prefelt and then added a bit of naturally dyed (Indigo, I think) roving.

I then covered the wool with a piece of silk chiffon naturally dyed with black beans. On top of that base I cut bits of silk that I had eco-dyed, naturally vat dyed, marbled, and one bit of nuno prefelt....

bits of commercial silks...

and bits of yarn and naturally dyed roving...

till the layout looked like this.

After it was wet felted I decided that I needed to add a bit of pop, an accent, and a bird seemed so fitting. That involved some research, although I had drawn over 30 birds for the dictionary I wanted to find a perfect pose though the bird would be figurative. Then I did some rough sketches on paper and fabric for a backing for the embroidery that was the next step.

After cutting out my fabric sketch and attaching it to the felt I started stitching...

a LOT of stitching...

 in the car, in waiting rooms, at home listening to audio books...on and on. Sometimes unstitching and restitching to make 'improvements' from 'ick' to 'good enough', as the deadline loomed.

 During all this toting of the piece t around I accidentally spilled some water on the piece. This would not have been a problem except that the water had a slice of lemon in it. Lemon (acid) + black bean dye = a change from blue to pink. ( I knew this from my experiments with post mordants). Happily the pink worked well with the piece.

Once I got to 'good enough' with the bird (although I pulled some stitches too tight and puckered the felt I hoped I could smooth them out)...

it was time to get to developing the flowers on the tree. Adding more embroidery, beads, bits of fabric and lace.  Using some of the threads and ribbons I had naturally dyed in months past.

This work went on right until the day of delivery...thankfully they had evening hours for that!
I had also planned on adding some Chinese characters as is often seen on the classic paintings and so I had to do more research...thank goodness for the internet! At first I thought I would just do my initials but during my research I discovered that would be difficult so I looked for something else that would be appropriate; maybe something that could be the title. I found a phrase on a website that I thought was appropriate to the piece, my emotional state, and the recent extremely cold weather that has gripped the nation. The problem was that the image was so small I was not sure that I could clearly see the characters. That meant trying to decode what each character meant and finding a clear picture of each stroke. Next I had to try out differnent fabric paints and markers to see what would work...

(Thankfully I didn't have time to shop for the 'perfect thing.)

 and I had to practice the strokes on different fabrics.

.

I had every intention of having all of the day before delivery day to mount the piece which can be a lot of work sometimes, and I did start but still wound up finishing in a rush. And that was with the help of my wonderful father and eldest son.  The process:

assemble and glue the stretcher frame

 (purchased along with the decorative frame on an earlier trip to Jerry's Artarama)

stretch and staple muslin (thanks to son for help with this)

stretch and staple linen after a search for the right color

Pin and stretch the felt to the linen

stitch around the tree trunk and branches and stuff them so they project off the surface of the felt

stitch and stuff the bird

embroider my initials

sign the back and attach my card

attach the decorative frame (Dad is getting to be a wiz at figuring this stuff out)

attach screw eyes and hanging wire

Now rush to finish filling out the forms, which involves two difficult things; coming up with a title and PRICE! and then drive half an hour to deliver the final product.

All this work is why it is a bit irritating to be asked "how long did that take you to make?. Do I include the hours of driving-shopping-learning-dyeing-sewing-practicing-felting-thinking-imagining-beading-painting-getting materials out-putting materials away-ad infinitum, that applies to this one project? Or do I include all the work, learning, and practicing from all the years and projects that came before since that too is part of this piece?  Somehow it seems to leave a lot to be said when all of this is reduced to Name of Artist, Title, Medium, Size, and Price.  How DO you put a price on all that work not to mention that this is not just an object but in a way a piece of me? I will say that most artists do not make minimum wage even if just actual working time is considered. And though we do it because we have a NEED to create, for some of us it is our only WORK and there is also a NEED to make money. 

If only to buy more craft supplies.