is more, more?

following some sage advice i received i took a piece of cloth and let myself go. i had just two things in mind whatever the outcome  it was going to become a  much needed needlecase and i was going to use colors i don't normally use.the basic where is it going was already there ( -_o )

there were no preconceived notions about techniques, shapes materials nada, blank page.

opened drawers bursting with materials and in the end decided on wool roving (yes, in the middle of a heat wave)choosing what i call underwear pink
yuck!(>0<).
as a result it almost had to be needlefelting and i got going.

the felting layer was mindless work, but what if i add some free motion stitching to it? hate that pink- i ended in the hot pink spectrum laced with purple. what if i  embellish some of that iridescent chiffon?and beads oh yes, beads! hmm i need to pull it all together, the human touch of hand stitching. of course now that i am the self appointed master of bullion knots let's throw some in  and seed stitch to give some highlights and texture. functionality; how is it going to close? something simple a ribbon to wrap around. a bead at the end acting as a sort of closure. and then satin stitch all around. note: i stopped close to blue, but not quite, it's on the teal side, towards the green (  >0< )

 no pressure, no hesitation about when to stop.it was almost exhilarating. think i'll incorporate this kind of work as a routine exercise when the going gets tough. lots of  painless decisions ie.effective thinking, downplaying   the importance of techniques-they're just words in a lexicon.

besides chocolate gratification i needed something more. chance had it i found a link via the digital  designers group in stitching fingers.

a thank you gift for all you supportive people here is the free brush creating  application livebrush   which comes with hardly a learning curve and  will get you to those places or at least will give hours of fun.

and believe me almost all the gorgeous fabrics and designs out there that fill you with doubts about your work happen with a lot of help from the machine if you know what i mean(-_o)

 have a fun weekend!

neki desu

creepy morning

raining again, unlike supertramp this is not cute. ran out of thread and had to stop sewing. there's no way i'm leaving the house with this rain. my plans for the morning were to go across town to the Elna shop and besides getting thread take advantage to the voyage out , get a new foot for the machine and some aida fabric.

i know this sounds hilarious to most of you for whom driving 60-100 miles in the rain is like a secondary sexual characteristic. and i wasn't even going to drive.

so i had to entertain my stand by morning with something if only to be oblivious of the construction noise. by chance  through the ether came a most entertaining (sarcasm here) website. creepy, and i'm using  a kind qualifier.i had to do something with the newly acquired info and fresh perspective of the way thing are going to go in craftopolia ltd.

passed it all through my very own filter because i'm creative(sarcasm again) et voila mesdames und herren! grey needlefelt, puckered, bubbled poly organza on top  and some colored  stitches, hand and machine to give the work a tech edge -why can't i stop being sarcastic?

there's a faint glow of hope given by the two tone organzas and the beads.perhaps a savior will come and deliver us from evil.

neki desu

ps. the hideous  white background in the photo is intentional.

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hectic weekend

Weekends have developed into a non stop race.Comes Monday and i'm exhausted.
Between the mundane(won't bore you with domestic bs, grocery shopping and related minutia),meeting friends and spending quality time with husband -san i need to scrape some time for me. And if lucky convert some of it in studio time.
The above is a test of different fabrics and wool yarn embellished on velvet.Interesting material, velvet. Slowly getting to know the embellisher better.

Then some tying on to a remaining warp. Look at all those pretty little knots! Only a weaver can appreciate this photo:)

The dark blue wool warp will be converted into this with a mirrored treadling. i'm still sampling colors and remembered why i weave almost exclusively with silk. The tie up was designed like a graphic image and includes 3/1, 1/3 twills and a little plain weave.
It hasn't presented take up problems.

On Friday i was given a kilo and a half of walnut hulls and have also been processing that for an impending dye session.Now that the weatherman has announced hot weather from mid week well into next weekend i can do some dyeing on the terrace, to husband-san's relief.

And last but not least, i've also been doodling a bit getting focused for the new surface design series i've been pondering.

Time for a nap.


neki desu


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revisiting the woven cloth

A very productive weekend.Perhaps as it has cooled off a bit i was able to sit at the loom and finish the linen warp. And now with an empty baby i'm planning the next warp for this project , a definite funner and a neat way to put together 2 interests.Did i write neat? Sounds dated doesn't it?

More on putting interests together .i've been pondering for some time now how to incorporate other techniques to the woven cloth .i had to be shaken away from the sacredness of it and the whole process has been like a roller coaster ride.
Me the kamikaze weaver.The same one who shrugs off the rules as long as the cloth holds together...
Along the ride i was confronted with Mags Ramsay and her ways of painting, gessoing, layering and stitching fabric to to suit her creative needs . How has she inadvertently acted as a liberating influence!

So here i am working over this series, this piece in particular is stamped and the stamping highlighted with machine stitching. Then further embellished with needlefelting and some hand stitching. Coincidentally the subject, not the theme, is lily ponds and it is somewhat recurrent as i recall another lily pond from my tapestry weaving days.

All in all i wove 7 small works which will be embellished to different degrees.
The lengths one goes to for creating jacquard wanna be figured cloth :) :)
More about that tomorrow. Or perhaps day after as this week is going to be heavily social.

Be well.

neki desu


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this is color, si señor

My Artfire production. Click on the photos to go to the descriptions. Had a great time with the photos :)
Have a great weekend!

neki desu


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What to do with a digi printed piece of silk organza?

The one that didn't print crisply and has been lying around for years. Getting shuffled from one place to another. From the top drawer to the bottom one because i can't bring myself to throw away a piece of silk organza.

Recycle! turn a UFO into something else, something different because one has made changes in two years.

The silk organza print was a project for a submission to a juried show whose jury never saw. scanned a lace doily and assembled it with a fractal image that i created and then printed it.i Wasn't happy with the outcome so i dropped the project.
Last summer i was testing iron on transfers for an end of the year present to my Japanese classmates and i used the piece to test the transfer on. Figured that being a discard it wasn't going to get ruined. Done and moved on, yet i could not bear to throw the jinxed fabric away.

A couple of weeks ago i found the piece again and since it was a f.up i cut it up and used it ad a base for needlefelting. i liked what was happening to it so i stepped on the gas, ignoring the speed limit and went for a joy ride :)

This was the first one.
And here comes number two

My doubt is whether to tag this as a UFO or a WISP.

neki desu

more ATCs

The latest ATCs.i guess you can call this a series as there are already 6 and presumably more to come :)

On the home front still SNAFU. AND i bombed on Japanese test. The final will be in two weeks and i'm contemplating not taking it and calling it quits. There's only so much that one can handle.At least i am able to do a little work in the studio now.

neki desu

working with green and honing skills

Green is such a difficult color for me. i don't understand it and i do not feel at ease working with it. Not like blue that holds no secrets for me and its always a joy to work with.

i'm forcing myself to work with green and see if i can overcome this lack of understanding. Also doing some more needlefelting to get the skills . Nothing serious though, pure craft, which is not objectionable in itself. The difference between crafts and art is that crafts are about technique, whereas art is about content. At least i see it that way. The horizontal piece, a good example of this, is a compendium of techniques: hand stitching, free motion stitching, needlefelting, painting, dyeing. There's no other objective than to try them out in a visually pleasant way.

One thing i discovered i like about needlefelting is its immediacy, compared to weaving i'ts instant gratification. Another one is how color can be created and manipulated in an almost physical way.
And here i am. My mind should be studying for a Japanese test on Wednesday and here i am happily punching away. And creating these impeccable pseudo profound alibis :)

neki desu