Can Deli Wrap Become a Quilt?

In a previous post I showed some of the pretty papers that I created with the Gelli Plate.  I have a large stack of pretty papers.  A LOT of them.  I can and do use them in my journals.  But I still have a LOT of them.  So I was considering how to use what I had created in a new and unusual way.

So I backed some of them with fusible Wonder Under, cut them in layers, fused them onto batting, and created a little quilt.  Here it is.

And I really like it.  I quilted it and there was no problem with tearing.  The texture is quite different than fabric - but I think it may offer a new and interesting variation to my quilting.

Next I am going to create a background this way and then add a shape in the foreground. 

barbara

Art Object

My brother has a strange sense of humor just like I do.  So I find weird things to give him as presents.  If I see something and it makes me laugh out loud and it doesn't cost too much, it becomes a present for Bobby.
I found this little treasure in an antique store.  Made me laugh out LOUD.  Bobby liked it too.

Too funny not too share with you!            barbara

When is a Cow not really a Cow?

I was with some amazingly lovely ladies and we were playing with paper to create portrait collages.  From magazines.  

  While they worked on their projects (which turned out to be AMAZING) I played with a CB2 catalog and just cut out shapes and designs that I liked.  Had a little stack of them and started to put them together - and this is what it turned into.

 

I laughed and took it home and put it on my design wall - and fell in love with the basic shapes and the way they worked together.   I was done with my 100 Days of Paper and decided that this was the perfect design to launch myself back into quilting.

Here is what it looked like before it was completed.

And here is what it looked like when it was done.

And I love it.  People have rather strange reactions when I show them.  Many of them are concerned about the two "missing legs".  They don't mind the wing too much - but the legs.....  I am amused by that reaction.  But most people who know me just smile and say that it looks like something I would create.   Such a Happy Cow!           barbara

100 Days Project is Over

So I actually DID work in my studio - ON PAPER NOT FABRIC - for 100 days in a row.  And I am glad that I did.  It was hard at times to convince myself to keep going.  But I learned a lot - found new materials to use in my quilts, and discovered a new inspiration for my next chapter of quilting.

And I am excited about quilting again.  So - are you wondering what the inspiration is?  Check out the picture below.

I started with a beautiful face from a magazine - Kate Winslet.  Then created a background with strips of paper and some paint.  Then started adding whimsy to the face and hair and dress.  And a bird.

AND - this is the important part - I realized that maybe this would work with my portrait quilts.  I could COMBINE the technique I learned from Esterita Austin to make portraits and then ADD whimsical elements around the face itself.

This may or may not excite you.  But WOW was I excited to have this thought enter my head.  I had never considered combining the two very different styles that I enjoy into a single quilt.  AND it would make my portraits even MORE my own style.  Hmmmm.  My very own style....  Makes me grin and feel all cozy just thinking about it.

I'll post some photos when I get started.....     barbara

Where have I been?

Oops.  Just realized that my last post was in January!  Yikes!  What have I been doing?  Well....
Winter was crazy weird and COLD for Arkansas.  So there was that.  Then I had the horrid flu thing and was too sick to even quilt or draw.  So there was that.  And then stuff happened and got busy - BUT all of that is NO excuse to have skipped all these months.

I guess part of me isn't sure that anyone ever looks at my blog (I know, boohoo poor me) so I just don't take the time to update.  BUT that is no excuse either.

So.  I am going to backtrack a little bit and you will see all sorts of entries with this same date.  But it took months to actually make all the collages and quilts. 

barbara

Three Melting Ladies

Another experiment.  Gosh it is fun when things don't work out.  I learn SO much more!

I was experimenting with the PaintOver technique starting with a black and white copy of a face from a magazine.

The one on the far left is my first attempt.  When I tried to paint a glaze of white paint over the face, the ink smeared.  No matter what I did, it smeared.  I tried different products (see the middle face) and that helped a bit - but still smeared.

Hmmmm.  I called my friend Jan for advice.  She uses many products in her art journals and is more experienced with smearing water soluble inks.  She suggested a few things to try.

The one that finally worked (face on the right) was to iron the copy, then spray it with Fixatif.  I had to be quick and cautious - but almost no smearing.

So then I was faced (ha!) with the dilemma of two smeary faces.  Should I just toss them in the

trash?  Tempting.  But I want to learn to honor my mistakes - so I stacked them up and plunked them on some scrapbook paper.  And I like it!  Looks like it was planned from the beginning. 

barbara

Successful Gelli MonoPrint

I have printed MANY prints on paper and on deli paper with the Gelli Plate.  And gotten lots of fine results.

But - never what I would call an Intended or Purposeful print.  One that turned out like it was planned.

And that is because you have to think sort of backwards to get what you want.  And I have trouble both driving my car backwards (trust me I am DANGEROUS!!) and thinking backward.

So I signed up for one of Julie FFBalzers mini lessons on Gelli printing.  And I did every single lesson.  That is where I learned to make those gloppy faces in the previous post.  She is an excellent and organized teacher and I finally understand.

This is the print that I made following her very specific instructions.  And I love it.  It is even better in real life than in the photo.  There are five layers of paint on this monoprint.  And the paint is so thin that you can barely feel it on the paper.

I intend to make more.  I like the way that you can see all this depth in the design.  Do I need to start wearing my baseball cap backwards now that I know how to THINK backwards??    barbara