A New Challenge!

Most of my art work to date has used hand dyed and painted/printed fabrics together with batik fabrics.  Recently I have been thinking that I would really like to make or create all the fabric I use in my work. This week my coach asked me what would it take?  The answer was simple ... just decide!    So I have.  There are a few pieces in the pipeline using batiks,  but from here on the challenge is to create all the fabrics I use.  

The most recent piece in the Stepping Stones series just happens meets the challenge .... the background in this piece is 'painted' ... I used painted fusible webbing to create the fabric ......

Stepping Stones # 10  Painted Road                         © CarolynCollins 2016

So the challenge is ahead!  I'll keep you posted.....

Drawing the Mangroves!

For last weeks drawing class we took a trip to Jervis Bay and to the board walk at the Maritime Museum.  This was a first for me ... the board walk winds it's way out through the mangroves at the edge of the bay ... its like entering another world, quiet and a little mysterious with wonderful reflections on the water and yet looking down you can see the mangrove shoots, the currents of water as the tides change and even the odd fish!  It was so easy to loose track of time sitting on the boardwalk sketching .....

The project for the day was to try and capture the feeling of the mangroves.  We started with a pale wash over gesso and then added some quick sketches of the mangroves with sgrafitto and wax followed by another wash thrown over the work ... good fun!!   This provided the background for a more drawing.  Here is my piece .... I've  started on a sketch of a mangrove branch and it's reflection in the water .... 

While there is a lot more work to do on this drawing, I am intrigued by these ideas and how I might translate them into fabric!  I'll let you know how I get on ....

Getting Ready for the Sydney Quilt Show

This week has been all about getting my entry ready for the Sydney Quilt Show, which is just a couple of weeks away (June 22-26).  I put the original composition together in the early part of the year as part of my Leaf Line Series  and submitted my entry form in March  ....  all good.  Then I had an "inspiration"  and reworked a couple of areas !!!  I'm pleased with the end result but found it was quite a stressful process with the deadline looming !!!   Now it's all quilted and facings etc done .....

 Here are some close up shots .....

Just the hanging sleeve to stitch in place.....  I've often struggled to get hanging sleeves to sit nicely with the right amount of fullness for the rod, but this time I actually ready the instructions provided by Quilt NSW and the end result is perfect and so simple and straight forward!

 I've added my version to the Resources page above if you need to know how....