Teal

All things teal coloured currently in my studio. Is it a summer colour?

Textile Art Tote Bag

I found this lovely teal batik at the Sew Peachy Sewing Studio in Creston, BC. It made up so nicely into these two textile art tote bags. The fine weave of batiks makes for a light unlined bag that's easy to carry with you. 

Hydrangea 

The hand painted hydrangea was dyed 3 times. First, was a low immersion dye with light blues and purples. The second time, light blue green was added for leaves. That didn't quite seem like enough so I soda-soaked the material again and did a negative painting technique around the plant leaving the piece so much richer looking.

Drawstring Lined Bag

This rayon piece of fabric was inspired after visiting a turquoise mine.

Lighthouse on Kootenay Lake

Hand (dye) painting large pieces of fabric with sky colours can lead to such creativity. Once the background is done, there are so many directions one can go with each 5 X 7" textile card top.

Dark Teal Sewn into a Summer Top

The perfect buttons were found in my upcycle button box for this sewn summer top.

Yarrow Experimentation

There is only one 5 X 7" piece left of this strip of rayon that I painted some time ago. It has been very versatile so I am keeping this one for a sample for future dye painting.

 

Leaf Drawstring Bag

The hand painted art piece was stamped onto unbleached cotton material some time ago. Recently, when I was sewing some gift bags I incorporated into this lined drawstring bag.  

Sketching at the Dog Park to Painting on Textile

Why sketch animals from life and not from a photo? I suppose one is trying to capture some particular things that one is seeing at that particular moment in time. Photo references are very helpful but sketching from life is exhilarating.

If a animal is doing an action, there is no way you can sketch it all as it is happening. To help with that, when sketching from life, I employ two different methods. One is to sketch bits at a time and as the animal comes repeatedly back to a similar pose, add another portion of the drawing. The other is to capture the image in one's mind and then put pen to paper. 

Sketching at the Creston, BC, Dog Park

Using the Sketches for further Art Work

Two of the sketches were combined in the hand painted textile piece. It is painted with Procion fibre-reactive dyes on mercerized cotton material.

Beginning the Free-motion Stitching

Orientating the Sketch

When stitching from the bottom to the top, I find it easiest to turn the sketch around too. 

Completed Textile Card Top

With a glue stick, the art work is attached to heavy card stock. This piece doesn't have a lot of detail but those outstretched legs of the dog and the girl who is standing almost disinterested (she actually was scrolling through her cell phone) is what I was wanting to depict. 

Grampa and Grandson Walking the Dog

Painting with dyes, even though these were thickened, they can bleed a bit. The stitching was needed to narrow the images and provide detail.

Textile card 5" X 7"

What I liked about the scene was the brisk movement of the three participants. The man, 'grandpa', slightly bent forward and wearing a plaid jacket were additional details I paid attention to. Otherwise much of the landscape was invented.  

Hopefully you are inspired to get out sketching.