Why I Love the Skimmerhorn Mountains

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman 
11x14"
Skimmerhorn Mountains #4

The Skimmerhorn Mountains have a commanding presence on one side of the valley where I reside. The clouds curl around their tops, the sunsets bathe them in colour and snow makes the crevice's show beautifully. In the fall, old timers will say, when the first snow stays on the top of them, there will be snow on the valley floor in three weeks. Ohhh... and a ridge walk on the top, in wildflower season, fulfills my soul.  

 Watercolour by Eileen Gidman
11x14'
Skimmerhorn Mountains # 2 

Due to the vertical nature of these mountains they can be quite a challenge to paint. Normally, I paint them on location but these last two weeks I have painted these watercolours from my photographs in the studio. 

Watercolour 'card size' by Eileen Gidman
Skimmerhorn Mountains #1

To warm up, I first painted this small watercolour. A few people have commented they liked this particular shade of blue with the red of the barn. If I recall correctly it is a combination of a Maimeri Blue, 'Bluegreen' colour and a Windsor Newton, 'Cobalt Blue' colour. 

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman
11x14"
Skimmerhorns #3

This farm is so dear, I decided to paint it again but larger and because an artist can move mountains, I did paint another part of the Skimmerhorn Range behind it. 
 

Dye Painted Fabric 'card size' by Eileen Gidman
Skimmerhorn Mountains

The two mediums I work in (watercolour and dyes) often contain similar images and here you see the Skimmerhorns again but on fabric.

One of the Biggest Failures in Fabric Painting I ever had, was this Week

Along with a disappointing fabric painting failure (end of the post), there were some wonderful successes in fabric painting this week.

This panel was first painted lightly then soda-soaked once again and dried. Here I have lightly sketched in some 4 X 6" images (card size) in preparation for the second painting session.

What the same panel looks like two and half hours later. As I am painting with thickened dyes, the colours will be less vibrant once the panel is washed. 

These chickadees, I am so in love with them even before the thread sketching. 

There was this one little piece of linen left at the end of a painting day and I used up all the little bits of mixed colours left-over to create this piece. A blue heron stitched in the right hand corner should look perfect. Linen, I must dye paint it more often!

Watercolour painting.

This was from the first life drawing/painting session in 2022. The pleated skirt was so fun to paint.

THE FAILURE

This panel was painted in 2 x 3" images. Not very often do I veer from using the very best of fabrics for painting with dyes. Mercerized cotton from Dharma Trading is my favorite and is always reliable. However, I found this scrap of light canvas which I soda soaked and painted. Well there is three or so wasted hours as the dye did not make a good chemical bond with the fabric and much of it washed out. It was a very stiff canvas and must have a sizing on it that is not easily washed away. Grrr... Lesson learnt.

January 2022 in the Studio

 

January is perfect for lots of painting time. Prepared fabric is being painted with thickened dyes to form a permanent bond once cured. 

A panel this size takes 3-4 hours to paint.

Dyed velvet on Brooches

In late summer, when it looked like the local Christmas Art and Craft Market was going ahead this year, I made the decision to participate as a vendor. Some of you might recall that I was a vendor at Quilt markets in the past, mostly with larger pieces of hand (dye) painted cotton panels.  It had surprised me how much making this one decision to attend this Art Market has lead me in several new artistic directions.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of creativity and when an artist gets in the zone, it can be very exciting. Oh yes and sometimes exhausting, as one creative idea begets another. During this time I also started taking webinars to learn more about selling online. I am reminded of one webinar about online promotion when the instructor stated "Oh yes, you artists need to roll things out in stages as you generate a lot of ideas." It was relieving to hear I am not the only artist with this problem. Anyway, for this Market, I will be introducing textile art brooches featuring hand dyed velvet details and thread sketching for the first time.

'Warm Fuzzies' -bee brooches 

Aren't these cute, if I do say so myself? In person, you get to see the simmer of the yellow and gold velvet of the bees. The larger brooches are 2" x 3" and the smaller ones are 2" x 2"

The brooches attached to their packaging. The cattails turn out really well. It seemed important to have a variety to brown velvets for them. 

Backgrounds: With this second batch of floral brooches, I've began experimenting more with the backgrounds. Leaving them lighter so the velvet details show up. On two in the photo, I started with a plain canvas background and I like the way the thread sketching shows up on them. What do you think?

One can't go to a Christmas Market without taking some Christmas/winter cards so here are a few from the 'Outdoor Life in the Kootenay's' series. The thread sketched snowshoes are very popular, if time consuming. These cards are made to fit a mat or frame opening of 5 X 7" so they are easily framed and being original work they make a special gift in themselves. 

Reds and Greens: One always needs a few of those types of cards for customers. Did I mention also a new item I've been creating with my textile art is journals? Well that will have to wait for another post. Take care everyone!

Artist Video: Eileen Gidman

BACK TO LIFE DRAWING/PAINTING

Last week, it was great to get back to 'life drawing/painting' after many months of not being able to meet with others inside. Although I might be a little rusty, it was so comforting to feel the brush strokes flowing. 

20 Minute Life Drawing Sketch

'Models in a Row'

Just like any other skill, drawing and painting require ongoing practice. Rather than have a separate piece of paper for each sketch, it can be fun to group them together on one sheet of paper. My mentor once said, "Always use good paper". This is 90 lb hot press Arches watercolour paper and I find it perfect for these quick watercolour sketches. 

Only Time For One More Very Quick Sketch
(background sketch)

2021 ARTIST VIDEO: EILEEN GIDMAN 

Eileen Gidman: Watercolour and Textile Artist

Artist 7 min video

Hopefully people are getting some opportunities to get back to doing things they enjoy.  

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.