Design

Registration NOW OPEN for Earth and Sky From Sketch to Stitch

Earth and Sky: From Sketch to Stitch

A Mini Master Class click here to learn more!

Earth and Sky is an Eight Week Mini Master Class divided into 2 Four Week modules with a One Week break in between the two modules.

Module 1: Sketch, Draw, Paint, Surface Design

Break Week

Module 2: Sketch, Surface Design, Stitch, Embellish

Class begins April 15th! 

Lifetime Access to the Clas

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NOTE: Because of the intensity of this class I am limiting the number of spaces available to 20!!!

Finding Oneself


Or maybe this post should be titled giving myself permission to do what I love!  I've started digging my collections out of my office and wet studio and bringing them into my design studio, you know the place were I create!


There's this meme that has been circulating on Facebook that says, essentially, the things you spend the most time doing, that's your passion and that's where we should focus our energies.  Well my passion is nature, gardening, hiking, collecting natural items like shells, bits of bark with lichens on them, rocks, bones, flowers, seed pods, and more.


And art supplies, I love to collect and use art supplies!


And plants!  This spring I will start amassing native prairie plants that love shade and will turn my front and side yards into prairie gardens!


It's been almost three months since I planted the terrariums, and they are thriving! 

Pumpkin Season has Arrived


Typically I buy quite a variety of pumpkins and squash each year, this year I decided to buy a bunch of fake pumpkins and squash.  I'm still looking for a really large fake pumpkin that looks "authentic".
Why would I buy fakes instead of real ones?

Simple.

I'm setting up a still life in my studio for painting, drawing, etc., and the real ones don't last into March, about the time when I'll be designing  collections for next Fall.

I have a ton of  photos for color and texture references (taken at a local pumpkin farm), but there's nothing as nice as working from a real 3D object.

And don't worry my designs won't look anything like these in the photos, they are just a starting point to work from.


Now to find a decent looking fake pomegranate and all will be well in the world of studio props.

Mark Making with Nature eBook Set MEGA SALE!!!


Black Friday thru Cyber Monday MEGA Sale

Titles Include:
  • Mark Making with Nature
  • Rust and Clay Dyeing
  • Compost Dyeing and Other Fermentation Dyeing Techniques
  • Getting Started with Natural Dyeing 
That 's 172 pages of how-to dye, paint, and print with natural dyes for $3.95!  Own them today!

Experimenting


Stenciling on natural dyed (tea and coffee) fabric.


I'm using purple and yellow acrylic paints and a stencil brush.




This while waiting for the screen printing supplies to arrive.  The bulb in my thermofax machine died and is no longer available, so on the advice of some trusted artist friends I've purchased Jacquards drawing fluid and filler to make silk screen designs.  The upside to this is I'll have large screens for screen printing natural dyes onto the cloth.

WIP Dusk at the Marsh


I am working on a stitched story piece about one of my favorite local marshes and my stencil Black Birds in Tree are the main focus in this new series.  The marshes, Cooper's Marsh & Larson's Marsh, which is just a few miles east of Ames, Iowa, are surrounded by farmland.  


Seta Color Fabric paint on cotton fabric, I painted this fabric using a salt technique sometime around 2004/05. The orange piece is a non-slip gripping pad that holds the fabric in place while I surface the fabric.


I should be able to get four smaller pieces out of the larger piece of fabric, the piece directly above this photo.


For the purple stenciled areas I'm using Galleria thick body paint as it is less inclined to bleed. I applied the paint using a stencil brush and very thin layers of paint building the image up onto the fabric, why yes my hand is sore now!


Finished, the stencil did stick to the fabric, where it came into contact with the wet paint that soon dried.


I have to admit this is my all time favorite stencil in my series!  I will probably leave this particular piece of fabric as is for the moment and work on the other three pieces.  I am toying with using my inverse stencil on one of the pieces, more to come!


Introductory Sale Mark Making with Nature Ends January 31st!!!


Introductory Price 
(Ends January 31st)

Mark Making with Nature Video Series
Own $39.95 or Rent $19.95 

Click here to learn more!!!

Tired of your fabric looking like everyone else's?  In this video series I will teach you how to push the limits using natural dyes and traditional surface design techniques!

Introductory Price Mark Making with Nature Video Series


Introductory Price 
(Ends January 31st)

Mark Making with Nature Video Series
Own $39.95 or Rent $19.95 

Click here to learn more!!!

Tired of your fabric looking like everyone else's?  In this video series I will teach you how to push the limits using natural dyes and traditional surface design techniques!

Natural Surface Academy Black Friday Membership!!!

The Natural Surface Academy

Wanted to join the Academy to learn about producing all of this yummy fabric, but was afraid to do so because of the price?  Today's your chance to join us in 2014 at HUGE discount!  49% off the regular price to be exact! ($599.00)
 


Pale Horse
Compost and Natural Dyed Cotton Fabric.

As part of your membership you will have access to my DVD's, videos, eBooks, online classes (self-paced)  and workshops (scheduled), and most importantly to ME!!!  I will help you take your Natural Dyed Fabrics to the next level be it surface design techniques or stitching, I can help you obtain your goals.
 
Sandstone No 1. Detail
Compost, Rust, and Natural Dyed Silk Fabric, Yarns, and Threads. Machine Stitched.

Black Birds in Tree Now Available!!!


I'm so excited to announce that my stencils are now available through StencilGirl Products!!!
 
The stencil is available as an inverse of the design and also as a traditional cut out.
 

Black Birds in Tree Inverse with Lilac and Ecualyptus Tsukineko Inks.


This page is the result of brayering a sheet of clean paper onto the Inverse stencil while it was wet with alcohol inks.

 

Oooh Stencils

 
Yesterday something absolutely wonderful arrived in the mail for my approval, my sample stencil from one of my own designs "Birds in Tree"!  I've been playing with it ever since it arrived, and of course the inevitable wait time for layers of gesso to dry had to be endured, but over all I'm having a blast this afternoon!
 
More layer as these two layers should be dry and ready for the next several processes, which includes some ink/pen techniques and then more layering.  I see some numbers and text in this piece as well. 
 
Tomorrow I will have some fabric samples to show and tell.