Pages

I have added pages to the blog. This will give us the option to have all our work together on one page. Please post on the regular home page, but when you have done that please post a picture of your art work on your personal page as well.
To get there, click on design, pages, select your own page and add the picture there in the blogpost I have created for you all. Let me know if it is not clear.

Book/Box Secrets

I am translating this tutorial from Joke but as I have never folded one of those boxes I hope it is clear :-). Joke does not know whether this is the 'official' way of making a box like this. She once saw a picture of such a box and attempted to duplicate it.

The first picture shows a square piece of paper folded twice. Once from the left to the right and once from the top to the bottom. Those folds will remain visible. If you don't want that you can mark the folding lines with pencil. Open the paper till it is flat again. The folding lines are to aid you with the next step. Fold each part to the folding line. To help you these lines are marked in this picture. When you are making your real box you do not have to mark these.

Next you fold the corners of your paper to the centre like you see in this picture:

And folded open it looks like this:

Rotate the paper 90 degrees and fold it twice diagonal like this:

Turn the paper again in the original position with the tops like this and fold the corners like you see on the next 2 pictures:

Now the tricky part comes :-). Fold the corner marked with the arrow like you see on the picture above this text.

Do this clockwise with all the corners and your result is like the box which is shown in my bokk.

The other boxes are folded in the same way, only using rectangular paper instead of square and only the 2 opposite sides are folded inwards.
The big box is again a square one and folded in the similar way.
Good luck!

My Art Show

I have made a completely new collection of Art for my first big Art Show here in London in March.

Here is the link, have a peep to see the wonderful artists who will be there with me.

It is exciting but also quite daunting!

http://www.newartistfair.com/exhibiting-artists--2013.html

I have made 12 new pieces, but will choose only 9 to be framed next week (as the cost will be huge), and will show them all to you nearer the time.


Here are two of them.

Newest in my Jazz series

Hi All!!

I know it's been awhile since I've been around but the Florida sunshine overrides computer time!! But I have been painting and I have a picture I like well enough to share. It didn't start out very well and after trying to "rescue" it in several ways I was about to tear it up and use it for ATC backgrounds! A friend - who is also a wonderful art teacher and artist - suggested a technique I might try to save it. I bought some white tempera paint and a bottle of black india ink. I covered everything I liked and wanted to keep on the painting with the white paint and let it dry very well.. Then I covered the entire painting with the black ink and when it dried I put the whole painting in the sink and washed it! Most of the white paint came off, as well as some of the original color but the black ink remained. I then went back to the painting with paint to enhance some of the color I lost. I used the "new" painting as a background for collaged Jazz figures and integrated them into the background with paint. I love trying new techniques!! I am looking forward to getting feedback and other suggestions.

I am delighted to see everyone's wonderful work, as well. What a joy to be part of such a creative group.

First project secrets

I'm doing my first Secrets project. A booklet with all sorts of (secret) boxes. It has the theme  Egypt. Internals is now ready only the folder should I still make.

Feedback?

OK since this is supposed to be a blog where we can also share the process as well as out finished art.....

I would like your input --

On the background below....would the "ground" layers look better if they were a bit wavy?  Or are they just fine the way they are???  Just a note:  I will be adding some textural elements in the layers of the "ground" so they won't be just plain anyway.

Please let me know your thoughts on this....

A Fun Surprise!

I was wandering around FB this morning, catching up with my niece and nephew (about the only contact they respond to!) I noticed that my niece, Faith Silva, and a friend have an Etsy shop where they sell hand spun yarn and rovings!!  I immediately ordered some multi-brown yarns to use in my Pecans series!! Since the series was inspired by my dad, it seems fitting that some bits of it are from his granddaughter!! I just think that is so cool!!

Here is a link to their shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TactileDactyl

And it must be one-of-a-kind stuff because the one I ordered is no longer in the shop!  But....it is on its way to my studio!!!

Pecans - Sapling - background

Today I got my muslin layer on my design wall and got the background laid out for the Sapling.  I know the center of the "sky" may look a bit monochromatic just now....but that is where the main part of the sapling branches/leaves will be so I'm not too worried.  Still working with the black "wedge" on the left of the "ground".  I keep moving it.  (The second layer of ground -left and center- is a piece of painted silk Maggie sent to me! Thanks, Mags!! Fits in perfectly dontcha think?)

Each Pecan piece will be mounted onto 24" square canvases with a 1.5" depth.  So I have my muslin marked to include plenty of fabric to wrap, turn under and staple in the back of the canvas frame.

Now I have to decide if I want to do raw edge applique or if I want to turn the edges under.

Anyway...here it step one and I'm on my way!  Can't tell all of you how excited I am to get fabric on the design wall for this one.

Pecans - Sapling - background

Red brick road

Another line quilt is finished!! If you follow my personal blog you have seen these pictures before :-). For this quilt I started with 126 black strips and 9 red strips. The black is a commercial fabric, the red a hand dyed one. They will be stitched on white raw silk.

Fabric for the back is this red one. No idea why I ever bought this, because the shiny top makes it very difficult to use in any project. That is the reason that I used the reverse side (at the right) as it looks much more decent.

The top turned out rather big, so instead of using my domestic Janome I used my HQ16 for the stitching. The strips were fused to the silk. I did not keep track of the time, but I spend a lot of hours working on it.

Recently I discovered a way of finishing the edges while not using a binding. This technique requires a bit more planning in advance, but it works out nicely. Important is that the quilting does not go over the planned dimensions! When all the quilting is finished, I placed the quilt like this on my working tables and used a black marker to draw the size on the fabric. The size is roughly 28"x48". Next step is to carefully cut away the back fabric and the batting.

 

The white fabric which is sticking out is then folding as a seam to the back of the quilt and stitched. And this is how the end result looks like:

Inspiration for the title came from Dorothy's Yellow brick road. This 2nd lines quilt is completely different from the first one and the idea for a 3rd - again different - one is brewing :-)).

And 2013 is underway...

Just completed my final piece remaining from 2012 (you can see it on my art blog...www.kellyartist.blogspot.com) and I'm ready to start on my 2013 pieces.  I have decided on a size and presentation.  I will be making "art quilt" pieces but the "quilt" part will be 24" X 24" and mounted on 24"square canvases.  I did a couple of these earlier and I really like the results.  Today I'm going to start on my first in the Pecans series.  Hopefully I'll have a photo to post later today.

Now.....OFF TO PLAY in my studio!

I hope you guys are all as ready as I am to get this new year underway.  I'm so looking forward to seeing your art work!!

New Year's Eve

As I am spending time in my studio this New Year's Eve, I thought I would take a short break and stop by to wish you all HAPPY  NEW  YEAR!!!

Don't know about you but I'm so excited to begin all the projects I have planned for this year.  Oh and guess what!!  The people who bought my parent's place in TX sent me real pecans from my dad's HUGE pecan tree! I do know one project that I will be using them for and will probably eat a good portion of them!

Looking forward to tomorrow morning with just my husband and myself.  Our tradition is to watch the Rose Parade on HGTV, eat Cinnabons, drink mimosas and just chill for the morning.  It will be quiet.  My favorite way to start a new year.

No resolutions as yet. Not planning on any really......

I pray all of us have a wonderful, creative, productive and profitable 2013!!!!!