Inner Landscapes

I've been fighting tiredness all week, as you can tell, probably, by the paucity of posts this week. Today, though, I thought I would go and play in The Little Green Shed. I'm enjoying working with mixed media, and have produced a couple of Inner Landscape pieces, both of which seem to reflect my current state of mind, or should that be health? I'm not sure. Perhaps both.

The first is 'Overloaded', the second, 'Overwhelmed', both small mixed media pieces on mountboard. I suspect everyone has felt like this at some time or another. Hopefully, I won't be feeling like this much longer!

For The First Time...

since FOQ, I feel like getting some work done. Before I left, I was contemplating the work I need to do for the exhibition I'm putting on in October with my friend Jill, family and friend (more of that another day). It's called 'Mixing Up The Marks', and I thought I would use the opportunity to do some exploring on the theme of scars and cracks. I've been taking photographs of cracked walls and pavements, and this morning began manipulating them with Paint Shop Pro. I've got the first of them printed out and stitched into, and got some interesting fibres and threads from my friend Myfanwy, perhaps better known to the blogging world as Sassalynne or Nuvofelt So, plenty of things to play with in that department!!

But I think before I do that, I'll quilt the piece in the picture, Line Talks To Circle. The next book (I know, I know...) will be about Evolon, and this is an experimental piece for that, featuring some unusual colourants. I like it a lot, it has a strength to it that feels right, somehow. And despite the fact that it's a holiday weekend, the weather is telling me that it's best to Stay Indoors... so I'll be up in the quilt studios this afternoon, methinks!

Patience...

is something that most people assume is required for textiles, particularly patchwork and quilting. I've always thought that it was not a virtue that I possessed. That said, I do wait patiently for the right time to work with something. The image that forms the basis of this piece has been sitting on my computer for a long time, several months. Every time I looked at it, I thought, must do something with it... finally, I did. I manipulated the image a bit, put it onto lutradur and... the rest is in the Lovely Lutradur book, if you want the fine details; it became one of the projects in that section. (Click on the icon at the top right hand side of the blog page for more details).I think it did us good to wait, both image and me. I discovered a new way of using lutradur, and the image...well, who knows ...but I think it looks better than it did to begin with.

All The Fun Of The Show...

...in this case, the Spunart team in a few quiet moments before the mayhem began at the start of Sunday. You may recognise a few of my quilts hanging behind them; thank you to the lovely people who commented that they look much better in real life! You can probably tell that the messy desk at the front of the stand is mine; I create mayhem wherever I go, co opting space madly. I had great fun talking about Lutradur and Evolon both, my favourite textiles. Wonder what other industrial products can be turned to artful uses... Mervyn, get your thinking cap on!

It was great to meet fellow bloggers and Etsians at the show, and there are tentative plans for a retreat later in the year. Amazing what you can arrange in a few minutes between demos! I had a ball, but I have to admit I'm really tired still, so I may be quite quiet for a while. Or not...

Lutradur Lovelies!

If you haven't realised it by now, I am going up to Birmingham on Friday to the Festival of Quilts, where I will be demonstrating how to colour lutradur on the Spunart stand (just behind Ricky Tims, apparently...wonder if he sings while he works, too...?). And, of course, I'll have copies of Lovely Lutradur with me... but I thought I'd bring some small bits and pieces made with lutradur so that you can see what I use it for. Small pieces of work, ACEOs and postcards, for instance, as well as these pretty journals.

I think these journals would be an ideal accompaniment to a finished quilt, whether traditional or art. Information about the quilt, its making and its care, would all sit beautifully in a wee book like this. They could even be customised for each quilt. I've made a dozen to bring with me, each one different, and of course, they too will be for sale.

I'm really looking forward to this; I enjoy demonstrating...and chatting... please do come and say hello if you are visiting the festival! And if you can't, but would really love a journal, don't worry, I'll be listing them on Etsy when I return. And if you really can't wait for a copy of Lovely Lutradur, click on the image of the book on the top right hand corner of this blog.

Moving On...More Work

Well, yes. I finished this piece, Flying Circus, just in time for it to go to the Spunart stand at FOQ, along with other pieces of my work, for part of the display there. I've also sent some small pieces, so that visitors to the stand can see and feel for themselves the effects you can get using lutradur of different weights. Flying Circus is made from Evolon, a polyester microfibre made by those clever Lutradur people. I'm hard pressed to tell you which of the two is my favourite, lutradur or evolon, so I've recently taken to using them both at once, which solves the problem nicely!

Flying Circus is one of the few pieces I've added hand stitch to. I'm so pleased with the results that I have the nasty feeling I'll be doing more of it, especially to Evolon, as it adds a pleasing textural contrast. It's a small piece, but I think it has a strong effect.

I was told last week that one of my lutradur pieces, 'Cracking Up/Pulling Myself Together' has been accepted to a show in Cambridge next month; I'm delighted. There will be a wide selection of work there; I'll let you know all the details when I have them.

It's Been A While...

but for a very good reason. Lovely Lutradur is finished, and as you can see, is piling up on my living room carpet! Preorders are going out in the next day or so, and we're accepting orders by email; just contact Dijanne or myself. If you would prefer to order online without emailing us, I'll also set up information on the other blog where you can find a complete listing of the contents as well as a Paypal payment button.

So.... what about Lovely Lutradur? Well, it's an E-Book, or book on CD. It is supplied as two PDF files, so you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free on the net. An E-book works just like a normal book, without the paper, of course, and it does the odd advantage. One of them is that it has 'bookmark' icons. If you click the bookmark icon on the left of the page, a list of chapter headings will pop up. Click on one of those, and you are immediately taken to the relevant chapter of the book. Handy, huh?

The book is divided into several parts. First, we explain about Lutradur itself, then we go on and talk about how to colour it and use it, including a step by step visual guide by Dijanne that shows the whole process as she makes one particular piece. The third section of the book is a series of projects, which we hope will show you how we use lutradur, and give you lots of ideas for using it yourself. And of course, there is the ever important suppliers list. On a separate file, there is a gallery, full of images of our work, and information about the specific pieces. In all, 88 pages of textile temptations!

Price?
Australia $25 inclusive of postage
United Kingdom 12 GBP- inclusive of postage
Europe 15 Euros inclusive of postage
USA $24 inclusive of postage

I'll be at Festival of Quilts on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday at the Spunart stand (apparently we're just behind Ricky Tims!), with CDs, a laptop and a hard copy of the book. Why not come and say hello, and check it out!