Turquoise scarab

Turquoise Scarab

The theme for May's exchange is Turquoise

 for the artsinthecards  art group

here is my offering

isn't he cute?

below are some of the materials i  used after idea light bulb came on ;

my paper sketch, painted coffee filters backs, paint, brushes, threads, sharp tools.
 i was given a carved bead of a scarab to make into a knotted necklace many decades ago
that was part of inspiration memory recall.

what photos do not show is the iridesent painted over color

Three scarab beetles 

Here they are in all their glory
 quilted on my favorite  Bernina 830 Record machine .

be well, sonja

Acid Rain

 Rain

 was the latest word prompt for Arts in the Cards trade.

 what that word looks, feels, sounds like to you at the time is what was made visable

 and reduced to a small card and sent out to other artists.

this blue bubble photo is not one of them.

it is a eyeglass cleaner cloth borrowed from my DH from his last pair of glasses.

 and as good as any place to start as i am visual.

 also a good reminder that i get my eyes checked this week for sharper vision glasses!   

i started out with water/rain drops and the  idea that i see  colors in drops, which i do .

water running down a windsheld or window takes on shapes as did the paint i put on several pieces of cloth that i left out in the rain to make them dilute and as they dried on a slope,

the colors ran downhill.

of the 4 pieces i picked 3 that i quilted to repeat that rolling down effect  of drops.

 i used some metallic thread that broke (even with the metallic needle)  often .

 i was glad these were small pieces.

rain drops keep fallin' on my head.....

was the most sung  old song  as  worked  along  on  this challege.
what does rain inspire you in your imagination?

 

  

eggs

one of my favorite ways to color eggs
 at Easter is to wrap them in onion skins and hard boil them.
i will often tuck in a fern or herb sprig in as a resist. i like red onions but other skins colors work. i bundle the eggs covered with skin in a coffee filter ( i have small eggs from some of my hens) or i cut a square of fabric that is then lightly bound at the gatherng point.i used 8 inch squares here.
 a little vinegar and i let them cook and color at the same time.

this is the simple process in photos to get organic Easters eggs in beautiful colors of gold, greens, and rust that look like they might have been hatched by some exotic wood fowl with no toxic dyes.
  start to collect onions skins ahead of time or make friends
with the produce manager at your local market.
the more skins you wrap the deeper the tones get.

gather the eggs, skins, herbs, coth wrapper square, and don't foreget a pair of scissors to snip the

wrapping string.

                                                         

these are bundles are ready for the pot

    boil as you would for hard boiled eggs.

              i also put a few uncovered eggs in as i ran out of skins.

these turned a warm golden brown but without the marbling/motling of skins wrapped ones.

these are unwrapped while still  quite warm as i cannot wait to see what happened .

                                                   i made a nest of fabric sevlages and strips.

                                                        hard to watch boiling eggs so
                                                                 

while i was waiting for the onion skin eggs,
 i finger painted some already boiled  eggs with food coloring the result of which
 i got more on my fingers than the egg
.

lovely  blue/green egg, scrap cloth, and my camera strap got some more color as well!

Happy Easter  to All!

Sonja

atc art spring 2012

RED

Red was the prompt for Feb in the ATC exchange with  artsinthecards folk.

 my mind went  directly to the comb of a rooster,

in fact, Peaches the rooster that shared 5 years with us was y model.

 one of the redest reds i have  ever seen was the afternoon sun shining through the

 comb of the rooster.

 i drew and painted the head. next some layering  and quilting.  a sky blue background made me happy. after i scanned and printed 9 rooster heads on cardstock i had lost some

 of the vibrant color i  wanted.

out came colored pencils and more paint.

still not there,

i turned over the pieces and embossed the comb with a stylus tool to ad demension.  

 lastly, i added  a bit of golden glitz into the neck feathers to show shimmer of light.  

                                                              LIME

the prompt for March was Lime.

 i have a citrus tree that has lime scented leaves that i believe to be a rough lemon or what i call
 a lumpy lemon. see photo below.

 then there is that song about de lime in de coconut and call me in the a m ...

now i can't get that image or tune out of my mind. i sketched an assortment of slices quickly as
not to overthink this little project.
 then i get out  some paints of yellow and blue
and plain muslin fabric and lightly draw simple arcs for the lime skins
. painting very loose, i reach my bliss.
(and this is why i paint afer all!)
 after the paint is dry i quilt in some slices segrments. the blue between gets tiny circles quilted, and a few cards get seed beads sewn on for dewy drops beore the envelope captures them.
some did not. i also put in one real leaf because i love the fragrance. i sent one leaf  to New Zealand where lime-sniffng inpectors found me out and held up the mail. for weeks.
note to self: do not repeat that leaf sending out of USA if real !

 and in the very last shot at the  bottom  

 having  turned a  card on its side  i now  see a Lime in a bikini!

 you never know where art will lead you but it makes me happy today!

be well!
sonja

water dragon

The year of the Dragon
2012
 

The year of the chinese water dragon is well underway. in one of my post card art trading groups we made dragons recently and this is my guy.

first i sketched and painted on fabric and

then  the next day i free motion doodled over the dragon  with various verigated threads

from Superior Threads,

the King TUT line is my favorite.
i made four of these so i had one to keep for my collection.

the Dragon seems to be resting on a branch here.out on a limb.

i am glad most of our lizards don't get as large as this fellow .

Love

i love this flag

 and the process of mixing paint and fabric and air and water and thoughts of love so this is my valentine this year.  sometimes i ad a chopsitck to the sleeve if i am hangng a single flag and still the colorful ripped selvages flutter in the light winds.

 big fat stitches with six strand floss pass quickly in my hands with the help of a large eyed needle.

 flag making a fine way to take a break from the fast paced world we live in ,

an invatation  to deep thoughts and quiet time we need  .

Peace and Light are also  recent flags catching the last rays of the late afternoon sun.

be well, Sonja

a part of   theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com

three french hens...

this is the day we would begin to disassemble the tree of Christmas when i was a child  as it was also my paternal grandfather Gabriel's birthday Januaury 6 and  the twelft day of christmas  as in the song.

 i love that song.

  on the 3 rd day of Christmas  my quilting friend Pat came over and we made fabric hens three of them each  that we painted after the  hand sewing was done. they are under 3 inches in size and  althought  made 3 different size patterns,  like this one the best . they hang from a loop of gold  cord on the tree or as a light pulls so far. and as we have a small egg farm here  can paint hens any color i  see or think off and my egg girls will be well represented. i occasionally  make a smaller, flatter version and add pin backs to the painted hens with needle and thread so they can be attached.

my hens love bird seeds and eat the sunflower seeds first!
 while the hen ornaments  were drying we made some  prayer flags .

we painted 3 each as that is a fine way to fly them in sets of threes.

Santa is in town !

ALL THE Santas have arrived and they are Flat.

i trade with an atc group  that put out the theme of flat santa recently.

 artsinthecards. mine is the one on the far right and the last to be sent out.

i went right to bookmark in my creative brain center.

my little Santa emerged from a used dry tea bag stain.

 the paper is great to paint and drawn on after ironed.

 just a hint of a shape in the stain  gave way to sketching, painting.

 and stitching with a black thread on my Singer  Featherweight  machine.

 and a bit  more paint.

 at the  bottom i added a small piece of scrap chenille fabric.

if i had a mantel he and the others would be on it.

now i am all ready for Christmas,

 well almost ready.

a few mre things to finish before the night before Christmas and...

Most happy holidays to all! 

sonja

Christmas Cactus Isabella blooms

the prayer flag project

I read about this project on the prayer flag project blog

   last summer and I knew I wanted to make some after visiting.

  So  this is what I started on Sept. 11, 2011.

theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com

I continue to make them as time allows and have made them into a take along project after I paint the background fabric .
 they are 5 by 8  inches after hemming top sleeve.

I love to paint. fabric loves to receive it. paint to me is  like vitamin P and i never tire of experimenting with  it with intension or random marks of color.

I have filled in the words, with embroidery threads in a very primitive stitch,

drawn by writing with the blue school gel glue before paint goes on .when paint dries i rinse out glue .

the  finished flags are strung with torn selvages of my hand painted fabrics and knotted together . then hung in the air, over a doorway , along a garden fence, from a tree limb., and when i show them, i clip them onto my old wooden hangers.

hope seems to be the word that surfaces first for me.

 some friends have already stated they would like to make some, together.

a good" all skill level" project.  
what does prayer look like to you?

And what a great way to start a new year.

thankful

I am thankful for the fresh food from farmers market and the garden. for friends old and new, near and far, and those that visit the blog. i am grateful for paint and cloth and enough ideas to keep going . and for hope.  i am thankful for health and smart hands and for enough. all you need is enough. all you need is love. and that is enough.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

the birds the word.....

                                 "everybodys heard the birds the word....bbbbbbb....."

dh mower with chicken inspectors

(my mower is the bottom one and it goes on woman power.)

 

And if you are old enought to recall this song or watch Family Guy upon ocassion, what does that conjour up for you?   and not to mention some of the art blogs i follow that  are bird  art talking/making  as well, and the birthday card i got this year from a dear friend  had a photo of a chicken crossing the road and asking that age old question.......why DID the chicken cross the road?  all this and the fact that i have a yard full of chickens and can't  find but a few eggs a day....lead me to this post.

that and the last painting class i  held.

i painted a chicken as a demo when i asked students to think about an animal to paint in the afternoon session. we painted flowers mostly in the morning cause i think that is least difficult and you need to put the color somewhere after all, unless making yardage.  the chicken i drew / painted was indeed crossing some surface, she was dashing and colorful. just recently i quilted the road she was crossing at a very high speed!   

yes, she is certainly a  colorful bird as seen in this middle  close up above.

a few weeks ago i thought it would be fun to put my  class painting samples  together and i am in the process of quilting  some more of them now.

can you see the rocky road the red hen is crossing with speed? 

lots of fun was had by quilting the dots.

i love to finger paint alot so this is repeating pattern in my work lately, those  finger dots. 

we painted poultry, penquins,peacocks,butterflies, and even a pineapples showed up on fabrics on the sunny afternoon.  what a great class  this was with 3 repeaters and 3 new ladies. all artists on cloth in my veiw.i  will post some of their art .  i always wish i had taken more photos the next day but there never seems to be enough time when you have a paint brush in hand! 

i will

also will try to rotate this one later.

 pineapple upsidedown.

blogger thinks this is is what i want even thou my jpg has leaves at the top.

fun in the summer is painting outside.