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WIP Wednesday: Dragonfly Art Quilt

Posted on June 14, 2023June 13, 2023 by Laura Kate

I have been busy painting dragonflies on my hand-painted backgrounds. The process is really fun! I have also been researching dragonflies. They are amazing animals.

Did you know that some dragonflies can live for six years? That is pretty good for an insect. Granted, up to four years are spent as naiads, in water. They look kind of like shrimp. Adult dragonflies have six legs, yet they cannot walk. They use their legs to snatch prey in flight, which they then tear apart and eat while still flying. If you were the size of a fly, you would find dragonflies terrifying.

So far, five of my panels have dragonflies on them.

**I cut a stencil to make these two panels**

In addition to Jacquard textile paint, I am using watercolor pencils and Micron pens. The paint is thinned with FolkArt floating medium, which permits better blending and lengthens the drying time.

Here is a mock-up of the quilt layout I’m considering.

If I go with this layout, the finished piece will be 28 x 36 inches.

Two more panels need dragonflies, and then I will consider painting some details on some of the backgrounds.

painting, quilting

100 Day Project: Days 32-35

Posted on June 11, 2023June 10, 2023 by Laura Kate

I’ve figured out which day I am on, AND,

The process of painting dragonflies on postcards broke open my mental block.

I started painting fabric right away, after swatching the colors I want to use.

Using these colors and a variety of techniques, I painted backgrounds on rectangles of white quilting cotton. Earlier I had cut out dragonfly body shapes from craft foam. These shapes and an assortment of leaves were laid on the painted fabric to serve as masks. Laying the pieces in the sun printed the masked shapes.

The next day, I did more fabric painting, just to make sure I had enough selection.

With the backgrounds prepared, I began inserting the dragonflies into the pieces.

Day 34:

Day 35

I’m in love with this last guy. He will be the focal point of the finished product.

In the next week I plan to add finishing touches to these two paintings and begin work on the rest. My layout calls for five paintings sewn together with blue borders in between them. What happens after that is done will take a bit more cogitation.

painting

More 100 Day Project artwork

Posted on June 7, 2023June 10, 2023 by Laura Kate

Okay, I’ve lost track of which day I am on. (6-10-23: it’s days 28, 29, 30 and 31.)

What I can say is that Bill has given me about a half dozen photos of dragonflies.

Here are five:

While I have an idea for making a wall hanging; quilted, embroidered, and with painted dragonflies; for now I’m painting postcards. The purpose is to warm-up and to break my funky creative block.

In the process I’ve discovered that painting these beauties is like eating potato chips. It’s hard to stop once you get started.

I’ve tried to keep the dragonflies light and loose. They are so jewel-like in real life, the painted versions are but a poor imitation.

Made on Fabriano Studio cold press using watercolors, a micron pen for linework and Dr Ph Martin’s bleed-proof white for some highlights. I experimented with a silver pen on no. 3, but the shiny bits never show up in a photograph.

painting

Wednesday Watercolor – Improvising with complementary colors

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Laura Kate

In this exercise, I chose to paint washes that were opposites on the color wheel. Then I decided what the resulting painting reminded me of. Next I “brought out” the image.

Red Giant with webbing, using red and green.