Meet Jenell. She is an inspired art teacher who is now teaching her students virtually. Perhaps some of your young artists will give these projects a try. – Laura Kate.
Check out some of our current projects happening in the art room and how they’re made! Though there’s not been as many in person classes this month, there’s still a lot going on! Check out some of the happenings below! Virtual Paint Alongs! Although we haven’t been able to do any in person paint nights…
It seems that I located the biggest Post-It note in the world on which to write this to-do list. Please notice the first word for each item on the list. My English teacher would describe these as verbs. Some call them action words. The emphasis is on action – All are things that require active engagement by the doers. I am expecting at least four of those folks to help me check off the items on this list.
I haven’t blogged this past week because I’ve been very busy with Christmas preparations. That includes Christmas knitting. I finished up the arm warmers for daughter – no picture here, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. The half-finished sock you see is intended for my son-in-law. Hey, I’ve got at least four more days to finish this one and knit another. It’s still possible to finish them by Christmas morning.
Here’s my wish for you at holiday time: May you enjoy celebrating with loved ones, or at least in proximity to loved ones. And may your celebrations bring peace and love to warm your heart.
Today I painted the last of the twenty-one exercises in Kateri Ewing’s book “Watercolor is for Everyone.” The proposition was to paint for at least 15 minutes everyday without a reference photo. The goal was to experience painting as a process and to have no expectations about the final results.
Here are some of my paintings. I worked on 4 x 6 pieces of watercolor paper using a natural fiber Sumi brush, a small round synthetic brush and a pencil. The pigments were an assortment of artist grade water colors and some metallic paints.
What I learned:
Working on a small piece of paper helped me let go of expectations on my results. I could fill the space with some very basic shapes and colors easily within 15 minutes.
Allowing the pigments to flow together taught me to be more free in my brush strokes.
Pausing to watch what happens as the paint settled and dried slowed down my brain and kept my body still. I learned what to expect from the different types of pigments – earthy, staining, and metallic – by watching how they reacted together.
Simplicity is more satisfying than complexity.
I’m a little bit sad that the lessons are finished. From now on, it will be up to me to think of new daily exercises.
To learn more about this practice, visit Kateri Ewing’s site.
In this post, I am continuing work on the Animal Friends quilt project. Yesterday afternoon was occupied with sewing together many strips that I have cut. They were sewn into two groups:
Three AcrossFour Across
I also made another block. This one features a cat sitting in the hayloft of a barn.
For the weekend, I will continue making blocks by grabbing an animal square and a strip set randomly, then doing my best to make blocks that amuse me.
I think this will be a good activity for what may be a cold and (possibly) snowy weekend.
Lately, I have been a little too serious about my fiber and art pursuits. This realization came to me after reading the following book by Rayna Gillman.
She has been quilting and writing about quilting in the improv style for more than twenty years. I am enamored with the quilt on the cover of this book. And it reminded me about an idea I had some time ago for a playful, dare I say it, Whimsical quilt using the fabric pictured at the top of this post.
First, a little story about how I came to acquire the dog and cat print. Two years ago I was teaching fiber arts to a group of homeschooled kids. For our lesson using fabric paint, I purchased this and a few other black on white prints that were suitable for over-painting. When the students were asked to choose a fabric, no one selected this one. I was mystified. Don’t all little children love cats and dogs?
Fast forward to this year. During a fabric rummaging session, I came across the print and thought about using dogs and cats as the center patch of a log-cabin block.
How cute would this be looking out of a child’s quilt?
I decided to pair it with this print, giving me the project’s color scheme.
So last week I got busy cutting strips of many colors, stripes, prints, dots, etcetera. The more I cut, the happier I felt.
I followed Rayna Gillman’s general suggestions for sewing the strips into sets.
…….and then cutting them up and sewing them to background fabric. After a few hours of stitching, cutting and stitching some more, I had my prototype block.
A little dog in his house under a peaked roof.
The working title for this project is “Dog House, Cat Barn, Animal Friends.” In addition to dog house blocks, I intend to make a block with a cat in a barn. Some of my blocks may have both animals in the centers. Who knows how far I can push this idea?
This may be the start of a jolly, fun, playful and whimsically fibery love affair.
Daily Fiber 