Diana Trout's blog

Shaped Like Cat

It is a sock day today. Yesterday, my dear Teddy was taken to to the vets and left for a time. He is returned home now in fine shape. It was a harrowing afternoon and evening for all of us. In my morning sewing class, a house shape fluttered down from the cutting. And then later, with Teddy home, a vaguely cat like shape wandered onto the stitch.

Vaguely shaped is appropriate as so much in our lives transcend their physical shape as they distort to hold their own personalities and the feelings that we fill them with. 

After Fast

Stitch this to that and let the sun shine on it

The almost-not-there

And the murmur-soft of old cloth

Rummaging in the scraps. Listening to the whispers.

A nasty little tummy virus struck late Thursday night, receded Saturday and recurred. Today is slow. 

 

Fabric Collage

A fresh start. Just playing with composition, color and pattern. 

Some of my prints, hand dyes, Some pieces from other, more experienced dyers than I. Back to the stitch.

Thank you for your kind comments on Karen Hunter-McLaughlin's work. Meg Grugan is up next in this series of Artists I Love. 

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Kanzashi Flowers

Another chapter in the DIY Wedding. After lovely daughter found her wedding dress for a 100 bucks, we took it to a local (and fabulous) seamstress for some alterations. A bit of pink chiffon here and there and all it needed was a few pink chiffon flowers.

"Oh! No problem," says daft mother of the bride. I've made simple five petal Kanzashi flowers before using (fused interfaced) silk and cotton. Kanzashi flowers are a traditional Japanese craft. Some can be very intricate. I binged on them a couple of years ago using the simplified instructions in Kanzashi in Bloom. Diane Gilleland uses glue for the flowers. I use needle and thread. Crazed purist.

Chiffon is a totally different beast. There were some swear words, there was some sweat. I found this little gadget and the language and temperature improved. I love the Clover products and this is a neat tool which would be pretty simple if you are using cotton and handy with the needle and thread.

If you have some kind of crazy gene and you want to do Kanzashi in chiffon, here's what to do. First get a  big bottle of fray check. Follow the instructions on the flower maker, remove the sewn petal from the gadget and trim the excess seam allowance down. Run a bead of fray check around the piece.  After the 5 flowers are on the thread and you've pulled all the petals in tight,  run more fray check around the center. Tie off and stitched a bead in the center. A flower an hour and head shaking from the husband and son. 

The dress looks beautiful. But you'll have to wait till after the wedding to see the whole thing. 

Stitch

Stitch, paint, dye, thread. These are my tools right now.

Painted Cloth

Samplers at the moment (they evolve each day) and painted cloth. Thoughts come and go with the rythmic movement of thread through cloth. 

I feel very quiet right now.

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Craftsmanship in Art

Amazing set of comments on Wednesday's post. I hope you'll read through. Now here's the sticky question: how do you manage to improve your craft without freezing yourself with thoughts of "I'm not good enough and I'll never be good enough."? 

Boo writes that she is "accused" of being a perfectionist. Yeah, me too. I ignore those folks and see it as craftsmanship. (And btw, I've responded to all of your comments but they aren't showing up in the list - did you get my replies?)

If you can view other's artwork and craftsmanship as an inspiration to you, this is a good thing. It pushes you forward to make your work speak stronger. Alonquin notes that she's worked hard on her drawing skills over the years and used to confuse this skill with talent. I believe that talent is part of the human condition: it is a desire to communicate (in any artform). The craftsmanship (drawing, for instance) can be learned. Artists are often described as craftsmen in terms of their draftsmanship or drawing. 

I knew a little girl - all grown up now. She would sing at the top of her voice off-key. It may have been torturous for some but to me it was delightful. A big joyful sound. Someone finally told her that she sang off key and that was the end of that glorious song. She could have learned if someone had taken the time. It still breaks my heart.

I loved Jill's story as well. Beautiful Oops by Jamie Lee Curtis is her recommendation and she read it to her children. Beautiful. Karen makes the distinction between a critical eye and a judgemental eye. Read her comment! 

Jeannie has a fabulous story as well about her carpenter-father. Oh my. There is much more to be said. Sing it, sisters! 

Note: I'm devoting my art time on my embroidery craftsmanship. It hasn't stopped me from working on my new art pieces. I'm just slowing down, experimenting and learning 

Chiffon is Blooming in January

Amidst the logistics of planning my daughter's wedding is some straight on fun. 

The bridesmaids had their hearts set on fascinators and when I found this tutorial on making chiffon flowers, the deal was done. The edges of the fabric curl when held over (ahem, not IN) a candle. A trip to Fabric Row in Philadelphia with my buddy Susan, provided everything necessary to make these frothy confections. Susan found the perfect fabric for the leaves. 

It was pretty easy once the fabric circles were cut. The largest circle is about 4.5". Anyway, flowers done, one to go *the bride needs one, right?* And a lovely silk hairband with flowers for our junior bridesmaid. 

I'm thinking of all of the sizes and colors you could make these in for pins or embellisments. I made a tiny one - about 2" across that is quite cute.

Begin; New Work

These pieces were included in the Begin portion of One Year. 

Quilty, hand(led), stitched. They feel personal. Holding the art while making it. With both hands, front and back.

What's Doin'

Scurrying around today in between a Monday/Tuesday trip to Maryland and a Thursday-? trip to take care of my auntie. 

I managed to make a couple of prints using my new Gelli Artz plate and Golden Open Acrylics. Amazing. Making prints is thrilling for me. I minored in printmaking in art school so this was really REALLY exciting. The cleanest monoprints I've made without a press ever. I am using washi paper and the plan is to turn that into papercloth and do the stitching on it. 

I think I need a bigger plate. 

In the straight up fabric and stitch, there is more inspiration than there will ever be time to complete ...

The violet and golden in the upper portion of this picture is making me drool ... sun and mountains.

I am off to pack my bag full of stitching while I take over the nursing. Eeegads. I'm a dreadful nurse but my sis, who actually IS  a nurse has been there and will train me to take over. I'll bet we do fine! Wish me luck. 

WIP with Helen Frankenthaler

Painted & Stitched

Spending some time looking at Helen Frankenthaler in preparation for a MamaCITA show in March reminded me of why I got into this crazy art business in the first place: color. Fields and streams of color. 

Sketching, pouring paint, printing and then stitching. With only an idea in mind. Sunny doorways in a lane in Italy. Of course, the hours I spent looking, sketching and painting all led to this. 

and a mountain and sunset and wee houses in the foreground. I'm not sure where all of this is going but since sitting and stitching is reliably the only thing I can do right now (ortho pillow on my back, ankle elevated) I'm feeling rather grateful that I love to stitch and very grateful for Helen. 

And a note ... Helen Frankenthaler was discussed in my art history classes with a bit of disdain because she pour her color onto raw canvas. Not very ARCHIVAL! How come it was OK for Jackson Pollack? It all seemed so perfect to me at the time and now with the idea of treating raw canvas as a textile or using muslin or vintage linen, it is even more delicious.