Thursday 31 January 2008

The Earth Moves

Good to be back amongst you, having spent a tedious couple of days worrying away at shape-shifting quilting templates. I think it is sorted now and most of the proofing is done. Comments on comments next and then lots of pics further down.

Arti - glad you liked the fossils. I used Model Soft - a bit like Hearty but not so prone to cracking - and pressed it into an actual fossil. There is the problem of integrating the edges as you can’t have a great lump of clay (or anything else) just plonked down. A lot of hand stitching solved the problem here. I used to have this wonderful fossil with lots of ammonites in various sizes. It had been around for millions of years and then it met my youngest grandson. I now have lots of little ammonites - or old snails if you are Margaret R!

Françoise (note the accent) I liked your flowery displacement map. So cute, the way it trails over the solid colour. Have you tried using the tiles, especially increasing the tile size? I am now on Picture Tubes in PSP - Hazel Credland has written me an article for WoW and I can’t stop using them.

Jackie - go for it. I think buying that machine would be a really good start. I have the 640 and have been delighted with it. A really good machine makes the whole process of machine embroidery so much easier. If you are starting right at the beginning I would make sure that you frame up the fabric really tightly, use a thread made for machine embroidery and then have a good play - try writing your name, simple patterns etc and relax into it. I had an article in WoW a while ago on beginning machine embroidery. If you give me a couple of days I will put it up on the free taster for you. Paint programs - it’s no secret that Paint Shop Pro is my favourite. Buy an old version (7, 8, or 9) from Amazon and fork out a tenner for my CD of tutorials. Shameless advertising - sorry.

I have found five minutes to start the background for my earth stuff. Here’s felt, painted Bondaweb (acrylic paint) and the abaca tissue from the other day.



Bondaweb ironed on felt, Abaca ironed on top and then some zapping and over-painting. You are probably thinking that it looks a right mess. So am I.



However, bits of it are gorgeous. Peeling paint. This is the water based Colourcraft metallic paint. Cheap as chips and it zaps very well - wear a mask, though.


Finally - a finished bit with Thermogauze, puff paint and Embossing powder. Just to give me an idea of how it might go.



I want to add some machine embroidered fossils - here I am transferring the design to fabric, using the window as a light box.



Hellishly difficult taking a photo at the same time. Day off tomorrow - see you on Saturday.

4 comments:

artisbliss said...

Thanks for the info on model soft.

I wonder if you'd be interested in getting in on this:http://cyberfyberexhibition.blogspot.com/

It includes a postcard swap.

Aussie Jo said...

Love those colours, very vibrant. Re last photo, husbands never seem to be around when you need them??

Becky Mairi Farrell said...

I really love the Earth theme you've chosen and can't wait to see how it develops. I love the colours you've used in this piece - the mixture of the vibrant colours with the earth tones is working really well. I like your fossil drawing too, and, having been taking more collagraph photos, I can appreciate how difficult that picture was to take!

Digitalgran said...

I love the textures you have built up in that piece and also today's work on it. It's fantastic! I can just imagine you taking a photo of yourself using the window to work on. Congratulations on the news in the above post.