Friday, June 21, 2013

Week in Review 2013 - 06/21


Experiments with threads, Derwent Inktense
pencils and paint.

It was a gutsy move for me when I shared that I had entered "Tangled Up in Blue" before I knew whether I was getting a thumbs up or thumbs down. I knew I had a strong piece, with Adoration, but so much depends on what else is submitted and how Adoration would play with the other work selected. I am delighted to say I got the thumbs up. Adoration can be seen at The Brush Art Gallery, in Lowell, MA from August 8 through September 7. If Lowell is doable for you, I recommend going during the Lowell Quilt Festival and saturating yourself with all the exhibitions in town that weekend.

I have made it my mission to get my work out there. In order to achieve this I have been submitting my work to a different call for entry, either public or private ones, every week this year. It has paid off. My work can be seen in 12 upcoming exhibitions, mostly in the USA, but one takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa in September. Most are posted on my website under events.

It isn't easy coming up with all that work to submit to galleries and exhibitions. That is why I pledged to work 120 days a week in my studio during the fiscal year October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2013. It only took a couple of weeks to get into the rhythm. Now I can't imagine working any other way. Here is what I managed to accomplish during the week ending June 21, 2013.


1) Adoration

a) Attach the label - Done!

b) Add to my website - Done! Here is the proof. 

2) “Oyster Bay” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Experiment with ways to add the purple staining and lines seen on the inside of an oyster shell. - Done

Finally an experiment that works. I decide to
go with Setacolor paints blended with a
floating gel medium.












Here is how the painted oyster shell looks. Thanks to
Annette Kennedy's class I am able to blend the color
I need and fade the color in a gentle gradation using
floating medium.

b) Attach the oyster shells to the quilt. - Done!


Detail from Oyster Bay


Oyster Bay as it looks today.

c) Add a few more ridges of foam to balance the white of oyster shells in the composition. - Done!

This is why you save those scraps. I thought I would
have just one row of  foam, but when the composition
screamed out for more white I was very grateful to
have these left over scraps!
3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Hand stitch the facing in place. - Done!
        ii) Attach the label. - Done!
       iii) Create and attach the sleeves. Both are created and one is attached.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

Sampler of Lava Rocks infused with sea foam.

This week's motif from Leah is called Lava Rocks. Naturally, I couldn't resist adding my own twist. I thought two things, one that Lava Rocks as is would make a nice tree fungus and two, if I added sea foam to the cobblestone shaped gap that is being echoed I could use Lava Rocks with Sea Foam for my beach background in Oyster Bay. In order to see how it would quilt out  I selected a fabric that I might use for tree bark. I have deemed the experiment successful and will use it in Oyster Bay next week.

4) Signature experimentation - Never got any further than Leah's assignment. 

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

I am on such a roll with Oyster Bay, that I assume that is where I will focus next week. Still, it is nice to have a couple of other ideas lined up should I need a change. Here are my plans for the week ending June 28, 2013:


1) “Oyster Bay” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Quilt Oyster Bay

2) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love - attach second sleeve.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

16 comments:

  1. Congrats on getting Adoration accepted!! And kudos for being brave enough to enter a bunch of things. I love your oysters, the color transitions feel very organic.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Shannon. I have been entering exhibitions for more than a decade. I have fairly tough skin by now.

      Painting my fabric to create details, highlights and shadows is new to me. Now I wonder why I didn't take a class sooner.

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  2. I love the oysters, too- I love the strong graphic imagery. Nice.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I have been working on a Beach Series involving shells. The shells keep getting bigger and the beach smaller. There is something about detail pictures that is so compelling. I could see creating a quilt with the shells framed by the only a hint of beach.

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  3. So glad to hear this! Congrats! I love this!

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  4. Congrats on both your goal of getting your work seen and doing the work it takes to be successful! Yeah YOU!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. One requires the other and vice versa.

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  5. Hello Gwyned, the colours in the oysters quilt are fantastic. Lovely work!

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  6. Congratulations on getting Adoration accepted! :)

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  7. I love the colors for the ocean in Oyster Bay! Is that FMQ for the foam? It looks great!!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, that is FMQ to create the foam, with help from layering of tulle and eyelash yarn. Here is what I said in my 6/07 posting:

      I created the sea foam by laying from bottom up, sea fabric, white tulle that already had imbedded glitter, eyelash yarn and a second layer of tulle. I then quilted the layers together with small, medium and large circles. I travel stitched around the larger circles three times to build up thread.

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  8. Congrats on your acceptance, Gwyned!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Judy. Acceptances never grow old. I am just as excited by the last one as I was when I first started submitting to shows.

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