Friday, August 19, 2011

Thrilled to be Back!

Well, some technical issues prevented me from joining in on all the fibery fun these past two weeks. Now that the technical glitches are (mostly) cleared up, I’m excited to be back amongst the Fiber Art living.

As some of you may have read over at Woollove functional fiber art, I sent Heather her swap gifts last week. (She sent me an awesome felted messenger bag which you can see here.) Of course I needed to send her some most excellent gifts, so I started with this shawl:

Made from a wonderful Syl Caron pattern, I got the opportunity to work with some of Andrea’s wonderful suri alpaca and soysilk fiber (you know, that Wonder Why Gal and her super cool alpacas!). This commercially-spun fiber is so soft yet sproingy. I loved the stitch texture and drape of this shawl so much that I didn’t even block it (a first for blocking magic-lover moi). I added some size 3 Japanese seed beads around the final edging row, and their aptly named colorway – Ceylon Cream Soda – was just the right touch, if I do say so myself. Chopstick shawl pin was optional, but included to complete the shawl package.

Additionally, I also knew I wanted to paint something for Heather. Given her love of neutral palettes, it was a fun challenge for me to create something with that particular limitation. With black, white, gray and some greeny-blues, here is the final product:


Ok, not quite the best photo, but ...

This 11 x 14 sized mixed media canvas allowed me to utilize several of my artistic loves – painting, mixed media, and crochet. In fact, the hints of flowers on the upper portion of the canvas (next to and underneath the tulip) were created using a few of my personally designed cotton thread crochet motifs that were pressed into inkpads and then stamped onto the canvas. They created a very delicate, almost ethereal pattern that was perfect for this work.

See the crocheted motifs stamped on
the side and bottom of the tulip.

Can you tell I was just a little excited about giving these gifts to Heather?

Can you also tell that I’m thrilled to be back with all of you this Friday?

Definitely check back with Andrea's blog, and see what everyone else is so excited about this Fiber Arts Friday! 

13 comments:

  1. Wonderful ... I love the shawl, it looks like an heirloom. And I like the painting ... very strong for such neutral coloring!

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  2. The shawl is stunning! I love your mixed media production. Did you write the characters or were they stamped on?

    The only reason I didn't go to Nordic Mart (the Drops distributor in SLO) was I went there last year and also see them at Stitches West. I figured if I get to visit one shop in the town it got to be some place I never visited before.

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  3. What a pretty shawl, a job well done. And that painting - so creative and full of you!

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  4. both the shawl and the painting are lovely

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  5. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my gifts, Denise!
    Thank you for the love and care you put into making them especially for me!
    XXO-

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  6. So glad to see you back and with such an awesome post!

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  7. The shawl is just delicious! Knowing the yarn, I just want to touch it that much more. Your painting is beautiful too. Very soothing.

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  8. I love the shawl. It's the first one that's ever made me think... yea, I would like to have a shawl. :-)

    And the painting is awesome. I just love it.

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  9. Gorgeous all the way around! I love the elegant simplicity of your Asian inspired painting, it's quite beautiful.

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  10. the shawl is so beautiful! and the painting -- wow -- gorgeous! i love the mixed media effects & think it's terrific that you used crochet motifs for stamping.

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  11. Thanks for all of the comments!

    @Vivian: No, I did not create the characters myself, they were stamped onto the canvas. I think character work like that is an artform in itself. And I'm glad to hear you give Drops its due elsewhere. :)

    @Heather: You are so very welcomed. I enjoyed this swap immensely.

    @Kathryn Ray: Well, if you want a shawl, let's email chat. How much handspun are you willing to donate to the cause? :)

    @Marushka: Thanks ... and I'm not certain if it's just artists, but I usually see more than one use for most things. :) I have found that my crochet inspires my painting and vice versa.

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  12. I am so jealous of Heather! A beautiful shawl AND a mixed media painting? Those are my kind of gifts! I know she must be thrilled with them.

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  13. What a lucky Heather! Gorgeous gifts for her. I am swooning over the shawl. Gorgeous, my dear. Both gifts are gorgeous. What talent you have.

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