Fantasy with Anole

 “Wild: Perspectives in Fiber” was the theme of the 2024 Dallas Area Fiber Artists annual show which was exhibited from July 1 to August 10 at the C.C. Young senior living community where our meetings are held. I reworked an image I had created many years ago for Illustration Friday, consisting of a photo taken in my yard of a Fatsia japonica plant with a background of ferns, plus a photo of a Texas native green anole. 

 

After a lot of experimentation in Photoshop, I sent the image off to Spoonflower, as I had last year, and had it printed on cotton/linen canvas. Once again, I have to rave about how beautifully all the subtle color and texture of the image is reproduced. I then embroidered the outlines and veins of the leaves with several colors of embroidery floss, using mainly stem stitch and back stitch. I also outlined the anole and gave him a gold bead eye. Mr C made the fame, and I painted it with the same metallic green paint as last year. 

I didn't really break any new ground creativity-wise here, being, for one thing, pressed for time. But I enjoyed making it, and I was glad I participated in the show. Next year I'm promising myself to do something totally different. Well, we'll see...

Flower Power

 The Dallas Area Fiber Artists annual exhibition begins tomorrow, July 1. This is the first time I have participated; Marbled Rose and Popcorn Hydrangea are my entries. 

 

Toward the end of April, I chose two flower photos which I had taken long ago. In Photoshop I altered colors of the leaves and backgrounds and found that the conté crayon filter produced some interesting effects. Overall I applied a find edges filter and enhanced that with some outlining by hand. To the rose photo in the background, I also added a medieval-style design.

Then I sent them off to Spoonflower to be printed on a fat quarter of cotton/linen canvas. (In case you haven't discovered Spoonflower, be sure to have a look. In addition to having your own design printed, you can choose from a delightful plethora of designs from others and have them printed on a selection of different fabrics or even on ready-made items, such as pillow covers and curtains.) In one week Spoonflower sent back the printed fabric, and it looked terrific!

That was really only the beginning. My initial plan with to hand embroider all the outlines on the leaves and the flowers, emphasize the centers with French knots and sprinkle some beads about. After hours of work on the hydrangea image, I realized that it would take me way too much time to embroider all the outlines, so I became selective. And when I did the rose, I decided to limit the embroidered outlines to the flower itself. It's actually a bit difficult to see all the embroidery as much of it blends in with the printed image.

I listened to the entire audiobook of Barbara Kingsolver's Pulitzer Prize-winning Demon Copperhead and got a good start on Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt during my embroidery sessions. As I said to Mr. C, I don't think there is going to be an embroidered flower picture series. But all in all, I'm pleased with these two.

Mr. C made the frames, and I happened to have just the perfect color of metallic green paint.

Today I took them to CC Young, a beautiful senior living community where DAFA holds their meetings, and where the exhibition is being shown. It was gratifying to already receive compliments on my work while everything was being set up. And I enjoyed chatting with other members about their (very diverse) pieces as they brought them in. Can't wait to see the entire show when I go back for the next DAFA meeting in another week.

AtTIEre

Somewhere in this city lives a man who once possessed hundreds of fine silk ties. Why he had so many, I don't really know. Nor do I know why he donated all those beautiful ties to the Dallas Area Fiber Artists. When I joined the organization last October, the ties were being sold in color-coordinated packages of nine for $5. Their purpose was to be used in the 2019 Tie One On members' challenge. The main requirement was that the ties compose 80% of the objet created using them.

For only $5 I couldn't pass up a pack of ties even though I didn't think I would be entering the challenge, having a line-up of other projects that claimed priority. And, indeed, it wasn't until July, the very month that the entries had to be turned in, that I decided to participate. A search of Pinterest will show you a mind-boggling array of creations using men's ties, but in the end I decided to do what I know best: make a garment. Specifically, a vest, since that uses a minimal amount of fabric. 

For my pattern I simply changed the neckline on Vogue 9478 (from the 1990s) which has side panels joining the fronts and back. Beginning with the fronts, I moved my selected ties around on each pattern piece until I felt that the fabric from each tie was being used optimally, then cut the tie fabric apart. Originally I had intended to piece and sew them onto some very lightweight non-woven interfacing, but after having pieced the entire vest, it seemed to need more structure, so I removed and pieced them onto iron-on interfacing. Exposed edges on each piece were turned under and stitched with metallic thread. A button was found in my button box, with three little blue glass beans added to pick up the pattern in the foulard of the neckband. The biggest expense was gray silk lining from Dharma, which I felt the lovely silk of the ties themselves deserved. 

 

 

While I didn't win any of the challenge prizes, I did enjoy the project, although I'm not sure I can envision actually wearing the vest. It has joined the Texas road map vest which I made also as a DAFA project. Now there's a recycled fashion show coming up for October; wonder what I could make for that...