More Paint.

I'm linking this post up to The Needle and Thread Network.  What a blast it's been there lately now that we have our Feature Fridays started!  It's really great to meet all these Canucks a little more in person.  Today, I'm showing you my work in progress as of Monday.  I'm hoping that there will be LOTS more to show on these new projects by the weekend.  I was looking again at my first ever landscape and thinking I should try that one once more, but twice the size.  There's less stitching in it, but lots of pretty fibres.

I'm amazed to look at that now.  I made that 2 years ago and I'm surprised how well it turned out for my very first landscape.  I love the dark thunderhead and the glowing field.  It's such a common scene here, but it never fails to take our breath away.  So I took out my paints.  They only grey I have is oilbars though.  I applied the grey directly, but the white was put on a glass plate and then taken up with a brush.

It goes on lump-free that way.  Now I have to wait until tomorrow before I can stitch on it.  It would have been quicker to drive to the store and buy acrylics.  haha  It turned out good and it's hanging on my design/inspiration wall now.

Those grey blotches underneath are from my little finger's knuckle... from every time I anchored my hand to hold still.  I can remove them, but they'll likely be stitched over.

So while I wait, I keep eyeballing this photo from last November out at Wanuskewin.  I think it's just so darn pretty.

It's dimly lit, but the composition is pretty sweet.  I drew it out a while back.

I really liked the angle of the clouds.  So now I'm laying out the background.  I just finished putting it all together and I can't wait to stitch it!  I hope I don't mess up the tipi.  I'm a little nervous about that.

I used a piece of winter sky I had painted last month with the Jaquard dyes.  This one in particular had a bit of that upward angle to the clouds, so I think it looks just terrific in this one!  ; )  Off to stitch!

Monday Auditions

This weekend was pretty productive.  I managed to finish all eight pieces and cut twenty four mats.  I tried to photograph them at high resolution before putting them under glass, but it was one of those days where there was sunshine, a giant cloud, sunshine, a giant cloud, sunshine... you get the idea.

This time around, I got a variety of frames and a variety of matting colors.  I got to mix and match to get the best look for each piece. Here are some snapshots of how I audition the mats and frames.

"Boundless", with pale stained wood and matching double matting

"Spring on the Prairie" with a barn wood frame and double matting

I really love that barn wood frame.  It has just a hint of denim blue in it's grain that looks so good with that dark storm and those blue knots in the field.  Honestly, I think all my pieces looked so good in that one!  It was pricey though, so I only bought one.  I'm choosing to put Spring on the Prairie in it because there's something so real and loose about it that worked well with the country frame.  It has a very natural feel overall.  It's also very texturous, which the art is also.  : )

"Poles Along Highway 7" looks so fresh in this blonde wood & double mat

I particularly like how the wood of the frame corresponds with the wood of the power poles.  And the bright white outer mat makes the clouds shine.  It gives that quirky composition a more contemporary feel.

"Linen Moon" looks s good with sage matting and a coffee colored frame

The moon will go on last!  I still have to do that.  I ended up adding some single stitch lines in that sage color just below the canola field.  It really helped to soften the landscape and give it more depth.  It also blends well with the outer matting.  You can click to see them closer.  I thought I would want more blue surrounding this one, but when I auditioned it, it just made the whole piece very silly.

Well there you go!  Hopefully it will be more sunny for me to take the rest of the photos tomorrow.  See you then!  : )

~Monika