Workin' on It!

Sorry the posts have been slow.  My kids have had four days off and we've been playing, playing, playing.  What a great start to winter.  When my husband has been home, I've been making trips back and forth getting matts & frames.  What a LOT of work it is preparing your own art.  I used to complain that framing was so expensive.  Right now, paying someone else to do it would be worth every penny.  I'm pretty happy with the selection I've collected so far.  These photos are a bit dark as the nights come early now!

First I clean up the loose threads, and then I satin stitch the open edges to the canvas underneath.

finishing Flourish, on of my favorites.

As much as I love variegated thread, I find solids work best here.  Otherwise, you get stripes of repeating colors.  The right solid seems to blend way better.  Trust me.  Learn from my mistakes.  ; )

This time around, I am making a variety of sizes and a variety of frame styles.  Last show, I had one uniform style.  So far so good - I am liking the variety.  Here are some lying on top of matting & frames as a simple way of auditioning to find a good match.

Winter Comes at Night looks simple and striking in a minimalist square frame

I like the drama with that last small piece when it is laid on the stark & deep white matting.  The frame is a deep dark brown with undertones of orange the really make the deep indigo POP.

Bloom II in a coppery brushed wood grain really brings out its warmth and texture

This next one is already sold as a commission.  I love the blonde solid wood frame with the barley.  It's a very feminine piece.  I haven't heard back yet what color of frame the buyer is wanting, so I will wait before going ahead with this choice.  It looks very modern and sharp with a dark coffee colored frame.  The coffee brings out the greens.  hmmmm...

So that's what I've been doing.  I've been finishing things.  It will take over a week to get all this completed for the show.  I went to the Centre today to check out the space.  It's not a huge wall and I have about ten pieces, so I'm sure I'll fill it all.  I'm sure people were looking funny at me when I was in the mall.  I'm like my mom - I measured with my arm lengths and then went home to compare it to our wall space.  lol.

I'm also registering for my class that is being sponsored by a scholarship from the Saskatoon Quilters' Guild!  (thank you thank you!)  I get to start in January.  I'm taking 2 classes through University of Saskatchewan Certificate of Art & Design program and one on Handquilting.  Lots of you have asked, so here is the description of the first one:

USCAD Experimental Fiber Art Advanced II

"This course will be an advanced level on continued exploration and development of personal interpretations and experimental approaches to fiber art and design. Student will focus on creating mixed-media works of art utilizing a variety of media and techniques such as weaving, fabric collage, dye, screen printing, knitting, and crochet utilizing analytical and critical thinking during the art-making process. Course content will be presented through hands-on projects, demonstrations, lectures, discussion and critique. Students are also encouraged to experience and engage in starting projects reflecting on variety of media such as sound, vocabulary, other visual media and various contexts of their interest."

Linking to The Needle & Thread Network.  Tell your knitter, crocheter, weaver, dyer, and embroidery friends if they have a Canadian blog, they are more than welcome to join. ; )

Friday Finishes

I got my display board / fence gate all painted with a flat white.  I'll be using this as a backdrop to photograph my work.  For now, I though I would model my new bag made by Flo at Butterfly Quilting! (Thanks Flo!)

a terrific bag with lots of pockets made by Flo / Butterfly Quilting

I finished this Barley Field... it's a recent commission and I am very happy with how it turned out.  This is my fourth version of it and each one is different.  The first one sold immediately.  The second one was a bit of a flop.  The third was a little 3x3" that was a thank you gift.  This one measures 6x8 and it's all ready for framing now.  I might ask her if she wants birds in the sky... really far away just over the field.  I would make them playful like they would be on a summer day (not organized and heading in one direction).  But that could knock the balance off and I would have to add some blooms in the in bottom grasses.  That wasn't the original commission, but this gives me lots of ideas for future pieces.

The Barley Field 3, 2011 (sold) based on a photo I took on the way to the Berry Barn

I am inspired to pick up some older photos and try them out too.  I really liked the ones I did with fence posts.  Other than that, I spent a lot of time gathering matting and I found some really great frames for the show.  I can't wait to put it all together!  I'm taking a lot of photos along the way for upcoming presentations. 

Happy weekend everyone,

Tuesday Off Topic

Spring on the Prairie III (detail) 2011 by Monika Kinner-Whalen, a photo by My Sweet Prairie on Flickr.

Hello! I've been busy busy and unable to get a Tips on Tuesdays post done for this week. It was a well lit day for me to get all my photography done before putting my eight new art pieces under glass in their frames.

I'm done! I have uploaded my 4 favorite shots of each piece into my flickr online photo album. To see them all, simply click on the photo in this post, and it will take you to my flickr set. From there, simply click "older" over and over to see everything I've just uploaded. ; ) That 'newer/older' button should be near the top corner of the photo when you go there.

easy?
You'll know you're done when you see my old stuff from Gardenscape.

p.s. All pieces are for sale and will be in A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine next year.

Have a great day!
~Monika
...who REALLY feels like she's accomplished great things!!