Beauty in Small Packages

I've been feeling 'pink' lately.

I made a couple pink themed minis.  They make me happy.  One sold last week but the other is at Handmade House.

I love exploring with these.  It's like the postcard landscapes I create.  No two are alike, and each one an idea in my mind.

Would you believe I've made nearly 100 of these mini landscapes!?  There are several autumn ones at the shop.  THIS is one of my favourites...

And with winter creeping in ever-so-slowly, I figured I would make some season-inspired pieces framed in festive silver.  I realize those are impossible to see the detail, so please do pop by Handmade House is you can.

Have a great week!!  : )

About to Shift Gears

Hello!  Here are more of my minis.  They are very fun.  : )  I brought these into Handmade House when I worked my Friday shift last week.  I'm still just loving it there.

Prairie Minis

I like all the different colours.  Which do you like?  Grey sure is in lately, especially when it comes to home decorating.  I wasn't so sure about it but as it turns out, I really like it.  It's calming and it looks good with any colour it seems.

What else can I tell you?  I've also been busy finishing up a new threadpainting and ended up framing it too.  Shudder.  I do not love framing, but I think I'm getting quite good at it.  I do get someone else to cut the mats though.

This new piece is for a very special summer exhibition at the Saskatchewan Craft Council to celebrate their 40th anniversary!  There are about 50 members each with 2 pieces of art in this show.  It begins Friday and runs for the remainder of the summer.  The stipulation for the artists is that EVERYTHING has to be for sale.  It will have a huge variety of craft mediums together in one room.  Exciting!

You'll see a little bit of everything.  I'll be dropping my two pieces off in the morning to the Affinity Gallery.  The show will be up and running by Friday.

Then I'm back in the studio to sit at my computer and write an article.  That's a change of pace!  I'm feeling like it has to be a more technical one.  It's for an American publication - I'l tell you more later when it's out at the end of the year.  Pretty exciting!

After that, I have one month to complete the stitching project for the Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant and get everything photographed and the final report submitted.  I still have three more pieces to complete and I am really, REALLY in the mood for some handstitching.  I spoke to an exhibition coordinator about showing my work, and he really encouraged me to work more in that medium.  That was nice to hear!  He's right though.  The yarn embroideries are much more artful and less of reproducing scenes perfectly.  And so - more experimentation with that to come...

stay tuned!  I promise I'll take lots of scrumptious pictures. : )

lately...

Every week I bring a new batch of threadpaintings to Handmade House.  Here are a few of the latest I brought by earlier in the week.

Available at Handmade House.  You can find my larger threadpaintings across the street at the SK Craft Council.

These are my cell phone pictures.  I've been lazy, doing the quick snap of a pic and with a click of a button it's on Facebook or Instagram.

The minis are so fun to make, and more creative for me since I'm just inventing the landscapes from memories and intuition.  By 'mini', you can see that I mean mini.

And this... I was in the mood for winter colours last week.  Maybe it was because of the soft orange haze from the raging fires up north.   I had cattails and sunrise photos from a couple winters ago, that I had never stitched.  This one is done now - for no reason in particular other than I felt like it.  : )  It's ready for a frame and stitch-signed.

Gentle Winter, 2015

I tried to capture the mood from this photo session I did south east of the city.

Remember those?  They make me happy.  The frame is more of a shadow box style, and the matting is a creamier colour.  It'll look terrific I think!  Very gentle indeed.

Thanks for looking!  : )

A Whole Lot of Friday Finishes

It's Friday!  I am happily off to Handmade House.  I love working there!  It's the highlight of my week.  These minis have been fun to make - I always have a half dozen available there.  The fit in the palm of your hand at only a couple inches in size!

It's time!

The shows are on in Weyburn!  Fibre Art is alive and abundant there.  From yesterday until the end of August, that city is loaded with it.  Jaynie has everyone yarn bombing too since I left!  lol  Art Walk is up with all the folks involved at the many venues.  Check it out.  There are some super fabulous names listed there!

click to view larger

The group shows are all in place including Join the Thread at Signal Hill Arts Centre.  There are over fifty entries of 12x12" fibre art pieces at that location.  This is one of two that I put in to the show.  It's an art quilt!

Yeah!  I made some art quilts.  I made the first version of this for my good friend Kari who worked with me a couple summers ago.  Her piece is softer and a little more surreal, dreamy.  This one here has more solid colours and is quite vibrant.  I thought it would make a good eye-catching piece.  It's based on photos I took of a nearby herd a couple years ago.  I really adore the lone bison on the prairie.  In reality, there were fences and many, many of the huge beasts.

There you have it.
Have a great day!  If you do head to Weyburn or through Weyburn, spend some time.  You could make an entire day or two out of it I'm sure!  : )

Handmade House

Handmade House is a shop on Broadway in Saskatoon that sells work by local artisans.  It is run by members - some of which have been there since the beginning many decades ago.  I'm very honoured to announce that I am now one of the members.  I'm working a Friday shift every week, and as a member I have my wares for sale there.

I had a feature wall there last summer which was really successful.  I will once again be stocking Handmade House with art print cards, mini prairie threadpaintings, and hand embroidery.  (*My regular sized threadpaintings and prairie postcards will remain at the SK Craft Council Boutique across the street.)

Well - it's already there!  I went in today to bring in my work and Marg had already cleared some space for me to set up.  (Thank you!)  Here are a few things that are now available there.

available at Handmade House 710 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon

This is a wee silk ribbon piece I made and LOVE how it looks framed without glass in this deep box style frame.  I only wish it also smelled like red clover!  : )

Isn't it sweet?  Silk ribbon is so sculptural.  This is the only piece of silk work I have there, but I am definitely going to bring in some more.

I brought in an assortment of art cards with envelopes based on the images of some of the most popular threadpaintings I've created.

My mini threadpaintings are fun.  By 'mini' I mean two to three inches at most.  Most are bright blue sky with summer fields, but this time there are a few deeper coloured scenes as well.

update - sold three the first day!  : )  Wow thank you xoxoxoxox  Will bring in more on Friday.

Bursting and Roadside are there as well!  : )

It was last year in North Battleford when I started working on Roadside.  It's based on an image I took from Silverspring Prairie.  It was nearly a year before I finished it.  It hung in the gallery in Melfort last month.  I really love it.

I'm really happy to have a place to to publicly display my handwork, my 'unplugged' art.  I'm thrilled to be working there as well!  Thank you so much to Handmade House for bringing me in to your group.  :)

You can read more about Handmade House HERE.  They have a lot of craft in there, from weaving to glass, wood to fibre, jewelry, print making, metal, leather, watercolour...  Maybe I'll see you there.

linking to WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN

Finished for Friday - See My Process

Gee - it sure was a big reaction on Facebook when I posted an image of my sewing machine 'in action'.  I don't show a lot of process photos because... well... I assume you can see or guess.  I don't have any secrets.  I just collage & sew what I see.  No tracing, no templates, no printing (with the exception of simplifying in order to teach).  I generally place background colours where I want them, and then I stitch it up.  I'll show you what I mean.  Here's a little more process...

loose land-and-sky combinations

I'm working on three 'minis' here.  I'm not working from photos as I usually do.  (That's a big first for me!)  Each landscape will be about 3x3" square.  That's really tough to hold, so I thought I would put then in a row and work on them like this so I have more to hang on to as I manipulate the pieces under the machine needle.

I have piles of fabrics.  It doesn't matter much to me whether they are hand dyes or commercial batiks.  I'm just looking for the right colour for the job.  The placed fabrics are fused onto a tough, stiff cotton weave, and then further stabilized.  I love stabilizer.  I hate puckering.  I use Sulky Peel&Stick exclusively (see sponsor link on sidebar).  It's my favourite.

Then I start stitching.  I put down the thread from farthest point to closes point.  Typically, the distant horizon will have shorter stitch lengths than the foregound.  And so, with my box of hundreds of tints, tones, and shades of green - I begin!  (This is a different trio, bit I thought the photo was clearer.)

I stitch some up.  I stitch some to the side.  This is purely experimental.  I have no idea of how these will turn out.  So far, I've used four different greens.  I pick a few more variations of greens and I keep sewing.  This is all free-motion stitching - sometimes straight stitch and sometimes zigzag.  I've used decorative stitches just for effect when I need a really random look.

Every now and then, I place a working mat on top just to see how the composition is coming along.  These pieces are bigger than what you'll view once it's in the frame.  I need to be sure that the flowers I stitch will be in the scene and not out of the 'margin'.  Using a working mat helps keep it all in balance.

Here I'm adding canola by machine.  I usually do this by hand in my larger pieces, bit this is so small to fiddle with, I find the free motion can get the effect I'm wanting for these minis.

I often 'sew upside-down'.  You are seeing the last image from my point of view while working.  Because I stitch back to front (horizon to foreground), I find that I can see where I'm stitching easier if the piece has it's finished portion facing me, and the unstitched cloth yet behind the needle.

After it's all filled in, I clean up the work.  I adore small, sharp snips that are curved.  My snips MUST be curved.  Too many times I have used fancy-schmancy staight embroidery scissors and damaged the work.  Curved snips are best for me - see how they don't touch or poke or get caught in any other threads?

snip

These are Singer embroidery scissors, and are just like cuticle scissors from the pharmacy.  

One last check with the potential frame and I think it's done.  I like it! : )

And here's another with blue flax.  I may still add trees out on the far horizon.  I'm not sure yet.  There's something beautiful to me about the openness.

a little flax

There you have it.  I'm not sure which of these will end up where.  Some will go to Handmade House, and some will be stockpiled for Roulleau / Dog River Days Farmers' Market at the end of the month.

p.s.  Isn't the colour great in these photos!?  I'm working at night here with no sunshine whatsoever.  I LOVE the day bulbs and my ottlight so much.  : )

Have a great weekend, and I hope you are enjoying summer!

Water, Art, and some Happy Stories.

Bleah!  Anyone around here sick of the rain yet?  I feel like we've been transplanted to the west coast.  Oh my.  Is it ever wet & humid here.  I honestly don't recall the last time we were able to spend a day sitting around outside in the sun.  Just keep eating those Vitamin D's everyone.

Speaking of too much water - it's the one year anniversary of the big Alberta flood.  They have had water level warnings, but I think so far it's not an emergency.  Let's hope it stays that way.  (Sending love to all my sisters in Calgary.)

Spring Melt

Last weekend, friends of mine held one of many big fundraisers for the Oltumo Well Project.  They raised enough money to dig a well in Kenya earlier in the year.  Now they are working to raise money for solar panels to keep it going.  Natasha and her husband Salaash are organizing it along with their family members.  I met Natasha when I moved back here and joined a mom's group.  The community they are building the well for is her inlaws'.  This is her husband's family & village.  They asked for silent auction donations for the Solar Pump Fund Party, and so I handed over a piece of art that has 'too much water' in the hopes that they could turn the art into money, and then turn the money back into water over in Africa.  Literally.  I don't know how much it fetched, but an organization called 'The Better Good' matched all funds raised.  WOW.  I think in the end they did very well.  A big thank you to everyone who pitched in, and good luck with the remainder of the projects for this village.  How amazing!

i can't stop giggling about the little one in mid air!  see that??   : )

That poster event is over, but the fundraising continues.  If you are interested in learning more, you can check them out on FB or here:  http://oltumowellprojectkenya.weebly.com/

So - it's been busy.  The kids have just a handful of school days left.  I quickly put on my curator's cap and headed over to visit an artist at her beautiful nest near Broadway.  She makes the prettiest clothing including these skirts that look like cropland.  I have been waiting to hook up with her to tell her a bit more about the pieces I've selected so far.  When I did, I saw that spark in her eye!  The gears were turning.  We chatted for an hour.  It was a good visit.  I'm excited to see what her heart & hands create.  My deadline for submitting all the artists' names in to gallery organizers is drawing near though the show isn't until January 2015.

Back on the home front, we haven't touched the studio in a month and I'm starting to get anxious.  I was planning to do some major sorting and organizing of my studio throughout the month of June, but the Handmade House Showcase and the SK Craft Council Boutique has kept me hopping!  I keep wedging my body sideways into my sewing room, and gingerly taking large steps over piles of things in order to continue making art.  lol  Laugh if you must.  I just keep thinking - some day.  Some day I'll have a big organized studio.  I don't know how to do floors, ceilings, and electrical, so I wait...  I'll be painting, furnishing, decorating.

At Handmade House, all of the little thread paintings are once again sold out.  I made a small batch and offered them up on Facebook.  Thank you to everyone who waited patiently in line as I corresponded with new buyers.  This has been remarkable!  This week I mail them off to the USA, the Maritimes, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and even France is waiting!  This is the most recent one.  I went for dry, dry autumn.  I'll try some 'stop the rain' mojo any way I can.  ; )

There.  All caught up.  Stay tuned - this will be a busy July with more announcements!  : )  I'm heading south in July.

Friday - Happy Hour

Wow.  What a GREAT start to the show at Handmade House!  I am so glad I said yes to this.  A few threadpaintings were sold the second day.  They already called to ask me to please bring in more art!  I was not expecting that at all.  My sewing space is a mess from preparing all these pieces and after coming home from teaching, I had to stop and ask myself where did I put my sewing machine!?  Serious discombobulation.  I still hadn't unpacked.  Remember?  I thought I was taking the next while off to work on the new studio?

Well, I found my machine and got to back to stitching.  I worked all week.  I finished two pieces and made two more new little ones.

These are little ones done entirely by machine, and done entirely from the heart.  I didn't have images sitting before me as inspiration.  That's new!

Friday afternoon I brought them by to find out more had sold during the week.  I'm totally in shock!  I set up the four new threadpaintings and went next door to the wonderful & unconventional flower shop.  From 2 to 5:30 every Friday, they have 'happy hour'.  I did not know that.  All those incredible and unique flowers were half price.  So I stocked up and went back to Handmade House to set them up on the counter.  (They look amazing by the way!!)  It was at that moment that yet another threadpainting was purchased.  Spring Storm (below) sat on the display shelf for not even ten minutes.

Spring Storm, 2014  photographed just prior to framing.  (sold)

Incidentally, all the new handstitching is still there.  None of those have been taken home but they are being enjoyed I hope.  Even still, I left there so giddy.  I can't describe the feeling.  I'm so grateful.  Things haven't moved this fast in a while.  Obviously I'll have to keep making up more pieces.  Definitely I will be going back on Fridays for more flowers.  I had the BEST afternoon ever!  'Happy Hour' indeed!

Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon

I dig the yarnbombed sidewalk sign!  : )  Check out the show if you can.  Please sign the guest book too - it's so wonderful to read all the hello's.  The address and hours of operation are HERE on the Handmade House website.