Black and White Fabric Painting

I love bright colors, and I really enjoy creating the colorful papers I use to cover books, journals, and planners. But lately black and white have been calling to me. I saw Robin Olsen's blog post about painting white fabric with black textile paint. I just got so inspired! My painted fabric looks very different from Robin's fabric, but isn't that part of the fun? I love being inspired by something, then adding my own "spin".

Of course, my kitty, Cooper, had to help me with my painting!

I used a lot of tools on my fabric . . . kids clay tools, fun foam stamps I made, purchased stencils, paint brushes, and fabric markers. It's fun to play!

What am I going to do with all this black and white fabric?? My plan is to make a quilt with brightly colored fabrics, and strips of my black and white fabric. I've seen quilts like this before, and the black and white just pops! I'm looking forward to decorating more fabric . . . I hear red circles calling my name! LOL

Painting Immersion

I've had two intense painting experiences lately. First, Flora Bowley'sonline class which I thoroughly enjoyed. She's fabulous about getting underneath all the stuff in our heads and helping with the loosening up process. I loved her spiritual approach to painting--that it is about letting go, not being attached, being in the moment. Many valuable lessons there, and things that I will continue to try to practice.

I followed that with another 5 day Bill Park's workshop. I had taken one several years ago and it was a real turning point in painting for me. His approach is very similar to Flora's in that he is totally focused on the process and letting go. He will paint for years on one painting just for the sheer joy of changing it and said he always feels sad to finish one, like finishing a good book.

Taking the two back-to-back helped me clarify what does and doesn't work for me. I found that I could not really use Flora's methods without ending up with imitations of her work. For some reason, it was very hard to find myself in that technique. Maybe more time would have brought me there, but I struggled with her use of pure color from the tubes and postponement of composition. I love what she does, but unless I copied it, it just wasn't working for me.

After Bill's class I came back and finished this painting I started in Flora's class:

Up close:

I wrote about Bill's process last time I took the class, and you can read about it here, here and here if interested.

His building:
and the front door to his studio:

So now I have a bunch of canvases in process and will probably be changing them for years. But having lots of fun!

Easter is next week! Lenall Siebenaler

Happy Easter.  I love this Chocolate Bunny stamp.  The flowers were cut from a painting I did in 1993.  I took it off the wall in my bathroom and replaced it with something else leaving this pen and ink and watercolor piece to be cut up for cards.   

Puerto Vallarta Mixed Media Pieces by Lenall Siebenaler

I need to be done with these to go to my next series which is screaming to get out of my head. I did these at the pool in the morning while I was in Puerto Vallarta in February. It's time to let them go and move on. I did several versions of each type and will mat them for the show in December. Any favorites?  Lenall Siebenaler

A little sunshine for our rainy days

With all the rain, snow and overcast days lately I’ve been craving something bright and cheerful.  Recently Quilting Arts TV featured Terry Grant who demonstrated how to make the cutest fabric birds.  It seemed like a small project I could handle with my limited time so off I went picking some fabric, stuffing, wire and brown floral tape.

It all started with this first little guy.  Cheerful and just kind of makes you smile even with a beak more like a duck bill.  But he looked like he needed some friends so with more colorful fabrics one by one a flock was formed. 

Truly a fun project to add a little cheer to your day.   You can download the instructions from the Quilting Arts TV website to create your own little happy flock!

Virtual Studio Tour - Paula McNamee

Welcome to my studio- in my home, in what used to be the back bedroom. I've reorganized the 12x12 foot space a couple times in the past five years. With limited storage, it's been a challenge to fit supplies for all of my creative interests. If I start working with a new medium, then something else has to go. Moving the books out of the studio gave me lots more storage space and flexibility.

1. What sort of artwork do you do and what are you currently working on?

   My artwork includes a variety of media- fiber art with fabric, stitching and felting, metalsmithing, jewelry making, painting, collage, book arts, drawing and writing.

Right now, I'm painting two 24x30 inch canvases as part of Flora Bowley's online e-course. I set up an easel on my center work table for my acrylic painting station.

I'm currently taking an Italic calligraphy class and place my slanted drawing board on my desk to practice.

2. How do you need your studio to function? I enjoy having flexible work stations that can be changed depending on my current project. I like to keep my fiber arts/stitching station in one area with supplies close at hand.

My desk area is for writing, drawing and computer work.

The center, island work table gets used for many projects such as metalsmithing and book arts. I like to stand and work on many projects and adjust the table height to fit me.

3. What do you love about your studio?

   My studio is a warm, quiet retreat – my sacred space-

surrounded my what inspires me-

a window to bring the outdoors inside-

4. What would you like to change about it? I'd like to have more space, a wet area with sink and running water, and move the computer out of the studio to another place in the house.

5. What would your dream studio contain? Besides the above mentioned changes, my dream studio would have a sitting area with a couch and a couple comfortable chairs, a large table where friends could work together and a large blank wall for a design board . My wall space is taken up with storage and artwork now. I'd also love to have space for a separate painting area that is set up all the time. Who knows, my dreams may come true someday. I am a dreamer.

6. Do you have any organizational tips? Organization helps me use my studio space efficiently. Look at the mess I used to have in my studio-

Now everything has a place-

It's all sorted by item and labeled-

One of my best organizational tips is to use tool caddies or totes. I sorted all of my metalsmithing supplies, pencils and pens into three different caddies.

The metalsmithing tools are all together and ready for my studio or to take to the garage and work-

My idea and sketch books are a handy reference-

Where to put travel souvenirs? I placed them on the top shelves so that I can enjoy them but they are not in the way-

My knickknacks grace a narrow, six inch high shelf at the back of my desk-

My calligraphy supply case hangs on two hooks on the back of my work table up off the floor. See the storage bins under the table?

Thank you for visiting my studio. To see more of my artwork and creative life go to my blog Dreamcicle Journeys.

The Auction Project

The teens in my Art and Design class put together this fabulous piece of Portland with Mt. Hood in the background for the school auction. I divided a photo into 16 sections, and they each created one piece of the total collage. They worked with magazine pages and were told to interpret rather than copy the original photo.

It was so exciting to watch the piece come together. Since they were working on such small details up close, they didn't have a sense of how the final picture would look. They were all pretty stunned at the final unveiling. What I especially love about the piece is that you can see their individual styles if you inspect the piece up close, yet they came together beautifully into a very professional looking polished piece.

If you would like to bid on the piece, it's available in the online auction and the proceeds go to support a fantastic alternative school. The piece is matted and framed and very impressive, if I do say so myself.

Click here to see it and bid.

Photos from Cuba