Upcoming Shows - Preparations

My two art works are off to Fibre Content at the Burlington Art Gallery and now I am concentrating on preparing for the fall shows - working on some major pieces as well as smaller framed work, embroidered and landscape necklaces, and even some painted jewelry.

I have been hampered by ongoing dental work which was supposed to finish today with a permanent bridge but a problem with the bridge work means more weeks of uncertainty, careful eating, and appointments.  I have also had exterior work done on my house which took a chunk out of the summer too.   But that's finished now.

On October 7,8 and 9 I will be taking part in Expressions of Art with the WCAS in Carp, Ontario.  Click on the link for more info or to download the brochure.
Expressions of Art.

 Besides Expressions,  I will take part in the Glebe Craft and Artisan Fair at the Glebe Community Centre and Baz'Art at the Shenkman Centre in Orleans in November, and the $100 and Under Sale in Carp (WCAS) in early December.    I will post details on my Exhibitions page shortly.

I have been doing some experimenting too.   I follow Mary Corbet's wonderful embroidery site  Needle'n Thread and I learn so much.    Recently she demonstrated how to stitch free form using a voided approach.  She used the letter A.   I tried it using an outline of my birdbath for the centre area and stitching florals all around it.  I really enjoyed the process and learned something that was transferable to other projects - and probably most embroiderers already know - when you can't draw on the right side of your background, draw on the back, stitch around it and you will know where to place your stitches on the front.   When finished, you pull out the original stitching.   It works so well!  And now I know when I want to make a piece in a circular form I can use that same technique to stitch a circle.
I didn't really leave the centre void but stitched it in white. 

It doesn't look as pretty as Mary's.....

Then I decided to stitch a circle (inside of a 4" hoop is perfect for tracing on the back)

.......And just stitch wildflowers and grasses till it was filled.

I am working on a piece for our Out of the Box exhibition in December at the Textile Museum in Almonte.    First I needed to needle felt several rectangles so I bought these yummy rovings at Wabi Sabi.

After needle felting each rectangle I hand stitched on each one (see previous blog posts) for months -  then placed them on a black felt background.   Here is a sneak peek at a bit of the almost finished piece.  The theme is Colour Unboxed and the title of this piece is Living Colour.

 
Here is another piece called Reclamation I think - lots of hand and machine stitching - which I will mount on a stretched canvas which has been covered in wrinkled tissue and painted to resemble the crumbling structure in the piece.
Lots of experimentation this summer!

Close up ....

I like to have lots of new smaller framed pieces ready too.  Here are a couple I have completed recently.

hand stitched

Hand and machine stitching

Here are some pendants drying on a messy glue tray.  I love to see them all together like this.  It almost makes it worth all the fussy cutting and gluing.

It has been difficult finding time to sew this summer but I managed to make some progress and will continue throughout the fall.