The Kayaker is Emerging

 I love the snow, but not the cold.  The one good thing about Maryland's weather...is that the below freezing temperatures do not last for long periods of time.  We always get a reprieve,  warmer weather is in the forecast for later this week....yeah!

 

 

For the kayak, I decided to use fabric for the shading and highlights.  I tried painting shades on the life vest, but the material wouldn't take the paint.  The paint would spread and it looked messy.  I will deal with the vest later. 

After procrastinating earlier this week,  I finally found the nerve to attempt to do the face.   That was quite an undertaking for me.  The hair and hat fell into place. I decided to use orange material for the hat and shirt because it contrasted nicely against the blue and green.  It helped to  keep them in the foreground.  Painted highlights and shading were added to the hat, face, arms, handle, and paddle blades.

 

My next task was Toby. Toby's ears, spots, nose and leash were done with material.  His eyes and highlights were painted on.  The bottom where I tested the paint will get cut off before I add him to the picture this week.


After we visited the Under Amour headquarters in Baltimore, we went to view a ship unloading raw sugar at the Domino Sugar plant.

A ship docked at the Domino Sugar plant in Locust Point.

Domino Sugar Plant

Adding an Island (and thinking about design)

We enjoyed above normal temperatures last week.  This week reality sets in and the temperatures will return back to normal with a blast of cold air and of course no chance of snow. 

I decided just Janine with Toby in the picture, like the original, did not make for an interesting wallhanging.  Also knowing, a small island was in the distant background didn't hurt either, so.... I decided to try to make an island.

 

 

It took me a while to get started picking out the material thinking about which colors would give the allusion of being in the background.   Thinking about the elements of design, I repeated the colors and shapes in the forest on the island.  I think it keeps the eye moving left to right through the forest.

 

The lighter color I decided not to use for the water became the sky. Studying the island, I realized something was missing, it looked like it was floating.  It wasn't anchored in the composition.

It needed to look like it was reflecting in the water.

 

 We took a tour of the Under Amour headquarters in Locust Point.  This is a picture of their living wall.

 

 

 

 

 

The Kayaker

 

 

This past week was very busy and exciting.  My daughter got engaged last Saturday night and we had an engagement part for her last night.  Much of my spare time this week, was spent planning and preparing for it.  Everyone had a good time congratulating the happy couple and yelling at the television set cheering the Ravens on to victory.  You can't fight the playoff season, so you may as well join it.

 

How often do you see a dog riding in a kayak?  Not often, I bet.  I thought this would make a great subject for my next wallhanging.

I converted the photo to black and white to see shapes and shades.  Tracing paper was used to make the pattern.  I traced the larger shapes that would lend themselves to the overall composition.   I wanted to keep this wallhanging very simple and focus on the overall subject.

 

Next, was the decision of whether I wanted a bright blue or a more conservative subdued blue color for the background.

 

I thought I would like to try and work with the bright blue material.  Next, I auditioned different material for the kayak.

 

The winner!  This week should be quieter and hopefully I will have time to get more accomplished.


 We live near Baltimore and visit the Inner Harbor often.  But, two weeks ago was the first time we visited the Federal Hill area and Locust point.  Here are some pictures of the Inner Harbor taken from Federal Hill.

 

Time for Reflection

I hope everyone had a good time on New Year's Eve.  Year 2013 is going to be avery exciting year for our family.  My first Granddaughter is due in May.

Going from the top of the learning curve in constructing garments to sliding to the bottom of the learning curve in making quilts is a very humbling experience.  When I first started this journey about five years ago I browsed the Internet for websites, visited quilt shows,  read books and blogs.  I even traced a pattern I wanted to try and bought the material, but it just sat. 

It wasn't until about two years when I really decided to take the plunge and leave my safe secure world of making clothes.    I signed up to take  a  beginner's quilting class offered by the county's recreation department by a well known quilting teacher in the area.   I took the class to get hands on instruction for basic quilt construction.  Following the class' I spent the year piecing sampler quilts to practice my new craft . 

Finally in the Spring of 2012, I decided it was time to attempt my first wallhanging, Jack.  Being new at quilting, consciously and unconsciously, I tended to play it safe.  I kept the composition very simple and used the stippling stitch throughout.  For some reason, I had the notion that I had to stitch through every little piece and inch of fabric.  The overall design of the negative space was not taken into consideration, just getting it stitched was the focus.  The "success" of my first project put me in a new comfort zone that carried me through many projects.  Dogs became my focus for several quilts because they were an easy subject; Molly and Maggie, Toby,  and Lucy.  With these quilts, I concentrated on the subject and paid little attention to the background or negative space.  Also, I continued to use the stippling stitch throughout the quilt. 

 Olive was the first quilt I began to take risks.  More attention was paid to the overall composition, but not enough to make ithe negative space interesting.  I made the attempt to give some attention to the overall composition by making look as if Olive was in a bed of flowers and by attending to details on the flowers.  Also, I continued to use stippling stitch on my main subject, Olive.  But in the negative space, I stitched flowers, a break away from the usual stippling stitch.

My son's home provided me with the opportunity to deal with the overall composition and not just a single subject.  This picture contained many details, thus I decided to use paint and  material.  I felt as though this quilt  provided me with the appropriate slate to really go outside that comfort zone I had found with the dogs. This quilt was going to be very different from the dogs.  It was time to take some risks: the leaves on the tree, painting the trunk, giving the picture some feeling of dimension, painting the bricks on the house, shading on the garden stones, and the flowers.    Similar to Olive, I took the picture into the border with the steps.  Also, I used different free motion stitches within the quilt.  I only reverted back to the stippling stitch on the tree.

With my Daughter's home, I continued to concentrate on the overall composition.  This time I tried to use the free-motion stitching to add definition to different areas of the house, plants and sky.  In addition, I wanted to try and make the stitching a part of the overall design and not just a means of holding the quilt together.

My wallhanging of the Coneflowers is a definite break away from the pack.  I broke all my comfort zones from the beginning to the end.

I still feel that I am at the bottom of the learning curve in making art quilts, but I think I am beginning to climb just a little bit up the curve.  Knowing my ability to draw freehand is limited,  I will continue to trace my patterns from photographs I have taken or my friends have taken.  But,  I will take more artistic liberties with the photos when making my art quilts.  I know I have a long way to go, but  I feel as if for now I am headed in the right direction on the learning curve....up!