Virginia Greaves

I confess — I haven’t written in quite a while — for many reasons. I stopped most all studio work after Thanksgiving in order to prepare for Christmas. It felt good to have all of my things done & properly prepared — but I also really missed the studio. I thought about my sketch book — even carried it around — but didn’t really work in it. I’ve also been letting Facebook take more of my life than I should. I think in the new year I’m going to limit my access.

I did make a small piece for my husband as a gift — it’s made from a picture of his dog Solomon. I made one of Solomon last year and gave it away in my fiber art group’s annual 5×7 exchange — and I didn’t realize how much that bothered him until it was all ready done. So this year I tried to make it up to him by making this small piece (Solomon II):

Not easy finding commercial fabrics in rust but I think I did an OK job. I even used a print with paw prints on it — which I think works out OK given Solomon’s age. He is a Brittany Spaniel & his life expectancy was 10 — he is 19 and still going strong.

I also had the complication of a new computer — on a new platform. We had an XP PC that was over 7 years old & it was making noises like the hard drive could crash any minute. We looked at new computers — and in the end bought an iMac which is SO much faster. There are new things to learn though — and the files aren’t as compatible as I would like. Microsoft Office files ARE compatible with the Mac — but hey, not all Microsoft WORKS files are compatible. Add in the fact that the CD writer on the old PC doesn’t always work. I finally brought over all of my old pictures using an external hard drive. I also set up a wireless network. I had tried for a VERY long time to do that with a DLink router — and it never worked — but the Airport  Time Capsule  set up like a dream & works with Macs & PCs.

My last technical struggle involves software. I use Photoshop A LOT — and CorelDraw to resize my patterns — and DreamWeaver for my website. I did upgrade Photoshop on the Mac — haven’t decided yet about DreamWeaver. I’m thinking about putting my entire website in WordPress. It’s been years since I’ve changed the look of it — may be time for a change — and WP is great software.

Once I got Photoshop on my Mac — and my pictures — I could start figuring out a new piece. Hmmm — not much to work with. I really need to dedicate myself to taking more pictures and maybe taking a photography class.

I have had an idea pinging around in my brain for a while. It involves doing a portrait — and then cutting it up to make it look like a cracked plate. Can I do that? Can I cut up a portrait? After thinking about who would be cracked — I decided that the answer could only be me. Although we always talk about how crazy other people are, everything is relative to ourselves — and you can’t deny that it’s possible that everyone else is sane & I’m the one that’s cracked.

I think that I just need to move away from my comfort zone of a straight forward portrait. Test some boundaries. Something maybe realistic with the unexpected thrown in.

My Fiber Art Fusion group has a holiday exchange in December of a 5″ x 7″ piece of art — which sounds really easy — probably won’t take a lot of time. But actually, I find it much harder to work small. When you’re used to working in a particular scale, going far from that can really throw you.

Which is to say that my first piece totally bombed. I tried to do a 4 value beach scene in black & white — three people in the surf with their backs to the viewer. I think that it is a good idea for a piece — but it really needs to be larger. Lower the # of values was not enough to make this simple. First there were too many really small pieces needed to evoke the surf — and second, all of the fabric prints had to be really small scale for it to work. I thought I had a handle on that — but I wasn’t thinking small enough. At some point I realized that I was at a point of diminishing returns and I stopped.

At this point, I thought about just doing an eye — it is a shape I’m familiar with and enjoy doing and its creation would help me grow in my work by concentrating on one small yet very important part of portraits.

It’s made me think that I should spend some more time studying just the eye. It is done differently than in my portraits and although simplified, I like the broader use of color. I may spend the time from now until the holidays working on small eye studies.

As fate would have it, I was unable to attend the opening reception for Fiber Art Fusion’s Exploring Dimension exhibit. I did, however, visit it with my mother the following week. We also visited the High Museum — and although the visiting exhibit from the Louvre was good, we had seen it before — and the permanent exhibit was, in my biased opinion, not nearly as good as FAF’s exhibit.

I have received permission from some of the artists in FAF to give you a sneak peek — a small tour of the wonderful treasures on display at The Art Place.

This is my piece, The Price of Passage, which I include since I added something since I last took pictures of it. Can you tell what it is?

The Wailing Wall by Denise Webster – Some of the stones have photo transfered pictures on them. There are also little notes tucked into the nooks & crannies between the rocks.

Blue Vessel by Sharon Ahmed

Felted Vessel by Sharon Ahmed

Dancing with the Dragonflies by Sharon Ahmed

Felted Monsters by Sharon Ahmed – All of these are made with felted wool.

Do You See What I See? by Wendy Blanton – This is Wendy’s interpretation of a migraine headache – and the black & white road actually protrudes from the eye.

Reuse by Julie Kokan

Dragon Flight Plan by Margaret Betz

Dream Weaver by Margaret Betz

Treetop Reverie by Margaret Betz

It Ain’t Over by Rebecca Reasons

Blue Box by Rebecca Reasons

Hawaiian Tea Time by Diane Schulteiss – Diane used watercolors to paint the painting, and then used photo transfer techniques to make her own fabric which she used for the tea set.

Share the Spirit by Diane Schulteiss – This one was difficult to photograph as it has the image printed on organza in the foreground and also printed opaque in the background.

Ethereal Summer Day by Ann Quandee – This one has a lot of sparkle — as you can tell, my camera and I had a hard time taking a clear picture.

Fairy Grandmother’s Hat by Ann Quandee

The Sweet By and By by Ann Quandee

Treasures from the Earth by Ann Quandee – The amoeba shapes in the middle are heavily beaded with seed beads, and the background has handmade utee fabric beads.

Coral Reef Sea Creatures by Hellenne Vermillion – Hellenne made these with pottery, silk, and wool roving. I don’t know that I have seen anyone else merge these kinds of elements together so delightfully.

Sea Creatures Scarf by Hellene Vermillion

Twelfth Night — the night of the 12th day of Christmas — is the time that we celebrate the coming of the Magi to give gifts to the baby Jesus. It is the last night before the feast of Epiphany, and we use this time to — well, have a party!

As I prepare to have our annual Twelfth Night feast, I thought that I would take a little time to share what I have been doing lately.

I finally finished my latest quilt. I think I’m going to call it Sweet Dreams. You can read about it on my website here.

I also finished my felted teacup. I was asked to make a pincushion for a swap at my local guild. I never made it to the Christmas meeting — and only finished the teacup today. I spent quite some time trawling the net looking for a pincushion that didn’t look like everyone else’s pincushion. What was the point of spending time on something pedestrian? I finally found the felted teacup and fell in love with it — which of course led me to start searching through thrift shops for wool sweaters I could felt (which has led to some wonderful discoveries other than sweaters). I am amazed at what some thrift stores have — I bought several designer pieces with the original tags still on them.

I also had great fun with the I-cord maker. This wonderful idea is from Betz White who is known for her felted cupcake pincushions.

My second holiday inspiration came from my friend Rebecca Reasons. (By the way, she is the one that won the 5 x 7 of Solomon that I made for our Fiber Art Fusion Holiday gift exchange.) She is an awesome artist and just had an article published in the winter edition of Altered Couture. While I was sitting next to her at our artist’s party last month, she showed me the wonderful book cover that she had made. I loved it. Then when I went to the store to buy a new planner for the new year and couldn’t find one with a cover that I liked, I realized that I could make a cover for it. I hid away in my studio (family was home all last week) and pulled out scraps in purple hues — a little black & white — and then quilted it like crazy in yellow and orange circles. Then I added the inside tabs, a slot for a pen, and finished it in the way I make my coffee cuffs. I also added some threads for a bookmark — my only regret being that I wish that they were longer. I didn’t account enough for the ring in the binder — but I may yet tie more strings to the ends & add beads.

By the way, I am selling my Hinterberg stretch machine quilting frame.  Please email me if you are interested.

I have had a major creative streak lately. I have several ideas in my head and am working happily away in my studio.

I went to visit a friend the day before yesterday — Heidi Miracle-McMahill. (You can find her work here.) I love the watercolor feel of her work. She let me play with her Caran D’Ache Neocolor II wax pastels. They are water soluble which means that they start to blend when you add water. I had brought over a set of Carb-Othello colored charcoal pencils that my mom had given me. They say that they are blendable but I didn’t find that to be the case. However, their color is very intense and work well in conjunction with the Caran D’Ache wax pastels.

I also really liked the fabric that she works with. She bought it from Fiber on a Whim. They called it Corona cotton canvas from Kaufman. It is a nice lightweight canvas — but heavier than Kona Cotton.

After we played, we went over to Dick Blick (which is just around the corner from both of us). I bought a small pack of the Caran D’Ache pastels and a nice paintbrush that I’ve been wanting. We looked at all of their canvas rolls, but they were unbleached and much heavier than what Heidi had.

When I came home, I had some cotton duck in the closet — so I thought that if I washed it, it would be close to the canvas cloth Heidi was using. It did soften, but when it was completely dry, it was stiff again. I have some Kona white in the closet. I think I’m going to experiment with that for a while. I don’t tend to paint my pieces — I am an applique kind of a gal — but surface design can be a lot of fun too.

I have not been keeping up on my blog with what I have in process. I have just laid out my latest piece. Here you can see the progress I made in the last few days:

I had a fabric epiphany last week. It hit me how to use commercial fabrics to make faces. I went into my closet & found exactly what I needed in my stash stuck in my white & brown drawers. I was so excited — and knew immediately that it would work.

Also, this is the first piece I’ve done in which I separate the face from the clothing — and from the lips. When I start in Photoshop & reduce the picture to B&W — then posterize it — I lose definition between objects that are different colors. I transferred the picture from Photoshop to CorelDraw to make my drawing — and then printed it out. I always smooth over the lines with a Sharpie marker on the final pattern. This time, I used colored Sharpies to define the jacket and the mouth. I had to go back to the original color picture to see where the lines should be drawn.

And here it is. I thought at first that the mouth was too red, but I’ve looked at it in Photoshop and a lighter color red doesn’t work. You may  not see it in the picture, but there are supposed to be highlights on the bottom lip. I may change that.

Hmmmmm. I’m not sure about the lips. I’ll have to think about it.

I should also mention that in my last two pieces, this one and Unconditional, I was very careful with selecting fabrics. I am usually so eager to start. I love cutting up all of the pieces — I think it is my favorite part. But I have learned that making sure now will make the project so much smoother. (I have to save spontaneity for my non-applique pieces.) On pieces that I made last year, I just used my  judgment, but the truth of the matter is that it is hard for my eye to always distinguish good value changes. Batiks especially can come out lighter in value than is expected. So I have been photographing my choice of fabrics and putting them on my computer. In Photoshop, I can take out the color, and when the picture is in B&W, I can easily see what works well and what doesn’t.

Back to the studio.

My oldest daughter asked me to take her to WalMart the other day so she could buy supplies for a school project — a model of an atom. She bought gold jewelry wire, a large styrofoam ball, beads, and air dry clay. I could see the creative spark in her so I let her have whatever she wanted. (Thank goodness she didn’t ask for a pony.)

Isn’t it cool? I was so impressed that she could dream this up in her head. She used the wires to hold up the styrofoam ball, but she ended up using hot glue to attach the ball to the wires — and then had a blast making jewelry with the wire, beads, and glue. The styrofoam has a section cut out of it. She marked it with black marker and then I cut it out using a knife — carefully. It wasn’t as easy as florist’s foam, but I marked the outside & wedged it out in sections.

She used the beads and some of the air dry clay to make parts of the atom — and then used the wires and round green circle stickers folded in half to identify different parts of the atom. I think she added the beads at the bottom because they looked good there.

I can identify with that.

I was getting ready yesterday to write about my trip to the beach and about some books I had read recently — but I got distracted by upgrading WordPress. Sometimes those mundane tasks are comfortable and keep us from moving forward.

And then yesterday, I watched that old movie Reality Bites with Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder — an early Ben Stiller movie. Much more serious than his later stuff.

I am a member of Generation X — and that is what this movie is about. At one point, Winona says that she was supposed to really be somebody by the age of 23 — and Ethan tells her that all she has to be is herself — and she says that she doesn’t know who that is.

Another theme in this movie is about selling out. Ben Stiller’s character (he cast himself in the movie) is Winona’s corporate boyfriend — and he has sold his soul. He takes her heartfelt documentary about her friends and their problems and changes it into a puff piece about how silly they are in order to impress the TV networks. When she finds out & gets upset, he promises to have them delete the pizza image — as if a silly fix like that would undo the damage that has been done.

And Troy, Ethan Hawke, Winona’s live-in friend who wants to be the boyfriend — he lives on the edge. He has been fired 12 times and his passion is singing nights in a band. That is the only thing he can commit himself to — unless Winona will change her mind and dump her boyfriend for him.

There is a great scene in which Winona accuses Troy of having sold out just like everybody else — except he doesn’t get paid for it.

And I think that that is what has me stumped.

Anyway, last week we went to the beach. I took a picture of my foot:

I went to all that trouble to paint my toenails, I thought that I should preserve them for posterity. I also did my girls’ toes and intended to take pictures of their toes in the sand, but good intentions don’t usually get us very far.

This is the view down the beach at SanDestin last week:

The first 2 days were beautiful and I burned. I always burn in Destin no matter how much sun block I put on. The last full day I spent under shelter.

I’ve been trying to improve my photography skills. I think that the hardest thing is just composition. I know my camera fairly well at this point — but the outside world is another thing. Maybe I’ll get a friend & go out one day next week just to take pictures. I could use the inspiration. I have felt burned out lately — the move took a lot more energy than I expected. I have almost all of the applique done on the cloned profiles I’ve been working on — and I finally got a good idea about setting it all together — but it will involve paint and stamps and foil and playing. I am thinking about setting it up in the garage. We don’t have a shop sink at this house, though. I didn’t realize how nice that was until it was gone. A wet studio is harder to set up than a dry one — although my dry studio is still a mess.

Epiphany is a wonderful thing. I have felt disconnected from a lot of my work for a while, probably a result of having so much trouble with my last portrait in yellow. So a couple of days ago I was looking through photographs trying to find inspiration for a new piece. I was coming up with nothing.

And then it hit me. I have a camera. Equipment. Me. Isn’t that enough?

So I set up one of the wonderful lights that I bought for photographing my work and starting taking digital pictures of myself. I turned off the flash & used one of my black design walls as a background. Well, it wasn’t working — so I moved all of the equipment to my closet (no windows) and closed the door. The only light was from my lightstand. I used my husband’s dark suits as the background. And I experimented with moving the light and taking shots of my profile (by the way, one side is better than the other). I finally took one that I knew would work — and then used it as the basis for a simplified drawing. Simple because I knew at that point that I was going to make this many times in different colors.

What I have been doing in color portraits has been experimenting with how color affects the face. I have also been reading Deidre Sherer’s book and wondering at how textured fabrics affect the face. The result of this is an experiment in color and texture and the human form multiplied out many times.

Now that I have done all of the basic colors, I’m thinking of inverting them — even mixing them up.

Did I mention that I’m moving next week?

I am desperately trying to make this quilt top knowing that my time in limited and that very soon, I will have no time to work on it. But it has felt wonderful to have my creative soul back.

Yesterday, an artist friend of mine asked if I wanted to join her & her friends to visit another artist — a sculptor. So we loaded up in her convertible Volvo (she let me drive which was great fun), and we headed into the countryside in search of inspiration.

When I was younger, I always wanted to “make good time” and I always took the highway — but in recent years, I have found great joy in learning the back roads of our beautiful country. Although at times I hesitate to mention that I live in Alabama given how rural it is and how much it lacks cosmopolitan appeal — there is nothing that beats a drive through the countryside of our fair state. Blue sky and light and cool breeze — and four crazy artists in a convertible looking for trouble.

We had a wonderful time and found several treasures — including a very large piece of PVC pipe I hope to use in the near future for shibori — but while exploring the house that the artist built with her husband, I found this quilt:

It was created by Ruth Roswal, the owner’s mother-in-law. I have made several pieces from men’s ties — a portrait quilt with the ties framing the face, at least 5 pillows, a tie purse — and I love the look of the silk and the masculine, rich colors. I have never seen a quilt constructed in this way — designed to show off the beauty of each of the ties, preserving the tie points. It is hand-quilted with quarter fans in the four corners. Beautiful.

My daughter had a friend stay over last night, and at about 10 o’clock — when I was getting bleary eyed and ready to fall asleep — our little guest discovered my sewing room. I found later that she had taken some of the leftovers and placed them on the tree I have been working on — and when I found her, she was squealing over my garbage can. Both her & my daughter had taken scraps and were gluing them to paper — to make a “quilt”. I immediately pulled out more scraps of fabric & ribbon, and they had so much fun. Both of their personalities shone through in their final pieces, and I found them both so inspirational, I decided to share them here.

The tree on this one was a threadpainted piece that I made for a quilt and then decided to not use. It ended up in my scraps and she claimed it.