Monday, February 29, 2016

A Little Night Collage

Every evening I try to spend at least a few minutes in my studio, just playing around with paints, collage elements, color sprays, stencils, and stamps.  Sometimes I just gesso something--some art journal pages, an upcycled canvas or board.  (One of my favorite things to do is to hit up the thrift stores for "art" on canvases or boards, gesso over them, and use them for painting and collage!)

Tonight I did a little collage with some music pages and played a little bit in my art journals with color sprays and stencils.


This is a page spread that I started weeks ago, and am just continuing to play with.  Right now I think it's kinda ugly, but that's OK.  I will keep coming back to it!


The stencilled elements in this spread didn't turn out nearly as crisp as I had wanted, but I kinda like what's going on here, nevertheless.


Just a little play time before settling in to watch some TV and knit!

Blocking a Lace Shawl

I've been working on a project for Jenny at Red Barn Yarn Farm--a little shawl called the Danielle Shawl, by Jen Lucas.  This is made out of Done Roving Yarn's Frolicking Feet DK Gradients yarn, in the colorway Lavender and Thyme.  I am making this as shop sample for the yarn shop, and I had it almost all finished on size 5 needles before realizing that it was turning out just way too small.  So I ripped the whole thing out and started again on size 8's.  (And yes, the size 5's were what the pattern recommended!)

I blocked the shawl today, which is both my favorite and least favorite part of the whole lace knitting process.  Favorite in that you finally get to see the true beauty of the lace revealed, and least favorite in that I find it to be somewhat of a tedious process, and a process during which I inevitably end up sweating like a horse!  I'm not exactly sure why this should be so, since it's not like I'm running a race or anything, but there it is.  Maybe it's because I block on the floor, so I end up wallowing (wallerin', as my dear husband says) around on the floor.




In any case, I tackled the job this afternoon, and spent quite a time pinning out each of those points!  I block very aggressively, and I really like the way this piece has opened up.  It really is a beautiful yarn with a lovely gradient, and if you're in my neck of the woods you can get this yarn (in many colorways) from Jenny at Red Barn Yarn Farm.  You'll also be able to see this shawl in person there from tomorrow.  And if you drop in, tell her Sarah sent you!

Friday, February 26, 2016

Art Journal Friday

I've been trying to work in my art journal regularly, even if it's only to gesso a page or two or work on a background for a few minutes a day.

This evening I finished a spread that I started several months ago, just playing around with sprays and stencils.  Then I added some tissue paper layers, a little gesso wash, and a bit of white acrylic spray.

Then tonight I added the face and crown and the lettering on the other side.  I think it's done, although you just never know--I may be moved to add more at some future date!



Before I added the lettering:


After the lettering: