Niagara - Canada Culture Capital for 2012 and the Textile and Mixed Media Art Project

Today I begin documenting my work for the 

textile project I am collaborating on.  

Some months ago I stumbled upon a Facebook post

about this, and went ahead and applied.  

It was just a brief message asking for 

textile artists in Niagara to respond - 

that was enough to get me interested.  

And now here I am - one of the team 

creating textile and mixed media pieces to 

represent the Niagara Escarpment - how exciting!

Basically, we are working from photographs 

(also juried entries) of the escarpment 

and re-imagining them as textile and mixed-media works.

In the end, though, our translation still needs to 

look like the photo we were assigned.

This is the piece I have been given
 - it was truly the yummiest, juiciest picture of the whole lot. 
I feel so lucky 
(and a little intimidated - it's such a complex image)!

It measures 18 inches by almost 5 feet!

Coincidentally, the NanoBot is working on her own

Very Large Project,

so I stuck my image right beside hers.

That way we can spur each other on:)

I looked up about the assignment and this is what I found:
The project is "a collaborative art project as part
of Niagara's 2012 Cultural Capital of Canada celebrations.  


The project requires a variety of textile and mixed media artists,
including hand and machine quilters,
traditional and contemporary quilt artists,
hand and machine embroiderers, felters and beaders,
and artists who work with metal,
paper, plastic, and other materials."

Here are some close-ups:

So much intricate detail - 

and I have to do this all in fabric - yikes!

The sheer size of the project alone is 

bigger than anything I've ever done.

There will be lots of painting, layering and beadwork.

I'll use embroidery too, I think!

But isn't the image just lovely?

Peach blossoms - YAY!

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

I can't wait to see how each artist (there are about 14 of us)

will translate her or his particular image.

When the panels are all done,

they will become

a permanent exhibit for the Niagara Region.  

Wow!

More coming soon!

Funky Fabric Jewelry, and looming deadlines

So, I'm just wrapping up my illustration assignment, 

and looking forward to starting work on my 

textile art assignment,

due only in...

10 DAYS!!!

I really need to get started.

Actually, it's due end of August,

but we have a group meeting soon and

we are expected to show SOME progress by then.

So, next few posts I'll try to focus on that,

but meanwhile here's a peek into 

stuff I did while I SHOULD 

have been working on the textile project.

Actually, I made all this jewelry several weeks ago,

while I was trying to get my muse

for an illustration assignment.

Now that I've done some more illustrations,

the latest ones,

I'm all set for starting my textile project.

See?  Works out perfectly :)

How I Help My Neighbors

That's the name of the new book I'm illustrating.

It's written by Julie Mair, and has simple, spare text.

Here are a few quick examples of my pics - 

I hope the whole thing will look good when it's done.

These are all double spreads.

I put the text into the first pic as an example.

The empty areas in the other pics 

will hold the rest of it.

The colors are bright and saturated,

and the outlines bold.

I like to add critters :)

Maybe that cat should be a more funky color!

In fact, I might just do that.

That's it for now - more later!

Fruit Gone Wild

Wild cherries, steps away from our patio!

Dunno who was more excited,

me or the NanoBot!

Although she did ask, "Are they edible?"

I'm more comfy eating wild cherries

than store-bought ones, 

so we washed them, and ate them!

They weren't as sweet as farm cherries,

but they were organic.

And they did spurt out lots of

intensely colored juice!

And in any case they were way too fun to pick.

It was worth it!

 

 

She picked the flowers

for 'decoration'.

Looks like I may have a food stylist 

in the making!

We haven't done our usual cherry-picking

at a local farm yet this season,

but our wild foray was great!

 

 

From the ForgotToUploadThis Department...

There are a few more alphabets I made, 

but I'll save them for next time.

And some colorful layered and beaded circles - 

these are headed for broochdom,

as soon as I can make them sprout some leaves.

I loved working in those saturated colors - 

they are almost too hot too handle!

Yay for funky fabric jewelry.

Under the blue tree...reading

Tales of adventure :)

B is for Bunnies

"Bunnies Holding Hands"

By the NanoBot, circa early 2011

"Alphabet Bunny"

Me, circa mid-2012

I'm still learning.

Some day I hope to catch up with the master,

my source of daily inspiration :)

Cover design - Book for teen girls

A few days ago I was asked to design a book cover - oh boy.

Hands up everybody who judges a book by its cover - I do!

I'll still give it a chance and read the blurb before I make up my mind,

but I do, do like nice covers on books.

Of course, if the only thing good about the book is its cover, 

you find out pretty quickly.

Anyway, no pressure, right - phew!

I made a sketch - editor loved it.

So far so good.

 

 

Then comes the coloring.

And everything goes nuts.

SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!

We haven't yet arrived at the final image

(editors and publishers consider a whole whack of factors

before deciding on a cover, so I understand)

but here's my rough drawings.

 

 

Can't reveal the tile yet,

but you can say it's a collection of notes about

"life, the Universe and everything", from the little of it that I read.

 

 

Notes from a mom to her teenage daughter.

Pretty cool, right?

Remember, these are just at the idea stage still...

I like these last two vintage-y looking ones best.

The one with the closed eyes makes the girl 

look like she's floating away on a dream...

We'll see what gets picked.

(They might all get canned - then we start all over again :))

A new book I'm working on, hmmm, 

maybe I should say A new book I'm supposed to be working on 

but don't seem to be making much headway with,

is a poem about a camel

and teaches kindness to animals

(always a topic dear to my heart).

I really wanted to paint these pics by hand, 

but this sample is a mixed input by (wo)man and machine,

and just this one image in its original size is more than 75 MB.

I think I broke my computer with it!

Anyways, it's been sent out for approval

(or otherwise!)

and I'll know soon whether or not it's a go.

Either way, this book will be filled with warm colors,

textures, borders - yum!

I've slacked away from blogging, again, 

overwhelmed with a whole bunch of things going on,

but

there's been...

See you soon, Blog!

A Lovely Day

Today, a soft and gentle rainy day...

A lovely day.

A new listing, and some paintings

Some time ago I posted about my acceptance into 

a textile art project sponsored by the Niagara Region.

We've had one meeting so far where we got to 

meet our fellow artists - there are twelve in all.

I was amazed at their education and experience in the field - 

was I the only one who had never taken courses in art?

And had only been working with fabric less than three years?

YIKES!

Each artist will be working on a panel about 2 feet x 4.5 feet - 

way bigger than anything I've ever done!

We'll be working from photographs,

translating the image into fabric.

They gave me the juiciest photo of all - really!!!

But more on that later.

Today I finished a necklace I've been working on 

for a while, sporadically :)

 Not only that, I also LISTED IT!!!!

It was so much fun to make,

and I feel tempted to keep it for myself,

but I'd really like to sell it too.

Also, today the NanoBot and I messed around 

with some paint and paper.

She made a lovely bluey-green abstract

which I can't find at the moment,

and which she gave me to keep 'as a present'.

So sweet.  I better find that painting!

I scanned some drawings of hers though:

 Aren't they the cutest?

 

She draws straight with pen - and doesn't like to color.

The text in the second picture was written by me - her request.

She'll be turning 5 in May, my sweet little munchkin :)

I hope her world is always filled with joy.

And I wish I could draw like her!

And for my dear friend Asma,

who has a big, blank purple wall,

I made this:

 Asma works in Toronto,

so I used torn images from a Toronto city guide,

and added parts of an abstract scribble 

that the NanoBot had decorated some note paper with - 

since she is with me all the time while I work,

I thought it fitting to add an element of her presence 

into my collages.

 I stamped on circles with a bottle, a marker cap, even my fingers.

The wall is a deep plummy purple, and my colors 

will complement that, I hope!

 

I wanted to make them all different,

yet similar enough to hang together.

Asma's other name is Emilia,

and I just happened to find a purple E!

Hope she likes them!

 

Hats And Salads

Weird mix?

Not when you think SUMMER!!!

OK, so we had another rogue snowfall just last week,

but Spring IS officially here,

which means Summer will be upon us

before you can say ICE CREAM!

I found a lovely cotton hat at the dollar store.

Yup, the dollar store.

It's a sweet unbleached linen look cotton,

but what hat can't use a little dressing up, right?

So ta-da!  Instant reincarnation!

Well, not so instant, actually,

but worth the effort, I think!

 

I thought I'd make a red and white flower,

but my hand went straight to the blues and greens.

 
I did put in a white layer too to add a little something :)

And a sequined applique to tie in the juiciness...

I loved the sorbet-like shades, but I hadn't made it for me.

Thankfully, the NanoBot critiqued it and found it wearable - whew!

And now on to the salad!

What looks like tiny birdseed,

grows a tail when cooked,

and is an ancient Inca Super Food to boot?

Why, quinoa, of course!

Quinoa, a complete protein, 

and a gluten-free food 

has been around for thousands of years.

The Incas valued it so much

that they considered it sacred.

 

So. Wash some quinoa 

- I took a bit of both red and white types - 

soak overnight, rinse and cook until tender, or until 

the quinoa is happy enough to sprout tails 

and be all soft and mushy.

Rinse off with cold water in a fine sieve,

and you're ready to add whatever you like!

I've tried it many different ways,

and it's mild enough to go with 

a bunch of different things.

You can even sub it for rice and oatmeal!

 
For this salad I used cherry tomatoes, carrots, 

chickpeas, cucumber, apples and parsley

all dressed in lemon juice and olive oil.

Salt and pepper and crumbled feta and a short sojourn

in the fridge to meld the flavors made it delectable.

 You could add cooked meat to this and make it a meal.

Now put on your summer hat and enjoy

this cool treat, will you?

And if you make it some other way, do share!