Last week was my “Explorations with Fabric Paint” class for Northwest Suburban NeedleArts Guild.  I’m pretty sure all participants had as much fun as I did!  We did immersion painting, gradations of color, color mixing, sun-printing (no sun needed), pole-wrapped shibori, scrunching and rubbings and rollings over texture plates.  We used ProChem textile paints – transparent and opaque – and we experimented with Shiva Paintstiks and Setacolor paints, including metallics.  We used gel medium for texture and collaging.

It was so much fun, I have decided to promote my workshops to other guilds.  Here is information on my current offerings for workshops as well as one lecture:

WORKSHOP 1

EXPLORATIONS WITH FABRIC PAINT

 2-3 day workshop                                All levels

 Experiment with different textile paints and application techniques.  See the wide range of effects that can be achieved.  In this class you will learn about the possibilities of textile paint; you will experiment with new ideas, have fun sharing, and create new fabrics to use in your textile art.

 This workshop is intended for students who are interested in learning new tools and techniques.  We will cover mixing color, value gradations, immersion painting, drip-painting, pole-wrapped shibori and more.

 WORKSHOP 2

PAINTING WITH FABRIC

 1-2 day workshop                                Beginning to Intermediate

 This is a design workshop which will cover basic design principles including color, value, pattern, etc.  You will use a background fabric (or batting) as a blank canvas and raw edge or fusible appliqué to “paint” with fabric.  You will learn to create your own pattern, work without a pattern, free-form cut, and design your art quilt.  Day 2 will be a continuation of design along with finishing instruction including free-motion stitching and various bindings.

WORKSHOP 3

STITCHING FOR DESIGN and TEXTURE

1 day workshop                   Beginning to Intermediate

For a follow-up to “Painting with Fabric” class or for those unfinished tops in the closet, bring your art quilt ready to be stitched.  Different stitching designs for each quilt top will be discussed and demonstrated.  Students will practice free-motion machine quilting and start stitching their art quilts.

LECTURE

AN ARTFUL JOURNEY

My path from junior high school clothing class to textile art – with some detours along the way.

Contact me by phone (847-921-4364) or email (shelley@handmade-memories.com) for more info.

Southern Lights IV  (c)2010

The first week of January is my “Explorations in Fabric Paint” workshop for North Suburban NeedleArts Guild in Northbrook, IL.  We will be experimenting with transparent and opaque fabric paints and many different application techniques for a wide range of surface design results.  The piece shown above started with several layers of “drip-painting” which is one of my favorite techniques and one of the explorations for the workshop.

Regular meeting and lecture on Tuesday, 1/3/12, 9am.  Two-day workshop Wednesday and Thursday, 1/4-1/5/12, 9am-4:00.   More info at www.needleartsguild.com.

November exhibit at Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts.  Artist Reception Saturday, November 26, 3:00-5.  Here’s the video featuring me…

http://youtu.be/SI2r692uuQk

A few photos from SOFA Chicago for Tracy McCabe Stewart who moved to sunny California and could not join us at Navy Pier this year.

  Artist Bihn Pho, who we both love.  His work is quite intricate and finely detailed which gives the viewer so much to explore.

  Some beautiful thread-painting.  So sorry I did not get the names of these artists.  If anyone knows who they are, please share!

  And two stunning glass pieces, this one by Holly Grace and the one below by Sungsoo Kim.

My next post will be photos from this year’s Fine Art of Fiber at the Chicago Botanic Garden, another wonderful opportunity to see art the first weekend of November.

It took three of us over 4 hours, but the show is hung!  And it’s looking good.

  Here is part of the wall in the gallery with ”13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”  exhibit.    Work shown here is by Cheryl Dineen Ferrin, Kathie Briggs, Astrid Hilger Bennett, Shelley Brucar and Clairan Ferrono.

  This is a view of the hallway which goes from the gallery to the theater.  The work seen to the left is by Casey Puetz, Trish Williams, Astrid Hilger Bennett and Laura Wasilowski.  On the right, you can see “Southern Lights IX” by Shelley Brucar.  This photo does not adequately show the brilliant flash of color that greets you looking down the hallway so you just have to get to Schaumburg to see the show in person.  It’s at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court through Sunday, November 27.

Here is another view down the hallway with work by Joan Potter Thomas, Pat Owoc, Pat Kroth, Linda Witte Henke and Trish Williams.

This is the lobby in front of the theater with work by Shelley Brucar.

Very tired workers, Mary Berg, formerly of Simply Chicago Art, and Clairan Ferrono of Fiber Artists Coalition, curator of Some Like it Hot – with some help from Shelley.  Please join us for the ARTIST RECEPTION on Saturday, November 26 from 3:00 to 5.

Fiber Artists Coalition (http://www.fiberartistscoalition.com/) presents Some Like It Hot and 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts.  Fiber Artists Coalition is a group of Midwestern artists, professional artist members of Studio Art Quilt Associates (www.saqa.com)  who have joined together to promote textile art.

The exhibit runs November 1 through November 27 at Prairie Center, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg, Il.  Join us for the Artist Reception Saturday, November 26, 3:00 – 5.

I want to share Leah’s latest scarves (http://www.leahdesigns.com/) which are completely awe-inspiring!  They are hand-dyed, screened, stamped and vat-dyed – a many-stepped process that results in multiple layers and a complex visual image.  Leah’s wonderful work will be available this weekend at Fall Didley in Belvedere, IL and at the Fine Art of Fiber (www.fineartoffiber.org/), Chicago Botanic Garden, the first weekend of November.

SHELLEY BRUCAR

You can get distinctly different results from dripping paint by chosing to start with wet or dry fabric.  Here was the dripping paint on wet fabric – very smooth:

And here is the next layer, dripping paint on dry fabric.  The paint is thinned with water, so it is wet enough to blend, but you also get some more defined lines when using dry fabric.

And a detail shot:

How wonderful to have beautiful enough weather to be painting outside!

Another beautiful morning to paint outside, and good timing because I was not thrilled with my last dripping paint results.  Things are looking much better today though.

I mixed pink and red with a VERY small amount of blue to get fuschia.   If you put in more than a drop of blue, you will get a lovely purple, but that is not what I was going for here.  Then I mixed blue with a very light torquoise and a more green torquoise to get the torquoise-blue color.  I mixed both colors right in a squirt bottle and added water to thin the paint.  I hung my fabrics, sprayed them with the hose, and proceeded to drip the paint.  After applying all the paint, I lightly misted the fabric to enhance the flow of the colors.

I painted a second piece using the fuschia already mixed and an orange mixed from yellow and a SMALL touch of red, same process as above.

Here’s a quote from Jeanne Beck’s blog:

“Now we are going to make a new-way path. So you take a shovel, you take a ground-haker, you take a hairpin and you start digging. And you dig in all directions: up and down, in and out, right and left. Not in a straight line. Nothing natural or interesting goes in a straight line. As a matter of fact, it is the quickest way to the wrong place. And don’t pretend you know where you are going. Because if you know where you are going, that means you’ve been there, and you are going to end up exactly where you came from.” –Sherry Ruth Anderson, The Feminine Face of God

And it reminds me of a favorite quote of mine, and unfortunately I do not know the author:

“When you plant a new seed in the soil, the first thing that comes up is not the new shoot.  the first thing that comes up is a little dirt.”

Going forward and embracing change…