Surface Treatment Workshop - week 19

This week's workshop was about embossing.  I tried out Liquitex gloss gel, Golden molding paste and my favourite Daler texture paste.  It's always interesting to see how the products perform and compare.

I will share the Liquitex gloss gel first.  This is the product I used to make the "skins" a couple of weeks ago (it's a white gel medium that dries clear).  I spread it over two background pieces and left for about ten minutes each until the gel had just started to thicken and skin over.

On the first piece I pressed a piece of scrim into the gel to leave a pattern and then left it to dry again properly.  Once dry, acrylic paints and mica powders painted on top enhance the pattern.

Below, the same again but with a finer mesh pressed into the gel and then painted with paynes grey, black, shimmery silver and mink mica powders.

This was a really good product for embossing texture.  It worked so well that it was almost like I had applied a real scrim to the texture and embossing is most definitely the very next best thing.

The other really good property of Liquitex gloss gel is that, as it dries clear, layers beneath clearly show through.  I put this to the test on top of one of my prints from week 18.  I had originally monoprinted and then over printed with roller and bands.  So, on top of that I applied the gel and left for ten minutes to set, then pressed a piece of Carn pottery into the gel.  Lifted off the pottery piece, let the collage dry.  I didn't paint over the top because I liked the textured pattern with the collage showing through.

This is Golden molding paste.  Same as the gel above, it has to be applied and then left to almost set before textures can be pressed into the paste.

I pressed some pottery patterns into the paste and also etched some lines then heated with a heat gun before painting with pale blue and gold mica powders.  It made some lovely texture.

One more piece with the molding paste ... embossed, etched and then heated with a heat gun.

This one below is Daler texture paste embossed with lace and is probably my favourite.  On the left I used some soft cotton with a small patterned broderie anglaise edge and on the right some gold metallic lace with a larger lace patterned area.

Lots of potential with this technique for working on canvas, paper or fabric.  The next prompt is "glazes and final finishes" and I'm eagerly awaiting Evelyn’s update for weeks 18 and 19.  Her ideas are always interesting.

Meanwhile, I will be continuing with my new passion of eco dyeing, particularly on paper.  I had a go yesterday with moderate success, so will press on with experiments.  So far, I am getting strong blues and purples, some greens and browns.  I would really like to see some natural yellow, orange or pink coming through.

my first eco print on paper

Also, working hard on my Cornwall themed textiles which I'm not quite ready to share yet but I will be updating the website and facebook page generally for St. Ives Textiles very shortly.

Thank you for dropping by today x

Surface Treatment Workshop - weeks 7 and 10

I got a little behind with the Surface Treatment Workshop last week

I did work on various samples but struggled with my fibro, headaches and asthma

and generally felt under the weather through exhaustion from preparing for Stitch St. Ives

it meant such a lot to me to be able to take part in the show and to meet people

and afterwards I felt I was ok at first but it caught up with me ... so I had to give in and rest

if you follow along ... you will be used to me disappearing without warning now and again

but it is my intention to push through it this year and get back to a working routine in my studio

and this project - The Surface Treatment Workshop - has really helped me

to get in the studio, to develop my art practice and work with new products

we also got a little out of sequence

because, sometimes, we have to order new products in specially

and have to wait for them to turn up in the mail

so you may have noticed that we skipped to week 8 to work with gesso
while we were waiting for gels and fiber paste to arrive

for these samples we decided to combine week 7 (gels)
with week 10 (making our own speciality gels)

as a lot of the prompts for gels were quite similar

and as there were quite a few ideas for using gels I decided to work smaller samples

and created a series of hand made tags to help me contain them

for the tag below I used Golden medium gel mixed with a little gold acrylic paint

to embed tissue paper and paper lace onto a collaged background

I covered the collaged tag with quite a thick layer of transparent matte gel
and added pressed flowers into the gel

the gel acts like a glue and a sealer in one
and after using it to secure placed paper or objects
the excess gel medium can be wiped away for a neat finish

it was a particularly good product to use with the delicate flower petals

you can see I have applied the gel really thickly on the tag / sample below

using the gel to adhere a green sweetie wrapper and some scrim

I also used the gel to collage a tapestry yarn wrapper

and sprinkled gold mica powder into the wet gel

the gel dried transparent and then I added a pressed flower
and you can just make out subtle hints of shimmery mica on top of the tag

I also discovered that gels over collage (when dried)

make excellent drawing grounds with pencil or artist pen

but we cover drawing grounds next week ... so more on that another time ...

gels can be mixed with paints for colour

and thick molding pastes for extra texture (below)

and here I'm using up excess paint from my palette
mixed into the gel for my tag backgrounds

I used a palette knife to apply the paint and gel

feathers embed in gel quite easily and lay nice and flat
and I added an extra layer of gel to seal ... so I could paint over if I wanted ...

now moving on to speciality gels ...

these are really just shop bought textured gels or
hand made gels made by adding "bits" to the gel to create texture

this one below is broken egg shell pieces stuck down with lots of gel

and I also used fine sawdust for one sample

this is Golden glass bead gel below ... a rather fun product to try

Golden glass bead gel looks like quite a runny white / semi-transparent paste

which can be applied as thickly or thinly as you wish ...

it has tiny little glass beads already mixed in ...

as the gel dries it turns transparent but with a sort of wet look

which really enhances the shimmery little glass beads

before it dried out ... I sprinkled mica powder into the gel

and, because it is basically a glue, I embedded a shell and a little piece of lace

in summary I would say gels are a lot of fun to play with
and are useful for layering and acting as a glue and a sealer in one
that's not to say that there may be cheaper products out there that are just as efficient

also this week ... I got some transparent Powertex liquid to play with

it's basically a product that stiffens and hardens fabrics and threads

so that they can be moulded and sculpted into vessels or art forms

I've had my first play with it and created a small bowl

(which, I have to say, I'm not enamoured with)

and I'm not sure I'm all that keen on the smell of Powertex either

but that may be muted when the vessel is painted

however, I have also applied it to this piece of metallic lace

which did interest me greatly for the project I have in mind

I'm looking for a lacy fine art texture with distressed holes and threads

to which I can add some stitched barnacles and/or seaweed for vessels for exhibition

next up ... I will share week 9 - fiber paste samples (by way of catch up)

Evelyn has already posted hers if you would like to see

then we are back on track again

thank you for following along

with the Surface Treatment Workshop

the allotment hedgerow

over the top of the allotment hedgerow

you might catch a glimpse of beaded seedy things

amongst the chiffon grassy things

on top of layers of chiffon I've used fly stitches with beads

and the corner of the field is bordered with metallic lace

which is now tarnished and dark with age ... just how I like it

 

I've secured the lace with some invisible stitches in gold thread

you might also find some "sluggy" type things

 

they came about by painting and gilding on top of small pressed pleats in the fabric

I added some gold metallic beads which then made them look a bit slug like

... a bit like "Sid the Sloth" from Ice Age ;o)

so this turned into a happy piece that makes me smile

fabrics, paints, gilding flakes, a few more "emeralds"

layered fraying chiffons, running stitches, fly stitches, beads and metallic lace

this one reminds me so much of the fields and landscapes

along my  favourite coast road between St. Ives and St. Just

 

the fields stretch out to meet the sea and sky

 

 

and the cows come up to have a nose and greet you

they like to slobber on bags and cameras too, if you're not careful!

 

 

these fields and dry stone walls are further along the coast road near Geevor

it's a place I like to go blackberry picking in autumn

 

 

the horses like to get up close and personal too ...

 

 

hello ... a moo from Morvah and a neigh from Geevor ♥

 

St. Ives bay this morning ...

 

 

the skies were very stormy over Hayle and Godrevy way

but brighter over the town ...

 

 

I had a great morning with St. Ives Textiles

and afterwards enjoyed a pasty in the harbour with friend Margaret

looking out over this view

 

I call it "linen clouds"

 

 tomorrow ... "the pumpkin patch"

first steps back

the first few steps to achieving most things are often the hardest

but they begin by putting one foot firmly in front of the other

and trusting that you are going in the right direction

and, more importantly, for the right reasons

I took those (very difficult) first few steps back in January

by deciding that I wanted to write on my blog again
 

I was away from my blogs for a very long time ... 

I now realise, in hindsight, that I was still getting over
some family things and I believe that, subconsciously,
I was also aware of the deteriorating health of my darling Daddy

who passed away in December 2012

I don't want to go into it all here ...
it's all too painful ... and always will be

but I acknowledge the past few months have been difficult

and now I'm trying to get back to many of my art projects
that were shelved ...but not abandoned

it's very true ...
that spending time creatively can help the healing process

time to lose oneself in an all consuming project or

quiet time to think and process thoughts and feelings

so ... I've been doing just that ...

at my own pace ...

walking on the beach ...

playing with textures on my own photos ...

pushing the pieces around for a still life shot ...

posing tiny little shells ...

enjoying joyful yellow flowers ...

with subtle scents of spring ...

finding inspiration from beautiful words ...

 high above ... the clouds parted for an instant
and a watery gleam of sunshine broke through
the wet streets threw back the reflection of this light
and stone and slate were washed in gold           

anticipating springtime in mosaics ...

discovering a clump of snowdrops on a wintry walk  ...

 enjoying the sprinkling of snow we had

on the Cornish cottage rooftops in January ...

and enjoying new challenges and ways of looking at things

one word wednesday jar project

an inspirational photographic group that looks at refraction,
reflection, distortion, opacity, light, bokeh, colours, textures
and subject matter through the medium of a glass jar or vessel ...
with focus on a title containing only one word

week 1 of the jar project
23 January 2013

we are now on week 9

and I will share some of my jar photos here in coming weeks

I'm finding it such a joyful project

inspired by the snow and ice we had in January

I made a crystal snowflake to go in my first jar photo

I love the refraction through the glass and the pebbles behind

 

also in snowy January ... I had a lovely day with my friend Jo

she took me over to Sally Snape's shop at Perranarworthal

a most wonderful patchwork/fabric emporium

Coast and Country

where I indulged in a little retail therapy

I can justify most of these purchases as they will be used for work I'm producing

for an exhibition of textiles in St. Ives in Autumn 2014 ...

yes ... I've started early for once!!

beautiful lace and soft pastel linens

fabrics with seedheads and starry shaped notions

these are a few of my favourite things

and if you can get down for my show in 2014

you will see that these tones all fit in nicely with my sketchbooks

on a seed pod and seed head theme

 

other "extravagancies" included beautiful batik fabrics

in shades of wintry moon and ocean blues

 ... and lunch at The Olive Grove

where Jo and I exchanged gifts and had a very lovely time

pottering round the nurseries ... looking for snowdrops

in January the moon was beautiful ...

I captured it ...

 

and printed it ... and made a card

I was amazed when it received 240 "faves" on flickr (thank you)

 

I love moons and mussels

in that particular shade of denim blue ...

moons and mussels

1. sky bubble 2. bubble bokeh 3. california mussels 4. drop cliche! 5. earth dandelion 

 6. La Javanaise 7. bulles 18 8. beach bubbles 9. arrivederci inverno 10. a blue moon 

11. IMGP3855 12. blowing bubbles in Torquay 13. sweet nothing|s 14. beach butterfly 

15. ying/yang 16. 20091101-_MG_9115 17. turnstone 18. untitled 19. untitled 20. rain on window

and curating beautiful mosaics ...

those winter blues

1. braving a blizzard 2. brrrrr ! 3. promise 4. in the bleak midwinter 5. frozen fingers

6. vintage - snow in September 1959 7. sculpted doily 8. lagerstroemia indica 9. untitled 

10. natural dyed pouches 11. beach pebbles in January curonian spit national park, Russia 

12. haiku stash 498 13. untitled

more misty blues ...

1. willow 2. among snowy mountains 3. a delicate world 4. waning lines 5. | 6. untitled

and during very cold weather I love to make these ...

they are so pretty ... I have them hanging all year round ...

to enjoy their sparkle and reflections

snowflakes

 well ... this is all for now

as I say ... it's a start

 and life is "full on" at the moment

with making for my shop and the other projects I'm working on

not to mention my show later this year

"sew ... a needle pulling thread ..."

so there will be a bit more on that later

thank you for visiting x