More Seagulls

Since playing with painting the first seagull, I have been been working on tweaking it.  It has been a learning process which I have enjoyed most and hope to employ what i have learned in the future.  The actual painting of the bird was pretty straight forward.  However, painting the water was not so easy.  Do you know how many You Tube videos are available on painting the ocean?  A ton, and a lot of them are very informative and well done.  After watching a number of the videos, I sat down and attempted to paint the water, and attempted again, over and over again.  I finally came up with a something that I will let be for the time being.  

Since I had such a good time painting the birds, I decided to try another piece.  This piece embodies the birds from two pictures which I merged together to make a group shot.   Again, the birds were fun to do, I struggled somewhat with the rocks, and the water was done over numerous times.  I will be adding more texture to the rocks, although they really were worn very smooth by the ocean waves.  I am looking forward to doing some thread painting, quilting, and moving on to some more birds.

 

Seagull

I have played a little bit with painting some pieces for future quilts.  Last spring and the spring before, on our way north for the summer, we stayed at Avilla Beach, just above Pismo Beach.  On our walks, I would frequently snap pictures of the seagulls.  I have wanted to use my photos to do a quilt, but had not gotten any farther than composing them in my mind.  Since my creative muse has reappeared in the last week, I have been looking at some of my photos.  I decided it was time to try to combine some of thos seagull pictures to make a fiber art piece.  I spent a day last week playing with the pictures and decided to attempt to draw a pattern using some of them. 

I thought that for once I would start small and just attempt one bird to see how I might do it.  So today, after spending 30 minutes searching for my patterns, I began with a single seagull.  I traced it onto fabric which had been treated with Scotch Guard.  I then searched for another 15 minutes for my Inktense Pencils, but to no avail!  I then had to use my Inktense blocks, a brush, and some floating medium to begin the painting process.  For a first attempt, I am happy with what I have come up with!  I still need to add the water behind the bird, do that pesky eye, do some threadpainting, then layer it, quilt it, and finish the edges.

First Frost, FFC 85

I have been on hiatus this summer visiting with my children and grandchildren.  Not much time for playing with my creative endeavors, but plenty of time for making wonderful memories.  We left Washington right after Labor Day, landed in Bend and Oregon for a couple of weeks, and are now taking a leisurely trip south for our winter home.

Gerry, my husband, was wondering if it was time to get rid of the sewing machine and art supplies, but alas, they will remain with us at least for the time being.  I was busy this week working on a challenge for the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge.  It is my first completion in a number of months, but it is done.

I took a piece of fabric which I had created using the Gelli Plate, which is fast becoming one of my favorite texture tools.  I achieved the desired effect by doing numerous layers using stamps, stencils, brushes, etc. on black cotton with metallic paints.  Love the ethereal look on this piece.  I also like the ghosting imprint of the trees on the right, along with the bird image in the tree.  Sometimes serendipity takes over and things turn out better than you expect!  I decided to step outside my comfort zone and mount it on black stretched canvas, adding metallic leaves, jewelry findings, and some decorative trim. 

First Frost Challenge 85

 

Here is the finished product and I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I think that I will continue to play and do more pieces in this manner.