Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Eco-Printing Adventures

The third times a charm, it is said.  Well, after an electrical problem and no electrician until the next day, Monica Lee and I finally finished my testing of different techniques for eco-printing.  Monica had the Turkey roasters and I had the paper. The paper was easier to transport, so we did it at Monica's house. Her electricity went out when we connected the three roasters. We thought we had them connected to different lines, since the plugs were in different rooms, but it wasn't the case.  We tripped the box and blew a fuse (old house).
I am developing a technique paper for each and will pass them on to my students in a workshop planned for the late fall.
Leaves used in this test; hydranga, cloud, eucalyptus, elm, ginko, pin needles, wild dill, japanese maple...lots of unknowns I need to search for names.
onion bath

iron bath

onion bath


one side iron bath

opposite side iron bath

iron bath

iron bath

onion bath

one side, iron dipped and steamed h2o+vinegar

opposite side, iron dipped and steamed h2o

iron bath

iron bath

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

A New Stole for Pastor Sadie Stone

I was commissioned to make a stole for the new Pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church, Sadie Stone. This is the first one I have ever made. I had to get the base pattern from one that had been worn before. I was given fabrics that I then used to design the stole.
The base fabric was linen, the lining was silk, the various overlays were of cotton. I finished the stole with beads from my collection and the support of silk braid.

Here we are on the Sunday morning when her stole was presented to her.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Paper necklaces


I gave a small private workshop on how to make paper necklaces. Two of the participants had seen the one I was wearing and wanted to learn to make them, so five of us got together and made them.  It was even more wonderful because my friend, Monica Lee, made us lunch...yummy noodles + wonton and BBQ pork and great cookies from Pamela Gerard (her photos follow).

Finished pieces...all wonderful!
Beginning class with all materials..
working the machine...
Heather's great piece..
Monica's necklace.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Boro Boro Bag

Learning more about Japanese traditions with Jody Alexander this past Saturday at A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland. (store sells fabric, yarn, dying supplies and gives workshops)

Boro means tattered or rags. It is having a renaissance as a contemporary design element.
Check out a discussion about this on https://youtu.be/BJOFQXujCD8, with Yoshiko Wada and Kim Schufftan, explaining this art form.

It was a patchwork style, using sashiko stitching, to save articles of clothing, bedding, and bags to reuse parts and pieces from worn pieces of clothing to save others and make something else. What is considered beautiful today was one time shameful in Japan, because only the very poor did this. Most that we find today are from indigo dyed fabrics and denim.  However, even silk garments are found in the Boro style. Today it has become popular, and if found, are very expensive.

My Grandmother used to save things that she found beautiful, although maybe not useful any longer. She would say mottainai...sense of regret for being wasteful. This Japanese word was used in many ways but this is one I remember.

Modern designers are emulating the Boro style, as we did making these Boro Boro Bags with Jody. Jody studied the Tsuno Bukuro model (Horn Bag) and showed us how to make them, and all the types of stitching that were traditionally on Boro pieces. She provided us with a simple strip of cloth that we were to stitch as a sampler. (kimono pieces are traditionally 14" wide X 12 yards, so parts and pieces were used with this size in mind) My base piece was approximately a 13"X 36"strip.

Here is my bag:
One side of my Boro Bag. The base is a soft denim.

The opposite side of the bag. The patches are Japanese cotton prints.

Close up of some of the patchwork stitches and sashiko stitches. There is a slash with a jaoining stitch and a patch hole stitch. All stitches are simple and no embroidery style stitches are used.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Workshop with Rebecca Wild

A wonderful weekend workshop with Rebecca Wild was sponsored by Friends of Calligraphy. Nature inspired, we made our 7"x7" pieces. Rebecca returned, from a few years ago, to share with us more techniques she uses for her art. It was a wonderful two days. Magic tape, Strathmore 700 paper, self stick clear shelving, Golden mat medium, acrylics and soft pastels were our main tools. (I must get Pan Pastels. I was able to use some of Rebecca's and loved the pigments) Here is the photo of the four I created. It is really wonderful that she had us make a portfolio, to keep our pieces for reference. These are our 'practice' pieces.
The portfolio is made with Canson MiTientes red with the last piece done with acrylics. The others were done, mainly with soft pastels.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Calligraphy for Bethany Church


This was written for the church newsletter;
Rev. Sadie Stone is giving a sermon series based on the Seven Next Words of Christ found in the Gospels and written about by Shane Stanford in his book, “The Seven Next Words of Christ” published in 2006. The Worship Committee reviewed the scriptural passages and agreed that the Seven Next Words would be our worship focus following Easter until Pentecost. Dorothy Yuki, designer and artist, and a friend of Gloria Soliz’s has written out key words from the scriptures in calligraphy. Ms. Yuki’s artwork will help us reflect each week on one of the 7 phrases that will be framed on the large wooden cross in our worship center during Eastertide.

Here they are all together. Each strip is watercolored for the background and then script written. 3"X14" on watercolor paper.

with pen white ink

with Noodler's

with Noodler's ink

with gouache

with watercolor


with ink

ink and Finetec metallic

Monday, February 15, 2016

Letter's California Style 8 X 8 auction piece

Attending Letter's California Style is always a good experience.  This year I was invited to do a Serendipity folded bowl demonstration and to participate in an 8" X 8" piece to be auctioned as a fundraiser.
Here is my piece 8" X 8" piece in progress and finished. It sold well at $65.00.

cutting out each letter on Straithmore watercolor with xacto knife


laying a web of gold thread on Canson MiTientes

sewing gold thread to attach top cut piece to webbed back piece
Finished piece from a phrase I wrote last year; Sew a thread of golden words to weft and warp of a paper loom then stitch a yarn to weave a tapestry of your memories.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Molding Paste Book

A wonderful workshop with Jacqueline Sullivan produced two books using her techniques of stenciling, painting and book making.  Here are two of my pieces produced with Golden's light molding past and acrylics. Her techniques of painting produces luminosity.
front cover of the first simple book

back cover of the first simple book

full cover of the next simple book


opened book with spine stitched and metal findings.  It was to appear as an embossed brass piece

front cover close-up
back cover close-up

sewn spine with button embellishment

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Journal group

Trying my best to be a part of a journaling group. With so many talented members, it is going to be a challenge. Knowing how I like to confront my fears, I completed my first prompt to choose a word of intention and make the first page with that word. My word I chose was JOURNEYS. This came from a line I wrote, Journeys await you in the land of letters that make the words that go together. Journeys was first Adventures but Gemma Black suggested I change it to Journeys. Thank you Gemma. Here are some photos with some preliminary sketches and the final piece for this week. We will be getting weekly prompts to continue the process of creativity and sharing with the group. I hope I can keep up.
I dreamt of my pen traveling along a path to create the letters of my word.  Some preliminary sketches.  I also used some gingko leaves to try and mimic letters..not so good.

This is the final piece on my first page of my journal. Format is 6.5" X 6.5", Arches Textwove, walnut ink, parallel pen.