As well as my textile work, I have been busy with my photography too. I bought a delightful little glass bottle in Venice (probably imported from the far east but it is pretty) and have been playing with light and reflection on and through it with both artificial and bright sunlight.
I still have to set up to take images with light passing through in the dark and see what effects I can get.
I am also playing with a digital microscope attached to the computer to see what kind of images I can create. Looking interesting so far.
We have also been out and about with our cameras. We took our grandson for a shoot at Saltburn-by- the-sea and he came back with almost 200 images to sort!! I showed him how to create an AV and he is on with that now. Picked it all up very quickly including all the ‘bells and whistles’ that can be applied. I had to point out, however, that using too many of these can make the viewer go dizzy!!
I too have completed a couple more AVs using the images I took in Venice and also one using all the images I took of time pieces. It is such a nice way to use all the photographs you take and show them to music. the hardest part is deciding which images to use!!
I have also been busy with all the things that have to be done before we go on our next trip. Just made arrangements to have any vaccinations we may need, checking on the insurance cover for all the camera equipment, getting the trip flagged with our credit card company so that they don’t put a stop on it thinking it has been cloned, finding comfortable shoes (very important), more cool skirts, mending the big suitcase which was damaged during a trip by my daughter and her family to Monte Carlo, and I expect there will be a lot more to do before we leave. Remembering now why we stopped travelling so much. Just hope the threatened strikes don’t effect us!!!!
Onto the textile work.
The first piece was created from an image of the Basilica in Venice which we took on our recent visit there.
I opened it in Photoshop and played with some of the special effect filters and liked this effect.
I used this image to create an art quilt. I duplicated it four times and created this design.
I painted some silk for the background then and printed the domes onto another piece of silk. I ironed soft iron on Vilene onto the back and cut them out. They were pinned over the background, a quilt sandwich made and then I free machined the domes onto the background.I used French knots for the multi crosses on the top of the domes and towers. Finally I quilted the background ‘sky’.
I haven’t decided how I am going to display it yet. I am considering stretching it over a frame.
The next piece was created using an image of some palm leaves taken while over in Florida last year.
Again, I played with filters in Photoshop and decided on this effect.
This was printed onto silk, painted with metallic acrylic paints, made up into a sandwich and free machined. Beads and sequins were added for additional texture.
Again, I haven’t decided how I am going to mount this one.
The next piece was designed from an image taken at the foot of the waterfalls at Richmond in North Yorkshire.
I played, as I do, with the image in Photoshop and decided on this effect.
This time I took different parts of this image and duplicated them creating 15 small pieces. They were all then arranged into a large composite piece.
When I was satisfied with the layout, each of these 15 pieces was printed onto cotton, highlighted with gold acrylic pant, made up into a sandwich and free machined. When the machining was complete , I added some hand stitching then cut them down to their edges, arranged them onto a heavier backing and zigzag machined them down. The whole piece was edged with a loose satin stitch.
The final piece was created from yet another image. This was part of an image of a porcelain ornament of a little girl with a broom. I decided to use the Andy Wahol effect and have four different colour effects of the same image.
I turned it into a black and white and stylised it.
Next I changed some parts of each image into another block colour so that there were four different coloured images.
I made each of the backgrounds a different colour too and arranged them into a large square. Colours were changed and adjusted at this stage until I liked the colour balance.
I painted and highlighted each of them with metallic acrylic paints then made a sandwich and free machined the piece using different coloured threads including an invisible thread. the final quilt was edged with black.
I free machined little flowers over the backgrounds of each square.
That is it for the textile work.
At the moment I am getting to grips with extra features of Photoshop CS5 and expanding my knowledge of what this program will do. I have subscribed to Photoshop Creative which is a monthly magazine which is full of tutorials and tips for Photoshop. It comes with a CD full of video tutorials and images and brushes etc. Pleased with it. All the extra techniques and features will come in handy when I start on another batch of digital images and composites.
I recently purchased a new extra external HD (you can never have enough back up) which I am going to use as a library. I am trying to develop a way to catalogue all my images and resources which suits me and the way I work.
I must also begin to plan the next batch of textile pieces. I find making these decisions the hardest part. I have a file bulging with sketches and ideas and find it hard to decide which to tackle first. I am like a kid in a sweet shop unable to make up my mind as I want to do them all.
Until then – back to CS5.
Cheers everyone
