Adding to my Paris project

It is a long time since my last post but I have good reason for that.  As I mentioned in my last post, we have been doing major refurbishment of our home.  It just keeps snowballing and we have added many more things to do.  This has meant that we are still not finished yet - hopefully sometime in January.

I have still been managing some textile work and can post some of it today. 

On the underside of the Arc de triumph are wonderful carved squares.  They look similar to those on the underside of a Roman ruin arch in Rome.

I used one of these squares -

for the next few pieces.

I loaded the image into Photoshop and played with the colours until I had one that I liked.  This was printed onto teeshirt printer paper for black/dark fabrics.  It was ironed onto pelmet vilene and then I used a fine line black pen to outline some of the detail.  I created a pocket book -

I added some gold machine stitching and some gold braid. 

On the inside I used the stamp I made of this square design.

and I made some bag tags -

I always use the text of the places of my projects and I have continued to do this using the text of Paris. It was distorted and made into a motif.  It is still obvious that it still says Paris.  This motif was then digitised in my machine software and stitched out onto black felt.

I make lots of serendipity paper when using up paint on my brushes and stamps.  It is better than washing it down the sink.  I use lots of different kinds of paper including hand-made paper.  I made this particular paper quite a long time ago.  It was time to use it.  I decided to use it for the front cover of a book.

This is a hard back book and I stitched the front to the spine with a left and right blanket stitch. The machined motif was stuck onto the front.

One incredible place I visited was Sainte Chapelle which is on the island in the middle of the Seine.  the same place as Notre Dame.  The windows of this church are spectacular.  I had to hand hold the camera but with its brilliant iso facility I was able to get pretty good images.  I used one of the windows as the basis for a long hanging.  I used sheer fabrics sandwiched between tulle.  I free machined all the black lines of the leaded window.

It is well over a metre long and although there is a definite best side, it is presentable on the back too.

That is it for this post.  I am attempting to keep them shorter than I usually do.

Cheers for now

More of my Paris project

We are still in the middle of major refurbishments of our home.  As one part is finished we decide to do yet another.  We hope to be finally finished by the end of October. We are pleased with what has been done so far.
As a consequence, I have little time to do my hobbies.  I have managed to photograph the pieces finished so far so now I can post an update to my Paris project.
I usually make a mobile with images off iconic landmarks of the city, in this instance Paris. I chose a number of images, printed them onto acetate , edged each image and then strung them together into a mobile.  Using both landscape and portrait format means that the images have space to turn when hung.

In the La Défence region of Paris are some fantastic modern buildings.  I chose the following building for a series of pieces.

I applied a filter in Photoshop to achieve a very colourful pattern.

I used this pattern to create a pocket booklet.  I used garden mesh and sheer fabrics and to interpret the shimmer in the windows I put some Irisé film under the sheer so that it catches the light and changes colour.  All the lines were created by using a 1mm wide satin stitch over the garden mesh.

I then applied a distortion filter which gave me an oval design.  I used this design on several pieces.  The first stage was to print the design onto gold metal shim which I then embossed.  This was the centre piece on the front of a small booklet.  I had some fancy gold braid in my stash which fitted nicely as a border around the shim which was mounted on dyed and painted pelmet vilene.

As well as a small pad, I made a folded pocket from colour washed tyvek.

I printed the oval onto transfer paper, cut it out and ironed it onto coloured pelmet vilene to make a bag tag.

Next I made a box.  I had to change the oval shape to a circle for the two ends of the box and kept the ovals for the top, front and back. The designs were printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto felt.  I embellished the ovals with machine stitching and beads then stitched them onto the red fabric and edged them with red metallic twist.

I used the oval design for the inside of the box.
 
                                                  


I used a panorama image of the Louvre and the pyramids to make a wrist band.  The image was printed onto transfer paper and ironed it onto black felt then machine edged.  I used a toggle for the fastening. I also gave it a coat of clear varnish to protect the image.





 We visited the French National Armouries museum - not to be missed.  As long as we didn't use a flash or a tripod we were free to do photography.  As I have a Nikon D3 camera, I was able to get good images in difficult lighting conditions.  I really liked this staircase.

I gave the image a colour change in Photoshop and used the result to create an art quilt. The fabric was painted and sponged then machined.

In front of the Armouries was a plaque.  It was dedicated to the Armouries building which was and still is in parts a hospital for injured soldiers. The plaque was cast copper which had a lovely green patina.

I used the flower design from the centre to create a box. The lid was embossed shim brushed with bronze gilding wax.

The front and sides used some patina metallic shim which I embossed then machined. I also used the same technique for the inside lid.

On each of the inside walls I free machined the flower design.

                                                                 This is the final box.

We went up to La Défence one evening to see what lighting there was after dark.  Unfortunately there was not as much as we were expecting.  Apparently Paris has reduced illuminating lighting to save money. The Grand Arch was lit up and there was some coloured lighting on the front of the Mall.

I used this array of neon squares to create a black velvet purse.  I used a machine satin stitch over cord to make the raised squares.

One of the buildings in the older part of  Paris was covered on the outside with a metal facade in an art deco style.

I took this idea and created a purse.  I used silver lame covered with black sheer and then free machined the art deco  design over it.  This small panel became the flap of the purse.  I recycled some silver grey satin from an old blouse. I also recycled some silver braid which had edged a Caftan mini dress of mine many, many years ago.  Just goes to show that keeping things will eventually find a use.

One of my favourite buildings in Paris is the Institute of the Arab World. There is some incredible engineering within it.  I have already shown the metal tiles on the roof in my last post.  I used the image of them for the front of two booklets.  I also used this image to create a quilted art panel.  I applied another special effect on the image to give me yet another colour palette.  I printed it onto printer transfer paper and ironed it onto black felt.  I free machined it and highlighted some of it with metallic paints.

                                                                 Here is a close up.

Finally on the Champs-Elysées we came across the American Embassy.  There was a long queue outside - people waiting to apply for visas to enter the USA. On this wall was a doorway.  It was made up of coloured glass panels.  I liked the design and decided to use it to make an art quilt.

I isolated just one of the squares.  I  opened this square in Photoshop and applied numerous filters on it changing the colours and effect.  I had twelve new squares - all different.  I printed each of the squares onto fabric then painted and highlighted different parts of the design.  Next each square was made up into a quilt panel and free machined. When all twelve panels were complete they were joined together with black ribbon separating and framing them .

Well that it is for this post. I have a bit of time now between jobs. The next refurb is scheduled for the middle of September so I hope to manage both some more photography and textile work 'til then.
Cheers for now.
SAS

My Paris project begins at last.

It has been a long time since my last post, much longer than I planned.  The reason...... we were going to fit some new flooring in the bathroom and some new taps.  That was the intention but it turned out to be the start of a major refurbishment throughout the house.  We haven't finished yet. Still some new windows to have fitted and the main lounge to refurbish but we are getting there.  Last of all will be my work room which has been doubling up as storage for new doors, bathroom suite etc etc etc.  It has been hard unplanned work and an opportunity to sort and dispose of a lot of old unwanted things.  Lots of bags for the charity shops and many trips to the local tip.

While all this has been going on, I have had little time for my textile work.  I have managed some and some photography.  I have started my Paris project at last.

We have visited Paris three times now so hundreds of images to use as my design source.  As usual, I opened images in Photoshop and played with them saving any images which I thought a potential for a piece of textile work.  As always. I needed a file to keep all the sketches, printouts, patterns etc.  I used an image I took on the Arc de Triumph.  It us a close up of the detail around the base of the structure.

I tea dyed some cord which was couched in place and used machine patterns which represented the carving on the structure.

This is a close up of the embroidery.
When this work was complete I designed the title of the file.  I stylised the text and digitised it to stitch out on my machine.  This was machined onto felt and applied to the front of the file.

I have had a bit of a thing for 'altered vessels' and had made quite a number of them (you can see them in an earlier post).  I decided to make one for my Paris project. I used an empty vinegar jar as it was the right shape for what I had in mind.  The jar was covered with moulding place and then painted with metallic paints.  I made a simplified drawing of the Eiffel Tower and cut five of them from pelmet vilene.  They too were painted and then highlighted with gilding wax so that it was close to the present colour of the tower.  They were stuck onto the jar.  I made up a chain and charm of the tower and hung it around the top.

One of the places we visited was the Institute of the Arab world. This building was incredible and had so much to photograph.  I used this building for many pieces.  One of the walls was made up of ceramic tiles joined together in a grid.

I used this to create a blackwork pattern and stitched it on the front of an iPhone pouch.

On the roof on the building was a pavement of large embossed metal tiles. I do not know the meaning behind the designs on the tiles but I liked them.

I played with this image creating a number of designs.  One was a B&W/silver design.  This silver design suggested an embossed shim piece.

I embossed the design on silver shim and applied it to the front of a small booklet.

Keeping with this design, I simply applied another filter and achieved the following design.  I loved the colours and had a piece of electric blue metal shim, perfect for it.

I embossed the shim and again applied it to the front of a small booklet.

I am not sure exactly which images were used to create the next set of pieces.  The images were played with and manipulated to create lots of patterns.  These patterns were printed onto T-shirt transfer paper and then ironed onto pelmet vilene.  I created numerous bookmarks and bag tags.

I printed a larger design of one of the patterns and again ironed it onto pelmet vilene.  I made it into a pocket booklet.

Continuing with this theme, I printed two of the bookmarks twice more and cut out windows in the designs. I printed small images of Paris on acetate sheet, cut them out  and then sandwiched them between two of the windowed bookmarks. They were then highlighted with silver pens, stitched and beaded and made into hangings.



That is all I have photographed for now but I do have quite a number of finished pieces still to photograph.

Once they are photographed I will post them here on my blog.

So for now cheers to all.  I will be back painting more walls tomorrow.