M.I.A. -- or --Missing In ART!

My apologies.....I truly have been Missing In Art. While I have had a few spare moments to pop into Face Book and say *hi*, most of my time has been feverishly spent getting the following pair of paintings, designed, created, varnished and OUT the door!

All rights reserved; 2011.

The photo is nominal~~I was (as usual) in a rush and just wanted to record them for posterity.....plus I was so tired from working nonstop in the studio for a week, I couldn't see straight!
Never the less, I was delighted in two things~~First, I got it done.
Second, I have not worked on 18"x24" canvas in a long time, and to manage to do TWO, well, happy dance time. ;-)
Sometimes it seems when we think we just don't have another ounce to give, that is when you discover how deeply you DO or DON'T want to make art. And I do, very much.
I am off on another project, which of course has a short deadline. I am not sure how many blogs I will be around; if you comment and have an e-mail addy, I'll pop you a note back. I feel bad about my lack of time to read and reply on your blogs, but I am hoping you understand.
It's always feast or famine, and right at the moment, I'm feasting away!
Until I am back on a somewhat *normal* schedule....haha.....
I bid you all,


Pax....

I See Dead Leaves........A Sewing Horror Story! LOL!

Okay, bad pun.....they're not really dead, and it's really not a horror story (it might be horribly told....) they are just being made to look like fallen leaves in various stages of becoming those beautiful, lacy skeletonized miracles that pop up in the flowerbeds in early Spring. This is part of a sewing commission, and frankly, this is the third go I've had at getting these things right. Without the leaves, there is no piece, period. And this is the first time in my life that the original plans I have had just flat out tanked.
There are a couple of problems.....one being that when I purchased my machine years ago, I bought software that was supposed to perform miracles! WRONG.
Secondly, while is does an adequate job on the embroidery, it is an older machine with lots of *miles* on it and after a few patterns being run, I have to shut it off to let it cool. I don't have $8000 (yes, you read that right) for a NEW one. Not that I would buy one this elaborate again. And no, I did not pay that much for the one I own.....I'm crazy, but not that crazy!

The whole theory of the leaves was that, and it was a great idea, the machine would do it's thing and I could catch up on some other projects that have lain around for a year due to those two pesky surgeries.
Well.
HA.
Thread breaks on a regular basis, bobbin thread runs out and everything has to be lifted out of the machine, I have to have spare bobbins wound because I discovered the hard way I cannot exit the program to wind a bobbin.......*rolls eyes*.......it just stops completely and there is no way I know of to get it back to where it was.
So below is a walk through my leaves, with a few humorous comments!

First I start with a layer of water soluble stabilizer. This is the best because the scraps can be reused and there is a lot of waste in the process. A lot. REALLY. A LOT.

I learned the hard way I don't have to cut a FULL hoop of fabric....if I tighten it down good, a partial piece will work just fine. This has to be fit into the hoop extremely firm as there is a lot of movement and vibration as the machine does it's thing.

Hoop is locked in place, and the threads are brought to the top surface. Then the presser foot is lowered and........

......push *Start* and pray. It always makes it through this section just fine. But as it begins some of the satin stitching.......

.......of which there is an ample amount, that is when I receive what is equal to a Windows System Blue Screen Of Death........

.......the dreaded Yellow Screen Of Broken Thread! (I get at least two of these per pattern stitched.....)

And when it is done it looks lovely, as though it were no effort at all. What you are looking at is over 35 minutes of work. The pattern, when things run RIGHT, is 25 minutes, but of course, we have to have a few fits and stops and thread breaks and other assorted bad behaviour. (and yes, if you follow me on FaceBook, this was the machine I was threatening to throw out the upstairs window, just to see how many parts it would break into when it landed on the driveway.....but I figured it would crack the concrete and my poor DH would have to throttle me.....)

And then you load it up and start again. Hold breath, pray sincerely, push *start* button.....

On the sheer fabric, the finished embroidery is lovely. This will have the extra stabilizer trimmed away, rinsed in cold water to dissolve the rest, be pressed on a teflon sheet with a cover to set the stitches and then each leaf has to be hand cut from the fabric.

And here is a view of the ones in progress.......I generally get three patterns run before the machine begins emitting a hot smell and I shut it off a while and we ALL cool off! LOL!!!
As I said....
I... see... dead... leaves......

Now, have a laugh at the short tempered blog-mistress and her sewing issues! Make something to brighten your day, or that of others. Life is too short to waste!  :-)

Pax.....

Art Tomorrow!!!

Dear readers, I am bailing on you this morning.

Yesterday I had a day that, for the most part, was spent in making art. I, of course, did not photograph the process, simply because it felt so good to be doing it!!! I did not want to clean my hands or stop at any part to break the flow. This is not fancy canvas art; it is working with paper that would otherwise be disposed of, and it turned out lovely. It was playtime, experiment time, just chill to WWOZ and go with the jazz time!
I got some photos shot of the semi finished pieces and decided that today is going to be another art day too.
Yes, I am being a bit self centered, eh?  ;-)
Tomorrow, I fear, wil be a run-run-run day so I am just putting myself first on this one.
And last evening, while impatiently awaiting the season finale of "Sons Of Anarchy", I drew my first two ATCs. Now how far behind the real world am I??? They were so much fun! If my hands had held out, there would have been two or three more, but as most artists know---when the hands quit, YOU quit. How easy to make those and attach them in some manner to a greeting card.......or for a Christmas ornament......possibilities!
I did get an e-mail about the one commission I had been awaiting more info on and it will be a go--have to reply and see if my answers meet with their needs and then we're set! (and I can publish the working sketch on here! YAY!!!)
So while there are no pics today, I feel like this little blog-burp is a most significant one and hope it suffices for the moment.
I wish you all the joy of creativity, the time to pursue it and the freedom of a child with a new box of Crayolas (yes, the BIG box!) and a ream of paper!
Go make something!

Pax.