The workshop just ending has been particularly inspirational. Shelley Rhodes is a UK fibre artist whose mixed media work features fabric+paint+ various markings+stitch. Shelley suggested we chronicle a walk, and that there were various ways people could approach that – by going on a particular walk, recording markings of lines and shapes on our prepared fabric, do the same from a remembered walk, and for the mobility challenged a stroll in our own garden or nearby local park would serve the purpose. I referenced some of the many photos I’ve taken on my walks along the Carrasco beach down the years.
One of the things were were encouraged to explore was using some related text or written words. Our line and texture markings were to build an abstract, non pictorial record of patterns of lines and shapes we saw on our particular walk. Some people’s results were very successful, but others found doing anything non-pictorial very difficult.
In this first pic, I did some sand ripple markings and a few ‘beach’ words, but they then blurred when I added another layer of paint over them.
By that time, too, the paint had made the fabric too tough for me to hand stitch through, so I resorted to free machine embroidery:
The next couple of pieces were both cut out of another long strip, again too stiff to hand stitch through, so I machine stitched. Each section was mounted over foam core, which I didn’t realise came in colours until I went to buy some last week. Naturally I chose some black in addition to the white, and love the effect of the torn edges against it. I made a note to tear and possibly fray more thoroughly before painting in future.
The small size, 3.25sq.in, of these two pieces, is so that these little samples also fit into the 100 Day Challenge I’m participating in with SAQA Studio Art Quilt Associates.
I’m posting many of these on my instagram page @schwabealison, as the challenge’s FB page is only visible to participants. I’m killing two birds with one stone here...