Bright Threads Studio

This semester has flown by. As I survey my apartment, every wall and large flat surface has artwork on it. Charcoal drawings, paintings, prints. My desk is covered with oil painting paraphernalia; the kitchen has screens, inks and my screen-printing equipment; The bedroom has sketchbooks and mixed media stuff. The dining room table has my mat cutter…and all the bits leftover from the mats I just cut for my prints. The Christmas tree is in the living room, still naked.

It’s been a good semester. I’ve realized tonight how many different things I’ve learned. I’m slowly taking photos of my work for my portfolio. I have my first portfolio review this Saturday in Jax; which is scary. It isn’t my first choice school, but the practice can’t hurt; other than my feelings of course.

I’m thinking of all the wonderful things I can do over winter break….read, finish some non-school art projects. Clean the apartment.

Well, maybe not exactly a banker, but you can lend money and change the world. How is that for an awesome deal?

It is Saturday morning, and I am lounging around in my Eeyore pants. I went to Sarasota yesterday to the Ringling Museum which was fabulous, so today is an officially designated lazy day. Hence my pleasure with being able to reach out to someone far awayby lending a small amount of money.Kiva facilitates microloans to help entrepreneurs improve their business. A microloan is simply a small, short-term loan. You are repaid, and can choose to lend the money to a new business.

Check out the Kiva website and you can be a “banker” too!

I own quite a few books. My husband counted over a hundred boxes of books while we were moving, and that was three moves and ten years ago. He suggested that might be too many books, the obvious solution was to stop writing “books” on the cartons when I pack.  I also highly recommend buying an e-reader. I have three hundred books in my Kindle, and it doesn’t look a bit fatter.

As a book connoisseur, it takes a really great book to impress me. Embellishing with Anything by Gladys Love (from C&T Publishing) is amazing. From supplies and techniques at the beginning to the inspirational gallery at the end this book is packed with information, tips and inspiration.  Whether you are making an art quilt or adding cute embellishments to a little girl’s dress you will find step by step descriptions and hints to do a expert job. Have you ever tried to remember how to turn a corner properly while satin stitching around an applique or edge? Tips and photos make it easy.  Twin needle stitching, curved piecing, drawing with thread and more are all demystified.

The chapter on ephemera has unusual ideas from using real dragonfly wings and pinup girl images cut from beer cans to candy wrappers and sushi-wraps. The wealth of photos and ideas will have you reconsidering every object in your house.

There are step-by-step instructions f0r making beads, ATC’s, postcards, walll hangings and collages, which give you the opportunity to try out painting on fabric, computer printing on fabric, and the other techniques you have learned.

This is a book you will return to for technical information and  inspiration. In fact, my husband thinks it can replace some of my other books. He’s right, but I have a duty to maintain a thorough library for future generations.

After creating the design for my monoprints I created six prints.

This image has all three primary colors we used: cyan, magenta and yellow. All the colors in the prints were created by combining  these inks.

This print is an analgous color scheme. The final step in creating this print was adding the lines. I scratched them into the plexiglass plate, addded black ink and wiped the surface clean. The ink that remained in the scratches was transferred to the print in the press.

I like this print. It is flat, but has areas that appear to be embossed. You can see the illusion in the detail shot below.