IT'S TIME TO GET CREATIVE AGAIN - Part 1

Now that my aches and pains from being rear ended on the interstate a couple of weeks ago have pretty much disappeared.....I'm ready to start creating again.  However, my 'lay off' generated some 'artist block'.

I wandered around my studio, choosing and rejecting dozens of fabrics and ideas.  Just when I was to the point of major frustration......two painted pieces caught my eye.

This was done in the fall using thinned mx dyes.  The vertical spot in the upper right side is actually a flaw in the fabric.....I like to call things like this, "design opportunities". The piece is now on my design wall.....waiting for further inspirations....

This is what is left of a larger section that was also painted using dyes.  With all the deconstructive screen printing/and surface design we do at our Fiber Junkie meetings......I purposely set out to make some interesting 'solid' fabrics.

 That fabric was cut into random size rectangles, along with a variety of commercial batiks to create a background.

Happily, several pieces earmarked for an exhibit I'm participating in this spring at the NC Arboretum have sold.  So I need to make a few more featuring nature themes for the display.  

I was excited by the color combination/contrast of the pieced background and the black and white batik fabrics.  However, even before I actually cut out a leaf from the fabric I KNEW it wouldn't work.  The print is too busy for the detailed shape of the leaves.  So.....I'm either going to change the fabric OR perhaps try to change the leaf style.  BUT....that's what keeps us interested isn't it??  One-of -a-kind art is challenging to create.....yet the rewards can be so great.