"Draw" Exhibition Invitation

The drawing class I go to is having an end of year exhibition at the local Regional Gallery.   We've started planning and getting our work ready .... a great learning experience for me.

I volunteered to put together an Invitation/Flyer for the group.  This week,  I worked out 4 designs/layouts and the class members voted .... 

This is the design that they chose.....

I am very happy that my teacher is going to let me include my Mangroves textile piece in the exhibition ... it was inspired by trip the class made to the Mangrove walk at Huskisson  and the drawing work  we did.

It will be fun seeing how it all comes together .....

Thanks for dropping by .....  CC

New Work .... Mangroves

This week I've finished the quilting and facings for the Mangroves piece .......

Happy with the end result .... enjoyed the quilting .....

but can see refinements for the construction process ....  so on to the next mangroves piece!!  

Thanks for dropping by .....  CC

Mangroves on the Design Wall

A while back I posted about drawing in the mangroves and contemplated the possibilities  of translating the sketch into fabric ....  well I've been working on the idea and after playing with the possibilities for a while,  I finally have some ideas up on the design wall,   just pinned at this stage ....

It still needs lots of work, but after looking at the black and white version I think its taking shape nicely.  Looking at the value placement in the composition really helps me to see how its working and how my eye moves across the piece .... not always so easy to see in full color!

I haven't yet decided on the final format for the piece .... I'm contemplating whether to add strips to top and bottom .... although this long thin landscape format looks good in this post ...... what do you think?

Drawing the Mangroves!

For last weeks drawing class we took a trip to Jervis Bay and to the board walk at the Maritime Museum.  This was a first for me ... the board walk winds it's way out through the mangroves at the edge of the bay ... its like entering another world, quiet and a little mysterious with wonderful reflections on the water and yet looking down you can see the mangrove shoots, the currents of water as the tides change and even the odd fish!  It was so easy to loose track of time sitting on the boardwalk sketching .....

The project for the day was to try and capture the feeling of the mangroves.  We started with a pale wash over gesso and then added some quick sketches of the mangroves with sgrafitto and wax followed by another wash thrown over the work ... good fun!!   This provided the background for a more drawing.  Here is my piece .... I've  started on a sketch of a mangrove branch and it's reflection in the water .... 

While there is a lot more work to do on this drawing, I am intrigued by these ideas and how I might translate them into fabric!  I'll let you know how I get on ....