New Art in the Stepping Stones Series

This week I've been working on a new piece in the Stepping Stones Series ....  I love this series because it allows me to play with design and color combinations.

In the last piece I included a streak of contrasting blue ......

                 © Carolyn Collins 2016 " Written Road"   Hand dyed fabric  12" x 12"  

This time I've gone a bit further and used a contrasting fabric as the background for the reverse applique.....

               © Carolyn Collins 2016  " River or Road?"   Hand dyed fabric  12" x 12"

The quilting is well underway .....  it looks so different in this photo of the work in the machine, an entirely different perspective!

                        © Carolyn Collins 2016  "River or Road Detail"  

I'm not sure whether this is a blue road or twin rivers??  I'll think about it while I get on with the quilting!  Thanks for stopping by ....  CC

Facings, Framing and Mounting on Canvas?

This week has been all about finishing work ... think I have the facings sorted but I've found some challenges when it comes to mounting work on stretched canvas and framing work!  I decided to mount LeafLines #20 on a stretched canvas for the exhibition  at the GCS gallery in Sydney.  While I've been using stretched canvas for my Stepping Stones pieces ... LL #20 is significantly larger!  so I've had to resolve some  challenges  ....  

-  getting the paint color for the canvas right -   I want it to blend in with the work ... in the end my trusty  '3 in 1 Color Tool'  provided the key to color mixing;

- how much stitching is required to hold the work on the canvas securely?  -  I used mounting tape to hold the piece in place and then I have stitched around the edges - so we will see!! 

- how to finish the back of the canvas and cover the staples and painted edges -  I found a framing tape and have used that to finish the back.

With LL#20 sorted I turned to the monoprints I made earlier this year.  I have quilted them on a base of white felt.

 I have been searching for a way to present them ....  I tried a traditional mounting and frame  but I think these pieces will look better without a mounting or a finished edge .... so I've tried 'floating' the quilted print over a background ......  here are two of my experiments ....

The blue background is too distracting but I like the simple white on white .....

Having reached a decision about these prints  ....  I felt like I was on a roll ......

So I pulled out a number of small landscapes  5" X 8"  that  have been hanging around  and tried a similar approach .......  for this one I think the pale blue background is a plus ........

It feels good to have sorted this framing out - but  I'm still on the trail of fresh ideas for presenting my work .....

Thanks for dropping by ...............................CC

Reunions and Reconnecting with Grace

Last year I attended a school reunion (for the first time !) ...  thanks to the encouragement of a good friend from school days.  The lunch included a tour of the school.  While it was fun to catch up with some of my old school mates .....  I was very impressed by the fantastic new facilities, not the least of which is an art gallery that has been set up in one of the old boarding houses!  

The gallery is the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh on the Pacific Highway at Wahroonga and was established in 2013 with the intention of providing an on-site educational resource for the School. Opening the gallery to the public provided the opportunity to engage with a wider community.  

This year that engagement has led to .......

I am delighted that one of my art quilts will be included in this exhibition,  not only because it is associated with my old school but also because of the connection to Grace Cossington Smith after whom the gallery is named.  Grace was  also an  "old girl", one who lived and worked for many years in the same area of Sydney where I grew up and whose work, especially during the 1950's and 1960's, is an inspiration!

 In this period " Grace Cossington Smith came to realise her aim: to express form in color - color within color, vibrant with light"  Grace Cossington Smith: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia 2005.

 If you haven't come across her work it is well worth a look.  One of my favorites is 'Interior in Yellow'  1964 ...... google it! 

The 2005 Retrospective Exhibition biography by Deborah Hart concludes with the following observation .....

" It is ultimately Cossington Smith's steadfast resolve to be true to herself in her art, to experiment and evolve at her own pace, revealing a depth of feeling for the world around her, a sense of adventure and a faith in the spirit underlying all things - ' the golden thread running through time' - that makes her one of the most brilliant artists of her generation."

Something to strive for!

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?

New Artwork with Leaf Print

This new piece has been built around one of my recent maple leaf print pieces made with a Gelliplate .... lots of fun!!   

The print was used  as the background for the piece and the design developed by adding layers of shapes.

 I  love the patterns of light and layers created by the arrangement of maple leaves on the branches and look for ways of capturing them ....

                   'Golden Fall'  

          © CarolynCollins Art 2016

This piece was inspired by a lovely golden elm, we walk past in the mornings.  It held its golden leaves well into winter ... such a lovely sight! 

After putting together the blocks of color and leaf shapes I was looking for a way to blend the layers and colors and found the answer in intense quilting with a variegated gold thread.  

        'Golden Fall'   12 " x  30"