Nuno Felt

Experiments with the Embellisher.

August 2012

Enjoyed my drawing class this week, drawing the wooden manikin used for body proportions, not sure if it has a proper name.

 I was given the idea by DMTV to try the drawing as a lino-cut. I have done some lino cuts before both at home and at City Lit where we did a reduction cut and used the press to print.

 My attempts at home have been handicapped by the fact that my tools came from a charity shop a long time ago. When I went to an open evening at St Brides Foundation I was really impressed by the detailed images that can be obtained and realized my blunt tools were a poor substitute for good tools. There was also a wood engraver there and his work was truly amazing.

Trial run in my sketchbook.

More cut away.

 Still that is what I have at the moment and being impulsive decided to have a go with them. If you would like to see some examples of the real thing take a look at this website.

Forgot to mention that these are printed with acrylic plus Open Medium on low immersion procion dyed cotton.

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

Just playing around over here.

Paper and digital collage.

Don't forget that you can click on images for a better view  - I know that I usually forget.

August 2012

A little of the stash of work currently on my wall in August.

I started my drawing class and after some initial uncertainties, I enjoyed working on some still life,ie old boots.

I had a sudden awakening this morning to the noise of a hot air burner which I recognised as the noise from a hot air balloon. I managed to get myself up at about 5am thinking it would be somewhere in the distance, but as you can see it was a little nearer, in fact just by my garage.

Fortunately there is a field a few yards in front so hopefully it landed there safely, I went back to bed!

Black Bones

Just a few pictures of ‘black bones’; after deciding to use it to experiment a bit more there were some better moments. Unfortunately my trusty Pfaff decided to play up. I think the problem was thread caught in the tension disc and hopefully it is now sorted with the help of a £20 note.

 Perhaps I will end up being drastic with this piece and cutting it up and starting again - I did get quite bold, slashed it in places and then embellished some muslin/bandage in the gaps! I also punched a few holes.

I am starting a summer drawing class locally for five weeks next week, depending on class numbers being sufficient, which will hopefully  help to refresh my drawing skills.

Thank you to all for your recent encouragement.

You need to click on the photos for more detail as my template does not allow larger photos.

Bones

Working on this piece with printed images of bones, a bit frustrating at the moment as I don’t really feel I like it. Some moments I think this will be OK but not when I see it from a distance. I think deep down one usually knows when something is working. I decided today to just play around with it and try and have fun, and that approach has helped. Let’s face facts, it doesn't really matter to anyone but me.

Sketchbook page:-

I am working on black commercial felt, with painted fabric and, of course, a touch of bandage.

I hope some of you had a look at Art Click TV as I thoroughly enjoyed two of their free videos and hope they will continue with the experiment in the future.

I am really enjoying looking at the work on this site, and finding it both inspiring and daunting in its wonderful simplicity and authenticity. It is the work of Alice Fox who is currently artist in residence at Spurn Point.

Change again.

I have been busy over the last few weeks with a new project, one of those you have to keep under wraps for a while, and with, more importantly, a son’s wedding. Now I have chance to return to the Change, Transform, Disintegrate project. I remember showing some of this, i.e. the buttons whilst in progress and it is still in progress, but now I think not much more to do.

 This is worked on a piece of felt made with merino wool tops and some quite shaggy fleece which I was given and washed and prepared myself.

 I think it has the look of rabbit skin. So some felting, some embellishing and hand stitch. More stitching needed to complete it.

Way back in May this year Margaret Applin of' Scrap, Wisdom, Collage 'surprised me with a post about my little self-published blub book which she had been kind enough to buy. Here, belatedly, is a link to her blog and the post about it. You can learn a lot about using thermo fax screens from her blog.

I like the new light-box feature on Blogger which means that you can click on a photo to see it enlarged;especially as my template means that it is often difficult to show a nice large close-up.

'Found'

A couple of interesting links today and a few photos of beach finds from Swanage.

Art click TV http://artclick.tv/   is currently offering quite a number of free videos due to the fact that they are linked to advertising. The more interest they get will encourage them to keep this feature which is currently only for July. I have really enjoyed a couple of free showings this weekend when I was not in the mood for much else. The advertising is not at all intrusive. Take a look so we can keep them posting more shows.

If you are anywhere near Stafford, Unit Twelve gallery seems as if it would be worth a look. The link was sent to me by Kirsty Whitlock whose work will be featured in a new exhibition which runs from August 2nd to 27th October.

Found: vb. to bring into being; to discover by chance; to come upon by searching; to perceive. 

Work from Jennifer Collier, Judith Brown, Lucy Elsie Harvey, Alys Power, Kirsty Whitlock, 

Print garage (a.k.a Iain Perry), Naomi Greaves, Lucy Harding and Tracie Murchison (pictured). 

  Unfortunately I am at the other end of the country but it is good to see what is going on. There are also a number of interesting workshops linked in with the exhibition.

Minute

It’s that time of year again and We Love Your Books have made their selection for this year’s online exhibition of Artists’ Books. This year the theme was MINUTE, so it was open to a number of interpretations, along the lines of very small and ideas linked to the passage of time. There was also a size limit to the book to fit in with the theme.

A small selection, in fact a minute few, of books will also be on show at the University of Northampton in November 2012.

I am very pleased to say that my book has been chosen and will be in both exhibitions. Circumstances pushed me to choose the idea of living life minute by minute and the idea of making the most both of time and the ragged edges of life.

I used photographs of my art work to make a small fold book.

Please take a look at the on-line exhibition; I think you will find the various interpretations fascinating. Later in the year a catalogue of the work will be produced and will be available from the website.

Kirsty Whitlock, this year’s Embroiderers Guild Scholar in the UK actually comes from Basingstoke and went to the same comprehensive school as my sons. Yesterday she was kind enough to come to the day services where I work and talk about her work to the service users. Not only did she talk but also allowed people to touch the flowing threads and smell the coffee used to colour the paper which is her main medium. She is full of enthusiasm for her work and her career; this was infectious and the audience were all caught up with this and really enjoyed the afternoon, sharing their own creativity, whether in crochet, cross stitch or working with old coke cans.

If you have not seen her work please take a look at her website. She will have her own stand at the Knitting and Stitch show at Alexander Palace this year so you too may get the chance to stroke the threads.

A winner

Well there can only be one winner and she is:


'primdollie'.


I hope you get my email and then contact Sue Bleiweiss with your address so that she can forward your prize.

Thank you to all the rest of you for your interest, and even if you don't win on the blog hop I'm sure
you will get plenty of inspiration and fun from the book. Impressed that some of you are reading it on
the ipad!

Rhythm

I hope you have been following the Sketchbook Challenge blog hop for a chance to win one of the generous prizes being offered by the sponsors. I am delighted to be a contributor to the book which is packed with information and resources; a small thing but important, is that it feels so nice in the hand, with its clever rounded corners, like a little sketchbook itself.

My theme was rhythm which I did not at first find easy; you will have to read the book to see how I coped with it. I found it interesting to reads everyone’s first impressions of the given theme: their honest accounts of how they dealt with the theme,how they worked their way into a sketchbook and eventually to a finished piece of work.

My give away will be:

From The Thread Studio a package of machine embroidery threads:

 http://www.thethreadstudio.com/catalogue/machine/vcoloursets/coloursets.htm  total retail value $18

On the 5th July  I will choose a winner from comments left on this post .

The generous  sponsors include :

Mistyfuse http://www.mistyfuse.com

ArtPlantae Today http://artplantaetoday.com/

Gelli Arts http://www.gelliarts.com/

Joggles http://www.joggles.com

Sue Pelland Designs http://suepellanddesigns.com/

ProChemical and Dye http://prochemicalanddye.com/home.php 

The Thread Studio http://www.thethreadstudio.com/

Blue Twig Studio http://www.bluetwigstudio.com/

The Artist Cellar http://artistcellar.com/

‘Sketchbook Challenge’ the book can be found at:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Sketchbook-Challenge-Techniques-Inspiration-Achieving/dp/0307796558

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sketchbook-challenge-sue-bleiweiss/1106242576

ArtPlantae: http://www.artplantaebooks.com/book/9780307796554

Comments are now closed 5th July 5.20pm UK

'Sketchbook Challenge' the Book.

To mark the publication of Sketchbook Challenge this week Sue Bleiweiss has lined up a blog hop over the next few weeks with $1100 of prizes.

It starts tomorrow so don't miss out. I will be writing more about the book over the next weeks.

June 26:  

Jill Berry  http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/

Sue Bleiweiss http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog

June 27:

Violette   http://www.violette.ca/

Kathyanne White http://kathyanneart.blogspot.com/

June 28:

Kathy Sperino http://finishinglinesbyksperino.blogspot.com/

Leslie Tucker Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/

June 29:

Jamie Fingal http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/

Lynn Krawczyk  http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/

July 2:

Jackie Bowcutt http://stitchworks-jackie.blogspot.com/

Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.blogspot.com/

July 3:

Jane Davies http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.com/

Kim Rae Nugent http://kimraenugent.blogspot.com/

July 5:

Carla Sonheim  www.carlasonheim.wordpress.com/

Carol Sloan  www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/

July 6:

Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

Diana Trout dianatrout.typepad.com

July 9:

Tracie Lyn Huskamp  www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/

Judi Hurwitt  www.approachable-art.blogspot.com

July 10:

Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/

Kelli Nina Perkins: http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/

Give Away Draw

Back from my week’s holiday last night: A lovely relaxed week in Swanage, Dorset. Despite rain and flooding throughout the UK over the last weeks we were lucky and had mostly fine sunny days.

Lots of fishing off the pier with the  beautiful view of Old Harry Rocks was done by my husband; fortunately I had ' Wolf Hall ' by Hilary Mantel on my Kindle. Can’t wait to get the sequel but will have to get myself to spend the money, I’m sure it will be more than worth it.

As promised now is the time to announce the winners of the two Give Away draws.

Firstly, a big thank you to all who read my blog, take the trouble to comment and even to join the Followers list. I notice when reading other people’s blogs that there are often moments of doubt and difficulty in keeping up or fuelling the creative urge; that creativity  which helps to keep many of us ‘together’ and  helps us through life’s dark moments. I’m a bit sentimental today as you can tell but suffice to say that blogging has given me a good deal.

Chosen at random the winner is:

PENNY

The winner from the ‘Stitched’ workshops is:

 Nicole Maki

Please email with your address and I will send the work to you.

More 'Change'

I’ve taken some photos now of the pieces that had gone to City Lit for the exhibition before I got round to photographing them.

 I like this piece which was shown rolled like a bone shape at the exhibition. It unusual for me to like my work without lots of ‘ifing’ and ‘butting’ but this little piece of felt is quite delicate and tactile, and I feel pleased with it.

Don’t forget to add your name to the list for the Giveaway at the end of the month. To be in it to win it you need to leave a comment on the previous post.

On Melanie Testa’s blog there is a mouth-watering video of a shop selling a huge range of Trimmings in the garment district in New York. Take a look it will make you truly envious, better than any sweet shop. 

Worth a visit to this Textile Degree Show if you are in the Eastleigh area in Hampshire: 

Give-aways

It’s a time of celebration here in the UK and it is hard not to get caught up in it whether you are a royalist or not, especially when asked to dress in red, white and blue for various outings to mark the Queen’s Jubilee.

There will be some giveaways here over June and July. The first one will be a thank you to those of you who read the blog and keep me enthusiastic about creating. The ‘prize’ will be - not a flight in a vintage plane - just a piece of my work. To be in it to win it you need to leave a comment on this post and join the Followers list if you are not already on it. It will be a random draw.

The second draw is for those who have joined ‘Stitched’ and to mark six months of the workshops. I will be giving away the small decorative bag made from the printed and stitched fabric linked to my workshop ‘Let’s Play Noughts and Crosses’. Access to the workshops for the next six months is now only half the original cost.

I will make both draws when I get back from holiday about the 24^th June.