redacted poems

One of my favourite art journaling methods is to use found text and make simple poems.

I first discovered found poems when I was teaching in the 1980’s, when hubby used them in his English classes. Redacted poems are not quite the same, but I use the same principles, they don’t rhyme and they don’t have to make sense. I have found when teaching art journaling they are a good tool to use if people struggle with using images.

I like messing around using different materials to redact the words ( if you want to see lots of examples on Instagram you need to search #blackoutpoems) I like crosshatching and using washi tape.

I think the cross hatching with mandala detracts a bit too much from the text – but it is fun doing it.

Yesterday Monika and I taught a class where we used text by Bene Brown and other ‘goodread’ quotes about vulnerability as the starting point.

I asked to photograph the work – but promised to just use fragments to illustrate the different techniques the participants used to make their poems. I love the variety of materials and the colours.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/vulnerability

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13588356-daring-greatly

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Grey and white boroinspired

I bought some yellow cushions to go on my grey sofa – daughter hates them – so I decided to make some boroinspired covers in grey after a friend gave me an old pair of jeans to work with.

I made the first cover very simply joining the grey panels together with 5 rows of running stitch.

One pair of jeans was not enough fabric to make 2 covers for the size of my cushion pads. I found some more jeans and a couple of grey shirts at thrift stores.

Two layers of jeans is quite hard on my hands to sew through – but I am making the design using patches again so at least my fingers get a break regularly

My design so far

I enjoyed sewing this but had to go much slower than usual because the thickness of the fabric made my hands ache. I finally finished it this week

Quilt number 6

I am making my 6th boroinspired quilt. I started off just using blue and white thread on my denim patches. However one evening I decided to start stitching orange thread onto the patches after I had attached them to a preloved cot quilt.

I am adding my sashiko experiments on to this quilt. I think I needed to break up the sashiko patterns.

I have also discovered that I like doing lines of small circles – not quite sure what’s going on – I noted that I am watching comedy rather than scary thrillers whilst stitching. I must keep an eye on what happens when I watch another thriller – it may just be another phase I am going through …..

The Beild centre at Blackruthven

https://www.bieldatblackruthven.org.uk/

I taught an art journaling type of exercise at a retreat this week. The Beild Centre is lovely. The accommodation is a converted stable block in the grounds of a small stately home near Perth.

The art room is fab – loads of materials and a log burner to keep you warm

There is lots of great art around the grounds we particularly liked the mosaics which are like small green pools set in concrete in the path around the stable block.

This is my view from my bedroom

Sculptures a pond, and a walled garden.

The group I visited with were coming to the end of a 2 year journey. I planned a piece that they could develop as their own, using acrylic, stencils, collage. I was unsure of the participants art skills so I needed to have a frame work to work with.

Above shows a step by step work sheet I provided. The concept was to build up a strata of ideas about the participants journey using text on the faces rays and layers of paint to represent time

One of the participants wanted to do her own design and had a clear idea of what she wanted to do

The rest of the group used my basic idea, choosing their own colour schemes and a variety of stencils

The face was a stencil designed by Andy Skinner. This was the first time that I had taught a canvas workshop with paint. I needed my wits about me all my years of teaching experience, lol .

Art journaling and Megeve

We had a short break with family skiing in Megeve, France. Well the family skied and I mostly did art stuff.

Megeve is a pretty village – away from the main thoroughfare you can find some interesting doors and windows

We visited in February /March and all the Christmas decorations were up so I took lots of reflections in the big baubles

I also did some watercolours and art journal type images

My journal page above looks at stitching family together

Landscape using a ski map as collage fodder.

Beautiful views and a ski lift queue.

I made a couple of girls giggle wearing my fit flops in a cable car

And I forgot that you shouldn’t put bubble bath in a jacuzzi bath – luckily there was a loo nearby for the extra bubbles

Practicing sashiko rice stitching

I decided that I wanted to try more formal sashiko rice stitching after finding Susan Briscoe’s Ultimate sashiko source book

I am useless at drawing grids and straight lines so I found some denim and a navy shirt decorated with little polka dots.

I used the grid making stitches that were half the size of the space between each dot. This is Komezashi – rice stitch on a patch made up of different fabrics

Yokogushi and jujizashi – horizontal and cross stitch

Kawaru Komezashi – rice stitch variation

And Komenohanazashi – rice flower stitch – which I had to do on a slightly larger scale

I had a couple of complete fails – I found it very difficult to count the spaces for some stitches and needed to enlarge the scale – on the whole I enjoyed it and really like plain cross stitch – now I have got the hang of stitching in different places in alternative rows – my poor dyslexic brain definitely struggles with learning to be consistent lol