silk painting with gel glue

I received, (Thank you Linda!), a silk painting kit for my birthday last year - do you ever do this?: I wanted to make the drawing that I did sooo special that I ended up not opening the box for over a year! Well, finally I did, and I was zooming along with the gutta-resist and ran out. I had just been doing those gel glue resists that Susan Sorrell taught us in her website class on fabric painting, so I pulled out the gel glue and kept on. Here is the result:

Here: let me show you another view:

See how the paint pools on the silk? I never really understood why so many folks like silk for a painting canvas ... now I get it.

The gel glue pattern in the blue space there was just scribbles. Gel glue is pale blue glue that one can get in one's local big box store, or many places where Elmer sells their other, regular white glue. I don't quite know why but it dries into a lovely resist and then will contain very watery fabric paint from section to section in a painting. The paint pools and dries in that lovely light/dark way.

Now, I was drawing the glue on in a pretty fast stroke, and had the nozzle open pretty wide, so I wonder, if either of those things were changed, if the "problems" of this painting could be minimized or even eradicated. Above you can see where there are thin threads of glue that dripped as I went from one place to another. See on the polka dots on the pink?

And see here:

These are her eyes, but the gel glue tends to spread out as it sits on the cloth, before it dries, and so here her eyes ended up having very little detail. Bummer. The glue is a bit thick and it takes some hand strength to draw an entire picture in gel, I was probably just excited, and wanted to get going. I will try another one using a much smaller opening to use less glue so that it won't spread around so much.

And as for drying: In Susan Sorrell's fabric painting class there was always lots to dry and then heat set. I blew out a brand new iron in my speed to get results. (Paint all over the bottom!!!)And then I remembered that my clothes dryer has this removable shelf that braces against the front and back of the dryer so that it doesn't spin, but does get all of the heat and moisture removing properties of the dryer. I snapped it in place yesterday, set in a couple of pieces that needed both drying and setting, this face piece amongst them. I think that I set it for 40 minutes or so on the highest heat setting, and voila! It worked perfectly!

Gel glue can be a bit of a pain to get out - washing, scrubbing and all - but I let the silk painting soak overnight in, initially, hot water, and this morning the glue was all gone. There also was NO color in the water, so the heat set worked. Yay. So I rinsed it, and ironed it, and feel much more confident now about going on to do more pieces without gumming up that new iron I'm gonna have to get.

Oooh! Ooooh! the gel glue, if I can get it to write thinly enough would be an awesome way to make a Robinsunne's Multiplication Clock on fabric!!! OH YEAH!!! Make it big enough to be a quilt! Sleep with your multiplication answers!!!

Website Updates

Good Day!

I have been working madly on a new page for my website: Robinsunne's Multiplication Clock. Here it is all completed. Directions - full, complete, free directions - are at my website http://robinsunne.com

One day I was teaching and - this sounds a little woo-woo, but its true - there, in my mind's eye was the RMC as a fairly whole picture. It seemed a natural for folks who wanted to practice their multiplication tables. One would draw out twelve circles for each of the twelve times tables and write in the numbers corresponding, 1. to their place around the circle of the clock, and 2. to their place out from the center of the clock.

So a student who already mostly knows their multiplications gets a chance to do a little geometry, and measurement, and gross motor movement, (it is 18" x 24"), and best of all: coloring. I am learning that repetition is the deep secret to learning a thing, and if the repetition can be spiced up with some other neural pathways then the learning goes all that much better.

I also have a philosophy about how art makes everything whole and complete, but more on that later.

My plan, now that I took some time to do a nice one to show off on the website, now that I know what goes into making the edges even, the numbers correct, and the sheer bliss of laying color down onto paper, is to get all of the high school and college students making a RMC. O.K., adults too. It is more delight than even I knew! It is also more challenging the more one knows. Getting those numbers all beautifully written, choosing colors, making perfect circles. And now I want to make one in fabric - like a quilt. I want to see someone do one in paint too. Or wood. Or, or, or ...

So, go to the flickr group site to post photos of how yours turned out: http://www.flickr.com/groups/robinsunnesmultiplicationclock/

And my web pages also got some new photos here and there in the last few days. And there are now links to subscribe to my newsletter which will always contain at least one new art project to do with yourself, or share with your family and friends.

Busy week at SunneSpot Central ...

phew!

R

New stitchings.

So this week, while still reeling, (in a nice way), from Susan Sorrell's class on fabric painting, I started drawing pictures on fabric, (not exACTly what we did in class, but related), and I started in with the permanent markers again. Here is the unembellished sky from my upcoming piece: "October Bird". Cool texture just with the drawing, I thought.
And next we have a getting-there, almost-embellished, view of her eye. O.K. Now we're in heaven. Well, almost. Not quite crusty enough for my liking. Yet.
Now, I am SO attracted to Susan Sorrell's stitching, and there are some other folks who have this heavy-stitching-technique-over-hand-painted-fabric thing going. I really like it. I, however, am not enamored over the practice of dragging those thick full needles through all that tightly woven fabric. I don't know how Susan does it. I kept resorting to pliers. (I can't possibly be doing it the way she does...)
So: as I continue, I will be working with my dear old size 12's. See that feather stitch gracing that hot pink line in the corner? Miles of eensy stitches in thread is more like it for me. Oh, yeah.
Now I have to go and finish with all that pink so that I can start on the blue.. and silver.. and trash!
R

Web addresses

Hmmm ... those cute little link buttons weren't working for me. drat!
Oh! but also my computer just hiccuped...
Here are the addresses

robinsunne.com
robinsunne.etsy.com
there.
And speaking of Columbus Day, check out the book 1421. A great read. The Chinese made the maps, that the Portugese had, that Chris used in 1492. -The Chinese maps were made 70 years before CC sailed-. Amazing. Now if we only knew what Alexander had in his library.
R

I have a website!!

Well, I have finally taken the plunge! And I just feel so brave to sit for hours at the computer and figure this all out. Take a peek!: robinsunne.com There are lots of links back to here, and a few to my also brand new etsy store! (What a learning curve this weekend!)
Whew!
Anyway, here are some pics from the website:
This is a quilted vessel that I talk about on the .com and have for sale at etsy.
Here is another quilted vessel. Y'know years ago, I was making a little art quilt and I put my quilting stitches so closely together that they made it all stiff. Boo Hoo says I ... until I realised that THIS could help me into my beloved, tactile third dimension. Yay.
This line of hearts is from Prayers II, an exquisite embellished applique that I did about a year ago. I adore the set and would love to put them out ... I will have to work on my in-house photography set up. Prayers I and II are each about 4' tall. I'm not quite sure how to get any clarity with the distance I'll need to get the whole piece in.
So, besides all that, this heartline - one small part of P. II - is my webpage header. I like how it turned out very much.
I had a little painting flurry two years ago, and made lots of Madonnas, and a few goddesses. This lovely is at my etsy
Oh! And Nannee gets to breathe some fresh air too. My first book. Self-published. She's at my etsy too. (Am I using those link buttons too much? I could be dangerous with all this computer info. - Oh Dear God In Heaven ... this stuff is so much fun ... D'y'spose God and Goddess send each other emails? yhwh @ yahoo .com???)
I'll stop.
Do go take a peek: robinsunne.com

fabric painting with permanent markers

Check this out:
So this is the latest in my pilgrimages into the land of fabric painting.
I was thinking about words again, after I wrote with gel glue a week or so ago, and this time I used different colors of permanent markers. I have a letter from my great, great, great, great uncle to his sister-in-law, (my g-g-g grandmother, Phebe), and when he ran out of space on the page, he just turned the paper 90 degrees and kept on writing. Well, it isn't all THAT legible, but I loved the design his wonderful thin writing made.
Here I wrote three different sentences in three different colors, and in three different directions. And I think that I like it.
Once I sew it into a doll costume and get it all embroidered or beaded, I think that the words will become a deep secret and all that will be left will be the color and the design.

The dolls are coming.
Love,
Robinsunne