Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Goals for Week of May 15th

I am so itching to get back to the fabric I painted a couple of weeks ago (see here). It's sitting in a place I walk by every time I head to the kitchen or living room. It nags at me daily. It tempts me with its "ignore everything else, come play with me" attitude. I heat set the tints using an oven method and I really should give them a rinse to see how it worked. Although it's been long enough now that they have probably passively set. At the moment, I don't plan to do anything else to them. They are such pretty colors and have a very delicate veining to them which should make them great for a wholecloth background or even cut up.

The painted pieces though, they definitely could use more work. I want to try imprinting a mesh design on the pink and blue one, and also stamping with the shells that did not sun print. I think I will try a flour paste resist on the leaf one to add a fine crackling to it. As for that swirly one, I think I may try something using the freezer paper discards from my contest block foundation making. Create a resist with it and either spatter or make marks with various brushes. Might even peruse my collection of stamps to see if anything there might help.

So the fabric is my main goal this week. Even though the Easter piece remains unbound (and I'm itching to get it finished too) and my room is still a mess. Hey, give me a little credit - I at least put away everything I used while making those contest blocks! Seriously, though, as much as I thought I'd be winding down work in the studio and tying up loose ends over the next few months, I feel an incredible urge to keep moving forward and start new things. Is that because I'm subconsciously trying to avoid all the mundane details that must be attended to when preparing for a move or because I truly do not want to give up my creative outlet? I think it's a bit of both. When I sensed how much I wanted to keep working, I had to ask, just how long can one put one's art on hold? How many excuses can one come up with to keep from seriously working at it? When will the perfect, right, stars aligned time finally come? Better to keep at it, make time for it in spite of life's interruptions. Let's see how much of both world's tasks I can accomplish this week.

1 comment:

nan said...

Hi Sheila - I totally identify with your "itch". When you were reading all those books last month, did they include "Off the Shelf" by Sue Beevers? I read thru that one Sunday, and found some great ideas for layering. Some of her pieces/techniques have a wonderful depth to them, starting with light backgrouns and building forward. I recommend the book if you've not seen it.