Painting It

This Weekend!!!

2011-12-09T23:05:00.001-05:00

Nuance

2011-12-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

After looking at my previous posting about this fabric sample for a while, I realized the fabric needed a whole lot more nuance and depth. It didn't have the mysterious gloaming quality I was looking for. Thank goodness for the electronic retrospect from looking at one's work on- line. I went back into the studio and darkened many areas, and added more blue and more of brown-y purple wine colour. Much better effect.

Clicking on the images will take you a slide show to larger pictures.

2011-12-07T12:41:00.001-05:00

This is a small fabric sample for a client..it will be for dining room chairs. As you can imagine, I certainly enjoy using all these colors and reflective effects.

This Weekend! December 10-11!!

2011-12-06T01:21:00.001-05:00

http://atomicholidaybazaar.blogspot.com/
I will be exhibiting both days!

New Cotton Shawls

2011-12-06T01:16:00.001-05:00


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290454564327747.71320.149610111745527&type=1 These lovely cotton shawls and scarves are woven by a men's collective in Java, Indonesia. They were a big hit last year, and I have had many requests for more. Hence a large selection at this years Atomic Holiday Bazaar, this weekend (December 10-11th). They are very fun to paint, especially the ones with the open work borders. The multiple square design ones are lively as well. You can see more photos and commentary on my Pamdesign face book page (link above). The scarves flow nicely, but also keep their shape and keep a perky crisp shape around the neck, which I personally like very much.

Click on the pictures to see a slide show of larger images.

New Cotton Shawls https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290454564327747.71320.149610111745527&type=1

Very Large Kitchen Floorcloth

2011-12-06T01:07:00.001-05:00

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.274285215944682.68053.149610111745527&type=1

This is a very large, custom floorcloth for a kitchen. Since the shape is a bit special, I made a paper template to make sure it follows the contours of the cabinetry exactly.

It measures about 16 feet long, so finding a wall to stretch the canvas on was crucial. Luckily I was able to do that!

The design is very simple, however a lot of measuring and precision was part of the process, making a solid pattern I then could go over the top of with a lot of paint and texture.

Lemons are a theme in the Mediterranean style kitchen and adjoining dining room. They make a nice addition to the expanse of painted tile design.

Bathroom Floorcloth

2011-12-06T00:56:00.001-05:00

This bathroom floorcloth was designed to complement, not compete with or copy the sculpted tiles work around the shower bath and some other areas in the room.

I enjoyed using multiple glazes and loose, painterly effects on the waves. When a floorcloth can be painted no my work tables, (when it fits) I can have a lot of scope with the paint, more than when its painted vertically.

2011-12-06T00:51:00.001-05:00

http://atomicholidaybazaar.blogspot.com/

2011-12-06T00:47:00.001-05:00

I am having trouble placing a permanent link to the Facebook page, on the blog info section, but I can put it here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pam-Marwede-Is-Pamdesign/149610111745527https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pam-Marwede-Is-Pamdesign/149610111745527

Until I figure out a better way, I will just post it like this for a while.
Please visit my facebook page for Pam Design!

Another Big Catch Up:Pottery Painted In September

2011-12-06T00:21:00.001-05:00

I have been ignoring this blog in favour of the ever popular Facebook updates. Naturally, there are plenty of folks who prefer not to use Facebook, and so its quite unfair of me. In the next few posts I will attempt to get this worthy blog updated and current for Blog followers. My apologies!

Here you see part of the big push for winter/Xmas inventory. Lots of pottery. I also have painted a large selection of cotton shawls, coming in the next post!

All of this pottery is available at the upcoming Atomic Holiday Bazaar, December 10-11th, at the Sarasota municipal Auditorium.

Delft Influence Wont Go Away

2011-07-11T18:47:00.003-04:00

The painting of the Delft tile mural left me with a residual desire to keep drawing the fantastical and decorative flowers and birds I had put on the tiles... So I did a few large platter pieces, that seemed to be good places to work this thing out.

The backs of the platters have my more typical pattern work for backs of things... whilst the flowers on the fronts aren't so different from the stylised floral work I often put on pottery, anyhow.

Blue Tile Mural- "Delft" Style

2011-07-11T18:38:00.001-04:00

Tiles are so difficult to photograph. These are no exception.

The tiles are installed in a shower bath area.

Here they are on my work table, before firing and after firing.

Seashore Pillows Made up

2011-07-11T18:24:00.000-04:00

Here they are!

Small Pond Floorcloth

2011-07-11T18:09:00.002-04:00

Its a small pond on a small floorcloth!

Nevertheless, it turned out very nicely indeed, and will make a fine addition to the kitchen whence it is destined.

Seashore Pillows Finished

2011-04-30T21:14:00.005-04:00

Here is the final pillow in this project, the crab. And the stripe fabric is for the rope piping. It will be cut into 4 narrower strips for that.

I also did some more work on the turtle and the seahorse today, depening the shadows, especially on the seahorse, which was looking a bit flat.

And here is the crab. He is a fine fellow. Or lady.

Seashore Pillows

2011-04-30T17:11:00.007-04:00

This is what I am working on now. Four pillows depicting sea shore animals, some on land some from the water, and some that go back and forth! The fourth one, not finished
yet, and not shown here, is a crab.
The backs are stripped fabric, and there will be a fat, fabric covered piping around each one.

The pillows are commissioned based on a group of pillows I did some years ago. Its sort of hard, and then sort of easier to match previous work...in some ways, the new ones are much better. I like to think my skills improve...but the originals were very good too. Not requested this time around are the gull, the hogfish (wrass) and the view of the birds' feet on the sand. Have you ever seen how seabirds often stand on their own feet, and have trouble getting going walking from that pose? Pretty funny.

Painted Upholstry On Painted CAhir

2011-04-30T17:06:00.002-04:00

Some bright colours here- not for the faint hearted!!
I painted the striped fabric, and made the welting to cover the join of wood and fabric.

And its a very comfortable chair too!

Painted Chairs

2011-04-30T16:17:00.014-04:00

Earlier in the winter I painted a variety of wooden chairs, one with an upholstered seat.
They were all pretty much vintage, and the upholstered one, clearly an antique, probably late 19thC or early 20th C.

Actually this carved , below, one looks pretty old: maybe Art&Crafts, or "Bungalow" style, from the 20s or 30s.

Chairs are very fiddly; the rungs and spokes can drive you mad . They require a lot of patience and detailed observation.

These two are matching (well, sort of!) swivel chairs. Bar stool height.

It was a lot of fun painting them, and they are beginning to find happy homes!
I have some pictures of the upholstry up next.

Cute Little Painted Bag

2011-04-30T16:07:00.004-04:00

A sweet little canvas, rubber lined book bag, painted with fabric paints.

It was a lot of fun... here you can see it camouflaging itself to my work table!

Painting A Hall Chest Blue

2011-04-30T15:54:00.006-04:00

In early Spring I was called upon to paint this cute little rustic hall chest.
Here you see it finished.A couple of years ago I painted this tall clock.

It was decided the hall chest was going to be less contrasty and less bright than the clock, so as not to be a blast of colour and interest when first coming into the place.
Here is how the top ended up...but first the piece went through several subtle transformations in tone.

I started off very light and white...too much. Too washed out.
.... the client was wanting something deeper, bluer....

There was also a moment when I introduced tiny bit off white, ivory colour in the highlighting, (see above)and that unfortunately moved it away from the coolness I was looking for...

See the difference?

Here is how it ended up (and the first image in this post, too)... and it was perfect.
These subtle differences in tone can be a huge deal in a very brightly lit, or very carefully colour-staged environment. it doesn't mean that there was anything "wrong" with the stages I went through with it. It means that when its right, its right, and its very important for someone like me to keep colours very clearly in my head. Something I enjoy doing, happily.

Trimming A Floorcloth

2011-04-30T15:39:00.003-04:00

Here are some more pictures of the floorcloths I used semi gloss to finish them with. I felt the duller sheen added to the low key, slightly vintage feel I was aiming to acheive.
I trim my floorcloths. Some people turn the edges over and glue a hem, but that tends to make a bump along the edge which also wears; eventually a line appears.
I trim using a VERY sharp utility knfe and a metal straight edge.
I then paint an appropriate colour, or colours, into the raw selvedge, and seal it with flexible acrylic medium (PVA, basically). The acrylic medium is also mixed into my paints, so that the whole floorcloth is very flexible and very crack resistant.

This work was completed and delivered back in Janaury, (!) But I wanted to finish telling the story.

In The Bleak Midwinter

2011-04-30T15:29:00.005-04:00

I have been a very lazy blogger. I have not been updating this nice blog for months....

I have lots of new work to show, but first I want to show these two wonderful floorcloths in their home. The client was gracious enough to send me these two pictures so you can see where they ended up! Remember to click on any image in my blog, and sometimes you can see it bigger.

Floocloth Set Almost Finished

2011-01-31T11:39:00.004-05:00

These two matching floorcloths are now done, and I am varnishing them, satin in this case.....they get 3-4 coats of acrylic varnish, and then I will trim and seal the edges.....

The birds turned out cute!

These were great fun to paint, and I am very pleased with the results.

Matching Floorcloths Process Continues

2011-01-25T12:26:00.002-05:00

Here you can see the plant design taking palce on top of the soft colours and patterns....

Its is a cheerful, stylised almost folkloric design, but distinctly modern and expressive too.

More pictures soon!

Matching Floorcloths Process

2011-01-25T12:16:00.003-05:00

Here is the familiar process...stretch the canvas, prime the canvas, turn the canvas over, stretch and prime...

And start painting.

This design relies on the build up of a lot of patterns and colours to make it interesting and rich in the background of the main design...its important not to be in too much of a hurry here....

At the same time, the overall effect needs to be subtle and warm, not too bright or contrasty....

not harsh, not boring!

Just right....

Now some drawing takes place, with chalk, so I can easily make changes and then paint over my drawing, wiping away residual chalk marks...

Matching Floorcloths

2011-01-25T12:05:00.006-05:00

I have been asked to do a set of two floorcloths for a kitchen, based loosely on some of my tile designs I have on my website...I made a series of drawings using the colours and imagery from the tiles, after a short discussion with the client...here are some of my ideas.... Blogger has turned these two drawings sideways, I don't know why, and it's annoying me, but I cant fix it. Apologies to my readers.

The clients requested a bird image on each of the floorcloths, too..

In the end, they liked drawing No. 1, as did I!... they suggested a smaller bird motif...I amended the drawing as you can see here, and away we go!

Painted Chairs From Ocotober

2011-01-20T17:18:00.005-05:00

This was a daunting pile of chairs to contemplate painting many, many colours onto.

First they all had to be primed very thoroughly, especially since the subsequent painting was going to be flat colour. I didnt want any of the initial pattern showing through.

The colours I was to use were all wonderful, and I enjoyed this job, even though it wasnt my usual expressive work.

Every time I added a colour or put on a new coat I had to be very meticulous to avoid drips, sloppy edges...it was painstaking work, for me.

But seeing these colours vibrate against each other was some reward for my care.

I painted them in batches.

Then, when they were all done, I had to store them to await pick-up... That was interesting (!) and provided some fun photo ideas I couldnt resist. I took dozens of pictures, all about colour, and those goofy fish swimming in schools all around the room!

Here are the fabrics that will be upholstered onto the seat cushions, later. pretty bright stuff!

Finally pick up day arrived. I must say, they looked great loaded into the van!

Fun stuff.

Another Big Catch Up for This Blog...

2011-01-20T16:56:00.007-05:00

This project was completed in August 2010, and I simply never got around to posting about it, I had so many deadlines, I never found the time...but it seems worthwhile putting it here now. It turned out very nicely, and makes an interesting change from so many posts about ceramics. In fact, you won't be seeing much about ceramics for a while, now...that season is past...for a while anyhow. This is a mural painted on canvas, in my studio, and stapled directly to the wall. It is painted to match the floorcloth, also painted by me several years ago, which its looking pretty good, too.

I painted wooden framing pieces that are applied with finishing nails, and these cover the edge and the staples. It took forever to hang. I couldn't believe it.

But then I was done, and it looks great.

I had a wonderful time painting the water. The theme and style were the result of the client and I coming up with these ideas- a very simple tropical water scene, serenity, but with movement in the water... big, big clouds, etc etc.

Here is the canvas on the work table. You can see the stretched edge, and the extra area painted in case it needed to be bigger for some reason. In the end that was cropped off.

I also painted this little mirror, to match the mural floorcloth duo, and it's cool to them reflected in it.

There is silver in the floorcloth and in the framing that picks up reflected light. The ceiling is fun too, with the star lights ...they scintillate and flicker on and off...magical.

Atomic Holiday Bazaar December 11-12, Sarasota

2010-12-07T10:23:00.003-05:00

Be there or be square!!!!

Atomic Holiday Bazaar This Weekend In Sarasota!!

2010-12-07T10:13:00.004-05:00

Its here again! The fabulous Indy Craft Show is in its Fifth Fabulous Year. Its a wonderful event, packed to the gills with wacky creativity..
I will be there with my ceramics both days! I have lots of cool new stuff, and firing more Thursday evening...
http://atomicholidaybazaar.blogspot.com/

Autumn Pottery Is Here!!!

2010-11-05T11:07:00.009-04:00

I been as busy as a blur, feverishly painting pottery...
I get a lot of new ideas during this process...there are some of the familiar designs, some new twists and lots of great colour...check it out!!

As ususal, Bomba the cat supervises, and gives a critical eye, throughout the day.

I have some cute bowls with little bun feet this year. Here are some.

Sugar bowl and creamer!

Or soy sauce and chile paste!

More pottery soon!

More Pillow Project Pictures

2010-08-26T20:26:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I finished painting the pillow fabric I started in the previous post.
Time does fly. You can click on many of these images to see them bigger.

This was a tremedously fun project, since I LOVE colour (SURPRISE?)... and I was sad when these were completed...

The client really enjoys bright colour, painterly effects and a loose approach- my cup of tea precisely.

I didnt get really good pictures of the backs: basically stripes in good colours for the fronts.... later, when I photograph the pillows, made up, I can show the backs better.

But there certainly are plently of good shots of the fronts!

Little Fishes Floorcloth Installed

2010-08-01T15:09:00.005-04:00

Here is the floorcloth from 2 posts back installed in its new home.....

It looks great in there....

New Fabric Project

2010-08-01T14:55:00.006-04:00

I love these projects with a lot of colour...
Here are three pillow fronts....

There will be three more soon, with some water imagery...

Click on some of the images to see them bigger....

And then I will paint backs for all six...

Then it's off the the seamstress...

An Object Lesson In Varnish

2010-07-09T23:27:00.014-04:00

Here is the floorcloth varnished- although VARNISH is an outmoded term, it's really "clear coat": a flexible acrylic clear coat, non yellowing and non brittle, not like "varnish' at all... thank goodness.
Clear Coats such as I apply now routinely came into existence during the 1990's and get better every year. Before that, ''varnish'' , with all its limitations for a flexible canvas floorcloth, was the only way.

I selected Semi Gloss for this one- its always a decision based on the colours used, the effect sought after, whether to use Gloss, Semi Gloss, Satin, etc. I always use Gloss for anything with metalics, of course..

... but the bright colours here didn't want a satin finish damping them down...

...so Semi Gloss is a great application in this case....

...compare the effect to putting seaglass in water...

... you can see how much richer and saturated the colours seem...

... great stuff.

New Floorcloth

2010-07-09T17:21:00.007-04:00

This floorcloth is going into a bathroom, with a bright red shower curtain trimmed in the bright fringe shown below, and with venetian plaster walls in a beautiful rich teal green on which hangs the painting of the fish with a bicycle (!).

Below is the art work I did for the client. I did two versions, including slightly different colourings...they picked the one they liked, the designer got me a sample of the shower curtain and the trim, and away we go....

I am using graphic style crayon lines on the floorcloth to make a nod toward the crayon or charcoal lines drawn in the painting on the wall...

I have also used the stars from the painting, and had a lot of fun painting them, too, with the black lines and all.

There's the fringe, its all looking pretty good...

Time to varnish and trim!

What Else Was In The Kiln?

2010-07-09T17:00:00.007-04:00

Inquiring minds may wish to know :"what else was in the kiln, besides the Day Of The Dead mugs?

Well, all this stuff:

Most of what you see here are special orders....

and have now been shipped on to happy homes......
...

Details of the fish bowls:

Fish are so much fun to paint, I never get tired of them, especially on pottery...the glazes blend so well to create a watery softness in the colours...

I concentrated on pastel-ly candy colour for the bowls...

By request...

Ceramic Work Update

2010-07-04T20:11:00.007-04:00

I have had a variety of pottery projects accumulating for firing, and after a lovely 2 week holiday in Spain, and a kiln repair that set me back another week, I finally have something to show.
It would appear that now you can click on ALL of the photos to see them bigger, and click again for BIGGER! Cool. This is a special order from an individual who wants a set of mugs depicting skeletons celebrating Day Of The Dead ...as you can imagine this was a blast to paint; I had so much fun, I plan to add this to my usual repetoire. You'll be seeing more of this in the future!

I just scraped the surface thinking up Day Of The Dead imagery... there is so much more!

Recent Work

2010-07-04T19:55:00.001-04:00

I have a lot of work to post to this blog, I have been too busy to keep up. Here is some fabric I painted a few weeks ago....

Mirrors

2010-05-11T10:58:00.001-04:00

Here is the mirror that I painted to match the dragonfly fabric. There's a sample of the fabric lying on the mirror.

Even though I cover the mirrors to protect them from paint splotches, there is always some tidying up to do after I take the tape and drop cloth away...

Mirror Number two:

This mirror goes in a powder room, with a very pretty hooked rug providing the theme for the painting...

2010-05-10T20:30:00.002-04:00

I had a lot of special orders for pottery to fill... I have been preparing for this , even while painting the fabric, by getting the requested shapes in stock, replenishing the glazes, all that stuff. its time consuming! And very nice to get down to the work after so much anticipation.

You will see these plates fired, below, and there is a bit of a colour difference after firing!

The green stuff is the over glaze. It becomes transparent. Don't worry.

It's a huge relief to see the larger pieces emerge intact from firing. Phew.

What you see here is the contents of two full kiln loads...both turned out really, really well..I was so pleased.

Even when the kiln is cool enough to unload, the stuff is still to hot to handle comfortably. Ouch.

These were two great batches. Now many of these pieces are happily on their way to the people who waited so patiently for them!

2010-05-10T20:20:00.000-04:00

Ah, this blogging thing has been taking a backseat...

I have been quite busy, and now I will catch you up on what I have been painting. This fabric for instance, completed WEEKS ago!

It starts off as usual with a painterly grounding of colour and texture...this design is going to be quite simple. It is for upholstery onto various furniture.

Here are some close ups:

Here is a subsequent section; the background is a lot of fun to paint.

Later on, you will see a mirror frame I have just painted to match this fabric...but first, I want to show you all the pottery I have been working on, too. Next entry!

Fish,Fish Fish!

2010-03-20T12:02:00.007-04:00

I am still busy painting this fabric yardage with the fish theme, 11 yards total, I think I am almost done!

I have the cat fooled....

This is Bomba, he is always such a helpful presence, ceramics being his usual specialty....

You might ask if painting so many fish, on so many yards becomes tedious?

Well, I try to avoid that feeling, by working fast and keeping up the energy. It never helps to drag it out, and feel as though it will never end... however, when I see the faces develop on these little guys, I get quite caught up in the whole thing, and want to do MORE.

Must be a Pisces thing....

Lots Of Fabric To Paint

2010-03-14T16:00:00.004-04:00

So here is how the fabric project starts....I will be painting many yards of each of the sample designs shown here. Here is my lovely bolt of new fabric. I use 200 thread count muslin, usually unbleached, for better application of the paint and a very soft silky feel to the finished fabric.

I like to be bold and have a lot of fun with the colour wash that underlies the detailed painting. Contrast and movement make for much more depth later. A lot of this simply disappears under later motifs, and gets blended into the overall, but its always worth it to see some lovely shape or texture peek out between the later additions to the painting. Something always shows.

It is wonderful to watch the colours blend and separate. I have learned to let this happen, and not smooth it away, from painting and firing the ceramics, and seeing the cool things that happen when colour blends and melts and shifts into its neighbour.

Time for a tea break! One of my painted mugs with fish all over it too...I couldn't resist the photo op.I was in a great hurry last night to finish this piece, and get a new piece on the table, and do the colour wash so it was ready to paint on today. Otherwise much of the morning would have been wasted waiting for this next section to dry, if I had done the wash then. I didnt take any pictures of the finished first piece on the table last night, but here you can see where I have advanced the fabric, and begun the process all over again for another 2 1/2 yrds....Over the edge of the table its too dark for proper pictures, but its a nice effect!

Child's Rocking Chair, Last Furniture For A While....

2010-03-10T20:47:00.006-05:00

This adorable child's rocker has been very fun to paint...

Funny thing about rockers, though, they rock. They move. Its was constantly surprising me when the thing moved as I tried to paint it....Hilarious.

I learned to cope.

The rocker is vintage. It has a damaged, no longer functioning music box on the back. The client asked me to leave it, and not paint it, I also left the vintage "Stork" label unpainted (not shown here. I should get a picture of that!)

This piece marks the end of a long furniture painting jag.

Next up: 20 yards plus of fabric with little fish, and dragonflies, for a client....I'm always pretty psyched by the variety my work brings me...no boredom here ever!!! Stay tuned!

Chest Finished, And One More Chair

2010-03-09T18:54:00.006-05:00

After a very bright start, I toned the whole thing down with an ''antique'', tea-stained look... The bright colours are there as a base, and to give life to the more subtle finishing touches. I tidied up the floral painting, trying to leave as much as possible of the original painting from the 1920's.

On the top especially, you can see that hot red shimmer through the subsequent layers of paint. Very nice.

And her is another great chair! It is an antique, I think, has a very pretty shape.

This chair, and many of the others I have painted recently are for sale in my ETSY shop (see link on this blog, left hand side.)

Antique Chest Of Drawers Gets A Makeover

2010-02-25T19:32:00.003-05:00

This is an interesting project..the client's Aunt painted the flowers in the 1920's, she thinks, and she wants to save that art work, but give the piece over all a new lease on life with a lot of excellent bright colours....You can see this piece in the background of a photo two posts back I think... it was just white all over...

The red stool is something I am painting too, while I am at it; I love that red! Its also very good to sit on while I work....

Early days on this yet, but do like the way I have had the heirloom painting meet the new paint here on the front. I will tidy up and re-emphasize some of the original antique floral later on...

I LOVE these colours. Well, anything with red usually floats my boat....

Finished Chairs

2010-02-25T19:20:00.006-05:00

While I was working on the chairs, I snuck these two stools into the mix....once your painting all these colours, and feeling full of energy, no point in just doing a little bit...

Here are the two chairs completed.....I have a feeling they are antiques, especially the larger one. It seemed very old, ...and I think its oak.. they are quite interesting shapes, and very comfortable. They are very solid too. Good for standing on.

They are great. they look like candy.

Painting Furniture

2010-02-25T19:05:00.004-05:00

I am on a total roll....I have several chairs, a table and a chest of drawers to paint....I haven't painted furniture in quite a while, and its a really nice change!

I simply cant stop, especially when I have a lot of colours all mixed up ready to go in very nuanced , and not so nuanced (!)shades ; it becomes so satisfying to put them next to each other in a sequence...

A lot of work goes into chairs... all those spindles! And underneath bits! Much dripping to curtail in a timely fashion...
some days, after hours of work and concentration, it feels like I haven't got anywhere!

But the result is they all get done at once...very cool. This table will get the treatment soon....I am thinking fish and waves with a pattern in the centre...

More Fabric Yardage

2010-01-28T17:47:00.004-05:00

I am still working on replenishing my tapped out inventory of fabric yardage. Here is the latest piece.

You can click on some of the images to see them bigger....

Below, you can see the first step in painting this fabric. This is how I start most pieces like this. Lots of activity, contrast and drama in the initial steps makes for a denser, more layered final result.

Wet fabric!

This image shows the initial blocking in phase of the floral and viney part.

Then I add shadows for depth and definition...

The finished fabric:

Tine to heat set and wash. Another lovely length of fabric ready for whatever the future may hold....

Painted Fabric Yardage

2010-01-26T11:40:00.004-05:00

Here is a hot and bright piece of fabric to brighten up a winter day!

This is yardage that will be used initially for display on a wall in an art show later in February...

and eventually may be cut up into pieces to be made into pillows.

I do enjoy the energetic "ad lib" process I get into when I paint fabric yardage .

Its completely addictive.

Remember, you can click on some of the images to see them larger.

This fabric gets heat set and then washed, and its ready to go!

Bird Fabric

2010-01-26T11:26:00.005-05:00

This fabric project has been in the works for many weeks...finally I am able to make the paper sketch a reality on fabric.
This will be 2 pieces of fabric that will hang from a delicate twig and stick arrangement in a rustic lakeside cottage, in a tiny bathroom.

Here is how I started the fabric.

I really like the colour palette in this project...earthy blues and greens, with a lot of ochre and olive...romantic and old timey looking....

I was particularly happy with the faces of the birds. They have a lot of character.

I am eager to see how this fabric will be installed, and I will post pictures if I get some!!

Kitchen Backspalsh

2010-01-26T10:51:00.010-05:00

Just because I haven't updated this blog in a long while doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

In fact, I have had so much work to catch up on, and still do, I don't always have time, even intellectual time to keep up here.

I have a few projects to post, lets see how far I get.

here is a tile backsplash full of fun creative ideas, I completed this work over Christmas...that gives you some idea of how far behind in blogging I am!

The tiles are 8"x 8" and run along the counter top in this cute circa 1920 cottage kitchen. The whole house is undergoing a complete remodel. The project revolves around a variety of whimsical pictorial scenes straight from the client's imagination, alternating with bold black and white geometric patterns, slightly art deco; the actual finish of the glaze on the tiles also has a vintage feel to it.

This was a tremendously fun project to do.

Nature goddess, farm animals, wildlife and space ship feature here.

If only! Bio diesel gas station!

Diversity and unity in the community.

Hail storm! And Mr Wind.

I will post pictures of the tiles installed as soon as they are.

Out And About

2009-11-22T09:23:00.009-05:00

Its that time of year again....

...when I get out and about, to a handful of local art and craft shows with my pottery, fabric and some jewelry...Its fun for me: I like meeting new friends, getting feedback on my work, and selling some too!
Many of these items will be, or are already, available at ETSY.com (see side bar link right on this blog!) The fish plates (below) with rims, for example, are a set of five at the moment...there were six, one was sold one this weekend..

So if you see something you like in these pictures, contact me or check ETSY.com (Pamdesign), maybe I can get it to you right away!!

Remember, you can click on some of the pictures to see them larger. And if you click again, they get even bigger. Cool.

These mugs are a new design for me this year.

These two brilliant fish plates also were sold... but I can always make more!

Watch this space for updates on my local activity!

Upcoming Events

2009-11-13T15:11:00.007-05:00

At the same time as completing the dishes project, I have also been gearing up for the usual pre-Holidays gift buying season...I will be participating in this 3 day long Junior League event. I will have pottery and pillows made from my handpainted fabric, and, by popular request, also some jewelry I make. http://www.jlsarasota.org/sarasota/index.jsp

Please spread the word, and try to stop by!

I really haven't had time to take a lot of pictures of the work you will be able to see next weekend here in Sarasota...but here is a little taste....

Much of this work will also be available at my ETSY store. There is a link to that on the left hand side of this blog. Check it out.

Later in December, I will also be at the wonderful Atomic Holiday bazaar, December 13th, Sunday, all day. But there is a special rock and roll evening Atomic After Dark event the night before, December 12th, that sounds like it will be a riot...http://www.atomicholidaybazaar.com/

Here is the facebook page for Atomic After Dark!: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/ical/event.php?eid=200291433335

Big Catch Up!

2009-11-13T14:12:00.010-05:00

Many days ago, the final pieces of this dish set were happily and finally fired and finally delivered...but I havent had time to update this blog....I am very busy making more pottery, and more on that LATER....Right now I want to show you the rest of these dishes!
The platters turned out fantastic...it's always nerve wracking firing large pieces, so much work goes into them, one dreads any flaw...but these are perfect.It was very fun to have such a relatively large area (the platters) to work on too...Here are some nice pictures of the dishes in their final home...and you can see here the kitchen island and matching floorcloth that I also had painted for the same people, some years ago. k

There are some close ups here of some of the dinner plates that werent fired yet in the last post...the onion turned out really good, as did the potatoes, the radish, the beet and some others....

There wasnt room to set it all up, for one big picture...

but here are some nice details anyhow.

Big Dinnerware Project!

2009-10-15T18:39:00.014-04:00

I have been very busy putting together this set of dishes for 12.So much planning goes into a project like this: simply selecting the dish types with the client is very important and takes tremendous concentration and some application of logic.

This particular client was very helpful and clear on what she wanted, so the process went smoothly, but it still took a lot of focus!

Another exciting aspect to this was project was the debut of a new kiln I am now using. It's really big, much bigger than my old friend the Old Kiln (sic),and it took a bit of formal wiring and engineering to get it powered correctly, and more testing from me to make sure it was all OK, before submitting this important dish project to it. Of course, getting the dishes planned and painted has also taken a certain amount of fore thought and mental organisation....I had to pay a lot of attention to keep track of what I was doing, each step, to keep the consistency in the design for each group.The cat is always particularly helpful at this time. (?)All the pieces are specifically designed to match in sets...Lots of variation between sets, but also clear repetition of the design within the set.

Each dinner plate, side plate and mug has its own particular fruit or vegetable.

The bowls are more generic, so they can work with sweet or savoury foods.

The bowls also sit prettily on the plates, for a nice table setting.

The backs of the plates reflect the vine theme on the bowls.

I think these oval "luncheon" plates are very cool.

Still yet to paint are two very large serving platters, one with fruit and one with veggies. And two large serving bowls, one with fruits, one with veggies!

Stay tuned.

Table Delivered!

2009-09-11T21:18:00.002-04:00

Here is the table in its home...and looking GREAT with the red chairs!

Table Finished

2009-09-08T21:09:00.006-04:00

A couple of days ago I finished this great table...

I am very happy with the way it's turned out, and the birds just crack me up....!
You can click on some of these pictures to see them larger!

The Roseatte Spoonbill and the flowering ginger plant are the last two elements to complete the circle, or Rougue's Gallery.

It's quite hard to photograph because of the reflections in the semi gloss finish.

Painted Table Moves Along Nicely

2009-09-01T09:47:00.003-04:00

This is the hard stage in a project, there is a lot to do yet, and I get conflicted about whether to work on the foliage and flowers, or to work on the pattern....I go back and forth, slowly developing the feel of the thing. As more paint develops the feeling of depth the painting starts to take on a life of its own. This is the fun part.

Lots more to do, but now that, for instance, the water area in the centre is resolved, I can have fun giving it a little more mystery and sense of atmosphere...compare this to the picture of it in the beginning of this post.

The flowers are blocked in with colour, also bringing more razzle dazzle to the scene...

Painted Table

2009-09-01T09:31:00.003-04:00

Next Project is a small dining table. Here is the sketch on paper... Birds, water, tropical, stylised....all good fun.

I taped under the edges, and the centre area, especially. I don't want thick areas of paint gluing it together, or preventing me from getting the table closed later!

It was important to get the birds in the right places, and for them to be the right size, so I decided right away where to put them...maybe a little too soon...

I painted them out, to do more background work; go figure....however, since I still wanted to make sure they were positioned correctly, and that there was enough room for the clumps of flowers to come later, I then went ahead and painted in the birds just about the way I want them, but didn't finish them. They will get all messed up anyhow, as I do the leaves and flowers around and behind them. However, they'll be easy to fix andperfect later, last thing.

With this project, there are lots of layers. I have to decide what gets painted first. If I dont take the time to think ahead, I will end up repainting a lot of areas, as they get stepped on by the adjoining bits that should have been painted first....

Fabric Washed

2009-09-01T09:09:00.003-04:00

After heat setting the fabric in the very hot dryer for half an hour or so, its time to wash it. Washing is not that crucial. I sometimes feel the fabric seems softer, but I think its more imagination. However in this case, since I used a lot of chalk to draw with, the washing will certainly get rid of any chalk residue in the fabric.It was very heavy all wet! And when the fabric is wet, it becomes delicate. The paint can soften after a while when wet, and its VERY IMPORTANT not to scrape, twist or otherwise disturb the paint on the surface of the fabric when its wet. When its dry its almost indestructible, and holds up to pretty rough use. Crazy. It was a cloudy stormy looking day. I was eager to get the fabric finished off and delivered the next day, the day before it had rained a lot....argh. What to do?? Nothing dries when its rainy in the summer here....and this piece was too big to try to dry indoors...I watched the weather radar on the computer for a couple of hours, and there was no rain anywhere...
I was a nervous wreck when the fabric was almost dry, and it still looked like the sky would rain a downpour....

I laid it on the picnic table when it was just damp,and the sun came out for a while and really toasted it nicely!

A minute later, I looked out the window and it was raining! With the sun out! Argh! I rushed out and got the fabric inside , before any of the rain had a chance to stick.

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures in the future of this piece made up into the lightweight quilt that's planned for it.

More On The Fabric Bedcover

2009-08-19T20:16:00.006-04:00

Here is a good view of what's been done, and whats left to do! The piece is oriented sideways on the table. The unpainted area corresponds to the "top" of the cover, ie: at the headboard. The seam is in the centre of the table now, from side to side. Not that it matters particularly...Here is the chalk drawing for this next section.
And here you can see that section more or less completed...

Its really an incredible amount of detail, even for me. I don't think I have ever concentrated so much tiny detail on such a large piece. It think its beautiful.

To unify the whole, and to give it an ''inky'' look, I am painting a transparent "glaze"- like wash over the whole area outside the centre , in a sort of indigo/purple colour. It cools off the flowers and leaves, making them look moist and shady, like the forest floor...I will do some more of that today; it often dries lighter, and allows me to create even more layering, by it needing more than it looks like when its wet In other words, the stages are slow. It's hard to overdo it in one glaze. That's a good thing, for me!

I will be sort of sad when this is done. Its been hard work, mentally, since there had to be a lot of consistency in the flowers and scale. I had to pay quite a bit of attention, and that's fine, but it's demanding, and physically tiring, having to huddle over a small space for a long time!!...But the main point is I am so happy with the way it looks, I will miss that satisfying feeling when a whole section comes together, and looks really good... but I suppose I feel like that all the time when something is getting done and looks good. ...

Soon I will be thinking this about the next project. Still a few things to do on this one though... stay tuned.

Painted Fabric Bed Quilt Project Continues...

2009-08-06T13:51:00.006-04:00

It was important to maintain the impact of the central floral which will pretty much fill up the centre of the top of the bed...the sides will be the Mille Fleurs areas.

I have more or less completed the right hand middle part, and to keep the momentum going, I am going to slide the fabric up and begin the whole bottom section. Later I will go back and complete the left hand middle bit, and probably do some more little tiny details on the right hand side. Then I will draw and paint the top section last. Just worked out that way, no reason.

As before, I block in the dark areas, and then begin blocking in larger areas of colour, gradually adding more and more detail on top.

Lots of work! LOTS of detail. But once the theme, colours and repeating elements are established (the analytical part!), its a very meditative satisfying process...its going well, and its fun.

Exciting New Fabric Project

2009-08-06T12:50:00.011-04:00

I have been planning this large fabric bed cover project with a client for months now. Finally its time on the work calender has arrived.The project is for a hand painted one-off piece with a central, radiating design, to cover a Queen sized bed, with a 2 foot drop on 3 sides. The fabric will subsequently be machine quilted with a star pattern, and lined to fashion a lightweight bedspread for a large, beautiful four posted bed. The starting points for the design is a rug from the same room, and floral designs from embroidered silk shawls from southern Spain. A LOT of planning has gone into this, since its so large, (approx. 8'x9') and needs to end up a very specific size.

Usually I staple my fabric down before painting, shrinkage does occur, and I like to work on a tight, flat, non- moving surface. But I can't do that here.

With extra allowance for whatever shrinkage will occur (usually 1-2 inches, depending which way the weave is), I boldly set out putting a lot of colour on the fabric, every which way I can. I want there to be a lot going on in the background of the design: a lot of depth. Since I don't know exactly where the dense floral areas will be, nor where the more open areas will be between flowers, I have to cover the whole thing with this mottled effect that will look like distant foliage and blurry leaves once the rest of the work is painted in. There isn't going to be the usual "designy" motifs I often put in the background of my fabric yardage (swirls, big dots, geometric grid designs of squares and diamonds, etc).

Its such a big piece, but I know from experience that finding the centre, and doing a lot of measuring and thinking at this stage pays off later, and it will probably all turn out OK. The border makes the measuring and planing final. In fact, I did this border twice, in chalk, since I decided to make the whole design bigger, and then we decided to add a third row of checks. The edge row of checks will be turned under after , and on top of the quilting process, to finish the whole thing on the underside.
Drawing with chalk is crucial, I simply wipe out mistakes with a wet sponge. Normally when I paint fabric yardage projects I either don't draw at all, except for marking out pillow squares, or I do a very vague block out of some feature (bird or something)..and just start painting. In this case, however, the design is very formal, and the dimensions,pattern and size of various elements is very important. So I am planning on drawing just about everything in the chalk first. I wipe it out as I go, and any little bits left over, come out in the wash.(!)

After a very intense chalk session, lots of measuring and wiping out, and thinking hard, I feel confident to draw out the outline in a dark paint. This dark outline becomes the shadow under the plants later.

Although I have followed the pattern fro the rug pretty faithfully, I am certainly going to make it my own, and also , since its not a wool tufted thing, but a painted thing, I can introduce a whole lot more interesting detail. Making the transition from the centre floral to the field of flowers goes through a couple of versions, and we finally smooth out the kinks in the design, and work out the details for the rest of the piece. We are looking for a an over-all sense of pattern, but not a slavish symmetrical mirror pattern from one side to the other. It also will develop an early Renaissance Mille Fleurs tapestry look.

Three Fish plates

2009-07-17T16:33:00.007-04:00

Last in the line of the latest batch of pottery are these really good fish plates.

I love their faces....

I broke this one.

Just, oops, it slid to the floor, and blammo. A million pieces.

It was entirely my own fault. I balanced it for a moment in a precarious (stupid) spot...it fell , seemingly in slow motion, while I stood helplessly watching. Some quick reflex type person probably could have caught it, but I am not that person. I have other talents, suppose.... Time to take a "break" (hahahaha!) from ceramics.

I think I will work on fabric for a while.....check back soon!

Ceramic Fish Bowls

2009-07-17T16:17:00.004-04:00

This was a very fun project, a lot of detail, too, but I am very pleased with the results...

These are going to be used for soup.

Blue is particularly hard to work with, in pottery painting. All the blues look infuriatingly the same, before firing. And they all look light and grey. So its very hard to visualize what the end result will be. You take it on trust. And keep painting.

And the blues here turned out just as planned. I wanted deep bright blues inside, and that's what I got, with good definition in the orchids and leaves. I also managed to get a sense of a lot of depth and a watery quality in the painting; I am very pleased .

Painted Chair backs

2009-07-17T16:13:00.002-04:00

This was a quick project to paint a simple design on the silk backs of these rather nice chairs. This kind of work requires a lot of focus and concentration, since I cannot make a single mistake.

No drips, no re-dos, no practice.

And they turned out just fine!