Big Catch Up!

I have had a very busy and distracting 3 weeks or so....my main computer broke about 3 weeks ago. Luckily, the data was saved, but all of my contact information and recent photos are on still unavailable until I get the new computer organised; it still hasn't been delivered!

Also luckily, I have access to a laptop which I am working here, now, and I was able to cobble most of my life together with it. No addresses, no pictures, no regular graphics programmes; its been tedious to cope.
Interestingly, the operating system doesn't support my beloved camera! ARGH. I had to get a usb camera card reader just to down load the pictures you see here now into the laptop. The sense of trauma and anxiety have passed somewhat, but I still have trouble locating where the pictures GO when I download them, and the filing system is just DIFFERENT. I don't like DIFFERENT on my computer, I want it just the way I had it, which was easy and quick. Oh well..... sigh.

Also this week, and just to add to the hilarity and chaos, my car broke, definitively. Not worth fixing. So all week I had to look for a suitable car replacement. Ugh. Really hard work. In the end it worked out OK, and I got a decent car...but what another big waste of valuable creative time, and it's all made my head throb.
Phew.
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In the meantime, one's work MUST continue....!
Here are some pictures showing the painting and sealing of the edges of the floorcloth I was working on at the time, it seems about 100 years ago:
Here are the two floorcloths rolled up and ready for delivery, along with some of the fabric samples I used for this and the tiles project......................................................................................

Also at this time I completed a project I began with two fabric window coverings Fabric For Window Treatment ...this is a piece of wood that will embellish the area above the shower door in one of the bathrooms.

Here you see the beginning of the layout, in chalk. Chalk is great for making lots of quick changes. After I establish the design in chalk (easy to correct over and over), I block it in with paint right away, and begin the process of finessing it into something finished.

Here it is finished. I hope to have a picture of it installed to add to this post someday!

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The next projects are about fabric. I have several fabric pillows to paint for a variety of clients. Here I am putting down the base colour to stretch the fabric for a series of bird pillows.And here I am blocking out the area for each pillow square. About 22" square each. Some of these will be backs and some will be fronts..

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And finally, the delivery of the floorcloths. You can see the tile back splash in some of these pictures. Also see : Tile Installation Day! They look great!

The weather was rather chilly for here, that week, (maybe about 58 F) and the floorcloths were stiff from the cold as I laid them out. They will flatten up over the course of the day. On a hot day they are soft and would just flatten out immediately. On a REALLY cold day, a hairdryer can soften a floorcloth perfectly, and allow it to lie flat right away. These floorcloths actually heated up quite well in the car driving to the destination in the sun. They were floppy when I took them out of the car. By the time i was in the house they had stiffened up a lot! Interesting material, isn't it?

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This is the platter shown un fired in an earlier post:

It didn't fit in my kiln, so I had to bring it to a commercial firing place and they fired it beautifully.

This platter will go in the same kitchen as the floorcloths and the tile back splash shown above.

As you might be able to see, its been hectic!...not only did my computer break, and then my car broke, I had a variety of disparate projects to start and finish the whole time. Maybe that's easier than a big long one. I don't know! But in the end all the work turned out great, and all that other stuff is OK, with setting up the new computer still looming as soon as IT arrives...

I will make a separate post for another event I participated in earlier this week. Stay tuned!!!

Floorcloth Process

Here is a quick look at the processing of the floorcloth once the main art work is done, and its all varnished....I use the trim and seal method of finishing the edges. Traditionally, the edges of floorcloths were folded over to form a hem and either sewn (18th century style) or glued. This results in a raised area all around the floorcloth. I don't think it's as clean a look, and over time the raised area can get scuffed and look messy. I really like my method, the floorcloth lays flatter on the floor this way too. Trimming is nerve wracking work. The blade has to be very sharp, to make a clean cut. Any mistake, if the knife slips into the artwork part, cutting on the wrong side of the ruler ( I did that once a long time ago:ARGH!) are totally the end of the world. Its a good idea to be able to really concentrate on this job.

On a later post, I will explain and show the sealing part. For the moment, I am eager to get the new piece on the table and primed.....

I prime the stapled down "back" 3-4 times, and when its dry, turn the whole piece over stretch and staple it down and prime the ''front'', (art work side) 3-4 times too, and then begin to paint up the background for the artwork. The primer is a very flexible acrylic gesso, with lots of PVA in it...similar to what theatre stage scenic drops are made of. Theatre drops get rolled up and dropped down over and over, any paint work has to be able to stay put and flexible during all that activity. PVA based paints are used for many painted theatre props , so they can survive getting knocked about without too much chipping or cracking.

These same materials ensure floorcloths can be rolled up, and stay flexible, and adhere well to the floor surface.

And they really do hold up well. I have come to realize over the years that floorcloths painted in this way are extremely durable, and endure even heavy traffic, getting wet all over by weather or washing, and can be out of doors, (under cover, mainly to prevent fading of the artwork. )

Here is the the start of the companion floorcloth to the one just finished. It will go at the sink, in the kitchen. (Tile Project Revisited )

First Floorcloth Of Two, Completed...Almost

The art work part is done, now I will protect it with 3-4 coats of satin (in this case) acrylic urethane. Then I will pull the staples and trim and seal the edges.
However, my main goal this weekend is to get this piece off the table and begin priming and painting the 2ND floorcloth in the set. These two floorcloths are going into a kitchen to match the tile back splash I painted last year.( Tile Project Revisited )
The floorcloths will be at the stove area, and at the sink, in a loose L shape arrangement. The fish turned out great. Walking on these floorcloths will be like walking on water (!).

Leaves float on the tranquil surface of the water.

Tropical Fish Pond Floorcloth Continued....

This floorcloth is just about done...more pictures tomorrow!But here you can see the fish looking like they are pretty happy swimming around....

Floorcloths

Here are the sketches for 2 floorcloths that will go in the kitchen that I did the lime green, seaside themed tile backsplash for...(See Blog Post June 8, 2008 : Tile Project Revisited )The canvas is primed, on both sides....And the work begins.....

More soon!!!

You can see previous floorcloth projects evolve step by step, by clicking the link to floorcloth (8) floorcloths (8) on the index list on the lefthand side of this blog.

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Just a little more pottery....?

This is a specially comissioned teapot, and will also be matched by a set of bowls later, probably in March when I get back to more pottery work I was particularly happy with the way the dragonflies turned out. I didnt want them to be heavy or "scientifically" real looking.

They are just stylised enough, and very expressive.

The colours on the teapot give it a vintage, 19th Century look I really like.
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To fill up the kiln when I fired the cat tiles and the teapot, I painted a few large pieces and a handful more mugs with some rather exciting results.....

I love the graphic feel the colours and the thick enamel look of the glazing give these mugs.

This big jar was particularly fun to paint, and I am very happy how it turned out.

Its actually quite large, well, bulky anyhow...the pictures here make it look small. (?)

This platter is a commissioned piece, and is actually too large to fit into my kiln, its 18" long, I think. I will get it fired somewhere else.

When fired, the colours will look a lot like this bowl...

That is the end of a very very long pottery painting season.

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Now I have floorcloth and fabric projects...however, when those are completed I will be doing more pottery, probably in March....as the winter pottery frenzy spawned more commissions! Hurrah!

Cat Portrait Tiles

Here is a set of 5 specially commissioned 8"x8" cat portraits on tiles.....oh yes, and a geometric one I did to fill up the tile stacker in the kiln!Click on the pictures to see them larger.

Here you can see the tiles before firing....And after....The likenesses are very good. I am amazed , and very pleased, at how well they turned out! Likeness is a tricky thing....

Before.....

After...... Before....After....

I am startled at how much this looks like the real cat!!

Before firing.....

And after.

These tiles will join others installed on the walls of an outdoor patio; a veritable Rougue's Gallery of cats. Later, I will have pictures of that on this blog.
And also better, less blurry, pictures of these tiles...