New design

The start of a new design for a series of fiber work...

there is not much colour in it, but it has possibilities for me

after cutting the page up, I decide to go on with these four. Now to translate them in fabric!

We'll see how this evolves...

Have a wonderful Tuesday,

Regina

Encouraged and aknowledged

These words come in mind when I have to describe the overall idea that is left with me after participating in Art in the Park. There was a big amount of visitors and there more and more artists showing their work, the event is growing and successful. Big compliments for our parttime island lady from Boston that organises this all, thank you Barbara!

These panels were sold the very moment they were hung, what a start! And I felt sorry for the folks that were disappointed when they saw the stickers SOLD.

detail

The weather was fantastic (no rain this year), there was live music and all in all I look back at a very busy day with lots of interested people, surprisingly there were many men too which showed real interest in my art. There might be a few commissions following, I even met two nice ladies that live on the island and want to work with me.

I have been talking with people from Canada, Rhode Island, Colorado, St. Louis and many more places, so at the end of the day I was thinking in English (that being Dutch), I felt like having done a workshop and maybe you recognize the feeling that your head is full with all this new information.
So: back to work now, in the direction that is more clear for me. I feel encouraged and aknowledged by the words of some of the visitors that said (a little stunned!)

this is amazing, this is eh... this is ART!

Thanks for reading!

Using it all

So I started with the first book of Sandra Meech of this post, in my attempt to live according my chosen word for this year:

USE

Normally I am a spontaneous artist. Whenever I feel the urge to create and am inspired, I just jump into action. Pulling out fabrics, papers or whatever I am needing at that moment I go for it, not much thought, no education in art, just following the vague image that I see 'somewhere in my head'.

Yet I feel that to come to another level with my art, I lack some knowledge, some guidance maybe, and that is why I chose these books that have been sitting on my shelves for some years, USE me, they called at me, we might have to offer what you are looking for right now!

In Design Class 1 you have to make a viewfinder, which then had to be placed and moved over a picture you like. Now the task is to determine all hues and colors that are in the part of the picture you have chosen. With pencils make little squares of the 8-10 colors of your choise and keep working with them on the design sheet (first picture)

I did this first class several times, feeling like a kid in kindergarden, gluing and coloring, weaving the paperstrips, it was fun!

But then came the moment that I had to make choices, and oh, that was difficult...

Now I must tell that I am working towards the annual Art in the Park and really need the few weeks that are left to make some new items. And I felt that I could not combine the design class with this deadline, because inwardly I had some ideas and they interfered with my new knowledge, so tho say. So this time I once again did it my way, nothing more difficult than changing habits ;-)

The combination of strips in the above picture is lovely, it is on my designwall and I am letting it speak to me for some time, I have some ideas but not much time, dilemma!

The word USE kept kreeping into my head however, so I took out one of the pillows I made last year of which I now think: they are so very blue. Seamripper, rotaryknife (see I use my tools!) helped to recycle one of the pillows into this preliminary result. It is not finished yet, but I think I know how to go on. Btw: the grey-blue sashing is a linen that I bought in Holland a long time ago.

All in all I liked this first week and am very eager to continue.

Thanks for reading. I wish all of you a lovely weekend!

And so it happened

... that this little piece of fabric turned from what it was here to this blueish result!

As I wrote on Saturday, I worked without planning, as I often do. It sometimes happens when I am in my studio, listening to e.g. a French chanson or classical music, that I am completely caught by it, by the text or whatever about it, and I simply have to start 'something', do you recognize this urge to create? Caused by the beauty of something, in this case music?

Back to this work above, I have to say that I already learned a lot of the mistakes made. I knew before that the use of acrylic would make the fabric stiff, which I considered no problem as it is not a household piece plus it was only a try-out! Yet at some moment during the process of painting, in between the several layers, I considered it worth finishing with a binding, so I did, which led to the first mistake (I expected it to be a process of trial and error...)

1. I should have put the binding on before painting, bc though I had squared the work it is slightly wavy now. Probably caused by ironing the binding on the back.

2. the acrylic paint has also made the fabrics look dull, which I don't like either. A solution to this could be adding medium to the paint.

What I love however, is the quilting pattern that is being highlighted by painting, the places that are recessed show different colours than the top, which gives a beautiful layered effect. It is clearly visible in the first picture (please ignore the difference in color of both photographs, since the first one is made inside and the other one in daylight on my veranda).

In the first picture you can also see that I added some bronze paint by stamping with one of my favorite found objects (I found it at one of our beaches and it is a weathered old buoy of a sailingship I guess, and has hardened out and burst into a circular pattern).

All in all I found this first experiment in sewing, quilting and then painting worth to be continued. What I will try next is using textile paint, or maybe even thickened dye. We'll see!

But it was fun to do, and for me this is maybe the most important part. It gives freedom to enjoy the process and not having to worry about the outcome.

The islands yesterday

(images are clickable)

This was my view yesterday while driving on a very steep and narrow road that is leading to one of our beaches at the east side of St. Maarten. The island in the distance is St. Barth's, it belongs to the French Antilles and it is said that several Hollywood celebrities have a home and like to spend some time there. I visited it in 1983 when it was not yet invaded by the jetset, it was a lovely island at that time and indeed very, very French. Yesterday I was captured by the grey sea and sky, which is pretty seldom here, and I must say that I always feel very happy when the sun decides to not show up for one day, reminds me of Holland...
I then get active and energized immediately (would this be something Pavlovian I wonder?)

picture: Historic Santa Fe, NM

But I would rather not return to such a grey climate! A little bit of turquoise and other colors will always be preferable, oh and some sun please!

with a little bit of fantasy, of which I am sure most readers have plenty, one could see this as a heart. I shot this picture in MAdrid along the Turquoise Trail, it could have been put there for me, how could I not see and make a picture of it?!

Today I decided to show this picture, because I just read that I am the lucky winner of Rayna Gillman's giveaway on her blog, you can read about it here
While I am a long time fan of Rayna and her art, you will understand that winning this beautiful scarf makes me very happy today, I will wear it happily and with pride.

Thank you so much, Rayna!

And on another note: the greyish weather made me start some new work. Last week I have been playing around with the sewing machine and made myself a jeansskirt. It has been ages since I made this kind of clothes, with all the accented seams and details like nails, but I must say that it was fun to do again. Then I saw a nice scarf (I am a scarf lover indeed) in Denyse Scmidt's book and made me one for our upcoming trip to the Netherlands. And finally I started some fiber art. It is in the very beginning phase, but I am thrilled to see if my plan evolves in the way I want, this may sound a little bit cryptical, but I am sure you get the idea. Will show results as soon as there are some

In the meantime I wish you a very good Tuesday!

Inspired by: Peeling paint

(Kura Hulanda Museum, Curacao)

I really love these peeling surfaces...

(wall on old building in Scharloo, Curacao)

would like to catch these bubbles in my fabrics and/or painting

One of the very valuable things I learned from reading many blogs and seeing all these pictures:

to look at my surroundings in a different way. There is beauty all around, if only you see it!

My very own fabrics!

While looking for something in my fabric stash, I noticed these pieces, dyed and painted by me during the past year. It all started with plain white fabric...

Arranged in this pile, I can see some art quilting coming in the very near future!!

Op zoek naar iets in mijn lappenvoorraad kwam ik deze stukken tegen,

het afgelopen jaar door mij geverfd en bewerkt. Al deze lappen

waren aanvankelijk gewoon wit...

Zo opeen gestapeld, zie ik een paar art quilts er aan komen in de zeer nabije toekomst!!

Printing fabric and a Birthday!

This wonderful guy turned 30 today, he is nr. 2 of our three children

Happy Birthday, Marcel!

And my attempts to create my own fabrics are in full swing,

here are some new results (not finished)

Today our newly formed quiltgroup (the very first on our island!)
will meet. Maybe I can shoot some pictures to show in future posts,
so come back soon....

Deze mooie vent is vandaag 30 geworden, hij is nr. 2 van onze drie kinderen.
Hartelijk gefeliciteerd Marcel!

En ik ben volop bezig (met proberen) mijn eigen stoffen te maken,

hier zijn enkele resultaten (nog niet klaar)

Vandaag komt onze nieuw gevormde quiltgroep (de allereerste van ons eiland!)

bijeen. Misschien kan ik een paar foto's maken voor toekomstige

berichten op mijn blog, kom dus snel weer eens langs....

WIP's

It's some days ago that I've been posting. Busy, busy, with fabrics

Printing, dyeing, sewing...

Today just some pictures of works in progress, fabrics that I need to go into further

Detail of an art quilt in progress
This fabric needs some more

Detail of same art quilt

Ik heb een paar dagen niets geschreven op mijn blog. Ben lekker druk bezig met mijn stoffen.
Verven, drukken, naaien...
Vandaag alleen een paar foto's van werk in wording, stoffen waar ik nog meer mee moet

First results

A week ago I decided to work with fabric for some time to come. Inspired by nature: by the pods of our Flamboyant tree, the sea urchins and starfish of the Caribbean Sea, I made some stamps and used them on previously hand-dyed fabrics. The outcome is not what I was looking for, I suppose it takes a lot of trial and error before the results are somewhat to my liking! But since I decided that I will only work with fabric for the time being, I trust that it will improve...

On another note: our daughter had surgery in Australia today. While the operation took 4 times longer than anticipated, she is very groggy and not many details are available at present. May be tomorrow will bring more news. All this is surely affecting my creativity, it seems to be of less importance right now. Hope you understand that. If you read this, please feel free to leave a comment, as I feel somewhat writing into the big wide atmosphere without getting feedback.. Thanks in advance!

\Een week geleden besloot ik om voorlopig alleen met textiel te werken. Geinspireerd door de natuur: door de zaaddozen van onze Flamboyantboom, de zee-appels en zeesterren van de Caribische Zee, heb ik wat stempels gemaakt en ik heb ze gebruikt op stof die ik al eerder had geverfd. Het resultaat valt me tegen, ik veronderstel dat er veel experimenten nodig zijn voor het me bevalt! Maar omdat ik me voorgenomen heb alleen met textiel te werken, ga ik ervan uit dat het zal verbeteren...

Iets anders: vandaag is onze dochter in Australie geopereerd. De operatie duurde vier keer langer dan was gepland, ze klonk nog behoorlijk 'groggy' en nadere bijzonderheden ontbreken nog. Misschien dat we morgen wat meer weten. Dit alles is niet bevorderlijk voor mijn creativiteit, dat lijkt nu allemaal zo onbelangrijk. Hopelijk begrijp je dat. Als je dit leest, voel je dan vrij om een reactie achter te laten, want soms heb ik het gevoel maar een beetje in het grote heelal rond te 'zwetsen', vooral als ik geen feedback krijg.. Bij voorbaat dank!

Printing stuff

When I was looking for something in my studio, I came across my 'treasure-chest'.
Filled with objects found on the beach, in the hardware store and other places where a creative person might see possibilities. This stuff is waiting in this metal bin to be used for printing on fabric, paper etc. Thought it would be nice to show in a post, maybe you recognize some of it in my art!
And this is a view from our veranda this morning. Branches of flamboyant and neem tree meet each other and our garden is almost completely covered by them. We will have to prune them drastically in the weekend. I hope you enjoy your day!

Toen ik iets zocht in mijn werkkamer, kwam ik mijn 'schatkist'tegen. Hij zit vol met gevonden voorwerpen van het strand, de ijzerhandel en andere plekken waar een creatief iemand maar mogelijkheden ziet. De spullen wachten in dit metalen net tot ze gebruikt zullen worden voor het drukken op stof, papier enz. Ik dacht dat het wel leuk zou zijn om ze in een bericht te laten zien, misschien dat jullie iets ervan herkennen in mijn kunst!

En dit is het uitzicht vanaf onze veranda vanmorgen. Takken van de flamboyant en neemboom raken elkaar bijna en onze tuin is bijna compleet door hen bedekt. We zullen ze drastisch moeten snoeien in het weekend. Ik hoop dat je een mooie dag hebt!

Inspired by: Graphic prints

I love and can get totally inspired by

these prints in black and white!

On textiles like

a friend's tanktop

my favorite pareo

napkins I bought in NY

a cushion on our veranda

Ik ben dol op deze grafische prints in zwart-wit,

raak er altijd weer door geinspireerd

Te zien op

een topje van een vriendin

mijn lievelingspareo

servetten die ik in NY vond

een kussen op onze veranda

Pod Art!

I cut a stencil from the flamboyant pods that I wrote about in this and this post and used it for today's pages in my art journal.

This could be the beginning of a series, as I'm pleased by the rhythm

Ik heb een stencil gemaakt van de zaadpeulen waarover ik in dit en dit bericht bericht schreef en heb het vandaag gebruikt in mijn 'art journal'.

Het kan wel eens het begin zijn van een serie, want het ritme erin spreekt me aan

Need colour?

Yesterday's pictures being in black and white, I guess you all welcome a bit of colour today!

The art quilt I show you today is one I made last year. I used to make bigger quilts in the past as you can read in this post, but switched to a more personal and free form of quiltmaking in which I can fully use my handdyed and stamped fabrics.

Made with handdyed and commercial fabrics, stamped with acrylic paint, machine pieced and quilted.

De foto's in mijn bericht van gisteren waren zo zwart-wit dat ik dacht dat vandaag een beetje kleur welkom zou zijn!

De art quilt die je vandaag ziet heb ik verleden jaar gemaakt. Ik maakte eerder grotere quilts, zoals je in dit bericht kunt lezen, maar ben overgestapt naar een meer persoonlijke en vrije vorm van ontwerpen/quilten waarin ik ook volop mijn zelfgeverfde en -bewerkte stoffen kan gebruiken.

De quilt is gemaakt van zelfgeverfde en kant en klaar gekochte stoffen, gestempeld met acrylverf, op de naaimachine genaaid en gequilt.