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For all my other pieces I’ve first included a sketch of the idea…but not this time:) I did do a sketch, but I’m afraid it looks like a child’s drawing destined for the premier spot on the refrigerator. It brings back early memories when I had just completed the most glorious elephant ever created in crayon. I presented it with such pride to some “parental unit”…I honestly don’t think it was my mom but maybe a grandparent. And the response, “Oh this is beautiful…what is it, dear?” was horrifying. At 3 I just couldn’t believe that an adult didn’t know an elephant when they saw one. So, since I don’t relish any of you asking me “what is it,” I decided that the sketch of my new piece will be only for my reference:) So, I am going to try to post many more photos than I have in the past showing each progressive step. Let’s see if you can guess what it is…feel free to leave comments — I look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s the first: The wire support frame.

The mobile I’ve been working on is finished! Although this piece didn’t take as long as many of my others, the time spent was spread over a longer period of time. What can I say about the delay….life happens:) Below is a photo of the finished product but you can see higher-res, close-up photos on my site here. Hope you enjoy it. This is, to date, the only piece that lends itself to orders. Even though I can’t guarantee the ceiling tile will be exactly the same design, I can say that the leaves and the flower stem will be made of the same fabrics shown in the photo. Of course no two will be alike….ahhh the beauty of artwork:)

As promised, below is a demonstration slide show of the steps I go through to change a couple pieces of fabric (taken from reclaimed, new designer fashions, read more) into a fabric leaf. Initially I was thinking about making a mini-vid, but as I started outlining the process I realized the video wouldn’t be that “mini” as each step is pretty involved. However, I’ve taken some key photos of each step within the process that I think will give you an idea of the transformation. Hope you enjoy! Now that all the leaves are complete for my mobile, I’m off to make the flower stem. Hasta pronto…

Today I worked out the design and, more importantly, how to fabricate a níspero (loquat) leaf. It was a pretty involved time…fortunately it was all trial and no errors (knock on wood – that just does not happen often). I will try to capture a few of these steps on a demonstration mini-vid. I began by fusing two pieces of synthetic fabric together at the edges of the leaf form. Then I singed all the outer edges and the edges of the hole I cut through both piece of fabric. While I singed the fabric I continued to carefully press the edges of the fabric together to create a melted bond (tricky not to burn fingers). After that the main vein wire and the smaller veins were stitched into the fabric. Finally some hand sewing to get a sufficient amount of puckering, a bit of stuffing at the stem end, and then painting the piece….and voilà the first níspero leaf. Now 3 more to go for the mobile.

I am sorry…it’s been too long since my last post. Trust me, the delay is not for a lack of ideas. In fact, I have many more still to complete in the Textures of Mexico series. Rather, my folks just moved to Mexico and I’ve been wrapped up in trying to get them settled in. Life in Mexico often offers lessons in patience, and while I don’t want my folks to feel I’ve left them to fend for themselves, I also don’t want their lessons to be my lessons:)

However, they did arrive bearing gifts and among them was my new (my mother’s old) machine. This was the machine I learned to sew on:) Unfortunately the move was a bit hard on it and not all the gears were moving properly, if at all. But I called my handy, dandy repair guy and this morning he arrived. He cleaned, fiddled and oiled and in about a half hour my old machine was as good as new. I’m so excited!

So, now that the folks are starting to get the lay of the land, and my new/old machine is back in working order, I’m back to creating! Below is a sketch of the next piece I’ve started in the Textures of Mexico series. This one is definitely going down a more mixed media road. I’ve had a new, aluminum ceiling tile lying around the house and studio now for a while. I really loved the design, but hadn’t figured exactly what I wanted to do with it – until now. I’ve decided to use it for the base of a wall mounted mobile. The subjects of the mobile will be the leaves of my Níspero tree (loquat) and probably a single flower. I think I’ve worked out in my head how to create a fair replica of the leaves, and this smaller project will allow me to test my theories. I will, of course, be posting new technique videos during this creation process.

Here is the ceiling tile prepped for its new life. I’m sorry I didn’t take a before shot, but this tile I think was pressed aluminum with a galvanized or some other rust-proof coating (as most new tiles are these days).

To promote the rust, I first brushed on a solution of muriatic acid and water (if you try this please do this outside, don’t get any on your skin and make sure you’re up wind of the fumes). I let it sit for quite a long time and didn’t think it was doing anything….no color change…nothing. So, after several hours I washed off the residue of the acid with water and let the tile dry. Once it was dry, I realized there were a few rust streaks. So I gave the rust process another try, but this time I used a hot white vinegar and salt solution (lots of salt dissolved in boiling vinegar and much safer than the acid). I put this solution in a spray bottle and sprayed the entire piece and left it sit and dry overnight. The next morning the piece had changed color pretty much to what you see in the photo. However, I rubbed my fingers over it and realized that the rust was a powder over the surface and came off if touched. So, I resprayed the vinegar solution over the areas that were rubbed off and let it dry. After the piece was completely dry, I sprayed several coats of a clear, satin polyurethane to seal in the surface rust. Now that patina does not come off. There are a couple of areas that the original silver aluminum shows through. Clearly, those must be areas that were missed by the muriatic acid.

So, hasta la próxima vez….

Here it is…Las Tunas Grande…well actually this is only the left side of a much wider piece. Check out the full image and other close-up shots here.

excerpt of las tunas grande

As it happened my original sketch was a little too filled with fruit for the final scale. So, there are not 54 tunas on this piece…there are only 30. Which means only 505 spines were hand-sewn onto these tunas. However, I did make and stuff a total of 54 tuna, I just didn’t attach the spines. The tuna I didn’t use are now sitting in my studio waiting for another project. I need to sketch out my next piece (which will not be any type of cacti) and will post it as soon as it’s done. It will be a little while until I get to that as I need to finish other things life requires — I’m continually reminded that one cannot live on artwork alone:)

Hasta Pronto….I hope.

Well here’s what 54 “tuna” look like. They still need to be painted, have their spines sewn in and attached to the piece, but this is a large step of the process. Also, all the spines on the cactus pads have been sewn in and painted. So let’s see, 324 pieces cut and sewn together for the tuna – check. 120 nodes melted and painted on the cactus pads – check. 240 spines sewn into the cactus pads and painted – check. After the “tuna” are painted the only bit left is assembly…and, oh yeah, the 1000 spines that need to be sewn into the tuna. Well, I’m closer anyway. Take a look at my new mini-vid demonstrating the technique used for making the cactus spines. Enjoy:)

54 tunas

I decided that I’m going to try mini-vids to document the progress of the artistic process. I’m all for photos when they work, but to demonstrate how something is done…well there’s nothing like a video. Besides, I don’t need three hands for a demonstration video and I would need three hands for demonstration photos:-) So, here’s my first mini-vid on making nodes (the areas on a cactus pad where the spine protrude). You’ll need a non-flammable form (I used a piece of aluminum foil wadded up into a shape that kind of resembles a chocolate kiss), synthetic fabric (no natural fibers…the idea is to melt the fabric over a shape not set it on fire), and an easily manageable flame source (I use the same lighter used to light a gas stove). BIG TIP: Keep the flame moving so you don’t melt through the fabric. BIGGER TIP: Obviously the flame is hot, but so is the fabric once it starts to melt. So be careful not to burn yourself. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy. I’ve tried this technique using larger forms as well. Larger forms require more patience and a lot more butane, but the process works just the same. I’ll post another mini-vid when I get to the next process after I burn the 120 nodes into the cacti:)

I finally got the pieces of the background cut, sewn and painted. Now the really fun will begin. I miscalculated in my last post how many “tuna” (prickly pears) are in the piece. There are not 46 there are 54. There are also 7 cactus pads. So let’s do the math…that’s 324 pieces that need to be cut and sewn for the tuna (of which 54 are sewn in by hand), 1000 spines that need to be hand-sewn on to the tunas, and then the 54 tunas get attached to the piece. But before that 120 nodes need to be melted into the fabric of the cacti pads and 240 cactus spines need to be hand-sewn and painted for stiffness. The thought makes me tired:) You know I probably should do the counts after I’m finished and not think about all the work until it’s done. Hasta la próxima vez …

background detail

total background

Well, I am really tardy in getting this one posted. In between art pieces I have to make time to do the little other things life requires. This time it was making a snake for a door and helping some friends solve a few interior design dilemmas, among a few other things. Finally, though, I got to posting the sketch for the larger piece of Las Tunas. That great stripe of greens, golds and reds (shown above the sketch) will be about half the background with filler streaks in the red wool Eileen Fisher (to the left), the linen/silk Raulph Lauren (shown just below the sketch) and the other gold silk and dark greens in ultra suede. The fabrics to the right are for the cacti and the “tunas.” According to my sketch there are 46 “tunas”–each hand-sewn and painted. The completed size with the border will be 51″ wide x 24″ tall. Needless to say, this one will take a while, but I’ll try to post updates of the work in progress. Hasta pronto.