Trees of Life

I've been working on some new pieces. Here they are in progress.

Some Finished Work

Usually, I don't take pictures of pieces that are complete, but I had an inquiry about what I had on hand, so here are some pieces:

• Grapes

•  Lavender dreams

•  Red & Gold Flowers

•  Purple & Red Chiffon

•  Purple & Blue Chiffon

When it doesn't quite work

I'm working on a new piece that will be given as a thank you gift. These always make me nervous because I worry that the person who commissioned it will hate it or that the person receiving it will hate it. It's easier sometimes to paint and experiment and if it turns into something that sells it's great, but there's no expectation that it will.

As usual, I started with washing, then stretching.

I started drawing the resist lines and adding in dye. But, this one started out looking a little messy. The resist lines didn't hold and there was a lot of bleeding.

After trying to work with it for a while, I decided to take it off the stretcher and rewash. I washed out all the resist and hopefully whatever was in the silk that kept the lines from holding.

I kept working at it, adding layers on layers.

Here it is now, just about ready to steam.

Baby Face

Okay, so it's not baby face-- you remember that doll head stuck on spider legs in Toy Story? Anyway, I had the idea to paint a day of the dead skull in a tree. The teeth would be calla lilies, the outline of the face would be branches, etc. Well, didn't turn out quite that way-- but, I think it's still cool-- even if it does remind me of baby face.

Happy Halloween!!

New Stuff

So, we have finally unpacked to the point where the house is livable and I can paint. So, I started painting a bit. I have two pieces ready for steaming. Here's one so far.