tree trunk

Following the workshop (Idea to Image) from Laura Cater-Woods gave me a reel idea-boost. She is a woman of few words but she uses the right ones.
Her website is a ‘must visit’ ! (See her link on the right)
I never thought that from the picture of the tree trunk, I would draw a colored detail from that cropped trunk picture.
Once my drawing made with the pastels, I brushed the colors with water to obtain the watercolour effect. I still have to thread paint the design.
Before I do that, I want to finish the summer dress I’m sewing.

Nathalie

The Faux de Verzy

Someone asked me where the picture of the fence - from previous post - was taken,
well :

Every year in September , my parents and us (DH and me) go to the Champagne-region in France for a few days. It’s only 3 hours driving from our homes.
We stay in Dizy a little town between Epernay and Reims.
This is the view I had from my bedroom :



We also visit some vineyards with the beauty of the full-grown grapes that will become champagne in a near future.

A few years ago, we had the chance to visit the ‘Abbaye de Dom Perignon’ . This abbey is normally not open to the public.

Nearby there is a National-Nature Park, a protected forest with unique trees : the ‘Faux’ de Verzy. These are trees that grow a special way .
These trees have grown in a tormented way. We always spent a day in that forest to resourcing. Listening to the ‘silence’, looking to the beauty of the nature on it’s best.
The picture of the fence was took in this forest.

Nathalie

thinking

Have you ever tried to burn fabric on purpose with your iron ?
I did, and it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
With those modern irons with the automatic stop when it is ‘overheating’ ; you have to thinking not to hold the iron too long on the same spot but long enough to obtain that rusty spot.
Remember my tree trunk a few post ago ?
Well, I made a line drawing from a detail from that trunk on paper.
Had to think how to translate it in fabric, saw a picture from rust-dyed fabric in a blog-post
( don’t remember from who, sorry) and Eureka… I had a possibility to adapt the detail on fabric. A bit like the relativity theory (when it rains in Africa…).

I received a wonderful complement today : I am a poet.
Those words touched me profoundly.
Thank you, Laura.
I like it better than some friends saying : ‘you think way to much for me’ and/or ‘when you say something I have to think to much’.
Sometimes it makes me feel like ET.
And sometimes I choose not to speak.
I like the words : ‘a few words are sometimes better than a whole book’
or
‘Talking is silver and silence is gold’

Nathalie

Rain

Rain :
Dots
Falling
In a
Line !

What is a point, a dot ?
The beginning of a letter, the start to writing a word…
A phrase..
Even a book ?

What is a line ?
The artistic movement of a dot…
The continuum of time .
The expression of your mind.
The remembrance of your being…
Like life
A line has a beginning and an end.

Nathalie

Danaë

Went horse riding yesterday and it was super.. The weather was just fine : rain before and after the riding.
Danaë is a fantastic horse, only 4 years old and working like she never did something else.

Still waiting for the book I ordered : Art Quilt Workbook from Jane Davila and Elin Waterston.

I followed a workshop conducted by Jane : The small Art quilt at Joggles.

I loved the workshop but sadly I wasn’t able to participate as much as I wished :

work life came in the way.

The pictures above are an example of a lesson during the workshop.

Nathalie

My dog

I finally have my dog on a picture : when she’s hearing my camera, she’s hiding under the bed. Isn’t she a sweetie ? Avril is a 9 year old poodle and the mascot of our family !

Nathalie

focus

I need to focus a bit more on my creativity and for this reason I wanted some help.
I’m in a workshop conducted by Laura Cater-Woods : Idea to Image.
It is a kind of creative coaching. It is a necessity to have help from time to time.
Being able to start from an idea and go further.
I’m fascinated by trees and mostly the old ones. Recently I took a picture of a trunk ;


















I really want to go further with that picture and see what I can get out of the picture.
I cropped the picture and changed the colors





















I’m not yet satisfied ! My goal is to find a ‘lifeline’ in the trunk picture and then adapt it in fabric.
Patience is a gift …they tell.

Nathalie

Math for Butterflies

This Quilt has been made during a class I Followed at Quilt University : Math for Quilters given Dena Crain - one of the most gifted teacher I know.It has been extensively quilted. It took me many hours to achieve the machine quilting. It has been partly done with an embroidery module and a digitized design.

first blog

Well

I finally started. The first step is indeed the most difficult.

I'm a textil artist. The A-word came out. I have to stop saying that what I'm creating is 'nothing'. I can't stop myself doing stuff with fiber and fabric.

I'm sewing, knitting, crocheting since 'I was born'. For the past 15 years I have focussed on sewing : patchwork, later mixed media and in between sewing some of my clothes.

I have took online-classes at various sites and loved some more than other but have always learned some new things.

At the end of the year I will have a third exhibition and I'm already excited !

I will put some more pictures on this blog later.

The picture on top is from an Istant Art Quilt I made after an online class, Ellen Lindner was the teacher. I had fun making that quilt.

Since this is my first post, I have some trouble finding my way.

Nathalie