Explorations in Fiber and Mixed Media

My Blog is Moving!

I have moved my blog to http://elleninagaston.wordpress.com

Please visit my new space and browse around!

Today I decided to go outside and really look at my backyard. I wanted really take the time to see the colors and textures in the plants. Of course, there were also the weeds, mess from the dog and all the spots that could actually use a plant or two — but in general I was out to focus on the positive! I took a lot of photos to add to my inspiration board and wanted to share some with you. I was going for texture, pattern and color — my three favorite things!

A new beginning

June 4th marks the last day of my corporate job and ushers in a renewed focus on my family and my art. On these pages you will share my artistic journey and hopefully we will explore some great techniques and resources. I hope to introduce you to some of my favorite sites and share some inspiring images. To get us started, I want to link to one of my favorite fiber artists and friends, Rose Hughes. I will be featured on her blog at the end of the week! I also have one of my small works being published in her new book on embellishments.

Check out Rose’s site: http://www.rosehughes.com/ and her blog: http://ravenspeakquilts.blogspot.com/

Inspiration

While thinking about my next steps as an artist, I had a chance to go through my files and folders with project ideas. I ran across some wire weaving patterns I recently purchased from a wonderful artist by the name of Marilyn Moore. Her vessels are amazing and are woven with 32 guage colored copper wire. As I am working on finishing up my current project, I am inspired by this artist’s amazing talent. Check out her work online: Marilyn Moore Fiber Artist. The image below is of her Aladdin Lamp.

While I haven’t spent as much time in the studio as I would have liked, I did manage to get some work started on my new loom. I am putting the finishing touches on this weekend and will be posting photos soon.   Here is a photo of the materials for the project:

Stay tuned for the results!

Project Report

Started digging through my stash of fabrics for some hand dyed gems to add to my latest work.  I’ve been inspired by fallen leaves on my driveway… Seems simple enough, right?  Will be working on the new art quilt this week so pics should follow soon.  I also had a nice experience at the Akashic Meditation Gallery in Thousand Oaks last week.  Two of my works “Woman II” and “All the Comforts of Home” are on display!

Christmas Painting

My niece, Alexis, who is a talented tattoo artist http://www.lexymonster.com painted this cool work for me to hang in my kitchen.  No traditional rooster for this kitchen!

kitchen_rooster

Boundaries Prints

For my final project in an Introduction to Printmaking class, I had to create a 3-color image on the theme of boundaries using any of the techniques we learned over the semester.  I chose the paper lithography method to create the image. I started with a rough idea of the composition and then printed it out on my laser jet.  Knowing it would be pulled using three colors meant my registration had to work!  The following pictures show a little more about that part of the process.

Basic Bookmaking

I had the opportunity to make my first book as a part of my printmaking class. We used Arches Text Wove paper for the interior pages and I selected a lovely handmade paper for the cover. The book is 5″ x 9″ and bound with a 4-hole stab-stitch Japanese binding technique. I am really happy with the results.

1st Book

I am going to try this with fabric and use the same techniques I employ for fabric postcards to create the cover.  Stay tuned!

I finished the silk screen print today.  So all in all I used 4 colors and 8 separate stencils for this one.  Lessons learned;  Masking off areas where you do not want color is always a good idea. If I hadn’t masked the edges I’d be starting a bottle of wine or a 6-pack about now. :S  I think I’ll call this one “Flight Path” because it reminds me of dragonlfies over a stream of moss covered rocks.  I am happy with the results.

Flight Path

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