NIGHT MOTHS AND EMBROIDERY

For WOYWW my desk has been busy this week! I have been having great fun trying out a new technique I learnt about from the incredibly talented Morag over at Paper Rainbow.  It involves Citra Solv cleaner and National Geographic magazines, and the process dissolves the ink leaving beautiful background papers.  For anyone interested I found this tutorial here particularly helpful.   The backgrounds on this weeks index cards for ICAD are all from my first attempt at this technique and they led me to work with darker colours and a night time feel - I ended up with a wonderful mix of highly patterned papers and more subtle ones like these - you never know what you are going to get!  I introduced blue as I adore this peacock shade but very rarely use it - I thought the black really enhanced the vividness of it.  I used some pieces of real wings from my old antique collection and I matched them with some brilliant blue embroidery thread  and black lace.

Some close-up details

I love the darkness of this one with the delicate blue spots - so perfect for my theme! 

I used some of the Victorian butterfly wing jewelry I've collected over the years to photograph with the index cards, including a brooch that fell apart when I picked it up - strangely I was thrilled, as I would never have pulled apart a perfectly good piece of jewelry but I love the old, broken look of it and I know I'll put it to good use in the future!

Moths and More Moths!

At the risk of being predictable, here is my work desk for WOYWW this week, and once more I have my index cards for the ICAD challenge - only 4 this week as I have had a lot on, but I'm pleased I managed that many!  I kept them fairly simple and used a combination of machine and hand stitching, with a few very small matt black beads.   On my learning curve this week I discovered that if you sew your stitches too close together on card you end up with the piece of embroidery falling completely out of the overly perforated outline! 

Close up details

OK, so it's a butterfly and not a moth - but what the heck, I love it and I think it goes well with the antique deeds.  This photo influenced my colour scheme for the index cards this week - I really like the simplicity of the black, white and brown

Decay and Repair Project and ICAD Cards

For WOYWW today I have on my desk another six index cards for the ICAD challenge, and once again I'm working with the theme decay and repair.  I used tweed pieces and bits of antique lace, plus printed moth images.  During the often steep learning curve that is my art journey, I discovered that if you embroider a zigzag stitch around anything circular it looks like a sun drawn by a child!  Hence the rather large amount of zigzagging added to the bottom left card to try and detract from the 'sun' - it's an absolute disaster but I decided to keep it in - I am using these cards much as I would a sketchbook, for trying out ideas, so disasters really ought to stay as they are all part of the process!

For anyone interested I have a large embroidery that's pretty much finished now, and some moth photos that are all part of the 'decay and repair' theme on my previous blog post here

I have a real weakness for old teacups, and I thought this one went so well with the colours I 'd chosen for this weeks cards that I just had to photograph them together!

An Antique Collar, French Knots and Needle Felting

I have almost completed a piece of work I've had on the go for what seems like years - it just needs to be stretched and framed now.  The work is part of the decay and repair project I'm working on and it started life as a very badly damaged antique lace collar.  

Using a muslin background I needle-felted into some of the holes and embroidered around them with French knots, trying to create a drifting feeling of on-going repairs - I wanted to create a feeling of 'preciousness', and to capture the love and care that goes into preserving and restoring a treasured possession. 

 I simply had to photograph it with a moth - I love the idea that the beautiful and tiny moth caused such decay in the first place!  I now need to stretch and frame the embroidery - I am hoping to organize an exhibition around this theme of decay and repair in the new year - fingers crossed!
  
I also photographed some moths from my much treasured and very old collection as part of the same theme.

I am linking up with Mary over at Mosaic Monday.

Decay and Repair

 Since last week I have managed to make another six index cards for the ICAD challenge and I have been keeping to the theme of decay and repair. I have used some odds and ends of antique lace that are badly in need of repair and put them together with moth images and hand embroidery.  For anyone that is interested I have some more photos on this project on my previous blog post. 

I am sharing what's on my work desk for WOYWW over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

THE BEAUTY OF MOTHS

I really do adore moths!  Many moons ago when I was doing my art degree at Winchester School of Art, I found a beautiful Victorian moth and butterfly collection in an old antique shop.  A sizable portion of my student loan was used to purchase the boxes and I've been in love with them ever since.  The moths have been used for many art projects and have  regularly been taken out, pinned, photographed, cut up, had holes put in the wings, had wings ripped off and so on... I've definitely had my money's worth out of them!

I am currently working on ideas surrounding decay and repair - and so the moths came out again and I have been photographing them to support my textile ideas.  The tweed was a junk shop find and I was thrilled to discover two or three moth holes in it - strange I know!

I am linking up with Mary over at Mosaic Monday 

Decay and Repair and ICAD Cards

Once again I've had a long unintended break from blogging, or doing any arty stuff at all in fact.  I've been waiting for surgery (quite minor), and have been in some discomfort and a rather grumpy frame of mind - I'm still waiting for a date to come through but in the meantime I've felt a little enthused now that the ICAD challenge has started again over at Daisy Yellow Art.  The idea is to make a little bit of art every single day on an index card - nothing precious just whatever takes your fancy!  I must admit I've not managed to work every day but I've done about six cards over a fortnight,  so I'm quite pleased with that achievement! 

Anyway, this is what is on my desk this week for WOYWW.

I'm using these index cards as a way of jotting down ideas about a long term project I'm doing on decay and repair.

Focus On Life - Beauty All Around

Over at the Studio Sublime this week Sally has asked us to look at and capture the beauty all around us.  One thing I absolutely love is the mixture of dark, brooding skies and bright sunshine, and with the storms and weather we've been having lately it's been happening rather a lot. I captured this photograph at Lymington harbour, and added a Pixel Dust texture to it.