Behind the Scenes

Heading Towards the Light

All the little blocks of fabric that I embroidered and embellished are now in one place on my design wall. ( Sorry the photo isn't too good -- the lighting on that wall is not the best.)

I had tried them in several different layouts, but the more I played with these gems, the more I realized that they should really show my thoughts and feelings about WHY I created them. The year 2020 was, for so many people, a "dark" year. But darkness can only be chased away with light! So I arranged them in what I feel is a positive design... going from darkness into the light. We can all spread the light around --

a smile, a kind deed, a warm hug for someone still in the dark.

I have a feeling 2021 will be a much better year!

You can see the individual squares on the Fiber Arts page.

Check back to see the finished product soon! :)

click on an image to magnify or get a closer look

Burst of Orange

Colored pencil is worked in layers and blended on the page. On the left is the first light layer. Above is the progress made after darkening and adding to the layers.

See the finished drawing on the Pencil & Charcoal page.

The Blue Bottle

Right: The Blue Bottle in progress... an undercoat

Far right: detail of the bowls

This oil painting had so many elements -- the fabric background, flowers, the blue glass bottle, ceramic bowls, and the silver cup. I enjoyed watching it come together.

See the finished painting on the

Paintings page.

Dancing Blooms

This painting required several steps before actually beginning to paint, which are explained below...

Step 1: sketch flowers onto newsprint paper, individually rather than a bouquet

Step 2: trace each flower sketch separately onto tracing paper

Step 3: cut out each tracing paper flower and lay them out on watercolor paper in a (hopefully) pleasing arrangement (Figure 1)

Step 4: trace the outline of each flower, via transfer paper, onto the watercolor paper.

Step 5: cover every bit of every flower with masking fluid -- this is a resist that will prevent paint from getting on the flowers in the next step. (Are you curious what happens next?) (Figure 2)

Step 6: paint the background. In this case, I wet the entire paper very well, then dotted and splattered paint onto the wet paper, sprinkled some coarse salt on some of it (draws the paint away), sprayed a little water with a spray bottle, then (very impatiently) waited for it to dry. Now remember, the paint didn't go anywhere that I had applied the masking fluid... only the unprotected areas

Step 7: when TOTALLY dry, not a moment before, carefully remove the masking fluid (Figure 3)

Step 8: finally, paint the flowers! The finished painting can be viewed on the Paintings page.

Figure 1

This was the original layout, but I chose a different one in the end.

Figure 2

It's hard to see, but the masking fluid is on every flower and leaf. Click on it for a better view.

Figure 3

The background has been painted and the dry masking fluid rubbed off. When you click the photo for the pop-up you can see that the paint went everywhere but on the masked flowers.