Dream Journal, new online class offering

I am putting the finishing touches on my first on-line journaling class Dream Journals and boy would I like to see you there. We will learn to use watercolors, resists, we’ll draw, paint, play and create journal pages that are richly layered and dynamic. All techniques covered in the class are taught in my book, Dreaming from the Journal Page, but that isn’t a required purchase. I do hope you might though!  The class stands alone, but also compliments and expands upon what is contained in the pages of the book. And beside that, we will be working in community with one another, helping and encouraging one another as we go.

The daffodil above, is an example of dry on dry watercolor painting, which is covered in two long videos (so far there are over 12 videos in all, more to come). Arrow to the left demonstrates the use of frisket as a resist. I will get you layering, building, drawing, painting and making pretty pages, using easily approachable techniques, in no time flat. I will get you drawing with fun and memorable warm up techniques, and if you have ever been heard to say, “I can’t draw”, you’ll prove yourself wrong.

And in order to get the word out about this new class offering, I would like to give away at least one spot in the class. 

Here is how it works:

1. Simply comment on this post to put your name in the hat.

2. To double your chances of winning, link to this post on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or your favorite social networking site. BUT, you will need to come back here and leave a second comment with a link to your post, for a total of two comments in your name. You are responsible for this (please don’t link to me on Facebook, as I won’t be able to keep track of that, the comments here are the easiest way from me to keep it simple) .

So please help me get the word out, will you? I will announce a winner one week from today, July 10, so please check back. Thanks a bunch.

Clothing Construction=Love

I live in New York City where folks wear a good deal of black, it is almost a uniform, and a dull one if you ask me. I have made a conscious decision to wear printed blouses and clothing. I mean, I love cloth and color right? So I think it is high time I put my ‘money where my mouth is’.

This fabulous blouse was sent to me by a good friend and as soon as I laid eyes on it, I fell in love with it. It has a snap front, two small pockets, also with snaps, a great collar. But…it bloused out to accommodate ‘the girls’. At first I was disappointed, thinking, ‘It is too big, I won’t wear it, I love the cloth, maybe I will use it in something’. But then I remembered that I have skillz. Crazy mad skillz, (well not really, I don’t want to sew a lined silk suit-but you know, pumping yourself up for a new adventure is a good thing sometimes).

So, out came the seam ripper (that is a crazy mad seam ripper [ok, I have said that phrase enough already]), and I am in love with it, and I mean l-o-v-e love.

Anyway.

I opened the side seam and dart, I smashed the excess cloth from the dart up into the arm hole, I took about 4 inches of cloth out of the side seam. I removed the pockets in order to extend the pin tucks up into the collar (the termination of the pin tucks created about 3/4″ of poof on each side of the chest area), I reapplied the pockets and am wearing the blouse as I type. I have a few more blouses that need my attention. A few of them are quite colorful too! This is also really good because I don’t want to start shopping in the mens department just for the lack of shaping, I would rather have feminine prints that tickle my fancy and make me feel pretty, fun, excited.

Go ahead, brag on me, and tell me about your crazy mad skillz.

Officially Sew-plies Crazy

 

Yup! It’s official. I have jumped off the deep end. I don’t think anyone but me is quite so excited about my Sew-plies purse, but I am. So far I have made 6 of them, and I will be making even more. They have struck my funny bone and I can’t stop. I honestly want one for every outfit I can think up. I am sewing and embroidering one that is my, “Inspired to Quilt” version, right now. I just can’t stop. I was even over on ebay looking at 8mm release clips and considering purchasing 50 black and 50 multicolor because I like purchasing in bulk. I have gone crazy, right?

Marsha made one. Have you?

P.S. I am upgrading and improving the pattern now!

Dreaming from the Journal Page Give Away+

Dreaming from the Journal Page is a pretty snazzy book, if I do say so myself. North Light was very gracious to me when they heard I had been diagnosed with cancer and rather than flying me to home base to have step out photographs taken, they hired a photographer to come to me. Many of the shots in the book are candid, taken in our tiny apartment, with images of my paint boxes, pencil cups, and ‘smalls’ (the little things collected that make us happy). 

So you get to see my beloved peg board, our lifestyle, my belongings, one of the last photos taken of me fully figured. When I first saw the photographs, I was floored! I could pretend our apartment is huge! I could believe the story that was created by beautiful photography. 

The author photo shows me with a doo rag covering the glare of my shiny, bald head (which I came to love as a symbol of my strength.) I was in the midst of my 4th chemotherapy dose, just the week before my 5th, when I felt my best. I think back on this and marvel at my strength and tenacity. This helps me to realize just what I am (we are) capable of. And to have such a thing, bound, laminated with my name on the spine as a reminder? Priceless. (I had the spine cut off  the covers laminated, had them give it a spiral binding. I even signed my own copy, why not?). I saved the spine and applied a magnetic strip to it, it is on the fridge!  🙄

So, if you own a copy, here is some insider info:

Page 32, behind the plastic dye containers, on the wall is an ornament that Judy Coates Perez made for me.

Page 88 and 89: That is my good friend Cricket, who hepled the photographer and I organize ourselves.

Page 91: We had to rearrange the apartment to take the three sewing machine shots.

Page 112: The little wooden sewing machine was made for me by my friend Jod, the Snape ring to the right of it was made by my friend Shanna. The pinecones were sent to me as stuffing in a package.

Page 120: I call my bed quilt The Beast (it is KING size), I asked the photographer to take this photo, he didn’t really want to because it a wonky angle. But it made it in the book!

Page 126: The author photo was taken across the street, it was the first photo that was taken of me for that purpose. I like my softness. 

And, because this is a celebratory day, my one year anniversary (birthday?) from surgery, I am going to give away two books to folk who commented after helping me with my survey.

And the winners are?

Suzan Engler won this copy. Please email me!

Janet Burns won one copy. Email me please.

And heck, if you would like a signed copy, please don’t hesitate to click that button on the upper right. Or if saving some cash works better for you, Amazon has a pretty cheeky discount, Dreaming From the Journal Page.

And you know? Thank you. It has been a long road since this post, where Leslie helped me tell you what what happening. So many of you sent packages, cards, love, care, emails, prayers. You helped me to see that I am as well loved as I love. Thank you for that. That is a gift beyond measure.

Looking back.

Hey there. This blog post is a bit hard for me to post but one I feel passionate about and one I feel needs to go live. It is about cancer, recovery and ‘going flat’. Last year, on June 21, I had bilateral mastectomy without reconstruction. And as you might imagine, my thoughts, feelings and memories are swirling around me this week and it is time to let them go.

My treatment protocol dictated that I have neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor and get cleaner margins), surgery and radiation. In some ways neoadjuvant therapy is a blessing because it gives you time to think through your options. And by options I mean, needing a mastectomy and deciding what type of reconstruction or lack thereof . Surgery is often the first thing women (and men-men get breast cancer too) have to go through after finding a lump- and at that point everything is happening so fast that it can be daunting to make a decision that is right for you. So I had some time to think and to decide what would work best for me.

I chose against reconstructing my body for so many reasons, the number of surgeries, failure rates, and the fact that there is no sensation and that reconstructed breasts are reported to ‘look good in clothing’.  Luckily I found photographs of another woman whose body I could relate to and who made it seem as though this would be a choice I could wrap my head around (they are beautiful photos). 

One year ago today, I still had my breasts. I miss them, I grieve the loss of my breasts. Do I regret my decision? No. Is it an adjustment? Yes. 

Why am I telling you all this? First and foremost, because I bet there is a woman out there who is making this same decision, and I want her to know she is not alone, this does not suck, we are a tribe. Beside which, this decision is just as valid as wanting to reconstruct, no matter the societal pressures related to femininity, breasts, appearance and gender. In facing this anniversary, this change to my body, I want to acknowledge the particulars and to release my body past.

Tomorrow my new body will be one year old. Welcome! I live in a world of firsts right now, first anniversary after surgery, the next treatment related anniversary will be one full year out from my last radiation (August 25) and boy are these welcome. It feels good to move away from active treatment, to put time between me and the immense pressure of active treatment. Thank goodness. Glad that’s over. 

I like being flat. I like owning my choice, my body. I am amazed at how resilient the human form is and I prefer to stay centered in this new place. This new landscape. This new me. So let’s celebrate!

Tomorrow I will choose the winners of my book, Dreaming from the Journal Page related to this post (I have been remiss in doing so and tomorrow seems a good day to give stuff away).

Phew. Thanks for reading this far.

And hey! I gave my mother her Jelly Roll quilt this weekend, looks great, huh? Very beachy.

Oooh. New.

Working with Victoria a few weeks back really gave me some incite into play, release, and welcoming the new and different back into my work with cloth. Victoria probably didn’t need to do anything at all. But she sat me in front of her machine, using her tools, and asked me to just do. She asked me to embrace what would happen.  I came home from the play date and asked myself how I might apply these thoughts to my work and materials.

This approach feels very freeing. I feel like I am on to something. This is exciting because since I wrote Inspired to Quilt, I have gone vague. I don’t feel inspired. Not in the manner the book presents itself. And since I started surface designing cloth, I have made quite a bit of it. Yesterday, as I was sewing the mono printed silk gauze (the flower on the right above), I was thinking, ‘This is just what I need! I need to start going through my bins and using all of my own cloth!’  This idea feels right. Big sigh.

This small piece will be yet another Sew-plies purse. I wonder how many I make when I am finished making them.

Today I am off to teach at The City Quilter. The name of the class? Small Works, Big Impact.

Small Work: Swan

I have been having some fun and experimenting. I am not ‘finishing’ the piece when I paint with dye. I am bringing the piece to an interesting place and allowing for the call and response of possibility.

I originally thought this might be a Sew-plies purse in the Inspired to Quilt style, but it says, ‘No’. Small work it is.

Loosen Up, Melly!

I have been questioning what do do about dye. Should I continue to us it? Do I have the space to use it? Can I use it in a different way? I love working with dye, I love the vibrancy, the hand, the way it lays on cloth as you apply it. But being diagnosed with cancer makes me question the efficacy of its use. I know using dyes did not cause or (directly) contribute to my having gotten cancer. But as a human being living on this planet, I find it difficult not to think that the waste, toxicity and pollution in the world, caused by humans, isn’t the cause in some way. 

I use all precautions when using and mixing dye and always have. Dust masks, gas masks, gloves, the works. But I still own powders and I have concentrates mixed and ready. I also have yards of white cloth. So I don’t think that I will stop using it just yet. It is different using dye in our tiny apartment, but that can be worked around by.. well… working small. Tiny apartment, tiny works of art.

I snagged some stencils when I was at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. In an effort to get my creative juices flowing in new ways I am playing with my supplies. I used a ruling pen and a dauber to print the abc stencil.

This swan was originally drawn in my journal while traveling in Luzerne last year. Now it is getting a workout in thickened dyes. I would love to make a Sew-plies purse using Inspired to Quilt techniques, while playing, having fun and seeing what I can do with dye, in my tiny apartment, with the supplies I now use. Ruling pen, freezer paper, stencils…

Here I play with thickener and liquid dyes.

I want to get back to it but wanted to show you what I am up to. Let me know what you are doing this weekend, Comment and if you have a blog or Flickr, show me what you are up to!

Flashcard Friday-A Wash.

Creating a wash, or in the case of this flashcard in particular, a wash gradation in two colors, is both easy and fun. The challenge is to prepare your work surface with everything you need so that when it comes time to paint your wash, you can quickly grab whatever you need. I like to use a wide, cheap, bristle brush to lay the paint down. There are elegant brushes for this purpose, but I don’t own one.

On this journal page, I combined gradation wash with the use of paper frisket, (a flashcard for another day). There are some techniques that  can or should be used in combination with other techniques. You can do a wash on the page to lay color down-then start working the page, or you can mask an area and paint over it, reserving a portion and coloring the ground. It is up to you.

On another note, I have been speaking with Diana from M. Graham paints. Diana has been gracious and is answering some questions about her paints and we wanted to share information with you. M. Graham are my paint of choice in all mediums-watercolor, gouache and acrylic. I started using her paints because the gouache formulation is such that it can be parsed out in a travel palette and allowed to ‘dry’. Not all gouache can be rewet, but M. Graham paints can. This is a boon for artists like me, who enjoy painting on the go!

**

Diana, I have been using your paints for a few years, I was turned onto them by Roz Stendahl, a blogger and artist whom I greatly admire. The selling point for me was the fact that you use honey in your formulation and that your gouache paints do not use opacifiers-making them able to travel in a travel palette. Will you talk about this? Why honey? Why no opacifiers?

The gouache story is that “designers” gouache that most people are familiar with was created for fashion, etc. designing. The artwork was created, reproduced and discarded.  Because the original art was not to be retained, the permanency of the color was not an issue.  Many of the hues are purples, reds and fluorescents which are available in beautiful pigment or dyes-few  of which are lightfast.  We chose to use the same pigments as our other lines (all rated lightfast I or II except Alizarin which remains by popular demand).
 
While gouache is like watercolor (and can be thinned and used as washes), the usual application is a thick, flat layer or layers.  This requires a media that is film forming and resistant to cracking.  The use of honey in ours creates a more flexible film and better adhesion.
 
Most brands add chalks or whiteners to make the color opaque.  While some prefer this in design work, it detracts fro the brilliant liveliness in a fine art piece.  We chose to leave the mixing to the artist so either technique can be used.  Each color is as opaque as the pigment allows.  Some colors, like Quinacridone Red, are like layering transparent colored glass trying to get opacity.  No matter how much pigment you add, it is simply more transparent by nature than other pigments.
 
Some watercolorists apply transparent watercolor thickly, straight from the tube.  Our watercolors are formulated for more traditional dilution and application and they may not dry if painted out thickly.  For this technique, the gouache is the perfect solution.
 
I’ll try to talk about honey next.

Noodles, eat, shop, play.

Yesterday I went to the Fashion District to poke around in trim shops. This was the first time I brought my video camera and I was shy to whip it out. M and J Trimming was all for it, I asked if they were OK with my filming, yes. No questions. In fact it was almost as if they were saying, ‘No need! It is all on the web anyway!’ 

I love M and J, they have so much stuff packed into that store, it is arranged and managed beautifully. It is where I go to find stuff, then I try to source it elsewhere to get a better price. Yesterday I went for the clip closures I am using on the Sew-plies purse. They also have these snaps that I have my eye on. But I think I can find them at Pacific Trimming at a better price. Pacific trimming had these safety pins that I find adorable and have been using in the Sew-plies purse, so those came home with me too.

Both stores had stuff that I would like to mull over. I like to mull over and process how I might use a thing before I purchase.

I would like to do this again, let me know if you think it is fun.

When I was flying to Arlington Texas last week, I traced off an image on an airplane and embroidered it to the center back of the Female Magazine blouse. The blouse is piling up the embroidered stitches. The fabric is changing to the touch. Very nice. I will post overall photos soon.

Last week I went and played with Victoria Findlay Wolfe (whom I love and sorta have a crush on, she is creative, gentle, awesome, smart and she is coming out with a book!!). She keeps a site called 15 Minutes Play (also the name of her upcoming book). She sat me in front of a machine and got me sewing without specific purpose in a playful way. Oh my goodness! This was so good for my soul. I have been moving away from intense dye use in my work and using cloth in this way-piecing and playing, really helps to loosen a girl up.

So this weekend I put the idea to the test. I gave myself 15 minutes to play (it turned into hours and hours). But. Here were the ideas I applied to the 15 Minutes of Play:

Use new materials, in this case wool batting

Use stitch in an unexpected way

Combine one piece of hand made cloth with mostly commercial prints

This sew-plies purse is so yellow, it glows! As I have said before, I want to make one for everyday of the week. I may need one for each day of the month. I think this is going to become something for me. I want a piece of clothing to embellish, embroider, print and surface design to go with each purse! I am going to take the Gather your Sew-plies purse off the web and update and fix it, so if you want version 1, download it now.