Fleur de Lis, plus an update

I am on a new and different life path, it has been a long time in the coming and is a welcome change. I have decided to become a certified personal trainer and to broaden my employment skillset. I have discovered that I love lifting weights and that I love cardiovascular aerobic exercise! Who knew! My long term goal is to get an additional certification so that I can work with special populations, like cancer patients, queer and transitioning individuals, and those who seek to improve their body image and self love skills through physical exercise.

I have been dance/walking the streets of New York City, listening to songs like Lizzo’s Boys (whom I love for her fantastic sense of self), and enjoying being goofy in public. It is liberating to dance how and where I want. The world is my audience!

I am keeping track of my home workouts via instagram, at Flat_and_Fit. In fact, I have broken my insta accounts into three, Art where you will find my latest makings and Breast Cancer Advocacy too. That way, I can separate my social media personae and you can follow those that interest you. 

In the meantime, I have been printing a bunch of Fleur de Lis prints, while also swatching a new color triangle from Playful Fabric Printing. 

 

New Color Triangle in the Works

I am feeling the pull of having access to a new color triangle in a gradation of four values!

Playful Fabric Printing contains a color triangle that Carol Soderlund calls ‘Sunshine’. It’s a great group of colors, and I appreciate being able to draw from all four values of these colors when multicolor printing. But, I would like a new group of colors!

Having taken Carol’s class called ‘Color Mixing for Dyers’, I now want a color triangle in her ‘Juicy’ color way, so I am setting up the necessary items to swatch these new colors using the information presented in our book (page 48, Playful Fabric Printing).

Last summer I printed a new ‘bright’ color way using fuchsia, turquoise and lemon yellow. At that time, I mixed all 28 colors in all four values, all at once. This time, I am going to break it down into two sets of 10 colors and one set of eight, and I am going to try do it in such a way that I can print a new collection of fabrics using the prints I created for the Zine. This is taking some organization and I look forward to being able to complete this project and mount the swatches in my master color book.

Wish me luck!

Zine Volume 2, possible covers

I have just finished printing four possible covers for The Motif Maker’s Zine volume #2, a zine focused the Unicorn, as motif. In an upcoming post, I will share two quilt tops that feature Unicorn prints derived from the this same collection of prints.

In the meantime, here are two printed hankies for you viewing pleasure.

Stay tuned!

Zine Making, what? why?

A Zine is a short & sweet version of a magazine. This printed material is often made by individuals, be they artists, activists, enthusiasts, fans or groups. These booklets are traditionally created by way of photocopy machines, an easily accessible and generally inexpensive means of printing.
On March 31 of this year, I went to a Feminist Zine Festival held at Bernard College in NYC. The Zines at this event ranged from 4-12$, more or less. I was so excited about what I might learn and whose Zines I would collect, I arrived early.

I am glad that I did because I was able to nab the brightly colored Zine named ‘Making Your Mark’ at upper right, in the photo above. That Zine is subtitled, ‘Women, Queer & Gender Non-Conforming Tattoo Artists in their Own Words’. It was printed under then Diaspora Savant Press. But I purchased Zines from many interesting people on topics like body positivity, breast cancer, trans poetry, and penpal Zines for incarcerated women and gender non-conforming people.

Then, I got bit by the bug!

I buckled down and began creating a Zine of my own, and I am calling it, The Motif Maker’s Zine.

Of course my Zine needs to be an artful exploration of motif, textile design and printing. I am drawing and lettering the entire Zine myself and I plan to release three at once, ASAP. I have two Zines complete and have started a third! I find I like communicating by way of drawings and written word. I like the format and I hope you do too.

So, please stay tuned. This will be fun.

 

Being Awake

Being bold with friends is a delight and a gift.

We walked through Times Square, myself as Genderless Fae, with Rachel as the Wonder Woman she is. We talked with strangers, made conversation happen, had our pictures taken. Some knees were prayed over! Because you never know what may happen at Times Square in NYC.

We met up with Charise (no photos) and Joules too.

It’s so much fun to get your freak on and have fun in public. So glad to have awesome pals who are willing to create fun and be outlandish.

Motif Making

I have been skittering down a rabbit hole of exploration into Motif Making. Its been fun. Check out my insta to see a fuller picture of this print and it’s fellas.

I am creating a Zine, an artistic, hand written and printed offering, called the Motif Maker’s Zine. These will be 16 page booklets that speak to how to make and use motif in your printed work.

And, while I do that, I am printing hankies using the motifs discussed in the Zine! I hope to get all of this into my Etsy really soon!

In the meantime, I am updating this website, simplifying it, and learning to maintain it myself. I have been disheartened by social media and look forward to occupying this space again.

My life has been morphing and shifting. I am studying to become a personal trainer! I love working out and I would like to get an additional Special Populations certification, so that I can work with cancer patients who want to engage in fitness.

I have broken up my Instagram accounts! I now have an Melly Testa artist insta, my breast cancer advocacy insta and my Flat_and_Fit insta. Please follow me there!

And hello. It feels good to use this space again.

Lost in the Land of Making

I am feeling lost artistically. Politics and the state of our nation have me down. And, I now have a part time job which distracts me. My art isn’t keeping me afloat as it has in the past. I keep trying to stir my pot, try new things, stir things up. Mostly, I am telling myself that this shall pass and that an exciting bell will ring soon. My ears are peeled.

In the meantime, I am trying new things. For instance, I am informing myself about Common Tern (I recently got a tattoo of two Common Terns, so I am hot on the topic). So this weekend, I took out my three ring binder of  drawings and images and began combining as many as possible into a single image.

This piece combines Common Tern, which uses the east coast of the United States as nesting ground, with drawings of chairs from Upholstery Yardage Sheets. This is a visual pun that describes me, an armchair birder! Then I added a drawing of a New York City skyline and the City Hall Subway station. Living in the city, I sometimes forget that Common Terns are living near and around me, as this is a city surrounded by water, marshes and beaches! 

I know art can’t be my end all and be all, its just, sometimes you need to show up and do the work! So here I am, showing up and doing the work! And I have to say, its not all bad!!

Common Tern

Years ago, I began working on a series that I call, The 20. This centers on the Audubon list of Common Birds in Decline. Because I love birds so much, I decided to highlight these common birds and to give them my voice as an artist. Common Terns are coastal birds whose habitat is being lost to humans and climate change. If you live near or visit the coast, please clean and remove any detritus you find! Especially plastic.

Since I first created the ATC in the upper right corner, I have thought of this image as depicting David and I.

My good Man and I have been married for just over 24 years and we’ve decided to get tattoos to celebrate (our appointments are in less than 2 weeks!!). I have chosen the Common Tern image. This image is so loving, shows such connection between the two birds, it communicates the love I seek to honor. David plans to get a portrait of our good feline, Peach.

So all three of us will be present in the honoring of our time together! That’s what I call family.

‘I love to embroider’ kit and mini class.

I have two handprint embroidery kits in my Etsy right now. Consider this to be a mini prototype class, for two, in a private FB group. I hope to make into a full online class, with your help. Are you game?

This online class, held in a closed FB group, will consist of video, photographic and written content, covering: knife edge finish, use of stencils, transfer pen, fill stitch recommendations and more. You will also have access to me in 2-10 minute Live FB Videos, where you are encouraged to ask questions and I will share similar and related work.

Each kit contains a Melly Handprint of a Rose / Love handprint, a hank of handyed embroidery floss in an array of sparkling colors, 2 6 strand DMC floss per color, 18″ long each, scrap handprints in sheers, velvet and more. There are samples of my favorite needles too.

Just to let you know, a friend, A, is getting married soon. David and I both enjoy this person very much. And, I would like to make a gift for him. I am embroidering the third ‘I love embroidery’ kit while creating your video content. It is my goal to make this gifty-embroidered-square ooze with a NYC graffiti like appeal.

This will be a lovely, intimate, learning experience and I hope you might be one of two to purchase these kits! This is a new idea for me, one I hope to make into a full blown online class. If you are interested in eventually taking this class, let me know in the comments and I will start printing more kits!! Heck! I would love to.

Please join me. I assure you, this will be fun!

Embroidery kits! Containing handprints! Threads and more!

What makes me happy

Recently, I have been on a quest. I am cultivating enjoyment. I am exploring what makes me happy and I am following those leads. Cancer, as much as it happened 7+ years go has greatly affected me.

The waves of healing, self introspection, the acceptance and embrace of my changed body, while standing present to my husbands needs, its taken a toll. I feel gratitude in that, I am now at a place where I can look out over the landscape of change and feel calm. I am willing and able to sort through the aftermath without tremors of anxiety, worry and fear. Just, open, gentle curiosity. 

I am also letting go creatively. I am allowing myself to work in series. I am encouraging myself to mess up and make mistakes. I am trying new things and exploring old methodologies. It feels amazing. Cancer and its aftermath kicked up some pretty deeply ingrained PTSD and I am happy to say it is abating. 

Please join me in celebrating this. It feels great to be printing nudes again. It feels great to go on a creative tangent and pile up the work. Let’s be happy together.