The Real Florida

I've been hard at work on my quilt for the Color Wheel of Emotions exhibit. I photographed the ornament on which it is based and altered it in Photoshop. Then I made a sketch with pencil to check out the values and changed places that I thought needed to be darker or lighter. Then I got out my Inktense pencil set and did a few color sketches/paintings and with each one altered the colors to get them the way I want them. My next step will be to create it with fabric. I think I will paint the fabric base various colors and then add fabrics by fusing the appropriate colors and shapes to the base. I think that this piece will require a lot of stitching to get the effects I want.
     Since I can't show you any pictures of it now, I'll share some photos I took yesterday when I was on a bike ride. My husband and I rode our bicycles down to Blue Springs State Park and then walked the trails there to see the sights. We saw about 10 manatees including a mother with her calf, two bald eagles, a gator, and a corn snake. The weather was in the low 70's/ high 60's (Fahrenheit) and the sky was a crisp blue. I feel so lucky to live in a place that is, for many, a vacation destination, but far enough away from the crowds.

Manatee mother with calf

Blue Springs walkway

Blue Springs Run at the mouth of
the St. John's River

My bike with a friend

New Quilt?

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with an idea for an exhibit I want to enter called "Color Wheel of Emotion".  Everytime I got excited about an idea, I sketched it out or created a mock-up in Photoshop Elements from my photos and/or scans. But then after awhile they seemed too trite, too ordinary, or too difficult for me to execute. Then, I was gathering spices in my kitchen to make a batch of garam masala (a set mixture of spices for curry). And I realized how colorful they were and decided to use photos of them for my color wheel. I took individual photos of them on a plate such as these four:

whole cloves

mustard seeds

cardamom pods

cinnamon sticks

Then I manipulated them and merged them into one photo looking like (sort of like) they are on the same plate at the same time. (I wanted to keep them separate in real life so that I could put them back into their bottles uncontaminated when I was done taking photos.) My plan was to interpret the composite photo in cloth and thread to create my version of a color wheel of emotion. Here is that photo:

Composite photo

but in the end I decided I wasn't ready to make that quilt. I may do it another time. While I was in the shower this evening, I glanced at an ornament hanging from our curtain and I suddenly saw my color wheel of emotion! So I photographed it, manipulated it in Photoshop with background fabric and I like it a lot. I hope I still think it is a good idea in the morning. If yes, then I'll get out my gelatin plate and monoprint the background fabrics and start creating the foreground. The deadline is the end of April. If all goes well, I'll be able to make it.

New Quilt for Auction

I'm going to donate a quilt to SAQA for an auction. The requirement is that it be 12 x 12. What I did so far to make it is I scanned in fabrics that I made for my prayer flag quilt. I manipulated them in Photoshop Elements 10 and added part of a photo I took on Sanibel Island in Florida. Here is the result:

The next step is to print it. Since my printer only prints standard size, I'll have to print the background in several pieces. Then I'll cut them up and put them onto batting. I'll print the orb and the birds onto a sheer chiffon and fuse them onto the background. Then I'll quilt, hand-embroider, and probably sew on a pillowcase backing. If you've been following my blog, then you've seen some of these fabrics as I made them and you've seen some of the steps I followed to make my prayer flag quilt.
By the way, the prayer flag quilt is finished. I sent in an application and photos of it to SAQA's Text Message exhibit. Now I have to wait to see if it gets in - fingers crossed.
I made a second prayer flag quilt and only have to finish some hand embroidery and I'll submit that one to another exhibit. I think I've found my way to creating a body of work!
If the two quilts don't get accepted, I'll post photos of them here and on my website.

Posting photos on the Internet

In several discussion groups the issue of how or whether to post photos of our art online. Personally, I don't mind if people copy and paste my work as long as I get credit for it and those viewing it can find me to see more of my work if they like it. One way to do this is to put a watermark on all the photos that you post. You'll see my watermark on my last entry's photos. (I only learned how to do this yesterday and found out it is easy if you have Photoshop Elements or a similar program).  So I'll try to give you step-by-step instructions. You can also see some demos on YouTube that show different ways to put on your watermark.
Here is a photo of one of my art quilts called Water Cycles. You see my watermark is my website address.

Water Cycles

1. Open your photo in your software (I used Photoshop Elements 10)
2. Create a new layer.
3. Make sure your new layer is highlighted so that you are adding the text to the new layer.
4. Click on the text tool. In PSE it's a "T" on the toolbar on the left side.
5. Set the font, size, and color from the toolbar at the top.
6. Click on the photo where you want the text to be and drag to create a text box. You'll see that it has little squares on its corners.
7. Type your text. Highlight your text. Go to the Move tool on the left toolbar and click on it. Click on your text. A box appears around your text.
8. Click near one of the corners and a curved arrow will appear and then you can rotate your text if you want it to be at an angle. You can also grab the corners and drag to stretch out your text.
9. Go to Layer menu at the top. Scroll down to Layer Styles. Choose Style Settings. (If Style Settings is grayed out, then you have to click outside your text box on the photo to close it first.)
10. I chose Bevel, 30 degrees, 3px. Click OK
11. Set the opacity you want on your text layer.
12. Save your file.

That's the first time I've written directions for PSE. I hope it is clear. If you have questions or comments, please write.