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Random Musings on Art and LIfe

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How to Sign a Stitched Painting

August 20, 2021
Sign a Stitched Painting cover image

In preparation for my first gallery show, I had to solve the problem of how to sign a stitched painting. The pieces were finished. They were stretched on internal frames. They were absolutely ready for the packing crate. Except that… oops!… Nothing had a signature! Now I knew I could sign the back of the…

Learn from my Marking Pencil Mistake

June 30, 2021

There are few things more frustrating than mistakes that can be avoided. In this post, I share my mis-adventure with a marking pencil — and how you can avoid this mistake in your fabric art projects.

Studio Essentials: Finding the Sweet Spot

May 25, 2017
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After three months in Chapala with  (very) limited supplies, I found my home studio more than a bit overwhelming. With several decades worth of art supplies on hand, it’s a miracle I get anything done! It’s time to remove the distractions and get down to a smaller set of Studio Essentials. Rather than just “thinking”…

Custom Color Velcro to the Rescue!

July 21, 2016
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In last week’s post, I told you about my adventure with an Urban Computer Satchel. One of the my “standard” detours on a project like this is to paint up some Custom Color Velcro. Before you shake your head at me and think “Seriously,” answer me this. Don’t you hate being limited to White, Beige…

Got Glass Rubbing Plates?

March 24, 2016

One of my favorite things about working with Paintstik Rubbings (and teaching you to use them!) is that we can make rubbings from just about anything that is reasonably flat and has a texture. Including glass. [Tweet “See how you can save Grandma’s pie plate on fabric.”] During one of the recent classes, Kathy Maras…

Testing A Flower Collage Overlay

March 17, 2016

Do you ever have an idea for a project you are working on – but hesitate to check it out because testing the idea could destroy all the work you have already done? I often find myself wanting to play it safe rather than pushing ahead with something that might be really cool. The nagging…

Rubbing Plate Surgery

February 25, 2016

Several years ago, when Zentangles were very much in fashion, I designed a set of rubbing plates I called Doodles. Many of the designs were divided into sections instead of having one distinct design for each plate. [Tweet “Build your own textures with Rubbing Plate Surgery!”] My favorite plate in the collection is the one…

Folklorio Dancer 3: All Dressed Up With Stunning Stitches

April 23, 2015

At the beginning of my art residency here in Chapala, I created a stencil from an image of a dancer, and then painted her up using my extreme stenciling technique. She was quite lovely in the shimmering iridescent Paintstik colors, but I wanted to give her dress a bit of pizzazz. So, I dug into…

Folklorio Dancer 2: Add Color with Extreme Stenciling

March 19, 2015

In a previous post, I showed you how I made a stencil from sign maker’s vinyl using an image of a Folkorio dancer. Today, I’ll show you how I added really bright color using Paintstiks, a brush, and my fingers. Yes, you read that correctly. While I do most stenciling with a brush, the technique…

Folklorio Dancer 1: Cutting and Transferring a Vinyl Stencil

March 12, 2015

My big goal for my Personal Art Residency in Chapala is to learn to use my Silhouette cutter. I purchased it more than a year ago, but have done precious little with it since. I decided that my first task should be to cut a stencil and paint up a piece of fabric for a…

Test A Design With A Silhouette Cutter

February 12, 2015

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In a previous post, I talked about testing paint colors before starting work on a big project. Today I want to talk about a different, and perhaps more important, test that can save you from untold hours of unhappiness. With the new high-tech tools available today, we can make a scale-model of a design to…

Titanium Is A Stenciler’s Best Friend

April 17, 2014

In the past month, I have spent between 25 and 30 hours stenciling images on a new project. I am working on black fabric and a nice range of iridescent and matte Paintstik colors. For my project, I wanted my images bold and bright. Yes, I wanted them to jump off the fabric. Now that…