I'd rather be blue, thinking of you!

Blue flowers in silk.  This was my first official Gigi! artful endeavor.  I donated this painted scarf to a charity auction benefiting the local Children's Developmental Center.  

Who drank all that wine????

Sidetracked briefly from other artful endeavors, I have taken up wine bottle transformations.  With the expert sanding assistance of Mike, we are making wine bottle votive candle holders for my daughters wedding rehearsal dinner.  If only it didn't take over 40 wine bottles to come up with 8 perfectly cut bottles.  That's a lot of trashed glass!  

Grapes before wine

More silk.  I am working on a design of grapes.  There are parts of this that I really like and the rest is all bunched up in the middle. The prerogative of the artist.... you only get to see the parts I want to show you.  It's not unlike when I bake cookies.  If they happen to burn or not turn out perfect, no one, and I mean NO ONE will ever even know they existed!  So, parts of this might end up as a wine bottle gift bag.  There is potential.  #8, 8/15/2012.

Calla Lily

Where has this summer gone?  I just realized that I never posted this photo (and a few others, as a matter of fact).  This is a calla lily hand painted on silk and transformed into a hobo bag.  Such fun to see how the dyes play on the fabric.  This is actually attempt #2, as the design on the first one came out completely in the steaming process. So glad this one persevered. #7 8/14/2012. 

Butterflies in Silk

#6  This scarf was the recent result of getting my silk scarves and dyes out.  Mostly, I was just hoping to re-familiarize myself with how the dyes act on the fabric.  I drew the butterflies free style with resist and then just played with colors and let them mingle on the silk.  The whole process, including the steaming and washing, was much simpler than I remembered.  Next up: something with grapes.  The scarf is already stretched on the frame.  

Mandied Apple

#5.  A dear friend made a request for a red apple painting as a reminder of her home state.  I hope she likes it.  I'm kind of getting into the groove of this painting thing.  

A little bit of Maui heaven

Day #4  Okay, now I want to go to Hawaii.  This hibiscus has inspired me to get out my silk and fabric dyes and create a version of this on a scarf.  I think the design is better suited for a watercolor type expression than acrylic.  Getting the acrylic paints to behave as I wanted, while they dried extra fast in the 100+ heat (with a broken air conditioner) was a bit of a challenge.