The Medieval Lace Book RR

 

The next Medieval Lace book I was working in was Karen. Her theme is John Waterhouse’s heroines. Here are the front and back covers of the spread.

By pure coincidence I used a large piece of lace on the left side of the page, that perfectly matches the lace Karen used for the last page of her book. It will look like it was meant to be. Which of course, it was…

This is the inside left page, showing Courtly Love.

The right page is built around an image of a young lady kneeling in front of her knight in shining armor. The two pages are built on top of a beautiful piece of dyed lace, which has completely disappeared under all the embellishments. l-))

On the right page are several layers of doilies, with some chiffon to frame the image, and some guipure lace. The top trim is metal hearts and under the purple velvet is upholstery trim.

I never realized how very dark Waterhouse images are. It was a challenge to keep the page light.

 

I added a vintage brooch that I had in my collection, with beautiful stones that echo the colors on the page.

It seems I haven’t posted the previous pages I had done for Teri in NYC. So here they are. Her theme is Horses and Armors.

On the left page, I used a picture of a horse that actually comes from a carousel. I loved the colors. I tracked down, with a lot of help from my friend Deb who is also in this RR, a horse blanket pin. Then I aged it.

On the right, I printed some horse equipment terms in French, like Haslebarde, Bride (which is the bridle), Henaut, the helmet, Joult, (Joust), Harnais, (harness), Destrier (a form of horse) Cheval (horse) and Palefroi (a farm horse)

For the right page, I used a reporduction of the Black Prince riding armor. It was such a beautiful image. I used a belt which I had cut up and painted, to look like a bridle.

 

I have to admit, it is quite a superb round robin that we’re having, and the books are really turning magnificent. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of talented artists.

Last Vintage Lace Book Page

This Round Robin journal is now going home to Elena, and it was my privilege to be the last one to work in it.

Her theme was vintage Paris.

I made the design on the back pages on my new embroidery machine. Gotta love it. I also added a crown and the letter “E” for Elena, because she’s our queen friend, who organizes lots of wonderful Round Robins.

Her book cover was mainly black and white, so I followed the theme.

On the left page, I printed images of Paris on fabric, and decorated them with a beautiful white flower from Beads and Buttons in Portland, and a sweet little white bird inside of a black rose. For the background, I used this wonderful black and white Paris map fabric that I had. It all got covered with tons of lace, of course.

For the right page, I had this wonderful furry and feathery black nest with precious stones in it. It guided the design for the rest of the page. I used a large piece of lace that covers both pages. It has these large white flowers on it, which seemed to continue the theme.

 

Here is a view of both pages together. I trimmed the top of the page with black and white gingham, very French. The bottoms silver and black trim comes from the collar of a jacket a girlfriend just gave me. It comes from Italy, and has tons of silver beads. Not easy to wear outside of Italy, even if you live in Palm Springs! It was perfect to finish the pages.

Recognition and exposure

One painting in a new series I painted early in the year is being featured in a Treasury on Etsy. That’s like… a big deal! Top right!

The whole series is titled: “These city walls”. It’s 22.5 x 23.5 abstract painting on unstretched canvas. It is modern, abstract.
This painting represents urban decay. This original painting is called Papers.
It is an original.
It consists of antique collage papers, stencils, acrylic paint.

The next one in the series is 11 x 15 abstract painting, original, on hardboard, ready to hang. Edges are painted black.

Detail:

This one has found a home in Australia:

This next one I love. It’s very hard to photograph it right. It’s on Arches watercolor paper, 24x30. “Tsunami”

Details

This next one is on black paper, 18 x 18:

This one is on black paper too:

This one is on harboard, 8x10, titled ‘Sunrise”

This next one, Waterfall, is SOLD!

And this last one, on hard board, 11 x 14 is “Sunset”

Valentine’s Birthday and so much more

With a birthday on Valentine’s day, I have been showered with heart warming gifts.

My dear friend Liz in Oregon, who is a marvelous quilter and a member of one of my Lace Round Robin made this beautiful fabric collage for me. Notice how the hands form a heart? HER hands, which she traced and reduced on the computer before cutting in fabric. And do you see all the details, the tiny little red buttons, and the rhinestones? Love!

I have also exchanged a fabric collage with my new friend in the UK, Alison. She sent me this wonderful vintage page. And the tag!!! Notice the tag!?!?!?!? All that hand embroidery is just exquisite. I did suggest she considers using some of that beautiful stitching in her collages, it’s so beautiful, and something that most of us don’t do or won’t do anymore.

 

Here is the one I sent Alison. I had just finished a batch of dyeing, and I had this deed wine color. An acquired taste, but Alison has received it and she likes it:

 

Beautiful Suzy in Australia sent this beautiful fabric ‘card’. Don’t you just love these soft pastels? Lovely.

Lucky me, she’d already sent me a collage last month, this time in these gorgeous browns and rusts that I so love.

 

My dear friends from Canada surprised me with a dozen red roses!!!! Imagine. I thought I was passed the age of getting red roses on Valentine’s Day. And aren’t they just magnificent?

 

In the middle of all this happiness, I managed to finish a new bracelet cuff, and to list it on Etsy.

 

And I even posted a painting on Etsy too. This one is 16x20, on stretched canvas.  It was done earlier and didn’t seem to have made it to the Etsy site, so here it is. I exhibited it in a show in Vancouver. It was quite popular and got rave reviews, but I ended up selling a much larger one. I used alcohol inks on a canvas base.

What women want

I took Collage Camp with KC Willis and adore her methods. New tools to add to my lace books.

I made a journal which I call: What women want. KC uses a theme to guide her in designing her art. She seems to focus on Wild West. Since I’m French, lovely women of yesteryear are more my heritage.

Front cover of book, 8x10 on raw canvas:

Each left page contains a text relevant to the theme.

Details:

 

Details:

Back cover:

I purchased the images from an Etsy digital supplier. They are heat transferred, a new approach for me, I usually just print my images directly on the fabric. The antique and vintage laces are from my collection. It’s such a pleasure to see them out in this book. It was a fantastic class.

Thank you KC.