Etsy treasury: street smart

OK, this treasury thing on Etsy can be addicting!  I've got to limit myself to one treasury a month . . . well, maybe every two weeks is fine.  Here's the new collection I just put together.

New work, "Dreaming of Oregon"

Dreaming of Oregon is a new mixed media piece just added to my Etsy shop.  I was sitting by a lake while working on it.  You should be able to see some elements in the drawing that were inspired by my surroundings.

I'll be posting an update on my second embroidery drawing later this week.  I've been spending more time stitching than drawing.  Sometimes the two mediums seem to blur together.  Here's a drawing I did yesterday. 

Easy to make family silhouettes

Silhouette portraits are timeless and treasured additions to any home.  You can find an abundance of options for custom silhouettes on Etsy.  I have been wanting to make silhouettes of my daughters for awhile now and finally got motivated yesterday to tackle the project.  Making the silhouettes was so easy, I made one for each family member, including the family cat!  Here's how I did it:

Some of the materials and tools needed for the silhouette project.



First, I gathered the materials I needed. 



digital camera

computer with photo editing application

fabric in natural (9" square for each portrait) and black (4" square for each portrait)

embroidery hoops (7" diameter)

sharp fabric scissors

fine tip felt pen

tracing paper

pins

fabric adhesive (or a sticker machine)

hot glue gun

Using a digital camera, I took pictures of each family member's profile.  (I recommend that long hair is in a ponytail.) We have a large bright window with a translucent shade that was perfect for a white backdrop.  A white wall can work, too.  Import the images into a photo editing program and increase the contrast of the photo. 



Before tracing an image, make sure it is about 3.5" - 4" in diameter.  Placing a sheet of tracing paper over the computer screen, carefully trace the outline of each profile with a felt tip pen.  (You can print the images in lieu of tracing.)

(My ten-year-old stepped in as photographer as I worked on the project.)



Iron your fabric, and then pin the traced image to a piece of the black fabric.  Cut out the image with sharp fabric scissors.  Next, adhere the centered silhouette onto a 9" fabric background using iron-on adhesive. (I used my handy sticker machine that was a recent craigslist find.)

Loosen an embroidery hoop and center the image in the hoop.  Pull gently along the edge to create some tautness.  Tighten the hoop to secure the fabric, and then trim the extra fabric to 1/2" (or at least shorter than the width of the hoop).

Glue the fabric edge to the frame using a hot glue gun.  If you want to create a more finished look, you can glue a ribbon over the fabric edge.



In about an hour, I was able to create five custom silhouettes.  And since I had most of the materials for the project, it cost me very little.  I thought about embroidering names below each silhouette but decided to keep it simple.

Feeling the love

Thanks to Kate Singleton of Art Hound for my first official interview on the internet!  It's been a joy getting to know Kate the past year.  I follow her art blog daily and appreciate her insight on classic to contemporary art.



This past week, I've also had my art featured in three different treasuries on Etsy.  I was so inspired by  everyone's collections, I decided to create my own treasury.  It was a lot of fun; it reminded me of my retail buying days! To see the entire collection, go here. 

Artist Interview: Kathrin Achenbach of Annekata

When I first came across Kathrin's blog last month, it was one of those new-favorite-blog freakout moments.  I was engrossed in every post, quickly falling into the "how many hours just passed before me" state.  You might remember me first mentioning her blog, Annekata, as the catalyst to my recent fabric tape frenzy.  And the fabric tape idea is just one of many clever projects that Kathrin demonstrates on her blog.  Having lived in cities all over the world and with a background in theater, Kathrin's craft and artistry is unique and refreshing, yet classic.  Her method is slow design, and her material of choice is salvaged. . . music to my ears!

How would you describe your work?



It is timeless, with the time trapped within,

humble,

low to no footprint,

recycled, and in some way, unfinished.

  

What inspires you to create?



I'm fascinated by the relationship people have with their "things" and the role that "time" plays. Two of my preferred mediums to explore those relationships are hand-sewing and embroidery. They're slow and let me explore the details of what's decorative and functional, and create a visual/tactile representation of it.



Some of the questions I ask are:

What is our time worth?

Why do we value our time more than other people's time?



And inspiring me are all the people who spend time making "something from nothing".







What artist tool/material do you love using at this moment?



Fiber. Always loved textiles. My grandparents had a small convenience/notions store when I was a little girl and I fondly remember the inventory. The old cash registers, the yarn spools, embroidery threads and the stacks of fabric. I still have some beautiful starched linen from this now long-gone store.



The store also sold paper goods: ledger forms, envelopes of all shapes and sizes and spiral bound notebooks.  I love paper for many reasons and am curious of its uncertain future as it seems to quietly fade away. Paper also lends itself to a myriad of different and exciting applications: decoupage, fashion, decoration etc.



As for tools, I love the simple ones. The ones I can manipulate with my own hands and repair or replace easily. I have a difficult relationship with my camera. It seems indispensable in our virtual world, but I'm not a fan of digital photography (even though there are some amazing artists out there). And my relationship with the sewing machine is simply neurotic.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?



I feel very much in charge of my life. I live where I want, with the people I love and do (for the most part) what I please.



My intention is to spend as much time as I can with my daughter, husband and my work. What I remember of my childhood is that my parents always had time for me. And how important that was.



Who are a few of your favorite artists?



Oh my, there are so many. As for writers I love Emily Bronte, Juan Ramon Jimenez and Garcia Lorca. Some of my favorite photographers are: August Sander, Dorothea Lange. And I like Ramon Masats a documentary photographer from Spain. Painters: Nicolas de Stael, Andrew Wyeth.  Gunta Stölzl produced fantastic work as did Hannelore Baron. And I love Joseph Cornell's boxes.  Andrew Goldsworthy makes me think and in the world of fashion I admire Rei Kawakubo and Alexander McQueen who sadly left this world too early.

What inspired you to start your blog, and what is the origin of the name Annekata?



I am not a very organized person, so many ideas and projects were either discarded or forgotten or given away, and I felt that it was time to create a visual file cabinet of my work. A blog seemed a great format to accomplish this. It forces me to be more disciplined in my creative process. Every morning I sit down and write. It seemed that the blog took on its own character and became another child (begging constantly for attention). We are figuring out together where to go with this. The feedback of readers has been most helpful and insightful, and I want to integrate that spirit into my work.



The name Annekata is an abbreviation of my full name: Anne Kat(hrin) A(chenbach). I wanted a name without defining my blog too much so it could go in any direction. The other domain names I came up with, unfortunately, led in some way or another to "inappropriate" content.

Apart from your creative work, what else do you love to do?



Traveling. On top of my list. And food. And the combination of both. I've been recently interested in the raw food movement. Primarily, because of its very artistic approach. The bigger the constraint, the more creative possibilities people come up with. And the presentation of raw food (done with care) is often incredible. (You won't believe how artfully one can arrange salad greens!)



If you had a spare hour in the day, how would you spend it?



Procrastinating!



Thanks, Kathrin, for such lovely photographs and a wonderful interview! I feel so inspired to embroider now- and eat a few raw broccoli while doing it. 

My week

good to be gardening

my first attempt dyeing fabric in the sun using lavender and sage

post vacation reality: loads of laundry, and my work desk is just a few feet away

. . . . . . . . . .

just starting on my new embroidery piece

(most of these photos were taken with an iphone; love the camerabag app)

Show and Tell: Old things made new

1. My friend takes Reader's Digests and turns them into journals.  This one was my favorite.  It's from 1970.  I'm using it to log my hand dyeing trials. . . so far I have one page filled. 



2.  My father bought this wall clock forty years ago.  When my mother gave it to me several years ago, I wasn't too keen on the fake gold gilded frame look.  So I painted it ivory. 



3.  My summer earrings.  I love how the recycled leather strips dance in the wind.