Skip to main content

Blue Textiles



 I love working with blue .... much of my recent work is blue. In the latter part of last year I saw blue everywhere - I stitched a series of blue temari (embroidered thread balls) and felted dolls in shades of blue. 

- Blue Temari  - "Layered" exhibition ,January 2014. 
Blue felt doll - Bonnie 

Blue felt doll - Maribel 
I love the colours of the traditional Willow Pattern… these blues induce a sense of calm and peace and the sight of a blue bird is often seen as a symbol of happiness and contentment…. One of the works in the current "Layered" exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists is  Blue Bird which was completed in December. I  covered a  wire frame  with different fabrics, which have been felted, stitched by hand and/or machine, painted and stamped, dyed. This textile art is a derivative of an earlier collaborative work created for International Women’s Day 2013.

Blue Bird - "Layered" exhibition , January 2014 


Close up of  textile art - Blue Bird 
My  new work for the Contemporary Craft Retreat in October 2014 are some mixed media collages on canvas. Blue again.... 

Willow Pattern Collage. 


Blue Represents
Communication: Blue relates to one-to-one verbal communication and self expression.
Peace and calm: Blue induces calm and peace within us, particularly the deeper shades.
Honesty: Blue is the colour of truth.
Authority: The darker the color blue, the more authority it has.
Religion: Blue is the colour of devotion and religious study.
Wisdom: Blue enhances the wisdom of the intellect.
from http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/ 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Fragments

 Some days are just your lucky days - today I was very fortunate and privileged to open the first ever Australian exhibition "Fragments" by  UK  Fibre Artist  Sue Hotchkis .  Here is a little about the techniques of this amazing textile artist from her own website  ...  Working intuitively with print and stitch, marks, textures and colours are exaggerated, intensified to reveal the detail and complexity within the images. Materials are deconstructed using modern methods, ripped, burnt and dyed. Time is invested in their reconstruction; pieces can take from a week to several months to create. Whilst being aesthetically pleasing the work can also act as a metaphor for deterioration and ruin, associated with urban decay and ultimately death and loss. They evolve organically, built up with layers of print, cloth, paper, and stitch into three-dimensional abstract forms that hover between object and image; to create a unique, visual and tactile lan...

Fabric Tags for Tag Tuesday

At Tag Tuesday, this fortnight Sandie  is hosting the Steampunk/Mechanical challenge. Although this isn't a theme I usually tackle, Sandie's tags are so fantastic and inspirational that I was motivated to create a tag this afternoon. I had some fabrics on my desk which I discharge dyed last week.and this piece with the addition of a few copper cogs reminded me of " industrial and mechanical" . The way the background fabric was created was by applying bleach gel with a roller over the top of a plastic stencil. The fabric was originally a  bluish dark grey   cotton, When the bleach had removed the colour, the process was halted with a commercial  neutralizing solution  called AntiChlor. I have been told that a vinegar solution  will also stop the discharge of colour and act as a neutraliser. The metal cogs were stitched on to the fabric by hand. Here are  a couple of great resource sites for discharging colour with bleach. - Threads ...