Black, White and Red

Black, White and Red - 29 Faces

Black , White and Red - a favourite colour combination! Tag Tuesday has this as its current theme.

Here is my tag .... a stitched face. I use my sewing machine as my drawing implement.... a technique called free motion stitching or free hand machine embroidery. Of course, nothing is symmetrical or perfect but this is quite easy to do. Just lower or cover the feed dogs on your sewing machine, and move the fabric around manually while stitching and so the sewing machine "draws" a line, free hand. In the photo, the black line is the stitched line - what I try to do is an unbroken line, so often I go over and over the same line to get to the next section of stitching.

When I have finished stitching, I cut around the stitching and attach the face to a prepared painted tag with heat applique. Then, I use Inktense pencils to colour features and/or shade the face. In "Spots" I have also appliqued the clothing and the head wear. 'Spots" is the first in my current series #29 Faces. The faces are on larger #8 manilla shipping tags and are a development from a previous series of art tags , called 'Red Cheeks'

'Red Cheeks' 1-9 - stitched faces

The "Red Cheeks" portraits are much smaller but were created in exactly the same way. I thought it would be easier to do larger portraits but the first two have proven that this so far isn't the case. I much prefer working smaller!

'Red Cheeks" 10-18 - stitched faces

I am currently participating in the February 2020 Art Challenge - 29 Faces , so I created for myself a month of prompts just to keep myself on track each day.... " Spots " is the first of my 29 faces .

" Fruit" below is the second.... not only black, white and red, but a few other hints of colour, again applied with pencil.

My goal for #29 Faces is the daily practice of stitching a face each day for February and improved fluidity of motion and control of my sewing machine during free motion stitching. I am also looking forward to exploring the potential of using Inktense pencils on cloth. Hope you will see improvement as you follow posts of my work during the month - please watch this space for more....

Evolution of Message Stick Art Dolls

Message Stick Art Doll - stick, polymer clay, hand dyed & stencilled fabric with embroidery My message stick art dolls have evolved over the last couple of years. Why have I called these art dolls “Message Sticks” ? I wanted to recreate a doll which was based on traditional techniques, so I have used ideas from a few different cultures. Many traditional dolls were made from wood - often wrapped with fibres. In Egypt, several types of paddle dolls have been discovered in tombs in Egypt. The dolls are made of wood, flat, and constructed in a shape has led the form to be called a 'paddle doll'. The dolls seemingly follow a convention for the female figure, emphasizing the hips and hair. The wooden figures are usually painted with a geometric pattern of lines and dots. These patterns may reproduce tattos or ritual scaring in female Egyptian culture of the period or represent clothing or jewellery. A fine exampl...

Entomological Elements - Mixed Media Sculpture

Entomological Elements hung in Timeless Textiles Gallery. My latest big piece of work is "Entomological Elements" - let's call it EE ... It is a mixed media sculpture in response to the theme "Elements" for a current exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists. If you a regular reader of this blog or and Empress Wu Designs Facebook follower, you probably know that my thing is "stick dolls".... dolls made with sticks. EE is just an extension of those , with a piece of local driftwood as its base. EE is also a celebration of the natural elements depicted by insects from different parts of the world. EARTH - Common Black Ground Beetle ( Pterostichus melanarius ) - Europe/Eurasia AIR - Blue Ulysses Butterfly ( Papilio Ulysses ) - Australia WATER - Golden winged skimmer dragonfly ( Libellula auripennis ) - Central/North America FIRE - Scarlet Fire Beetle ( Pyrochroa coccinea )- Europe Common Black ...

Stitched Gardens and Magpies

Magpies are always around in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath. They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of recent little works in the stitched garden series. I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features my husband's great aunt, Sarah Ann Bath. I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality, she grew up in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts: How does your garden grow with stitch? How does your garden grow with crayons?

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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