Well, Here I am. A year ago, I thought I was finished. With art. With people. With joy. My 25 year old son, Zachary, made…
A lot of free-motion stitching has been done using my mid-arm Handi-Quilter Sweet 16 machine. I’ve put in the details, like smoke rising from the…
In previous posts, (136 and 137) I became aware of a design flaw so I cut out and replaced what bothered me. Not that changes…
I’ve made decisions about how the ground on the left side of the quilt will connect with the middle and the right side. The center…
Progress is being made on big Fear Quilt, despite interruptions mentioned previously. Anyone who has tried to keep a blog going consistently runs into the…
Chaos! Best description for the past several months. More on that later. Chaos is the word I chose as the graffiti that will be on…
The sky has been composed above the “Not Yet Dead” attraction. Now to lay the groundwork. Again, I must keep in mind the width of…
It’s a good thing I like blue and have so many to choose from! Of course, there was that recent trip to the fabric store,…
These are selvedges – printed identifying marks found on the edge of fabric. Nifty looking artifacts that might be useful in some craft project. I…
Precious creations are dangerous. Becoming attached to what you’ve made, either because of the look of it or because of knowing what it took to…
Every budding artist should observe Tangent Awareness Day! The ability to spot this space killing compositional flaw will improve one’s art immensely and is something…
Tweezers are my best friend for threading a needle! I’ve gotten so used to tweezers for holding the thread close to the end to guide…
How about diving into a little bit about thread? Do I have loyalty to any brand of thread? No, but I do have favorites. My…
Thanks for your patience in awaiting an update on how the big Fear quilt is going. I switched gears from collaging fabric pieces together to…
I posted quite a mess of a picture a few days ago, and I wondered if anyone could guess what it was to become. Sometimes…
Have you guessed what the mess in the photo is? Doesn’t look that great now, but keep watching. I am teasing you a bit, but…
I’ve made graffiti artists in my fabric collage art quilt who were going to be spray painting on a mural, but now I’ve created a…
I’ve been hard at work, and near the give-it-up point. But I achieved what I wanted despite the struggle. I won’t needlessly put you through…
A dog came to life! It will be snapping at a child’s cotton candy, so it had to be menacing. I cut the dominant color…
A gesture, a head turned in a certain direction, or the suggestion of movement can “activate” a scene. When adding a person, think of things…
Now that I’ve created some people for my amusement park scene, I returned to work on the buildings. I had been thinking of a huge…
Two bad boys are about to come to life. This should be fun! First, a hunt through Google images to find two figures that seem…
I just sent out a post that wasn't ready for prime time! No worries, that post will be sent out in the near future.
I do love when my fabric characters come to life! This sassy lady is someone I could easily envision on the Seaside Heights boardwalk of…
Amusement parks have some fantastic signage, especially lit up at night! My scene is viewed during daylight, so no glowing neon here, but I still…
You’ve seen many posts with unconnected sections, so thought you might enjoy seeing what I’ve got so far for the amusement style “dark ride” in…
Please excuse me if you are seeing a second copy of this post. I’ve been doing some website revisions, so this post might get replicated!…
The amusement park dark ride that I’ve been working on has a large open front where people can get into the vehicles (wheelchairs) that carry…
A wheelchair is a complicated form. There won’t be an easy way to represent one in fabric. I’ll make my best go at it and…
Even though I buy fabric in the smallest possible amount, usually ¼ of a yard, I still manage to support the local fabric shops. Favorite…
What do you do when faced with a difficult step of a project? Get right in there? Or waffle around a little, thinking of other…
Art mannequins – we’ve all seen them, and you’ve got to admit, they look a bit wooden. I’ve never thought they were helpful for drawing.…
…ase wait for assistance…please wait for assistance…please wa An endless digital sign implores you to wait for assistance – important signage for a healthcare statement…
The “dark ride” building is a large structure and I need to take care that the architecture doesn’t overwhelm the purpose of the building. I’m…
Big blocks of color are a fun change of pace from the tiny details I’ve been focusing on. As a painter might block in areas…
I’m liking this group of people! I know my fabric collage people are working well when I think of them as characters with personality. Little…
Freezer paper templates serve as a way of getting the shapes and sizes mostly correct, although sometimes I vary from them as I choose and…
I began my fabric collage quilt in a random spot as I was too intimidated to begin with a featured area. After my first efforts…
Bet you’ve been curious as to how the separate elements of my amusement park scene will look together. Pinning the pieces to my design wall,…
A smaller snake slide is a fine idea, but now to make it real. Usually, I don’t number my templates, but it was necessary with…
I spent quite a bit of time drawing and revising the idea of a snake slide as a feature in my amusement park plan, only…
My imagery of a funhouse with a rolling barrel entrance perfectly represents the inviting rabbit hole of the internet, but this amusement park attraction needs…
Does the house top seem familiar? I modeled it after “American Gothic,” an iconic painting by Grant Wood that has often been parodied. I stumbled…
Above the swirling vortex/black hole/rolling barrel entrance to the funhouse of my quilt, I would like to have some eyes. This part of the quilt/drawing…
Excited to make my first people for this quilt. Upon starting this project, I challenged myself to improve both drawing skills and figurative representation. People…
A swirling vortex will be inside the rolling barrel entrance to a funhouse in my quilt. At first, I thought to use the darkest of…
I love how the trap came out so far. I’ll eventually talk about the collage process in more detail, but there’s plenty of time to…
My color memory is such that I can go to a fabric store and quite accurately remember the colors and patterns that are in my…
Now I put my collection of reference images to work. Using the magic of Photoshop Elements, I make a quick photo collage using just the…
Reference images are crucial for translating a line drawing into a realistic art quilt. With my intended plan for a 3’ high x 11’ length…
I have three remaining feet of drawing to trace onto muslin. I taped foam core board to the wall as a temporary extension, using bits…
A little struggle ensued between me and the 11’ long drawing, but we finally came to an agreement. The horizon line needed to be positioned…
This design wall is made of two 4’ x 8’ Styrofoam panels covered with flannel. I won’t be able to work on the whole quilt…
My studio overhead camera set-up is not set back far enough to capture the width of quilt area that I’ll be working on. But I…
My thoughtful husband put an overhead camera set-up on my studio ceiling. My work takes a long time to go together, so it’s really fun…
I ordered a full-size enlargement from Staples Copy department and had it shipped to me as I’m not going anywhere to avoid virus worries. The…
My next quilt will be 3’ high x 11’ length. Truly a commitment, especially with the level of detail that is typical of my style!…
Intimidation by size of project and social media hesitation will not stop the forward progress of Susan Polansky’s art quilt.
Impact! Oversized “Flying Pins” by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen yell out and demand a look. This site sculpture wouldn’t be nearly so interesting…
I depart from my usual arty posts to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all! I cooked up a feast for my social-bubble family members using…
If I were looking straight ahead, my primary field of vision would be the blue area. I colored these areas to remind myself about how…
Just for the fun of it, I colored in a bit of a drawing. I really don’t know how to “paint” on the computer. I…
I’m working on the center section, what will be behind the girl with the balloon, trying to figure out how to get some of my…
I spent oodles of time on drawing a snake slide, but in this version, I’ve ditched it completely, and, well, I like it. Maybe I…
These two drawings remind me of spot-the-difference cartoons that always captivated me! There are many of the elements that I have shown in the development…
I’ve got a lot packed into this, but I can’t say that I’m happy with it. There is no flow in the composition. I’m feeling…
You might be wondering what the silver thing is that is often on my drawings. It’s one of my favorite drawing, or rather, erasing tools.…
Back to using the background grid and drawing boxes to figure out how a barrel would look lying on it’s side. Because I do need…
Versions of what will be to the left of the girl with(out) the balloon. I liked the idea of a dog pulling at it’s leash…
My balloon people will be in the front of my story, so they will be a bit larger than some of the other characters. I’ve…
Here is another opportunity to have everything count – I could have both child and adult reaching up to the escaping balloon, but that is…
The loss of a balloon is another idea that has been floating around my imagination. Child loses cheerful balloon, adult reaching but powerless to help…
The amusement park is taking shape! I can start seeing colors in my head. After so much drawing I am really itching to get to…
I’ve drawn a shooting gallery in my amusement park and now I’m working on characters that are passing by, a man with two children. The…
I like the idea of two people pointing and laughing at the bottom of the slide. I think it’s clearer that they are bullies. And…
How do I know how large to draw a figure? It’s back to boxes and the perspective grid. At the start of all my drawing…
Different versions of the same idea. Haven’t settled on the size or placement of the snake slide, but I’m figuring that if I draw it…
Colors! Paint! Creative Play! Oh the fun of being in my studio! My artistic life allows escape from current events, but I know that is…
I’ve got some idea of my snake slide drawn, so now what happens? I recall being slightly dizzy at the exit of a big slide,…
My husband will repeat a tennis shot over and over to get the correct form into his muscle memory. While I wouldn’t do any sports…
I’m still on the subject of drinking and playing with how it will fit into my grand scheme of a plan for a quilt. I…
This slide functionally works. It’s size or something isn’t quite right, but good enough for now. I am pleased with the person coming out. And…
2 AM: Startled awake with a WTF moment! Last post I claimed to be getting better at recognizing errors with perspective. Yeah, but what about…
WHEN DRAWING IS DIFFICULT, GO BACK TO BOXES! The snake slide that I envision is a tough thing to draw. Not only do I want…
Man, I can really relate to this quote from Chuck Dixon, “Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to…
Bottle…drinking…downward slide – connects in my mind to: insidious poison, sneaking, slithering, evil snake oil. But, snakes and alcohol are not all bad. So again,…
I don’t want to say directly “shooting at people” but I do want to make this suggestion with a shooting gallery. I’ve even come up…
I continue to work out how my theme park will look by sketching out slightly different versions. One of my earliest sketches had the idea…
Frantic, flashing lights, colorful neon, bold graphics!, A promise of fun and excitement, luring people to spend money and wait on lines. The nervous energy…
You’ve seen a lot of drawing, but have I mentioned that I intend to make the final piece of this project out of FABRIC and…
A tighter sketch with some different additions – a menacing animal beyond the mouse hole reaching out its paw. Maybe a jail-like room above the…
Background ideas are formulating. I like the Mousetrap game’s ladder and basket and the diving board person. They kind of just found their way into…
The rolling barrel entrance to a funhouse began with my thoughts on getting sucked into the internet, how I’m drawn into a dizzy-ing whirl of…
Position alters perspective, even more so when the type of perspective is distorted. Re-locating where an “attraction” is in my theme park will require me…
A lot of geometry going on here. it will be no easy thing to draw a funhouse entrance barrel convincingly. It is a basic cylinder…
Detail added to the gingerbread house, adding some people and the Food Court signage. One of my biggest fears is fire, so of course the…
Planning stage for some other buildings has started. A gingerbread house would be tasty – not only for its colorful appeal, but also for its…
I’m using a grid behind tracing paper for my drawings now. Newsprint was for quick sketches. Now I want to have a surface that will…
Here’s some crucial info that completely escaped me until lately: People of similar heights standing on flat ground, arranged from closest to farthest away, will…
The size of a human figure is often shown in “heads”. Height: 7 ½ heads, Width: 2 heads, Arm length: 3 ¾ heads, Crotch: ½…