42 – Stranger in a strange land
“Grok” is one of my favorite words. Thanks to Robert A. Heinlein for coining it in his 1961 science fiction novel, “Stranger…
Creative Chrysalis
41 – Using a perspective grid
This perspective grid is what I’ll use for my drawing. There are many kinds of simple grids available for free on the…
Creative Chrysalis
40 – The amazing art of Kim Jung Gi
The South Korean artist named Kim Jung Gi creates absolutely amazing drawings using unusual perspectives. Here’s his website: https://www.kimjunggius.com/pages/about-artist There’s links to videos…
Creative Chrysalis
39 – Panoramic drawing example
The artist John Lee granted permission for me to use his drawing in this post as a good example of the type…
Creative Chrysalis
38 – Perspective beyond the normal range of vision
You can get lost in all the information about perspective drawing that is available on Google. I had never used a perspective…
Creative Chrysalis
37 – Beauty in a mathematical grid
My previous thoughts on Perspective Drawing Art Instruction = math, angles, geometry = let’s not go there: Yes, classic math avoidance syndrome!…
Creative Chrysalis
36 – What you see is just an illusion!
How do you become a better artist, a better anything? Identify what needs improvement, then learn and practice.I need to study up…
Creative Chrysalis
35 – Facing invisible barriers
What do you do when you come up to a barrier? Do you shirk away from things that scare you, or do…
Creative Chrysalis
34 – Perspective is all about relationships
An imaginative world requires convincing size, shape and space in order to be believable. Photographs can give me the basics of how…
Creative Chrysalis
33 – Self-portrait perspective
Yes, this is a self-portrait – from 1979! (Don’t ya just love those big eyeglasses?) It’s a first attempt at etching. We…
Creative Chrysalis
32 – Quicksand of my own making
Somedays, everything feels like too much. I go into my studio to escape from complications of the day, and find myself mired…
Creative Chrysalis
31 – Drawing the line between scary and fun
Preliminary sketches – imagining how some ideas might fit together. These may not look anything like the final drawing for my quilt,…
Creative Chrysalis
30 – Diving into a pool of imagery
I’m beginning to think that I’m trying to do too much with one artwork. Better to have too may ideas than none,…
Creative Chrysalis
29 – Complicated possibilities
If I had one amusement house featuring all the ideas that I’ve thought about so far, it would be pretty jammed packed….
Creative Chrysalis
28 – “Nothing to see here folks, move along.”
Thinking on the collapsing space of a traveling carnival ride, I tried to stretch the idea to something else that works in…
Creative Chrysalis
27 – Pack and play
I’ve now searched the internet for amusement “dark rides” and funhouses. Some of them travel with carnivals, so they need to disassemble…
Creative Chrysalis
26 – How about a creepy Victorian house?
If I’m going to put all my ideas in one house-like structure, then the large, ornate, and often creepy look of an…
Creative Chrysalis
25 – Snakes and slides
The idea of a snake shaped slide is too good to pass on, so I’ve sketched out how it might look. Something…
Creative Chrysalis
24 – Exit by twists and turns
I like the idea of a slide in my new art work, but not sure how it works with the idea of…
Creative Chrysalis
23 – This way to the egress!
I’m trying to recall any experience I’ve had with amusement funhouses as I think of how to incorporate their structure with my…
Creative Chrysalis
22 – Photoshop Elements to the rescue
How do you figure out how a funhouse warped mirror image will look like? Photoshop Elements! There are all sorts of “Filter”…
Creative Chrysalis
21 – Wavy reflections in fabric
Here’s the sketch for the warped reflections of social media. Love the idea of this. OK, how will I do this with…
Creative Chrysalis
20 – Is eye candy a satisfying diet?
When I get bogged down with current work, I like to think about why I make art, and if I’m straying from…
Creative Chrysalis
19 – Memory fills in the details of reference
My photogenic family, looking our best!I remembered that we took photos at a boardwalk amusement hall in New Jersey. These might be…
Creative Chrysalis
18 – Distorted reflection
A hall of mirrors was never as good as it promised to be. Amusing, yes, but the quality of mirrors wasn’t good…
Creative Chrysalis
17 – Mining a vein of ideas
I’m onto the idea of a funhouse for my artwork. Maybe this piece isn’t as much about fear as I thought. I’m…
Creative Chrysalis
16 – Other pencil-like marks
Another thought on pencils while I’m at it. Woodless graphite sticks can be sharpened like pencils, but all of the graphite is…
Creative Chrysalis
15 – Pencil tribute
The Art Supply Providing the Most Bang for the Buck:the lowly pencil.Not the mundane, yellow #2 bubble-fillers (although those will do in…
Creative Chrysalis
14 – Pictionary scribbles
There aren’t many drawings in my journals. Sometimes I’ll do a pictionary-quick sketch to remind myself about what I was thinking; nothing…
Creative Chrysalis
13 – Feels good to get rolling
Feels good to get rolling on this project…I’ve spent plenty of time on the conceptual part of my next art quilt, which…
Creative Chrysalis
12 – Hypnotic rabbit holes
Thinking about entering the rolling barrel entrance of a funhouse, I can almost feel the pull of the brightly painted hypnotic stripes…
Creative Chrysalis
11 – Finding my way out
A funhouse is different from the dark ride I mentioned in my last post, – it requires you to walk through various…
Creative Chrysalis
10 – The dark ride of aging
One of my biggest fears is that of the human aging process. Getting older has its rewards for sure, but too many…
Creative Chrysalis
9 – What is reality?
For my next quilt: Topic: fearSetting: amusement parkStyle: believable reality Have you ever thought about different kinds of artistic reality? Photorealism strives…
Creative Chrysalis
8 – A book about color
When I’m not thinking about my studio projects, then I’m reading about art. Especially when contemplating new work, I’m constantly on the…
Creative Chrysalis
7 – Scary fun
One of my journal entries listing different aspects of fear brought me to the idea of amusement parks and the various ways…
Creative Chrysalis
6 – A list of ten things
The topic I want to explore with my art work is fear. That’s a nebulous concept. Preferring realism in my art, I…
Creative Chrysalis
5 – Waiting for ideas to float by
“Adrift’ was my last quilt. It was unplanned. I missed being absorbed by an all consuming project, but nothing was grabbing my…
Creative Chrysalis
4 – Commitment to success
I’m ready for commitment to an idea that is complicated, which is no surprise if you know my artwork. It doesn’t scare…
Creative Chrysalis
3 – Words lead to pictures
I’ve tried to make it a habit to write in a journal: sketches, random thoughts, whatever crosses my mind. It’s a safe…
Creative Chrysalis
2 – Does fear stop you?
FEAR…there, I’ve said it. Who hasn’t been nagged at by demons of fear? Looking over my journals for some creative inspiration to…
Creative Chrysalis
1 – Find out what I’m thinking
Art Work … there’s a lot of that required to make an artwork. Follow my latest project as I bring it from…
Creative Chrysalis
Creative Chrysalis
Artwork appears as if by magic to the onlooker, but inside the studio it’s not magic at all. Through this blog, you…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
24 – Artist Wins The Struggle
I had to paint some more cheesecloth but that went quickly. It was a novel experience to use this flimsy material and…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
23 – Green Has Got To Go
I decided to cut away the green background and then I prepared my long-arm for the next step. I still had a…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
22 – Asking For Help
While pondering what would give my dragon quilt more life, I asked for help. SAQA MA/RI is an unwieldy name for the…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
21 – This Was Supposed To Be Simple!
The sharp edge between painted and not painted will be hard to cover up. I extend the painted area, attempting to match…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
20 – Breathing Fire
I like the painted flames. Textile paint applies nicely to Evolon, a non-woven (and thus, non-fraying) material. I can cut all kinds…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
19 – The “What If” Stage
The stitching is about complete. Since I’ve done this on my mid-arm (a Handi-Quilter Sweet 16) I can easily take it away…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
18 – Machine Nomenclature
I’ve been free motion stitching on my Handi-Quilter Sweet 16 machine. It’s a “sit down mid-arm” sewing machine. There is some confusion…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
17 – Simple (?) Solution
Making it up as I go, I’ve decided to layer the air-brushing and batting onto the right side of the backing fabric….
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
16 – More Than Ready (To Un-Mask)
Taking the masking off the edges is fun because a clean edge is revealed and so much messiness is instantly cleared away….
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
15 – Just Don’t Make Mistakes
As the name implies, super opaque white has pretty good coverage. I used some on the palette to make a brighter base…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
14 – Belly Of The Beast
Just love that chartreuse color! I had wanted to use some metallic color on the dragon, but the pigment particles are coarser…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
13 – When Pig(ment)s Fly
I protect my work area from overspray. Lots of newsprint pinned up around the general area as it is surprising how much…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
12 – What Masks Are Made Of
To work on the dragons, I’ll need to protect what I’ve already done. I need to make some small areas of color,…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
11 – Far From Intent
At this point, I’m totally into what I’m doing, even though I know I’ve strayed from my original concept. This is not…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
10 – Air-Brush Process
Traditionally, the painting process requires masking – exposing areas to be painted while protecting other areas from un-wanted spray. Frisket (a thin,…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
9 – Where’s The Brush?
An airbrush is slightly larger than a pen, having an attached cup or bottle to contain paint and connected to a compressed…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
8 – Inks Or Paint?
Dabbling with different supplies is part of the fun of being an artist, but I really have to restrain myself in an…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
7 – Ready, Set, Go!
My composition is decided, airbrush equipment is in working order, paints and mediums are at the ready. What about the fabric? Cotton…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
6 – The Fiery Breath of Doubt
Finally, I found my stand-in…Why, yes, of course this is me! I have often battled demons trying to crush my artistic soul:…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
5 – Where Is My Knight In Shining Armor?
Even when I am not concerned about copyright infringement as I know that the final form will be a far cry from…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
4 – Dragon Pose
A carved wooden dragon traveled home with me from Thailand. It will be the model for the dragons I want to air-brush….
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
3 – How Difficult Could It Be?
Amusement carnival art may have a certain naivety but also a definitive “look” to it. Bright color, outlining, bold imagery often with…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
2 – Ready for an Air-Brush Adventure
I hope to duplicate the look of a spray-painted mural with air-brushing. My experience with air-brushing is limited, more because of time…
Skirmish on Insecurity Hill
1 – Welcoming the Unexpected
We’ve all had times when the original plan didn’t work. How did you proceed after facing the unexpected? Many artists happily embrace…
butterfly
14 – Butterfly has landed!
It took longer to finish up this quilt than I expected, though it wasn't the quilt's fault. Life just got in the...
butterfly
13 – So much greenery
The assembled quilt has been loaded onto my A-1 longarm sewing machine. Not only will the stitching hold down the fabric collage…
butterfly
12 – Where will the butterfly land?
Before quilting, I need to play with the position of flowers (I’ve painted a smaller second one) and butterfly on the painted…
butterfly
11 – Soft as a butterfly’s wings
Added some paint to soften the edges between black border and fused color spots. I’m liking it! #butterfly #wings #fabriccollage #saqawip #fabricpainting…
butterfly
10 – Building a butterfly
Building a butterfly with fabric -the photo shows back and front. The black fabric has fusible on it, which made it easier…
butterfly
9 – The black of a butterfly
Flower painting has been put aside – now for something completely different, creating the butterfly. Hard to go to straight black after…
butterfly
8 – Oops-your background is showing
My painted flower had a transparency problem. The background was showing through, especially the trellis lines, even with a white backing applied….
butterfly
7 – Do you see a problem?
There’s a problem here-do you see it? (Painted flower from Andrea Brokenshire’s workshop and painted background from my photo reference.) #paintedfabric #paintingproblems…
butterfly
6 – Leaves and stems appear
First steps…painting a background for a new quilt using my photo for reference. I’ve maintained some areas of white by ironing on…
butterfly
5 – Making a mess is fun
“Controlled mess” is so much fun in painting! Here I’ve protected areas that I want to keep white with freezer paper templates,…
butterfly
4 – Winging it with paint
Using a black and white photocopy enlargement underneath the fabric, I’ve painted the main structures. I can wing it from here by…
butterfly
3 – Beginning the background
The background begins! #artworkinprogress #paintedquilt #saqawip #susanpolansky
butterfly
2 – A perfect background!
My photo from the summer is perfect for the background of the flower I painted in Andrea Brokenshire’s fabric painting workshop! #artstart…
butterfly
1 – What to do with a painted flower?
I made this painted flower in a workshop taught by Andrea Brokenshire. She’s a very talented quilt artist and generous teacher. Only…
India quilt
37 – One more thing – the kite string
Sorry to string you along, but I couldn’t resist, especially when I want to show how I sewed the kite strings. I…
India quilt
36 – Done and Photographed!
Ah, I just showed my quilt getting loaded onto my long arm yesterday, and-TaDah! it’s done and photographed! Not a super fast…
India quilt
35 – Sew, Sue, Sew!
My A-1 longarm machine, ready to sew! #indiaquilt #lovemylongarm #saqawip #neqmexplorations #deadlineistomorrow #susanpolansky
India quilt
34 – All fused and ready for the next step
Composition is off the design wall! Ironing with a press cloth to make sure everything is fused completely. Next step: quilting. #indiaquilt…
India quilt
33 – Washing away the stabilizer
Going going gone – biggest section of stitching and wash away stabilizer in the bathtub. I put an envelope of netting to…
India quilt
32 – A mess of loose ends
What a mess, right? After stitching on a section of my quilt-before quilting-and before washing away the stabilizer (clear, shiny on the…
India quilt
31 – Marking outlines with pins
When I remove a section of my quilt composition to do some stitch work, I carefully mark with pins the space it…
India quilt
30 – Sewing in details before quilting
Sewing a section of #indiaquilt. This isn’t the quilting stage yet. Here I am securing bits of fabric(they have already been fused)…
India quilt
29 – The deadline is looming
I’m in the final stretch of making my complicated #indiaquilt for #neqmexplorations ,- it has to be finished and photographed by Aug….
India quilt
28 – Building in sections
After stitching a section and washing stabilizer away, I add it back to the rest of the quilt. #indiaquilt #fabriccollage #saqawip #neqmexplorations…
India quilt
27 – Quilt sections built from tiny pieces
A horizontal section of #indiaquilt removed to do some stitching. If you’ve been following from the beginning, you’ll remember that I didn’t…
India quilt
26 – WashAway Stabilizer and Stitching
My version of life on the wild side: I haven’t used this kind of wash away stabilizer before, so here it goes…and…
India quilt
25 – Organizing fabric scraps
Small fabric scraps can get out of hand quickly when doing a complicated #fabriccollage like my #indiaquilt. I use a hanging organizer…
India quilt
24 – Not the typical way of fusing
I pin up bits of fabric that I cut with a freezer paper template or by freehand guesstimating the shape, but none…
India quilt
23 – The perils of liking your work
When work becomes “precious” because you like it, it’s difficult not to get caught up in playing it safe, but that sucks…
India quilt
22 – Stitching a miniature billboard
This will be a billboard on #indiaquilt – don’t know if it’s legible, but it doesn’t need to be. (a number of…
India quilt
21 – Translation, please
I’m going to make a billboard sign with thread work. Not sure how legible the characters will come out, if it will…
India quilt
20 – Fabric auditions
Fabric auditions. Worst part about this is putting away all the ones that don’t make it! #indiaquilt #saqawip #neqmexplorations #fabriccollage #susanpolansky
India quilt
19 – The biggest character gets dressed
Time to work on one of the bigger people, but I’m still using tweezers. #indiaquilt #saqawip #neqmexplorations #jaipur #fabriccollage #susanpolansky