Feeling the Indigo Blues?

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….only if it’s a feeling of joy and accomplishment

Yesterday I attended a 6 hour workshop on dyeing fabric with indigo at Articulations in the Junction. It was a Christmas gift from my youngest daughter. It was a small class with 8 students ranging in age from their 20s to 60s. We even had one man in the class who came with his partner.

Our instructor, Jane Jacobs, was truly inspirational. She had a multitude of samples for us to look at and an infinite number of objects to experiment with. Everyone brought their own fabric and articles of clothing to play with. There were also white silk scarves and infinity scarves that you could buy for the purpose of dyeing.

I experimented with a technique that involved stitching designs and pulling them tightly. I wish I had more time to make more of these but I think I may try more of these at home. The technique is called shibori and comes from Japan. The secret is to pull the thread really tightly. It will work with any kind of dye. I loved the indigo but it has a few more steps and requires more time to get it to the stage where it’s ready to use. Here is a website that demonstrates how to stitch on the fabric. Shibori from Japan.

The dyeing techniques also included folding and clamping the fabric. I wrapped string around small stones that were buried into the fabric and I pulled fabric from the middle and put elastic bands around it. This created a real retro 60s look that was reminiscent of tie dye. I also clamped buttons and metal squares between folds of fabric. Some of the students wrapped their fabric around large plastic cylinders, then wrapped string around the fabric and kept pushing the wrapped fabric up the cylinder. That was hard work but the finished product was beautiful. If I go back for another class I will try that technique with silk.

I brought a variety of fabrics to play with. I had two 100% cotton samples, one in white and one in taupe. I had a piece of linen and rayon that was also a taupe but with a tinge of green in it and my last piece that I played with was a white 100% cotton knit.

We weren’t sure how the coloured fabrics would take the dye but another student brought a grey fabric and all of them turned out well. The contrast wasn’t as dramatic as the white but the patterns showed up nicely against the blue.

Now I have to decide what I’m going to do with my pieces of fabric. I’ve already decided to make one into a pillow, one will be a table runner and the third I will sew into an infinity scarf. I’m not sure about the fourth piece but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

The following photos are my creations after they dried.

Built Up Enough Courage to Try it Again

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….working with oil paints, that is

After my mini disaster with oil paints the first time around I was putting off trying it again. My teacher, Karine Swenson encouraged me to keep trying and continue experimenting with the medium. I was going to wait until the weekend but for some reason at 11:00 last night I was moved to paint. I got out a new 18 x 18 inch canvas and started painting squares. Two and a half hours later I was finished (well at least for now). I posted my piece on the on-line class’s Facebook page and went to bed.

This time I laid my piece flat so when I woke up in the morning there were no drips or runs of paint down the painting. This piece is quite different from the first but I think I am now ready to tackle lesson 5 which involves working really big. I have to go out and buy a canvas about 48 x 48 inches.

In the meantime though I have to get ready for another class that I am taking tomorrow which involves fabric and indigo dyes. I thought that everything I needed would be provided at the class but after reading the course description I think I need to go out and do a little shopping for cotton or linen fabric. I’m taking the class at Articulations in the Junction. Here’s a small description of the class.

Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Open Topic

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..open topic? …hmmm!

I don’t often take black and white photos but while in Calgary I set my camera on the black and white setting by mistake. I think this magpie looks great in black and white.

Cee’s Black and White Challenge

From Success to Disaster Within 24 Hours

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….finished my first oil painting or so I thought

On Sunday I stayed up very late to finish my third assignment for my on-line course with Karine Swensen. It was the first time I’ve ever used oil paints and I was really enjoying working with this new medium. After two hours I was ready to call the project complete and I took some photographs to share with my fellow colleagues who were also taking the course. I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that I didn’t get to bed till sometime after 2:00 in the morning and I had to get up early to go to work. I usually don’t have problems dozing off but that night it felt like I was never going to sleep. I looked at the clock at 3:00 and then again at 4:00. I guess I fell asleep shortly after that but I had to get up at 6:30.

It is surprising to me that I was able to function with so little sleep. I didn’t check on the oil painting until later that night and to my horror I discovered that the oils had run down the painting and that the entire centre appeared to be crackling. I have no idea how or why this happened. Maybe some of my artist followers can give me some advice so that this doesn’t happen again. I took a rag and wiped away the drips and a brush to remove some of the cracks in the paint.

This morning when I looked in on my painting again I discovered that it had dripped some more and the crackling appeared worse. The perimeter of the painting is fine but the centre is a mess.

Here is a photo of my painting before it started to fall apart. The first photo is the watercolour sketch that I took my inspiration from.

The larger photo is the painting before it literally started to ‘melt’ on me.

Here are a few photos of what the painting looks like now after I tried to fix it. I think that there was too much oil in my paint. Maybe some of my artist followers can give me some advice on how to avoid this in the future. As you can see I’ve lost some of the detail in the bottom of the painting and some of the highlights have disappeared. Oh well, live and learn. I think I’ll let it dry before I do anything else with it.

Abstraction in Charcoal

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….learning a new technique

This week I started a new on-line art course with Karine Swensen. She is an abstract artist and a friend of Carla Sonheim. Our first assignment involved taking 8 to 10 pieces of paper and compressed charcoal and laying down some lines. The idea is to do this quickly without too much thought. It shouldn’t look like anything and if it did you were suppose to change it. After laying down one or two lines on each piece of paper you are suppose to go back and add more details. You can smudge the charcoal, use fingerprints, erase areas and use different types of charcoal.

My first four drawing were started with charcoal pencils, mainly because that’s what I had on hand. Today I found some compressed charcoal and started four more pieces. I went over some of the first pieces with the compressed charcoal and I used the kneadable eraser to take away some of the dark areas. I really enjoyed the process and can’t wait to find out what the next assignment will be. Sometime tomorrow I’ll receive the second video with an explanation and demonstration of the next task. Here are a couple of pictures of my first assignment.

A Word A Week Photo Challenge – Running

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….our dog Frances and her buddy Lucy love to run

For more photographs check out Sue Llewellyn’s a Word a Week Photography Challenge

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….even though her actual birthday is in December we celebrated on Friday

Last Christmas my sister’s husband surprised her with a gift certificate for a dinner for three at the Chef’s Table. That was only half of her birthday gift. The other half included flying her two sisters from Ontario to Calgary to join her for the dinner. It was as much a gift for her as it was for her sisters.

We arrived in Calgary on Wednesday and the dinner took place on Friday. After a long afternoon of shopping at the outlet mall we returned to C’s home and showered and dressed for our special dinner.

I’m not really that short. I wore flats while my sisters had on heels. C’s husband drove us to the restaurant. We arrived at 7: 00 and were seated immediately. For the next four hours we were treated to a five course meal with a wine pairing for each course. The sommelier took extra care to explain each course and the reason for his wine selection. We were truly pampered.

We had a wonderful evening with great food and wine and we loved reminiscing about our childhood together. I started to photograph each course but at times I was so anxious to try each course that I forgot to take pictures of some of the plates. I truly savoured each dish and was surprised that I didn’t finish first. This is not something I’m proud of. I tend to eat too quickly but for some reason that didn’t happen on Friday. At the end of the meal C’s husband picked us up. It was nice not to have to worry about drinking and driving.

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: Week 3

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….a recent trip to the AGO gave me some great material for odd ball photos

Apologies to my regular followers who’ve already seen these images but they were the ‘oddest’ ones I could fine. This installation piece is by the artist David Altmejd and can be seen on the 5th floor of the AGO in Toronto.

For more odd photos go to Cee’s odd ball photo challenge.

Sharing Memories and Reconnecting With Old Friends

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…watching old V8 movies of us as kids and meeting up with friends from university

Thursday was a laid back day. I couldn’t sleep past 6:00 am so I got up and wrote my first post about the flight to Calgary. I took my time getting showered and dressed and then I went downstairs to join my sisters for breakfast.

My middle sister had given each of us a DVD that she had transposed from VHS. Years ago our mom took all the old V8 movies that my Dad had taken of us as kids and had them put onto videotape. It’s pretty rough and of course there’s no soundtrack. We decided to watch the DVD together, not realizing that it was over two hours. It was great seeing all those clips again. It brought back great memories and we couldn’t help but notice how different life was 50 years ago.

The one thing that really struck us was how formally our parents dressed. Outings to the park, going on picnics and day trips to Niagara Falls involved dressing in your Sunday best. Mom wore heels, dresses, hats and gloves and Dad wore dress pants, jackets and ties and of course all the ‘sisters’ wore dresses and party shoes. The only time I saw us in trousers was when I went roller skating down the sidewalk by our house in the Junction. Good thing too, because I took a couple of nasty spills.

It was also interesting to see the transition from long hair to short hair and then back to long hair when we were teenagers. My Mom wore her hair in a bun for many years and her hair was actually quite dark. Sometime in the 60s she cut her hair short and became a blonde. I never saw her with long hair ever again.

I’m sure there’s some way of copying bits and pieces of the DVD to share with you but I just haven’t figured out how to do that. I’m thinking I need to go to Garage Band and cut and paste segments onto a Youtube video but I’ll have to investigate that a bit more. If any of you have any suggestions I’d be more than grateful.

After lunch, I arranged to meet two friends from university at the Learning Centre in Fish Creek Park. Melissa McKinnon who I follow on WordPress has an exhibition there and one of the things I wanted to do when I got to Calgary was check out her work. I’ve seen it on-line but there’s nothing like seeing it up close and personal. The staff at the centre were very friendly and told us how successful Melissa’s opening was. Her paintings are beautiful and it looks like half or more are already sold. You can check out her blog, here.

I haven’t been to Calgary in over 20 years but I have seen my sister and my friends, L & L, on numerous occasions in Toronto. It’s been great seeing them on their home turf, something that’s long overdue. My next trip will be with my husband. He hasn’t been to Calgary in 38 years.

From a Blast of Winter to Sunny Skies and Warm Temperatures in Four Hours

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…from Toronto to Calgary

Who knew that travelling west to Calgary could be the equivalent of going south in search of warmer weather. Well that might be a bit of a stretch but the temperature in Toronto went down to -30 celsius with the wind chill and the visibility was close to zero as I sat on the tarmac waiting for our plane to be de-iced.

When we arrived in Calgary most of the snow had melted, the sun shone brightly and the temperature was sitting at 14 degrees celsius. When I got to my sister’s place I had to change my clothes because I was literally too uncomfortable in my fleece lined pants and sweater.

It is only 7:00 am here in Calgary but my internal clock can’t seem to adjust to the time change. I’ve only had six hours of sleep and I’m wide awake so I’ve decided to post a few pictures of yesterday’s plane trip. Enjoy!