Natural Dyes- Amazing!

Red cabbage and avocados!

To start with, I boiled red cabbage. The results were incredible. The water turned first blue, and then, after further boiling, a deep purple.








The fabrics are much brighter than the picture shows.


The avocado was interesting. I boiled the skins in one pot, and the avocado pits in another.
The dye front he pits is a tangerine color! The skins, as I have seen before, developed a more delicate peach color.









All in all, a productive day!


Cheers!
Kimberly


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Stitching.....

I had a productive day in the studio today. The first piece I am posting about is a second bird skin study with embellishments. Watercolor on silk, which is then layered onto wool Melton and linen.











The second piece is a bit dark in the photos, but I am really excited about this one. It is another watercolor, but this time I layered it on top of some silk jacquard fabric from India. The stitches are more like crosses than "x"'s. I think I am happy with the start of this piece.











Once again, thanks for following!

Cheers!
Kimberly

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Making dye with Nuts!

I am excited to experiment with walnut dye, but first I have to make the dye!

Since I have little patience, and couldn't find a black walnut tree, I did what all impatient Americans do and ordered them online!

So, as exciting as it is to get the black walnuts, the package made it even more fun- and here are some pictures to show how a shipment of nuts could be fun-















How cute is this!?

Ok- I will now make dye, and post updates later.


Cheers!

Kimberly

Masters weekend

I am just returning from a weekend with 5 amazing women- 3 students who will be traveling this journey with me, and the two directors of the program. It was a very full weekend of taking, crits, and exploration. I can't wait to do it again!
I am posting more of the alphabet project here to try and catch up on all of the work I have been producing.













Cheers!

Kimberly

Exciting demo from Michael Harding

Here in Belmont, some hard working artists have formed a group called the Belmont Art Association. I have just recently signed up and went to my first meeting last night.
When I arrived, I was told the person giving a demo was Michael Harding- a man who hand mixes and sells some of the most wonderful oil paint I have ever worked with! I was thrilled! He explained how he started the business and shared stories of how these amazing paints are made.

He and his wife Karyn were very helpful and generous with their time.

For an art geek like me, this was better than the World Series!


















Cheers!

Kimberly

Leaf bundle results...

Well, let's just say this was a lesson in patience!

The bundles got better each extra day I left them bundled. I am, however, incredibly impatient and so am now trying again with the leaves that showed the most promise!
This is what the bundles looked like...



This is apiece of delicate silk that may not have retained the leaf image so much, but lovely tea staining happened which will work for me.....


This one holds the most promise. These were the only leaves with no fall color to them that I pressed. They appear, however, to be the best at leaving behind color. I am doing this bundle again!


And this is the last one- the mirror image of this leaf turned out subtle, but clear.


Cheers!


Kimberly

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Eco-dying with leaves

I have been experimenting with Eco-dying, inspired by India Flint- fabric dying extraordinaire!
These are images of the bundles in the steamer basket....



And later lined up on my counter. I have to be strong and patient- soooooo hard to do! They should stay bundled (in other words- no peeking!) for several days at least.


I will update when they are unbundled!


Kimberly

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Alphabet project...

This piece is silk, linen, and cotton organdy. I have painted and then stitched the surface to connect the layers.




I have also done some French knot work to define the smaller feather.




Loving the process!
Kimberly
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Another piece in the alphabet project...

This piece is called "Torn". I have Eco-dyed (India Flint inspired) silk and then painted the fabric with watercolors. After that I stitched it with beads and French knots to attach it to a lovely remnant of silk velvet.

I am so enjoying the exploratory process this project is encouraging. There will be 26 total pieces by December. Each piece a little different, but all leading me down the same path toward a bigger vision.

Kimberly

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Artwork delivered!

Today I delivered 5 pieces- 3 watercolor paintings and 2 French knot paintings- to a gallery in Falmouth, Maine. Couleur Collection invited me to participate in their Autumn group show- very exciting!




I drove to Maine and back this morning to get the pieces there in time. Now, back to the MFA work!


Kimberly

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MFA!

I am beginning a program to get my Masters in Fine Arts! It is a low-residency program through Heartwood College of Art which means I do most of the work from my studio at home. They provide mentors to help me through the process and "classmates" to meet with once a semester.
I am giddy over this whole thing!
My first assignment is to create 26 pieces, all related in subject matter, size, and material. This is a big assignment!
I struggled with how to approach this- paintings, drawings, stitching, French knots?? So I stepped back and looked at everything that I love the most- what ends up in my sketchbooks, what surrounds me in my studio, the subject matter that I seem to circle back to over and over- and I decided to do assemblages. I am layering linen, cotton organdy, wool Melton, etc and painting and stitching the layers. Using birds as my inspiration- feathers, nests, eggs, and birds are all involved. I am also drawn to muted colors and natural dyes, so much of the color will be subtle.



My work table!


One of the first pieces.


I will be occasionally posting progress-


Wish me luck!


Kimberly

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Hey everyone!

Summer is here and I am preparing for a show I have been invited to participate in the autumn.





Two views of the annual apple picking pilgrimage most New Englanders participate in every autumn.

Kimberly
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Long time no see- check out Tumbleweed Tiny Houses!

Hey everyone!  So sorry for the long absence, but things around here in Boston have been, shall we say, a little Crazy!  During stressful, dangerous times, my creative juices dry up- but I am now in recovery mode and ready to start again.

I am jumping back on to share about a workshop I attended this weekend- Tumbleweed Tiny Houses!  Honesty, I don't think I have ever wanted to build much of anything in my life, but after sitting through two full days (yes, two full days) listening to this magnificent presenter (Ella) and meeting a load of fantastic folks attending the workshop- I am on board!  My hope is to some day build a Tumbleweed studio/ guest house in a backyard somewhere near a coastline- wouldn't that be idyllic??  Anyhow- the short version is that these Tumbleweed people started off building a house on a trailer- so friggin cute!  The houses can actually be towed around with you!

See pictures to understand better-

 This is Ella- 24 years old and build her Tumbleweed to afford to live happily- built it for 15,000.

 We got a blow by blow on how to build this house- I swear I could do this!

 This is Paul- great guy who left Merges and acquisitions job in NYC (I think) to work for Tumbleweed!

 We actually got to SEE a Tumbleweed!  Coincidentally they had one being transported and they stopped by.  This is in Coolidge Corner!  You should have seen the attention it got!

 Front door

 Half way into the house, looking toward the front at the kitchen

 Bathroom off to the left

And Ella, strumming her banjo for all of us during a break.

Good fun, good folks, and thanks to my step-father for "dragging" me along.  I think I was the one making him stay by the end.  He knows a lot of building stuff, but I don't, so it was a great learning experience for me, but maybe a bit redundant for him! www.tumbleweedhouses.com

Thanks for reading!

Kimberly