Color - 2 Ideas to kickstart Color Discovery Fun!

Color is one of those topics that keep us all chattering for hours & hours, days upon days...
but, it is because the topic of color is sooooo BIG, that it can feel a bit intimidating.

We could study color theory through the mounds of books written on the topic or we can just dive in.
Remember I mentioned soaking up color....? Being open to seeing it?

IDEA #1 - Start & keep a color book.

Discovery made fun. In my first color book I  gathered up all sorts of examples of color, tried to see it purposefully, possibly for the first time, and decided for myself what made it work or not for me. I chose at the time to take one color at a time and set about seeing it - noting where it showed up - finding quotes or poems about it (ok, I am a bit of a wordie) - writing about it.

I sat on a plane-heading to attend a SAQA conference in Santa Fe - and chose ORANGE...
and the flood gate was opened. Below are pages from this, now overstuffed-page worned, sketchbook.

IDEA #2 - Is it love?

Get started filling your own color book -
on page one - write down the color you like most & the color you like least
Now, go off and find 2 photos where these colors occur. (these colors do not have to appear together, and you can choose photos of other artists use of the color, or where it appears in nature - be open to seeing it!)
Once you have found these, paste them into your book.
Now, answer these two questions about each of your photos.
Do you like the picture?
and, why?

 

 

and, you're off!!!

I will be sharing more ideas on how to soak up some color and fill up some more pages of that color book you've just started. You won't be disappointed -- the book is a great tool and resource going forward.

Meanwhile - I would love to hear about what colors you love & hate.
When I began my own book -- I loved blue - hate, hate, hated purple.



Happy Discovering!
~Rose

Springtime = Color!

Springtime is slowly creeping in - and I'm sure that there are plenty of confused flowers out there trying to decide whether or not to peek their heads out or not.

Since Monday I have been snipping up flower catalogs in order to pull my flower color wheel together. It was loads of fun, but I ran into issues finding the blue-greens, and the greens in general were the more leafy of the colors.

Any of you give this a try?
Mine is now up in the studio and I am finding the color inspiring.

Meanwhile, my BEAD order came in! WooHoo!
In celebration of spring, I was thinking it would be fun to put a couple of BIG flower inspired color packs together. The photos here show the beads as the were being sorted. Found some great small snap top boxes that are working out perfectly for these large assortments.

I'm working to get these posted on the website today --
and, am keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get to distracted by all the...very intermittent sunshine!

Which assortment you like best - 
the warm group?

or the cool group?

I can just see these now....

covering a quilt top - sparkling like wildflowers.

Color Study - April is all about color - soak it in!

Today we get started on a month long look at color,
and my mind has been spinning with possibilities to share.

There was a time when there were colors that I absolutely did not use in my art work. In honesty I'd have to say that I thought I hated them...though I now know that I just hadn't let them soak in....

One of those colors is RED and the other is PURPLE.
Looking back even I find it hard to believe that I didn't want to have anything to do with purple.

SO, SO glad I decided to take action, and
I am excited to be able to share what I did with you,
(just in case you need a color shot)

To start this lovely month -
the month of warmer weather
a month of spring flowers....

I'm going to create a collage of flowers
to represent the color wheel.

Want to join in?
Here's a plain 'ole color wheel -- use it as a guide to creating your own flower color wheel.

Do you have a color you're not crazy about?
How about comfort colors?

I'm off now to start finding a seed catalog or something.
'til tomorrow

Snipping & Pasting On
~Rose

Yarn Scrumbling - A Textural Sunday Fill'r Up

On this last day of March - as the birds seem never to sleep and days are trying bit by bit to hold on to warmth I wanted to leave you with a fun textural idea.

It is not something new, but it certainly something that is fun -
especially if you LOVE yarn!

In my quilts I use yarn for couching -- and my yarn collection runs just behind my fabric collection in size, so several years ago my friend Susan convinced me that I should take a 'scrumbling' workshop with her.

Hmm, just what was this scrumbling thing?
Knowing me all too well, Susan described it as crocheting without rules.

The 'no rules' thing got me, and we had a great time learning to scrumble, but note that you did kind of have to learn the rules -- in order to break them. The result is fun - free formed yarn play.

Hope you enjoy this final textural treat!

Rusted Fabric Quilt - A Thursday Treat

Since I started writing about my rusting fabric experimenting I have heard from many of you.
It is such a fun and enticing way to manipulate fabric!

Kathy from out in California had snapped the quilt here while attending the Foothill Guild Show. We both love it and went out to the maker....Linda Waddle, to ask permission to share the quilt.
She agreed, and even supplied me with information about how she created it.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Linda Waddle - Iron Galaxy I

My husband has a large stash of rusting metal, my yard is full of rusted metal wheels, gears, etc., so it was natural that I try rusting with these objects. This piece began with rusted gears, washers and a grate laid on a vinegar water soaked commercial fabric, covered with plastic and left to do its thing. I check on the rust process every three days or so, sprayed more vinegar water on the fabric if necessary and moved the objects if they had produced an image. By the time this process was completed, the wetness of the fabric provided a wash of rust color over most of the piece.
When it was rusted to my satisfaction, it was dried, cured for a few days and then rinsed and ironed. The same gears that provided the rusting were used as stamps with metallic turquoise paint. The same paint was used to scatter some dots for extra background texture. The gears were also used as templates for some of the stitching. Metallic thread, poly thread and fluorescent threads were used in the quilting. Copper metal discs were heat treated to change the color and secured to the quilt with a single bead.
Now a question for those who are rusting on fabric, how do you neutralize the rusting? I have just heard that the fabric should be rinsed in a baking soda solution. Any comments?

Amazing quilt, Linda!
As for your question about neutralizing or stopping the rust...
the rusting really never stops, and baking soda (2 TB per gallon of water)is considered one of the best ways to slow down disintegration.

There is information about using vinegar or salt, since this is used on metal to deter rusting, but these materials help deter it by causing a layer of rusting that can be removed. Not what we want with our fabric, so I think the baking soda is a good option.

I try to leave the fabric in contact or actively rusting for as short a period as possible.

Then wash it with a mild, color free, phbalanced soap.

Let it dry then rinse in the baking soda water.

Let it dry again and rinse with clear water.

Are you ready to give this a try?

Can't wait to see your Rusted Fabric!

Rusting On
~Rose

Rusting Fabric - Getting Started Tutorial

I started gathering some fun stuff to try rusting with, but had a couple of questions since this is my first time trying this in my new home in Paducah, KY. Here the lows have been in the 20's and I was not sure if I could get quick results in the cold.

I also heard thru a friend of a friend that they used salt water rather than my vinegar water.

So, here are the steps and and my overnight results

took fabric, cut it to a working size
and cut garbage bag to size just larger; 2 piece (1under/1over)

prepared 2 spray bottles
1 with 1part vinegar-1 part water
other with 1 part salt-1 part water (make sure salt is disolved)

got some large nails

outside I prepared 4 samples
1. vinegar with bubble wrap layer
2. just vinegar solution
3. just salt solution
4. salt solution with additional salt
for each I spray base layer of liquid, laid fabric, sprayed
then added nails, sprayed again
closed up with plastic bag and held it in place with small rocks

overnight with the vinegar solution over bubble-wrap

overnight with salt solution & extra salt

 

I left the salt solution to keep going,
but moved the nails over on the vinegar samples to keep the
design moving overall.

Happily, the vinegar worked really well overnight and even moving the nails once again later on today,
I should be able to wash it all by tomorrow and figure out just what I want to do with it next.

Have a great day!

Rusting On!
~Rose

Out-of-Studio

today, I'm out seeking fun stuff to get rusted...
have you found some materials to try this out for yourself?

more tomorrow...