after

after
Originally uploaded by FabriCadabra

and these are the same canvases after a glaze has been put on. i used the "wrong" type of paint for some of them, so it came out a little thick, i'm hoping they are salvageable... if not, i can paint 'em white and start over!

before

before
Originally uploaded by FabriCadabra

A new class... painting this time with Paulette Insall http://pauletteinsall.typepad.com/my_weblog/ I've admired Paulette's work for a while so when the opportunity to take a class with her came up, i just had to take it! I have little to no painting experience, so i'm trying to keep my expectations realistic!

nuno felted scarf

ok, probably too many pictures for one scarf! I took a nuno felting class at New England Felting Supply in Easthampton, MA with Jean Gauger. We had a great time, learned a lot, and everyone's scarf was so different. I love my scarf, it's light and airy and there were surprise colors at the end with the bright green felting through to the back.

We got to see some of Jean's work up close and personal... Amazing stuff!! And Christine White, one of the owners of NEFS, also had some gorgeous pieces out and her book on felting, Uniquely Felt is very thorough, and beautiful to look at, and has lots of fun ideas and projects.

thank you Judi!!!

Lesson 5 Journal

yay! got another journal done! these are so much fun, why is it so hard to find the time to do them??
anyhoo, the cover is made of a layered fabric made during the mixed media surfaces class , which i like, but the inside got a bit over done... ooops.

bimah cover!

for the last six weeks or so, i've been working on a new bimah cover for the UVJC. It had to be something that would beautify the sanctuary, be appropriate for a 10th anniversary celebration of the building, coordinate with the wonderful artist-made curtain behind it, please at least some of our very varied congregation, be something within my skill set, and something that I would like. yikes.

I did some research on what bimah covers were available for purchase, just for something to go by, mostly they were squares of velvet with some gold embroidery and gold fringe. nice, but not what this space needs. It is a contemporary, open, mostly unadorned space. I love being in there.

My original version was way too dark for the space, but after a few more starts and stops (and almost complete halt), this is what the finished product looked like. I am quite pleased with it, although it doesn't look much like my original "vision".

The Hebrew letters are silk screened onto a commercial batik, then that piece was covered with a gold tulle. The blue and green wavy fabric are also batiks. The shiny green stripe on the edges has a lot of metallic threads which melt at higher iron temps. who knew?

Many, many thanks to Steve.

new class, new journal!

I'm taking a new online class with Sue Bleiweiss on just journal making. So much fun plus the other people in the class are wonderfully talented - they inspire me to work harder!

I took a couple days from trying to make a bimah cover to make this journal. I'm so glad i did. the bimah cover has possessed me from the get-go, but i have made no real progress on it. the journal cover is from one of the many failed attempts! the problem is trying to make it fit with competing interests... what it needs to be vs. what i would like to make. apparently those are not the same things.

anyhooo... this was a fun project and i now have one last idea for the bimah cover (it's supposed to be for the 10th anniversary celebration next saturday (ha!)) to go try.

This is part of my My Mixed Media Class... we painted brown paper to look like leather. Adam helped paint the paper, so this is for him, complete with a pad of graph paper. He was thrilled! I have to say i was quite pleased with the way it turned out.

I have a few assignments to finish up, but the class is officially over. It was a fantastic class, i'm so glad i was able to take it!!