fabric stamping

Posted on July 24, 2007 by mimik

I’ve been working away on my fabric stamping project. So much to learn!

I showed my carved stamps and first experiments here. Abby lent me a very helpful book. After looking through it, I made some other stamps by gluing string to cardboard in a spiral-

and also rice onto cardboard-

I love these patterns. I was thinking I would use them as background texture, but I really like them the way they are. I can really see using these patterns in my applique work.

BTW- I am not using acrylic paint for the stamping after all. As I have mentioned before, I have a house full of so much art supplies, I should always be able to find what I need. A few years ago, I bought some Createx colors and fabric medium at a yard sale (Thanks Beate!) and that is what I am using. I learned in the book, that you can make a stamp pad using felt. It really works! This is the felt (el cheapo variety) sitting on top of the color. I press the felt into the color using my palette knife, until it is saturated. Then, stamp away.

And here is what I’ve done so far-

bugs-

birds-

ack- a mistake! One of many, actually…

and flower babies-

They are being washed right now. Hopefully they will look the same afterwards.

I’m back!

Posted on July 23, 2007 by mimik

We had a wonderful time in Ithaca!

1. Ithaca Falls, 2. Tree roots 1, 3. Taughannock State Park, 4. Buttermilk Falls, 5. Buttermilk Falls, 6. Buttermilk Falls, 7. Butterfly and yellow echinacea, 8. Buttermilk Falls, 9. Ithaca woods, 10. Taughannock Falls, 11. maidenhair fern, 12. Lucifer Falls from above, 13. Stairs and more stairs, 14. Lucifer Falls, 15. Treman State Park, 16. Buttermilk Falls

We walked and saw lots of waterfalls and beautiful woods. We were mystified by the lack of buzzing, biting insects. Enjoyed excellent weather.Â I’ve posted tons of photos over on Flickr.
We saw Hair at the Hangar Theater– we loved it!Â And, of course I found some places to shop-

I got these treasures at a little antique shop. I also found the local Salvation Army store- there is nothing like a thrift store in a college town- wow, it was fantastic!

We ate a delicious dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant-Â We had to go- the Moosewood cookbook was so much a part of being young in the 70’s.
I got Peter to play Scrabble with me- he beat me both times!Â And I got a little work done on my tikis.Â I brought a ton of magazines with me- ones I never seem to get around to reading.Â I went through them, tearing out inspiration, recycling what I didn’t want.Â That felt like a big project accomplished!

Now that I’m home, I’ve got to get onto my fabric printing.Â I’ll show something about that tomorrow.

7 things

Posted on July 13, 2007 by mimik

I am leaving for vacation tomorrow- I’ll be away for a week. As a result, I have a big long list of things to get done and the piles all over the house are actually getting looked at! Then there are the things I am suppose to get done online- the emails, etc… Alyssa over at penguin & fish tagged me recently. I have never done one of these before, for any number of reasons… one of which is because they are really hard! Anyway, I figured it was time to give it a try.

so, 7 things-

– I did not get onto a computer until 2000. No email or anything. It was my new millennium resolution. Luckily I had a 9 year old boy in the house to help me out when I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on or off!

– I am 4 out of 5. My mom is 15 out of 18. (Sorry about the picture, Tina!)

– I have a 5 pointed star in the middle of each palm.

– My interests at 10 years old- dolls, needlework, gardening- no change.

– I lived in London for a year when I was 9 years old. That year had a huge impact on me. I didn’t want to come home. Life in Connecticut was just not as good. I have made choices in my adult life based on the experiences of that year- the kind of house and neighborhood I wanted to live in, my relationship to an urban area, gardens and roses. It also influenced how I wanted my kids to interact with the place they lived.

– If my life had a soundtrack, it would be an audio book. I listen to books all the time when I work. I have books connected in my head with certain art works and visa versa- dolls with stories.

– hmm, one more thing… well, I don’t watch tv. We have one, but it can go for many weeks without being turned on. I’ve never seen Survivor, the Sopranos, West Wing or Sex in the City.

Okay, that’s it. Wow, like I said- that was hard. I am not going to name anybody because I think everyone else has already done it.

I am taking 2 tikis with me on our trip, since they are mostly handwork. That means I might have something to show you when I get back. Also, I still have some space in the doll workshops- July 28 and August 4. Let me know if you are interested. I will be emailing and confirming with everyone who expressed an interest. I am really excited about it!

playing with fabric printing

Posted on July 9, 2007 by mimik

I mentioned at the end of the last post that I was starting to work on my pieces for the printed fabric swap over at Bitter Betty Blogs. I signed up because I have been wanting to try it forever and this is the push I need.

I decided to go with stamping as opposed to silk screen or something. I wanted to try it with the least possible capital outlay and the fewest new skills to learn. I was already feeling totally over my head and have had a very hard time finding any information. The first confusion was over the Speedball Speedy-Cut block- pink or white? What is the difference? The people in my local art store couldn’t enlighten me. Later I found this on Alma Stoller site, so now I know. I ended up buying the white because it cost less and I had no idea what else to base the choice on! Carving was easy and fun! I was having so much fun with the carving part, I was very reluctant to transition to the next step…

printing. I REALLY didn’t want to go out and buy printing inks- I know, I’m cheap. But I have so many types of color mediums already- I just couldn’t imagine bringing something new into the house. I was thinking about oil paints, oil bars, acrylic paints, to start the list. I found this article and it helped me settle on acrylic paints. This is another page of useful links and information. I wanted something that would be washable and have a good feel, not stiff- I want to be able to actually use this fabric!

The first step was to try out my stamps on paper. I used inexpensive craft type acrylic paint- the kind that comes in the little bottles. I sponged the paint onto my stamps using pieces of make-up sponges- those things are a great art tool! Here’s what I got-

The brown stamp on white was my first attempt on fabric.

Based on the various bits of information I could find, this is what I have figured out so far.

-Acrylic paints work very well, but don’t try using a brayer or a brush of any kind- I couldn’t manage anything that wasn’t very streaky. Daubing the paint onto the stamp works very well- I used the make-up sponges and also some wads of felt.

-adding drying retardant was helpful both in slowing the drying and also making the paint a bit gummier.

-one article suggested dampening the fabric first. I had no better results when I tried that. Actually I had some color bleeding so I’d say forget that idea.

-after I finished printing/stamping, I let the fabric dry for a bit (1/2 hour?). Then I ironed the fabric on both sides with steam on a cotton setting. I have no idea if this was necessary. I then threw them all into the washer at a regular warm wash. I noticed no change in the color at all, after the wash. Yeah!

Here are my test pieces after washing-

detail-

Now I have to think about doing my bigger pieces- yikes! This is actually a lot harder then I ever thought. I am nervous about the 1/2 yard pieces with no major screw-ups. Also, choosing the colors turns out to be a lot harder then I thought it would be. I will be coming out of this project with a new respect for fabric designers!

Paperbag swag month/page 5

Posted on July 6, 2007 by mimik

This month I am working on Amy’s book. I already showed the first 3 steps of the project. Here is the rest. Tons of photos ahead.

After doing the background, I sewed the figures onto the fabric and cut it into the pages afterward. This is the pre-cut photo. Sorry it is a bit out of focus.

I glued rickrack onto the edges- silver and blues. Photo of glue drying-

Then the part which always feels like a huge step- gluing the pages into the book-

… in case anyone wants to see my oh so complicated system for clamping, weighting and gluing.

Phew- they are in! I’m committed! Now for the finished photos-

left page-

right page-

close-ups-

I had so much trouble with this face- I did it over 3 times!

I wrote “Momma’s Dream” on this piece. When my kids were little, the one thing that seemed like bliss was when everyone, even me, was asleep and safe- ah, peace. Amy’s theme for her book is balance, but I don’t really think you get much balance with three little babes. You get through every day, trying to keep your sanity intact, and if you can relax, laugh and still notice the beauty around you, you are doing an amazing job!

Finishing this project has overlapped with starting the next- the printed fabric swap that Bitter Betty organized… this is all new to me, but more about that learning process another day…

threading needles

Posted on July 5, 2007 by mimik

Who needs fireworks!Â This is a beautiful asiatic lily, amazingly not devoured by red lily beetles.

And this is my new tool/toy-Â a needle threader from Clover.Â I am loving it.Â And yes, I can usually make it work with one or two strands of cotton embroidery floss.Â Wool crewel, no.

It looks like I will be in Ithaca, New York in 2 weeks.Â Anybody out there?Â Any recommendations?

a Monday report

Posted on July 2, 2007 by mimik

How cool is this?! This is a first for me, my artwork in a book-

I am talking about this book– Making Gourd Dolls & Spirit Figures, by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess. I just got my copy and am pleased as punch! I can’t quite figure out why they put someone elses doll (the one the upper left hand page) on a page with my name on it, but… hey, I am very glad to have the photos of my dolls together! The book has a great range of examples and instructions for making dolls from gourds- very interesting.

Other stuff-

Am I the last person to read this post on Yarn Harlot? It resonated with me.

I fell in love over the weekend. I’m going to have to get one of these for my garden- Lady in Red Hydrangea.

I saw on my stats that someone had searched for “m kirchner pottery”. That was how I used to sign my pots. I had this crazy idea, right out of college (actually someone told me!) that it would be better to make my signature gender ambiguous so I would be taken more seriously. That was 1976. I don’t think I fooled anyone. My imagery hasn’t changed much when I switched over to fiber arts.

I’ve killed my website, which never was much of a website anyway. Mostly it was just a front door to my photo galleries. Now if you go to Mimi Kirchner.com, you will be here at the blog. This is where the action’s at anyway. Hopefully this will be an incentive to do some clean up chores and rearrange the furniture around here. I hope this doesn’t mess anything up for anybody.

And, I am working on Amy‘s paperbag swag pages. The thing I’ve loved about this project is that it has given me a place to try out some techniques/ideas/materials that never seemed to fit in anywhere else. I have always admired Abby’s scrappy patchwork fabrics and have wanted to try making some.

Mine seems a little more uptight then hers, but it works for me. Next step- pages and some applique-

and then sketches for the next part-

I love my copy machine. I did the drawing and then copied it in several sizes to see how it works on the piece.

Lastly- flower of the day- Butterfly weed-

I am posting these now to get me through the winter.

another grandma

Posted on June 30, 2007 by mimik

this is the way these pieces happen-

I’d been thinking about ladies in curlers for a while. I even mentioned it at the end of this post. I pulled out my grandma/big lady design and got to work, cutting out the main body pieces, looking at photos tagged “housecoat” and “curlers” on Flickr. btw- Who ever knew there are curler fetishists?! The things I learn everyday!

I start doing floral applique on the body pieces and soon it seemed way too pretty to be a housecoat. That’s when I started the purple one. Sometimes a project goes it’s own way and there is no point trying to force it into towards where I thought I was going.

And another detour. I drew the face on paper, cut it out, made myself a little stencil and transfered the features… but somehow my happy smiling grandma turned into this-

She looks terrified! Somehow I was unable to see that until I was all done and ready to take photos. So, back upstairs for a face rework-

Much better! She actually looks happy now.

I am thinking of her as the post-curler grandma- look at her lovely hair-

The photo is washed out, but the embroidery floss I used is variegated light blue.

The front-

and the back-

and the bottom of her shoes-

and one last photo- she is sitting in the thyme and lavender- so perfect for a grandma.

Now- the flower of the day- an amazing poppy! Too bad they only last for one day-

One last thing- has everyone read Shula’s wise words/rant on the topic of crafting and craft bloggers? Wow, can she say it! I felt she was speaking right to me, although not about my recent personal experience. Just happened to come up at the same time.

Wow!

Posted on June 28, 2007 by mimik

Thanks so much for all your supportive comments- I am so touched and completely blown away! I guess that is one way to delurk people! Just remember though, positive feedback for whining? Probably not a good thing… at least that was the mantra when our kids were little. And who knows where this blog might end up if you encourage it. Hee!

I have been thinking a lot lately about validation. That is, what I personally need in my day and in my life to continue to feel that my art is worth doing. I don’t get the classic American style validation- ie money. For many people, that’s the only validation worth respecting. But I HAVE to do what I’m doing. I think I’d go completely nuts if I couldn’t do my artwork. My blog has become my validation- knowing that people come and read what I write, look at my photos, leave me comments, understand and appreciate what I’m doing. Yes, someone, many someones, are interested, and it turns out that that is enough. I make stuff, I show it online, people look at it. Isn’t that what it’s all about as long as there is food in the fridge? Now if I was making all these things in secret and stowing it away in a closet for my children to discover when I died of fabric poisoning, it would be a better story, I’d fit the description of an outsider artist and I really would be nutty!
The other part of this thought cycle is about “worthiness”. I used to worry a lot about being an “artist” and worrying about how other people defined the term. Now, I don’t worry so much and try not to set myself up to be judged (see last post- ahem) although it is unavoidable to a certain degree if I don’t want to drown in finished dolls. That is the beauty of the blog- I put it out there, you come and look if you want. I am not asking anything of you. But really I have gotten so much. It has been very interesting for me to think about how my reasons for blogging have changed over the 3+ years I’ve been doing it. It has been an on-going and changing positive experience for me. Thanks everybody!

grandma with curlers

Posted on June 27, 2007 by mimik

Here she is, basking in the sun. I felt kind of cruel, taking her out for a photo shoot. The temperature is around 100 degrees and she is dressed in her wool housecoat, slippers and kerchief… not to mention her wool skin and hair. She made it through with a smile on her face though. What troopers these grandmas are.

Above is the face, in progress, before I added her eyebrows. And here is the back- her hair in curlers under her kerchief:

A close-up of the front of her dress:

and her fluffy slippers-

One more photo.

**Warning- I’m going to whine now. Last night I got an email telling me that I am a Plush You reject. I guess I’m not surprised. I was seeing around the blogs I read, about other people getting acceptances weeks ago. And truthfully, when they posted about my work on their site in March, I thought there was a lack of enthusiasm. And then today, I see this review on Drool.icio.us. Is it just me being too sensitive, or is this kind of harsh? Have these people seen what an American Girl doll costs? Should I be happy that people are noticing my work at all? Any publicity is good publicity?

Well anyway, I keep going back to this review at Design Boner to boost my spirits. Being totally clueless though, I had to figure out whether a design boner was good or bad!

Something else to make my day. A perfect Abraham Darby Rose. So fragrant. Breathe deeply and relax.