I haven’t made one of these fellows in a long, long time but I got a request so let’s go!
He’s got some classic tattoos and an old-fashioned striped bathing suit.
A mustache and a curl in his hair.
Here is a close-up of the pattern on his hair-
I am very excited about this hair! I am sure I will be playing with this kind of thing some more. This fellow- all around awesome! Let’s start with his hair. Front-
and back-
And his gorgeous tattoos-
A sea glass button and a crocheted belt of variegated threads.
Last week I went to my favorite fabric store (Gather Here) for the first time since March 2020. It was such a treat to look and touch the fabric again! I found this excellent wave fabric and had to come right home and use some. Perfect!
Here is a closer look at his back tattoos-
I am really going wild with these mermen! It is so much fun making imaginary beings.
Deciding on the thread colors for his face was a challenge- Lilac purple eyes, green eyebrows.
There is actually a print on the body fabric but the purple is so saturated that you can hardly see it.
He has it all- gorgeous dark red hair and skeletons!
I tried to do a macrame sort of knot for his belt, but it doesn’t show now that it is sewed down.
I make their eyes the color that I imagine the water they swim in.
So this fellow is definitely a cold water merman. His tattoos are mostly ships and then a few palms.
An antique shell button and some star beads.
Hair close-up-
A green merman with aqua eyes-
And a wave in his hair!
He has narwhal tattoos and an anchor button.
Hurray! A new Merman!
Here he is, lounging around on my porch.
How could I resist this perfect tattoo fabric. He has a sea glass button.
It feels good to finish something again!
I am participating in an Art Party Central event, this coming Saturday at 2:30 and 5:30 Eastern Time. Would you like to come and join in the fun? RSVP here! Or go to the site and RSVP from there. Why should you come? Because you will get a 10% off coupon for MY SHOP and might even win a $50 gift certificate!!! I will talk about my work for a least 5 minutes (lol) and show details of the work. You can ask me questions. And you can see some other amazing artists- it is a virtual Zoom Craft Fair. I’d love to see you there!
I’m back from Chicago! We drove out from Boston, 3 days driving each way, and then a week in Chicago. We went to Alfred, NY and visited one kiddo, then to Cleveland (never been there before) where I saw Lake Erie, then onto Chicago where the other 2 kids live. I want to tell you about an amazing show we saw at the Chicago Art Institute.
We saw the art quilts of Bisa Butler. Here is a link to the info at the AIC where there are other pics from the show and also video interviews. I took detail photos of the work, not pictures of the whole pieces. Look at the AIC site to see the whole. I was so fascinated by her use of fabrics and colors and that is what I wanted to remember and study further. Some of the photos are not as sharp as I’d like so sorry about that.
A close-up of how she quilted the arm versus how the geometric pattern of the shirt is quilted.
All the colors in the faces.
The placement of the bold fabric patterns on the hat and jacket.
She uses netting (tulle) to create dimensionality in the skirt-
Shoes!!
And there is her signature.
I just love this fabric with the clocks.
And the hair on this little girl- LOVE! Can you see that it is a 3-D organza rose fabric? I have a little piece of this fabric in red.
That’s all I’ve got. If you have a chance to see the show, I would highly recommend it. I will be thinking about her art for a long while.