Friday Face Off

Welcome to the Friday FaceOff for this week.   I will start with a confession.  I have been sick with a mystery bug (not covid, I tested.)  When I feel badly it is difficult to create.   The spirit is willing but the body is resistant.    

Luckily I had put together this face a week or so ago and never have shown it.    My plan was to use up some almost useless scraps for as much of it as possible.  None of these pieces had fusible on the back of them.  Rather,  I layered a piece of batting under a sheet of Steam-a-Seam 2.  This fusible is sticky making it easy to work this way.  Of course I went about it the WRONG way.  I created the face first and then added the background.  That meant that when a piece touched the face, the edges had to be tucked under the edges of the face.  
There was a bit of careful lifting to be sure that the fabrics didn't fray.  

Aunt Lucille

Looking at the photo, I can see that this is not quite finished.  The eyes are lacking pupils and highlights. Ah well, that will be an easy fix as I draw in the pupils with a black sharpie and then use a spot of white paint for the highlight.  If  I felt better, I would just go add it and take a new photo. 
Hopefully I can do that and share the corrected version in a few days. 

__________________

I couldn't stand not fixing it.  So here is the face with the eyes finished. It amazes me how much that tiny bit adds a spark of life to the face. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Playing with Scraps - Time for Fun

When I pull out the barely useable scraps for play time, it is always fun.   On Sunday I pulled out this pile of scraps and a 12x12 inch piece of Steam-a-Seam 2 for play time. 

The first thing I do is stick one side of the fusible to a square of batting that is the same size.  So you know,  this is a sticky fusible that you can temporarily stick fabric to.  Then when you press it with steam it sticks more permanently.   Then, I peel off the other piece of release paper and it is play time. 

Fabric pieces are adhered in a semi-random manner until all of the surface is covered.  There are some edges that overlap other pieces -those edges are loose and not "stuck" in place. 

Then when I am happy with the coverage, and think it looks okay,  it is time to press it with steam. 

After steaming and then dry pressing it,  to the sewing machine we go!  I do some free motion sewing to secure all of the edges. 

Take 1

And then I have to turn it all directions and see what I like best. 

Take 2

Take 3

Now the big question is this:  Do I use one of these as a finished piece?  OR Do I use it as a background for one of my faces?????

Yes folks, the struggle is real.  I always have a hard time with decisions.  I like all three of these (the 4th orientation was a quick "no" from me.  Honestly, I look at Take 1 AND Take 2 and see that I could do a few things and make this into two faces in profile.   Take 3 says "abstract landscape" to me. 

What do y'all think? Help a guy with this. (((grin)))

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off

This week I have worked on another clay face just because I had a moment when I wanted to process some polymer clay.  Working the clay with my hands to soften it is great for stress relief. (No worries, it had just been "one of those days.")  

Once my hands were in the clay it was easy to just go with it and make a face.  I had no plan but I did play with sculptural elements in the hair??hat?? whatever!  Then I had fun painting that part. 

This one looks a bit dismayed or distressed doesn't it?  

Ah well, I don't know the story behind it. 

In other news, I have been working on a song since at least June of this year. 

This week, something magical happened and it just came together. 

(

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. -- Pablo Picasso

)

So I am sharing the song with you.  

You can either watch the video below

OR 

Go to SoundCloud and hear the more professional sounding version. 

SoundCloud Version - On the Outside

GeneBlack · On the Outside

YouTube Version

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Fabric and fusing Fun

Okay, so I have been slacking off on blogging.....yes I know "Bad ME."  Ah well, I have been trying to be a good person anyway.  I did drive my uncle to the hospital when he had to be there at 6 a.m. (too early for my guardian angel to be awake.)  Then I went back to carry him home also...and I stayed in WalMart two hours waiting for his prescription - because his MD always forgets to tell them the OTHER med that will interact has been stopped until this is over. 

So, I have been doing self therapy with paint and fabric.  First up, I painted a nice chunk of fabric (actually two at once, one on top of the other.)  And I LOVE this - 

Yes, slightly crazy but so HAPPY to look at.  The bottom one in the photo was 

the fabric on top while painting - it is more intense in color. 

I also chose four fat eighths of hand dyed fabric and fused it with Mistyfuse.

They are separate pieces that I can cut up for making whatever fabric art I want to make! Of course I am thinking "faces." You know I don't stick to "normal" colors. 

Ha ha! 

Another "therapy session" involved pulling a pile of random scraps 

What  mess huh?

Those were in this big jar where I keep odd scraps of batik and hand dyed fabrics.

The jar has a nice spout - that leaks!  So I repurposed it. 

But the fabric doesn't leak out like water or other beverages do. 

Of course I had to iron these scraps  to make them flat. 

Then I took a piece of Steam-a-Seam and put it on a piece of felt. 

Those strange pieces were cut and placed on the sticky Steam-a-Seam

with just slight overlaps so that all the felt was covered. 

At this point I can still pull off any piece and move it or replace it.

But I was happy with this one and decided to take it to the ironing surface

to steam it into place. Then I added a backing fabric, which I glue basted on

with Elmer's school glue. (it is a small piece and the back probably won't be seen.)

Next up I sewed around all the pieces to fasten down the loose edges where it overlaps.

Oops, I did a teeny bit of free motion in that one corner. 

I think I liked this better than when I quilted it.

Do you see a picture?  It was only planned as a non-representational abstract

But once it was tacked down and turned this way and that, 

we saw an image.

So, quilt it, I did. 

If you haven't guessed yet - don't look at the next photo

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Do you see it now?

It is a wide vase full of flowers and leaves. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off 11/11/22

This week has been busy catching up on lots of things.  I am going to share two faces from years ago.

Each of these are the faces from soft dolls that I have made.  The dolls were made for my grandnieces. First up, the doll for the older sister.

The face on this doll is machine embroidery that I digitized for this doll.

It was a simple design to create although the software I had 

at that time was not the best for creating embroidery. 

The next doll has a painted face. 

This doll was made with a stretch material so that it  was simply easier

to paint the face on the doll. Even with the paint it was a bit of a 

challenge to get the eyes like I wanted. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off 11/4/2022

Today for the Face Off, I am sharing a painting done in watercolor.  

A number of years ago, I took a class with artist Janet Rogers.  This was a watercolor class on flowers and portraits.  Janet had a couple of paintings where she only painted a partial face. I was totally intrigued by them.  So I did a few of them.  This painting "That Look" was painted from a picture I took of a co-worker.  I also did a full portrait of her, but I can't find a picture of it.   I do love the way I was able to preserve the white areas in this. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

More Music

I would like to share with you a song that I wrote earlier this year.  I think that I have it in its final form at this point.  One thing that I have learned in the process is that you write down every idea as you are going. Then you can refine those during the re-writing process.  

I realize that this song will not be to everyone's taste.  But I hope that some of you will enjoy it.  And if you don't, I would rather not hear about it.  Thanks!

There is an edited version of the audio on SoundCloud also.  I have not yet learned to add studio effects to a video. 

Stay Creative! 

Gene