here i am

i'm here

Artist book by Beth Lindner

Virginia  
detail from artist book by Beth Lindner

A few weeks ago, Beth Lindner brought over the book she made about her mother's youth so that I could see the finished product.

I asked her if I could photograph it, perhaps share it here...and she was pleased.  I hope that you enjoy having a peek.

Beth began the book in the Art Quilting class I was teaching in 2010.  One of the techniques was photo transfer, and Beth used photos of her mother.  She had them in her possession because her youngest had needed copies for a school project.

Early on she decided to make a book of the transferred photos and give it to her mother for her birthday.  The text would be a complete poem by Anne Morrow Lindberg.

I don't think she intended it to take four years, but what a gift for her mother's recent 80th birthday.

above, one verse from Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg

Beth transferred the photos to fabric she had on hand - a cotton twill, and embellished them with stitches she learned in that class.  French knots.  Couching.  Cross Stitch.  Beth's talent and creativity took those humble stitches to a very personal and beautiful level.

This past spring Beth brought the pages to me for mentoring help.  I advised her on threads, taught her a new stitch (bead stitch), loaned some books, and showed some ways to put the book together.

Beth is a mother of two active boys and teaches special education in a primary school.  She has painted watercolours and acrylic paintings for most of her life.   She told me that she loves stitching, probably better than painting and is eager to begin a new fabric book.  I look forward to seeing what she does next.

akrasia, a new word for me

Why do we fail to carry out what we choose to do?
Akrasia is the inability to carry out what we plan to do. According to Aristotle it has has two parts.
a) weakness of will
b) impetuousness

This information is from the book, The Vehement Passions by Philip Fisher . I'm starting my dissertation research with learning more about the emotions.

I continue to stitch this piece of linen.

image transfer

heat transfer on cotton, framed with antique cotton and indigo dyed silk, the image is from a vintage post card, heat transfer on tin foil, (vintage post card)

It's been a while since I've done photo transfers, but just last week I taught the heat transfer method in my art quilting class. The papers have become more accessible since the 90's and they are user friendly for anyone with basic photo shop skills and an ink jet printer. heat transfer on cotton, the photograph cropped, enlarged, inverted, flipped, colour enhanced etc




The above samples were made before or during the class. I wonder if I can use this method in some real work.

using indigo?

What if?