The job of little girls. Figuring things out.

This week my mind has been filled with images and thoughts of little girls.

In my studio, I am slowly working my way through a large work that places two little girls in an environment that’s like a dream or memory: windows, doors, archways  and buildings connect with one another in ways that that could not actually occur. The girls are in a place where they must figure things out.

At the same time, since I’m enjoying more reading than normal as part of my stay-at-home-experience, I have read two thought-provoking and stirring accounts of real little girls.

“Becoming,” Michele Obama’s memoir, is warm and rich in details and experience. A lot of the story focuses on her pre-famous days as a girl growing up in Chicago. Clearly, she was smarter than the average kid. Not crazy-genius smart, but smart. And competitive, and motivated, and – increasingly as she grew – capable. She grew in an environment where love and support and nurturing were poured into her with abundance, and she gratefully accepted all of it. A strong and devoted chorus of voices told her: You are important. You can do it.

As an adult, she was able to look back and see how that formed who she is and formed in her the desire for the same opportunities for all little girls.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou’s memoir of her life up to aged sixteen, is a book I had read many years ago. It leapt off the bookshelf in a recent trip to our local used bookstore, an invitation to discover it again. What a wonder! Her story has so much to absorb.

Maya’s childhood was one of being thrown out into the world to make the best of it if she could. The chorus of voices she heard most loudly was telling her that she was not important and not anybody special. Somehow she discovered a love for books. That opened up worlds for her. She began the process of figuring things out and discovering her voice.

So, I’ve been thinking about little girls.

The two girls who inhabit my new (work-in-progress) art quilt are based on a family photo of myself and my sister when I was three and she was four. As the work progresses, I’ve been looking at them a lot. They have evolved.

(Just this week, when I thought that portion of the work was done, I collaged over the girls and changed them around). I repositioned their bodies and redid the drawing and shading.

Most of what’s left in this work will involve adding layers and depth in the environment that surrounds them. I’m working slower than usual and giving it time. I want to hear what the chorus of voices behind these two is saying. I’m still figuring it out.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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WHAT’S UNDER THERE? MYSTERIES AWAIT

It is such a pleasure in artmaking when there’s a good fit between what is interesting to you and the methods you use to create.

I rediscovered some of that today.

I was doing some digital housecleaning, going through my files of artwork and organizing. (The nerdy half of my brain sometimes enjoys this almost as much as the original creating.)

I spent some time looking at a collage I had created about a year ago, “Beneath the Ice.” 

My small matted collages are the most intuitive pieces I create. That’s why they are such good in-between projects from my work on larger quilts. When I create a large quilt, I am always following a plan. I’ve done some sketching and some thinking, and I have in mind a specific effect or mood I want to create. Yes, serendipitous things happen along the way and I remain open to surprises. But it’s never just an intuitive evolution.

The process for the collages is exactly opposite. I get in the groove of printmaking monotypes and let them go where they go. I mix up fabric and rice paper. I discover a mix of deep colors and light textures. The method suits this loose way of printing. Acrylics dry very fast and can also create very intense, lush colors.

Then, when I’ve created a bunch, going through the stack to discover pieces to collage together is like a treasure hunt. It’s at this point I think the process most matches my interests.

I enjoy wondering about hidden worlds and inner realities. As a kid, I was drawn to stories about little people or little animals who built their homes under a log. Now, when I listen to NPR in the studio as I work, I am drawn to science stories about going deep in the ocean to previously unexplored depths and discovering new life forms.

I resonate to questions. What’s under there? I wonder what’s inside of this? How does it feel in this place?

Picking through the hand-printed pieces is, then, an act of discovery.  As I pull together paper pieces to collage, I almost always rip (as opposed to scissor-cutting.) It’s one more way to have tactile involvement with the pieces. For me the process is more challenging, because I am creating compositions that are mostly abstract, not representational. But I find myself thinking of deep hues as shadows. Light and textured pieces are outcroppings. Pieces placed on a diagonal connote change.

This one gave me a lot to look at and experience today. It’s always my hope, in the small works and also in my larger quilts, to create layers and textures that will continue to pose questions, to give the viewer something new to see even after frequent visits.

(If you’d like to see more about this collage or others in the series, please visit my website HERE)

My wish to you today… Stay safe and well. And, while you are at home find joy in creativity.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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The good life. That didn’t make any sense.

The good life. Except that it didn’t make any sense. And we’d go to Lord and Taylor for our new spring coats.

I finished this quilt about a week ago. It’s been an archaeological dig into childhood memories for me. There in the memory are two characters. The doll-like little girl. The elegant fashion lady. I have placed them side-by-side in a setting of symbols and contrasts.

The doll-like little girl is a variation on the young girl whose journey is at the heart of my recent work. I rendered her in a way that’s representational, but not real. She’s flat, much like a punch-out paper doll. But – boy oh boy – does she feel real to me. I remember standing in front of the forsythia bush each year to pose for the Easter-outfit-photo for our family scrapbook. I had a little purse, Mary Jane shoes and white socks just like this. When I searched online for some reference pictures of girls in their new spring outfits, I discovered row after row of family pictures just like ours. The brothers and sisters stand formally in their new clothes. Parents wanted to record the ideal image of their children.

The fashion lady image was also ubiquitous when I was a girl. Paper doll sets of grown up women had them shaped like an hourglass. Dress patterns and magazine clothing ads depicted women in this ideal shape. Women forced themselves into constrictive girdles and oddly shaped bras to conform to this ideal. (I remember thinking that someday I would have to do that too.)

Against this setting of ideals, I’ve inserted symbols related to searching for the good life in financial terms. The repousse spoons are my grandmother’s flatware, inherited by my mother and then by me. For my Mom, having beautiful silverware and a complete set of good china to complement a neat house with a picket fence was considered the definition of the good things in life.

But, in our family, something was seriously “off.” As a little girl, I tried to sort it out and make sense of it. An annual pilgrimage to Lord and Taylor (the fanciest store I had ever heard of) did not match our financial realities as a family; such extravagance was way beyond what we could afford.  I felt unreal and disconnected by the experience. So, in this artwork, there are things that are “off.” There is beautiful green spring foliage, but prehistoric fish with big, mean teeth are lurking nearby. Among the repousse silver fly large insects

I have a strong tug-of-heart for children. They are doing the hard work of figuring out the world and their place in it. Children are so perceptive. They know what’s good and right. They know when things don’t make sense. As an artist I work to tap into these experiences and do my own hard work of understanding and expressing what I uncover.

“We’d Go To Lord ad Taylor for our new Spring Coats” 2020 42” x 42”

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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From my blog 3-29-2020… A big deal in the big city

It’s good to remember big “YES” events.

I received genuine pleasure this week remembering SAQA’s exhibition “Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora,” in Washington, DC in 2016. (This exhibit was featured in SAQA’s weekly e-mail to members, part of a promotion of past exhibits). I was so honored to be in the exhibit. In my artist journey, this one is definitely a really big deal!

(Bonus! There’s a little video to watch at the end of this blog post.)

While I’m at work in my studio, I admit I spend my share of time kicking myself when work does not turn out the way I’d envisioned it and wondering what in the world I am doing anyway!

But being a part of “Stories of Migration” was a completely “yes” experience for me.

The work I created, “How Can We Sing in a Strange Land,” was the largest I had created. (It’s 53”H x 72”W)

And it was the biggest work conceptually as well. I had not focused on a particular theme or body of work at that time. So, the process of thinking through how to address this deep and poignant subject matter was a big step in my artmaking. I worked through wondering if I had the right to submit work at all. I wondered if my method of working was sufficiently sophisticated for a museum show.

Once I was accepted and I began to see the scope of the show and the facility at George Washington Univ Textile Museum, I realized that this would be a world-class exhibit. A juried and invitational exhibit, it included work by forty-four artists. The partnership between SAQA artists and this beautiful museum space in every way elevated and enhanced the subject matter.

The GWU Textile Museum exterior, and the interior exhibit space

From SAQA’s promotion:

“All works reflect upon the theme of “Diaspora.” Diaspora is the dispersion of a people from an established ancestral homeland. These communities remain simultaneously active in social, economic, cultural, or political processes in their country of origin and with compatriots worldwide.

A migration of peoples from their ancestral homeland impacts every aspect of their life.  The sudden displacement of large populations and the ensuing establishment of resettlement centers to provide basic human needs — food, clothing, shelter, health services, and safety (particularly that of women and children) -- often requires a worldwide response.”

I traveled to DC for the opening. Because I live in a fairly small city, I can forget the excitement of the big city experience, especially Washington, DC. I took the Metro from the airport to Foggy Bottom-GWU and walked the several blocks to the Textile Museum. Everywhere in the city were amazing plantings of tulips in dynamic color patterns.

SAQA and the Museum had planned to video-document this exhibit and the artists. We had been assigned time slots for our individual videos. I remember that I arrived at the museum only a few minutes before my assigned time, after walking from the Metro station. I caught my breath, went to the restroom and splashed a little water on my face, then I went to stand by my artwork for the taping. My video is below.

For my video click HERE

All the artists’ videos are well worth watching. See them HERE

Another nice part of this memory: a writer for the Washington Post reviewed the show. As a result of that, a very nice art collector in DC purchased my work (before even seeing it in person!) That was also a first-time experience for me. YES!

“How Can We Sing in a Strange Land?”

I’ll be back in the studio this week, tackling a few new, large works that are challenging me. When I get the who-am-I-kidding-what-am-I-doing refrain in my head, I’ll try to remember this great experience.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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Life Beneath the Garden

My studio is filled with “stuff.” It’s a mix of stuff I use and works I have completed. Having things out and visible is inspiring to me. Sometimes I see a stencil hanging on my board and think of a new way to use it. Sometimes  I look at a finished work and see something I like and want to remember.

Again this week I am inspired to write by a finished work that’s hanging on the wall behind my sewing table. A number of times this past week I’ve looked up and remembered parts of it I find interesting. This is “Life Beneath the Garden.”

This is an all-paper collage, (I often mix paper with fabric). I printed the various parts by hand as monotype prints using acrylic paint on a soft gelatin plate. Then I cut them apart and collaged them to 140# watercolor paper.

A few things I’ve rediscovered from looking at this again:

Wonderful olive green. This range of colors is created by mixing yellow + black.

It inspired me this morning in a fabric printing session to create backgrounds for a large quilt I am just beginning. I’m using a different lino cut image, but I was drawn to mix up that wonderful green.

Positive and Negative These two rows of leaves were printed from the same hand-cut cardstock stencil.

But in one section the stencil was used as a negative (the stencil blocked the paint and the paint colored the negative spaces) and the other was printed from the ghost image remaining on the plate (now a positive) of that stencil after the first hit. I’ve also mixed up the application of foreground and background colors. These sections speak to each other well, I think.

Complementary Colors The green-orange palette is a slight variation of a pure green-red complement. Putting the compeiments next to each other makes the colors “pop.”

Finally, I was happy with the Invitation to Wonder that I believe is sparked by this work. What, exactly, does go on beneath the ground in the garden? I’ve created shapes that are suggestive of cells or microscopic life, but they are not realistic. We are left to imagine.

Anyone who has planted a bean or a sunflower seed in a dixie cup has experienced the amazing process of a plant’s growth. In a whole garden, or beneath a whole lawn, there are interactions and systems of great complexity. There is biology to explain the process and yet it still amazes.

(This collage is available. If you’d like more information, it’s on my website HERE)

To all of us – stay well and stay hopeful. Humanity will endure beyond our current fears and constraints to daily life. It is my hope that once through we will be wiser and stronger. In the meantime, focus on compassion, doing what you can do to help, and enjoy creating.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

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OLD NEWS - The Inside Story

As I was sewing in my studio this weekend, I looked up behind my head and saw again this framed collage. It’s called “Old News,” and I had pulled it off my storage shelf several weeks ago when I participated in DeLand’s art studio tour.

This was one of the first completed monotype collage works I created, around 2014. I had photographed this man on a bench in downtown Deland. I loved the silhouette of his body on the bench and it inspired some imaginative storytelling.

I created the man and the bench with a hand-cut stencil from card stock. Behind the man, I have collaged strips of newspaper stories as the background for the washed tree forms.  Like a discarded newspaper, the man seems to me to be easily overlooked, or discarded.

But I wanted to show that he had an inner life and past experiences. That’s the purpose of the colored blocks below him in the composition. These varied shapes and colors are a suggestion of his inner life.

This version of “Old New” is mostly rice paper, monotype printed with acrylic paints and collaged to 140# watercolor paper. I love the natural deckle edge of a beautiful sheet of watercolor paper. I’ve float mounted the collage in a nice, simple oak frame so that deckle is part of the artwork.

I was discovering art quilts at that time and decided to use this same man-on-the-bench as the basis for a larger work. Again, the background behind him depicts strips of newspaper stories. I also added a moon behind the trees.

My interest changed from a focus just on the man to a focus on his inner life. I dedicated more space to the “below” section, and used a mix of fabrics and rice paper in putting together the section. A lot of the monotype printing techniques and relief prints in this work were experimental processes to me at the time.

The story changed a bit, too, with the addition of the little bird as a second character. I’ve kept my interest in little birds as storytelling elements. The bird offers a contrast to the man. People love little birds on city streets, stopping to look at them or to feed them crumbs. Is an old man on a bench as easily noticed? Have the old man and the bird noticed one another? Have they shared a conversation?

Seeing the smaller, framed version of this composition, and remembering the larger quilted version, has been a good experience for me this week. I enjoy seeing works that are a few years old, remembering the experience of creating them. I can see images and symbols I still enjoy using, and steps in the process that I now do differently.

Both versions of this work are available. If you’d like more information and pricing, please visit the Journeys and Stories Gallery on my website. “Old News” as a quilt is HERE. “OLD NEWS” as a framed collage is on my website HERE.

As we are all facing quieter days with less social interaction for awhile,
I hope you find it an opportunity for creativity.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Up to my elbows in photo transfers. Why?

Right now on my studio worktable I have a stack of photo transfers in progress and another pile of photos printed to paper ready to transfer.

Why?

Actually, that’s a two-part question. Why do I have a lot? Why incorporate photos into art quilts at all?

The first part is easier. I am beginning a large work that will be created in four panels with much of the imagery created by photo transfers. So far I have planned out the composition, prepped my photos for reproduction, and had the laser copies printed. Now, one by one, I’ll transfer the photos onto muslin. There will be abut 50 transfers 12” x 18” size in this work.

Second, why use photos in art quilts at all?

For readers who are art-lovers but not necessarily art-makers, I think it deepens the appreciation of a work to explore why artists create in the way they do. Quilt artists use photos in a number of ways. Sometimes, the whole composition of the quilt is about reproducing the image from a photo. I am more interested in juxtaposing a photographic reality with a non-photo reality. It’s a way to add depth of meaning (as well as visual depth) to a narrative work.

This is a work from 2018 I created using photo transfers: “Something Else will Grow There.”

The patterns of leaves-light-and vines within the house are transferred onto muslin from a photo I took of an abandoned house. I think it’s a wonderful image. (I’ll be using it again in the large 4-panel work I’m creating now.) But, rather than just make a whole work of this photo, I have incorporated the image into a child-like house in a setting that is story-like. Now, when encountering this work, this viewer’s brain starts to sort things out. “Look, that’s a photo. It must be a REAL thing. But, look, there’s a child-like image. It must be a NOT-REAL thing.”  I believe the viewer is drawn deeper into the picture surface and the story through this process.

Here's a detail of another new work that’s in progress now

This work uses image elements in a more graphic and symbolic way. The spoons are photos of actual flatware with an intricate repousse pattern. (My grandmother’s silver pattern.) Layered in with the spoons is monotype-printed sheer fabric, monotype-printed muslin fabric, and semi-transoarent images of flying insects. There’s a lot going on. Sorting out what all of this might mean is an entry into the artwork.

For readers who are artmakers, you might be interested in my process of creating transfers. There are many, many ways to get a photo on fabric. But, in the hope that one more way might be helpful to your studio practice, at the end of this blog I’ve described my process. Happy creating!

For more information on “Something Else Will Grow There” and to see more storytelling works incorporating photo transfers, I invite you to visit these galleries on my website:

HOME IS WHAT YOU REMEMBER GALLERY.
JOURNEYS and STORIES GALLERY

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

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How I transfer photos to fabric

Most people who transfer onto fabric use inkjet presses and print directly onto the fabric. There are various grounds and treatments you can put on the fabric to make it receive the image and all kinds of ink jet printers. I mention this upfront because there is a lot written about how to do this, and many people like the process and the results a lot.

I don’t use ink jet. I begin by purchasing color laser copies from my local print shop. All commercial shops who make color copies are using laser copies- not ink jet. (You can tell because the copy is warm when it comes out of the machine.) Be sure to create your images to print in mirror image so they will be right-reading when transferred.

I transfer onto plain old cotton muslin.

I generally rinse the piece in hot water to get the sizing out, then lay the wet fabric on a flat surface (covered with a plastic sheet) and press it out with my hands to get rid of bubbles and wrinkles.

Slather on gel medium (Matte. Thick) with a brush.

Turn your copy upside down onto the gel medium and press it – copy facing the medium – into the gel.

Rub with your hands, Brayer, Burnish it with a wooden spoon.

Go away and let it dry at least 24 hours.

Now gently rub off the paper. Use soft cloth or a toothbrush or your fingers. Use water. Just keep working it. It’s quite tedious. It takes time to get the paper scum to go away. If there are any places where the gel medium did not contact  well with the toner you’ll get  a gap of no image. It is a fussy process.

But, I enjoy this kind of transfer and I like the results.

The only way to know if this works for you is to do some practicing. Best wishes.

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Fearless!

Looking at a big empty canvas, paper or fabric area can be pretty daunting.

I am grateful for the great stories and questions about artmaking blog-readers share with me. Fear of messing up is at the heart of many questions, and a desire to get over it is at the heart of many stories. (There’s a nice success story from a reader at the end of this blog.)

So, this morning I was also encountering fear of a big piece to fill, looking at a wide empty piece of muslin. I have a vision for a new quilt, and I know how I want this section to function. Now’s the time to begin.

First things first. I experience the beginning of artmaking rhythm during set-up. (I love the simple act of putting on my painting apron!) I pulled the paint colors I wanted to use onto my worktable and arranged them around my palette. I spooned out a few blops of color and began to mix. (Color note. I almost never use a paint color straight from the jar. Mixing colors is the key to a palette where the parts speak to each other.)

Sponge painting acrylics onto fabric goes fast. Once I begin, a few minutes later I have a few yards with the basic color down. I wet my sponge just a bit and picked up some color from the palette. Big strokes, big arm movements. The color is not solid, but shows some of the component parts as blends.

I want some subtle image elements in this section so I’ve selected some of my favorite stencils. I’ve sponged in some geometric shapes. Now for the prehistoric fish.

This hand-cut fish skeleton is one of the first stencils I cut and preserved for re-use. It’s based on an illustration I discovered of a Portheus, an extinct species from over 90 million years ago. I have images of this fish in several sizes, both positive and negative images. It’s strongly connotative to me: the passage of time, the fear of the unknown beneath the surface.

For a first layer, I’m pleased with the results. The section is still a bit flat, and will need some more subtle layers of transparent color to get the depth I want. This may stay as a whole-cloth section, or I may cut it into sections to stitch together. All decisions for the next work session

For now, the blankness has been filled. A good first step.

Here’s the successful experiment sent to me from a blog-reader. Janet Pugh from Arizona has been intrigued with wheat-paste resist and the wonderful crackle effects it creates She used the resist to make the texture in the background of this quilt section behind the crocus. Her email to me described a lot of experimentation, with a mix of successes and failures. Yup. That’s how it works! I think it looks great and I‘m so glad Janet shared it.

And I also like her creative composition: squares, but not.

Fear – bad.

Experimenting and creating – good!
Happy creating.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

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New projects brewing

This past weekend, during the few lulls that there were during the Studio Tour, I started the process of looking ahead to my next projects.

(Actually, I’ve had at last two projects brewing for a few weeks now. But, I couldn’t focus on them till the tour was over. That was a big undertaking! And it was so much fun, with lots of visitors and lots of new connections and patrons.)

My first project will include some relief printing with newly-carved blocks. I worked on these during the tour.

My local artmaking group is working on a several months-long project exploring block printing. They met this past Saturday while I was busy with the Studio Tour.

These are easy-cut blocks made of rubber, like a large eraser. They are designed to be super easy to carve, and they are. Like buttah! Unlike original linoleum blocks, these would not work well in a printing press. The pressure of the press would squish them. But, I have used relief print blocks before to print by hand and gotten interesting results.

I am interested in a project that will include leaf patterns. I started by roughing them out in my sketchbook.

Then, I imported them into Photoshop to experiment with overlaps and variations in positioning. I did enough to answer my questions about how the patterns might develop. So, then I proceeded to carving.

When I get to the printing portion, I’ll share more.

My second new project brewing is actually sort of an obsession. I’ve been thinking about this one for a while now. I’m not sure if it will work, or how to solve the technical issues involved in making it work. This involves fabric panels, collage-constructed, with overall quilting stitching but no binding or finishing on the edges:  showing the raw-edge ripped muslin edges.

I started this morning with prepping the muslin. I ripped it to size, about 30” x 40”. I’ll be creating this experiment 100% final size. I’m using white house paint primer applied with a wet natural sponge. After that all-over prep, I went back and put a little more on the edges with a foam brush.

Next I glued on a felt backing going to within about ¾” inch from the edge. This will be the finished backing and I will quilt through it.

Next I plan to use up old ugly scraps to collage and stitch the whole piece just as I will when I make the real work. What I’m interested in is seeing how it will hang, and how the natural-edge muslin looks. I love the natural deckle-edge finish of watercolor paper, especially when the art on the paper has non-square edges. My hope is to create a similar feel with fabrics.

As it progresses, I’ll share more.

This morning I put my studio back in order. It felt great!

Just in case you’d like to do some browsing… To prepare for the studio tour I created a number of new matted paper collages. I was so happy to have many of them go home with patrons. But I have some nice pieces left on my website. Here’s one I especially like, “Bubbling Up”

Detail, “Bubbling Up”

This one and more are available in the Wednesday Collage Gallery, HERE.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

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Look! I ‘m juggling. (But I’m really just…)

This is (at last!) the week of the DeLand-area Studio tour. I look forward to this event each year.

For artists, there’s not much better than the chance to show people what you make, how it’s done, and what it means. For art-lovers and patrons, this same experience is the opportunity to ask about what interests you or what you wish you understood more.

So, I’m just working on a few miscellaneous projects this week. In my heart, I know that this is REALLY studio-cleaning-avoidance syndrome. I know, I know. I’ve got to start soon. But not yet.

Earlier this month I blogged about a fabric-paper collage in shades of violet and black. This abstract interested me, primarily because it’s an unusual palette for me. Creating abstract works is a completely different process than representational works. I love the challenge. But I don’t find them easy. I completed the collage and matted it. Here’s a detail and the completed piece, to show how it turned out:

This work is titled Wayward Path.

I have worked on a number of additional small collages in preparation for studio visitors. If you’d like to take a look, I have them uploaded onto my website. You can see them in the Wednesday Collage Gallery, HERE. 

Here’s another collage-in-progress. Almost completed.

I’ve also been working on a portrait of an historic house for an exhibit that will be in Dayton, Ohio. The project is to honor homes in the historic Oregon District of Dayton. It’s an enjoyable project to try to capture the feel of an historic home.

(Just a peek for now. I’ll reveal the whole quilt after the exhibit has its official opening.)

And now, one last time, allow me to invite you to the DeLand-area Artist Studio Tour. I ALWAYS enjoy visitors to my studio. If you are in Central Florida, I hope you will stop by. Coming to DeLand is always a great day trip. We have a fun downtown with lots of interesting places for lunch or supper.

I promise I will have my studio tidied up for you!

For a map to my studio, go to home page of bobbibaughstudio.com

For information on the whole tour, go to www.ArtsTours.org

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

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Working large-to-small. Then back again.

This weekend I got a chance to do more work on the large patterns-in-blue quilt that’s in production.

(This involved completing some other projects and making space. Aaaah!)

I use my easel as a design wall – a place I can tack up work in progress, rearrange, and get the big picture. Generally, I use Styrofoam insulating panels as my backer. They are lightweight and I can easily pin into them. I placed a piece of dark felt over the Styrofoam just so the blue of the panels wouldn’t distract me. And look what I discovered! The felt backing of my individual pieces stays in place without pinning against the felt covering of the panels. Just like Sunday School flannel boards! What a great discovery this was. (Sometimes. It’s the little things.)

As I’m looking at the arranged squares, I’m trying to envision the overall pattern. I decided I wanted to add some semi-opaque white squares across the surface to add a little brightness and to unify the design. I marked the squares to be stenciled, pulled them off the easel (helpful hint: number the squares so you know where they go back) and stenciled on about six squares.

Mixing up some white paint w acrylic medium, so it will be semi-opaque. On the right, the fabric section within the tape box is what I’ll paint.

Rolling the mixed paint onto the fabric with a paint roller. I have masked off the areas to paint with masking tape

Pulling off the tape to reveal the painted squares. (I love this part!)

Here’s the piece with the squares added. I like it more. It’s subtle but worth doing

I have one square with a splash of color. I tried it out in several spots. I think I like the top location better.

Next: Going back to the small view. I’ll be stitching different kinds of lines within each square, and maybe adding a small amount of additional shapes and values on select squares. So, instead of thinking about the whole work, I’ll concentrate on each individual square for a while.

I should have this further along, but still in-progress, for the DeLand-Area-Studio Tour February 22-23. If you are in the Central Florida area, I hope you’ll visit. DeLand has a great downtown, and our tour has 17 stops and 21 artists to visit. What a great day trip!

Map and tour information HERE

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

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A work-in-progress... teal-rust-violet composition

Happy not-everybody-watches-the-superbowl day. I’ve had a great afternoon in the studio collaging.

This abstract collage came together In some interesting ways. (Earlier this afternoon I did not expect that. It had me stumped.) I’ve written before how much I love abstract compositions, and how challenging they are for me. I learn a lot from working through the process.

Here’s the piece I’m working on. It’s not done, but it’s close. For now we’ll name it teal-violet-rust composition. It fits a 16 x 20 mat 20x24 framed size.

Here are some close-ups to show the things I am finding interesting.

Movement – I am pleased with getting some sense of rhythm and movement in this composition. The circle shapes top left appear to descend. The three red bars being set at angles creates a dance-like relationship between the three. And the grassy shapes in the violet section have implied direction too.

Layers – peeking through.  This section shows layers created in several ways. The rust-colored piece is actually printed with rust on a sheer polyester. Because the fabric is not opaque, and the pigments Is only partially opaque, what’s behind the rust section shows through.  The violet ovals and the teal circles interact in a different way. The teal ovals are monotype printed on rice paper. I collaged them down first. Then the violet ovals went on top. Like the rust, these are printed on sheer polyester. So, they are partially transparent. Additionally, I manually cut out some of the ovals on the sheer fabric to make a hole for a few teal circles to show through completely.

Edges of the composition – this section is the top left. I keep my mat handy as I compose to see how the images will fit within the final presentation. Sometimes, allowing a little bit of the image to extend off the edge adds an interesting element to the composition. It adds to the movement, I think, when a portion seems to enter the picture from off the edge.

(Tidbit: For many years I worked in commercial printing. In a printed piece, when the image goes off the edge of the paper it’s called a bleed. With years of paper design inside me, I still think of these places as bleed areas. I printing, you can’t actually print the ink off the edge. To create a bleed, the piece is printed on a large sheet and then cut down to final size.)

I hope your Sunday found you happily occupied… by football or artwork or something else that you love doing.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

STUDIO TOUR!
If you are in Central Florida, I hope you’ll visit my studio during the Art Studio Tour February 22-23
Map and information HERE

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Piecing Things Together in the Studio

First… I’ve been flummoxed! I’ve had a work-in-progress in the studio, an abstract composition using dominant blues, for several weeks. For a number of reasons, it has gone through several huge changes. My entire inspiration was a large piece made of randomly collaged and stitched segments on which I had printed all kinds of surface patterns. It’s been on my shelf over a year waiting for the right application. So, my recent adventures in printing blue patterns were to go with that original large piece and tie it all together.

Except I didn’t like it. I like the new blue pieces I’ve printed. But I couldn’t find a composition to use the collaged yardage that was supposed to be the whole basis for the piece. So I tried  plan B – working in some other interesting colors.

I thought this had possibilities. But I couldn’t get it to “click.” Time for plan C.

I have now printed more subtle blue sections with very light values. I’m working in 8” x 8” blocks in a simple grid layout. After the sections all go together I will have created a background “canvas” ready for some surface printing and painting of abstract elements. I hope this one goes to a place I like.

Second… I’ve been building shipping boxes. Last week I shipped out my piece “Rust Happens” that will be part of SAQA’s “Opposites Attract” Exhibition which begins its travels in Australia. Today I’m working on a box-within-a-box to ship the piece that was accepted to the 100% Pure Florida Exhibit in Melbourne, Florida. Below is the work that was accepted.

This collage is “But in the Silence Between.” I was inspired by a quote from Mozart: “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”

I’m sort of a box-building fanatic. I use commercial shippers pretty regularly. But it’s my responsibility to provide my work well packed and well boxed to arrive safely.

Handy tip:  I buy flat moving/storage boxes from Lowes. The biggest are about $1.50 each. They are a great source of flat cardboard that I can trim and score fold to any size I want for each shipment. Assemble with wood glue.

Finally – I’ve been breathing steam! I’ve been battling the cough-and-cold that just won’t go away. This weekend is the first time I’ve felt close to my normal self. The cold meds I was taking made me feel terrible. I have to give a lot of credit for my improvement to the old-fashioned breathing steam remedy.

And — an unexpected plus — Sitting with a towel over my head deeply breathing steam turns out to be very contemplative. It’s sort of like hiding, and my thoughts can just go their own way as the warm air goes down into my lungs. I have recently begun to formulate ideas for a new series. Who knows? Maybe the inspiration was the steam?

Looking ahead: Studio Tour February 22-23. If you are nearby, please visit

More tour information is on my web site,
along with a map to my studio and link to maps for all the artists
H E R E

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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First the little girl. Now the story.

Two weeks ago I wrote abut the process of enlarging the drawing of this little girl sitting in the ladder-backed chair.

Since that time, I have her placed on the fabric, and I am building up colors and the background all around here. These will be the elements of the story.

This work-in-progress is on my easel with trial fabrics pinned in place

I enjoy the process of storytelling visually. I readily admit that I am stronger on setting than I am on plot. And that’s by intent. The little girl is not a particular child, although I know I draw a lot on my own inner child. She is the embodiment of all girls. Full of contradictions. Often unsure. Resilient and capable. Fragile. Full of possibilities.

When I place the child in the setting that suggests things going on —without dictating one individual’s plotline — each viewer can insert into this narrative her own story or the story of a girl she loves.

So, I am especially drawn to images that are interesting but not definitive.

Photos embedded in layers of surface-designed fabric are on of my favorite design elements. When the brain perceives a photo of an actual thing it registers “real.” But, when the photo is next to a square or an abstract shape, that is something “not real.” Now the brain must piece this together.

I love this photo of strong tree roots. The blue acrylic glaze over part of it adds to the interest.

This photo is a close-up of rocks and roots, also altered by color overlays.

The windows are photo transfers too, with sheer fabric inserted in the panes and stitching to tie the various parts together.

I am a little over halfway through building up the layers on this piece. I hope to submit it to a juried exhibition in February, so I want to keep the whole thing under the lid during that process. I look forward to a full reveal later this spring.

Meanwhile… Here’s my invitation to those who are near the Central Florida area. Please visit my studio during the 2020 Off-the-Beaten-Path Tour.

You can find the map to my studio and tour information HERE

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Where does inspiration come from?

I’m home this evening from a weekend visit with family at the beach on the other of the state. Driving makes me sleepy, and I stretched out on the couch for a short snooze when we returned.

It was very short. My body was sleepy but my mind is jazzed. I am filled with ideas about what I want to do next on works I already have started in the studio and new works I want to begin.

How does this happen? I don’t write this as a complaint or a rant. I am genuinely curious. I am grateful to have thought processes that regularly generate new ideas that are challenging and interesting to me. I know that many artists struggle thinking of what to create.

So, I’m just thinking back through a few events of my weekend to reconstruct.

I dipped my feet in the Gulf of Mexico. This morning it was chilly on the beach, but the sun warmed my skin. I felt the cold water on my bare feet. I watched the ripples move and change as they hit my feet. I listened to the wind and the surf.

I looked at interesting work by other artists. We spent Saturday afternoon strolling several nice art galleries. I felt especially drawn to ceramics this weekend, and looked deeply at works that are not at all alike – except that they are made of clay. A rough-textured sculptural form pulled me into its soft palette. Some bright red serving pieces revealed interesting expressive scribed mark-making. I looked at these a long while.

I looked at blank walls. I have found before that I frequently find the beginnings of inspiration in the dimensions of a possible work. Sometimes, just sketching out the perimeter dimensions with dark marker on drawing paper will allow my mind to start filling in the blanks. I have been working large and square for a few months. Some narrow vertical spaces might be interesting to me for a bit.

I took the long way home. The direct route across Florida is I-4 Tampa-to-Daytona. It’s a horrible, stressful experience. We chose to go up through older towns and less-traveled roads on our drive. It took about an hour and a half longer to get home. But the trip was a gift. Old homes. Small towns. Fruit stands. Cows. No trucks. Quiet. Without trying to create, just allowing some space for it to occur can be a beginning.

In the studio… working n a recent inspiration

Tomorrow I have an un-scheduled day. I’m looking forward to being in the studio allowing things to happen.

And a nice e-mail waiting for me when I returned….
I am so pleased to have a work accepted in the 100% Pure Florida Exhibit at Fifth Avenue Gallery in Melbourne. It’s a very nice gallery, and the show will include works in all mediums. I have to admit, encouraging news always help to spur inspiration too.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
bobbibaughart@gmail.com
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

Thank you, Mr. Samuelson (my geometry teacher)

I always enjoy using a mathematical or scientific principal, then remembering when I had learned that in school. I especially remember eighth grade geometry lessons against the backdrop of students moaning, “When are we ever going to use THIS?”

This weekend I worked on enlarging a reference photo to about 4 and a half times its original size using a simple drawing grid. It’s a useful and pleasing process and accomplishes some things that don’t happen with other enlargement methods.

I have an enlarging projector and sometimes I use that. But — aside from the logistical issues of waiting till night for a darkened room and setting up the projector and the drawing surface at the correct distance — tracing a shape that’s projected does not feel the same as constructing a drawing.

I also work in Photoshop to compose artworks, and it’s very handy. But it also does not feel the same as constructing a drawing.

For this new artwork, I am creating a drawing of a little girl. This is subject matter I have used before. I get very involved emotionally with the character. Once I am further along in the work, that will be a good thing. (This quilt will be about conversation with the inner child.) But, for now, I need to get the shapes and proportion right. The process of grid-enlargement forces me to turn off the left brain involvement with the subject and focus on the right-brain function of just seeing shape and relationships of parts.

I began by drawing a grid of squares on the reference photo. I made six squares - 2 across and 3 down. That was enough to keep me on track. As I drew, when I needed more precise reference, I ticked off the center point of each grid and used that too.

The grid does not have to be squares. (But I like squares.) I could have used rectangles. What’s essential is that the grid drawn on the enlarging surface is the same ratio as the original.

Now I’m marking off a proportional grid on the drawing paper. I love my giant metal right angle drafting ruler.

The subject matter of a human figure is a tempting trap. My brain thinks it knows where the eye, the ears and the body parts should go. If I relied on that, I would have drawn them all in the wrong place and the wrong size. The grid forces me to see the parts as line and shape.

This is the working method. Square by square. Whatever is in square 1 on the photo, that’s what goes in square 1 of the enlargement. Use the edges and center points to get the lines right. Then move to the next square. I actually am also doing some modification as I go. My model is a teenager with a teenager-shaped body. I am adjusting so she’s a little girl.

This little girl is also seated on a ladderback chair at an odd angle. This is also a tempting trap. As I drew I was glad to have the grid keeping me in line.

Here’s the whole shape up on my easel

At the end of the days’ work, I had my figure at final size on brown kraft paper. I have prepped a piece of plain muslin with diluted white house paint ready for the final drawing. I will trace my paper drawing onto the muslin with a light table, at first just with pencil. I hope to bring her to life with more expressive drawn marks, probably a mix of marker and oil pastel, and maybe some left-handed drawing. I’ll overlay some paint washes and printed transparent fabrics to build up some values.

The inner child quilt will be a work-in-progress for the next few weeks. I’ll share more as it progresses.

JUST FOR FUN… If you have not enlarged artwork with a grid, give it a try. For a creative twist, break the proportion rules. If you draw squares on your reference photo, for example, but tall rectangles on your final surface, as you draw in the lines within each block you’ll see your original image stretched out tall and distorted.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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It Can Be So Small a Thing...

This morning my reading of the Sunday paper involved my being almost IN our Christmas tree. We cut it down in the National Forest last week, set it up, and it fills our usual reading corner.

I turned on the tree’s lights as I read.

From the corner of my eye I caught just a flash, a glimmer of something small.

And I remembered.

When I was a kid, we lived in a two-story home. Coming down the steps during the Christmas season, the lights from the tree would be reflected on the sloped ceiling above the stairs. I loved the patterns and the colors.

Seeing that glimmer this morning triggered… what? Where? I am fascinated by the mechanics of memory. Is there a specific cell or synapse somewhere in my brain that contains that image of the lights on the sloped ceiling? Did the glimmer this morning run down a nerve memory pathway and ignite that cell? Will it be reconfigured in future dreams, changed into story and rearranged memory to give it meaning?

Something about holiday seasons makes our memory more poignant. We are processing images of the events as recorded in family photo albums with dreams and expectations of what we longed for alongside events as they actually were, often not at all the same.

And the simplest of images can get it all rolling.

I believe that’s the power of visual storytelling. And it’s what each artist brings to her own artwork. When I create, it will come from a combination of intentional, purposeful choices combined with unconscious impulses directing color and content and emotional tone. It’s the sum of those things that makes each artist’s work unique. It’s why a one-of-a-kind original work is not the same as a mass-produced item.

For me, memory is the raw materials of artmaking.

From my reading-chair-in-a-tree this day, I wish to develop and find meaning in this process. And it’s my wish for all makers-of-art. And my hope that the work created speaks to the lives of enjoyers-of-art.

So much possibility, from so small a thing.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

Stepping back in (Southern) time

This has been a week of rejuvenation for me. The fall art festivals are all behind me. I celebrated a wonderful and simple Thanksgiving meal with a group of friends, went to see the Mr. Rogers movie (more wonderful than I ever could have expected!) and I am beginning to wade more deeply into a large quilt that I am working on for submission to a show at the end of January.

The new work will be filled with images of a largely forgotten, faded Southern town. It could be one of many little towns you find when driving away from the Interstate through rural South Carolina and Georgia. I have written before about the stirring of emotion I found shooting photos in several small towns.

This week, I began working on some of the surface design to go with the photos. I want to create the feel of vintage Southern interiors, the look of blankets that would have been on the bed, and the look of wallpaper that would have been in the foyer.

I’ve begun with two “wallpaper” panels, each combining a white magnolia, some crackled background fabric, and a pattern of roses on a vine.

This is experimental territory for me. I don’t work a lot with floral patterns. I am figuring out how to use my regular studio techniques – collaging and stenciling – to create this quilt section.

Here goes.

Aging with crackle. I started with two sections of muslin in the size I want and painted them pale cream. Then I covered them with wheat paste to create a beautiful, unpredictable crackle pattern. Here’s the wheat paste after it dried and I crackled it, covered in a dark burnt umber paint to go down into the crackles. (A few pictures down you’ll see the result.)

The floral pattern: I drew this out at 100% final size on butcher paper, including all the roses and the leaves. Then I traced this onto wax paper. (Wax paper is a studio staple for me. Here, I’m using it as a simple tracing paper.) I needed the pattern on something see-through so I could trace it onto the bristol I’d use for the stencil.

Tracing from the butcher paper.

Tracing the wax paper pattern onto Bristol card stock

(You may be thinking I’ve gone a long way around the barn here, which is true. I could have just drawn the design on the Bristol. But I was interested in different things. On the butcher paper, I wanted to see the final design with some details, and suggestions of the shadows and stitched lines I’ll add eventually. I want to keep that intact for reference. The Bristol stencil is just about shape. That’s all I traced.)

Now It’s time to cut the stencil.

My tool of preference is just a straight edge razor blade. I’m sure it’s because that’s how I was taught to cut masks and film back in the early pre-computer days of working in commercial printing. An exacto blade with a handle just doesn’t feel right to me.

I’ll be using the negative stencil shape for printing. I keep the positive for reference, and to position the negative on the fabric. (It may also appear printed in some future project.)

Here’s the result of the first color stenciled. I used a burnt umber made transparent with matte medium to create the rose-vine shape. This will appear as a shadow. You can see the printed crackle on the cream colored background.

At the end of the day, I had stenciled the second hit – the shape of the rose-vine in green. I’ll be adding more layers tomorrow. But I felt like the image on my worktable of this project-in-progress — with afternoon light through the window — was a good affirmation of the path I’ve started.

Thank you for reading.
I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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People Ask...

People ask a LOT of very good and interesting questions when they look at my textile collage art.

But.. first — I just have to say some love about my own hometown. I exhibited this past weekend in DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts in downtown DeLand. (That’s where I heard the questions.) What a great weekend! I was grateful for a well-organized, artist-centered event, and perfect weather, and good crowds, and good sales, and  — especially nice —  an award of recognition. It was an amazing group of artwork in all mediums. I’m honored to be among them. And my art neighbors were funny, talented, interesting people, making for a weekend of enjoyable camaraderie.

So… questions.

Q: I’d love to hang a quilt on my wall, but how do I take care of it?
A: Just like you’d take care of any acrylic painting. No artwork should be placed where it will be hit by strong, direct sunlight. Otherwise, just hang it, dust it now and then, and enjoy. When an acrylic painter creates work, it’s paint and mediums on canvas. My works are paint and mediums on other kinds of fabric, along with some cutting and stitching. But, once it’s completed, as far as content and structure it’s not really so different from any acrylic work.

Q: How long does it take to make a large quilt?
A: Excellent question. I’d probably make myself crazy if I actually tracked the hours, so I don’t. I will work on a large quilt over a period of months. I have multiple works in progress at any given time. I can just say there are lots of parts: the thinking and designing stage, the printing of yardage stage, the cutting and assembly stage, and the textured quilting stage. After it’s all assembled, I usually add more collage and painting on the surface. It’s a good thing I enjoy all the stages!

This detail of “Because That’s Where it All Begins” shows several processes: photo transfer to muslin (the nest,) hand-printed fabric patterns, machine-stitched quilting for texture, and joining seams to construct the quilt.

This is the completed work – “Because That’s Where It All Begins”

Q: How do artists get into Festivals? Do they get paid? Are tents provided?
A: No. Artists make an investment to show in outdoor Festivals. Juried shows require artists to go through a selection process. Submitted images are juried by a panel of people knowledgeable in the art field to determine who will be able to exhibit. It costs to apply to a show – even if you are not accepted – and there is a booth fee to exhibit. (Depending on the show, generally $300-$500 per weekend.) This is how the Festival generates its income. Artists invest in a tent and display panels in addition to some way to store them and transport them to a show. In DeLand, set-up started at 5:30 am. The street was alive with the sound of clanking metal pent poles. By about 9am the show was set to go

Here’s part of my exhibit at the DeLand Festival

I’ve completed my three shows for Fall 2019. I’m ready for a time-off week and Thanksgiving and beginning the design work on some large projects for 2020.

Last week in my blog I was showing a collage-in-progress. Here it is. I was so happy that this one SOLD at the DeLand Festival.

“When You Hear the Song of Memory”

Missed the Festival? Feel like shopping?
I created a number of collaged works matted to fit a 20” x 24” frame. They were well-received, but some nice ones are still available on my website, HERE

Thank you for reading.
I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbibaughart@gmail.com

BLOG POSTS: I post once a week. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,
please subscribe here::  BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories,
as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts,
I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.
You’ll receive a newsletter about once a month.

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1 - 2 - 3 - 4 Collage-in-progress

Time for a little collage!

This is a festival-prep week for me. I will be in DeLand’s Fall Festival of the Arts this weekend. At my last Festival I was very happy to have a good response to the small, matted collaged pieces I was showing. So, I need more. (What a wonderful problem to have!) Since I will be showing a few large storytelling quilts in DeLand, I want the smaller works I show to be compatible, to look like part of a unified body of work. I have already created some photo transfers that I like. Now it’s time to put them together.

Starting with two elements

The window will be the dominant element in this work. It takes up a good deal of the space. So, the image will actually be about the window. Everything else is to accent the window and tie things together. Here, I’m collaging the window onto watercolor paper with matte medium. The blue transparent fabric on the left softens the image and implies water.

I use a brayer to get a good bond. The background piece is 140# watercolor paper.

I am weighting the composition with some heavier fabrics at the bottom. These two pieces are muslin that I created with acrylic paints, using stencils and resist.

I especially like this piece. Even though it’s a very simple pattern, when I painted the stencil I was working wet-into-wet, creating nice fluid edges on the shapes. I like the way this pattern can connote either rock-like forms or bubbles.

Now I want to add some transparent texture over the window to soften the edges and tie it in to the rest of the composition.

That’s as far as I got today. I will be adding some painted textures over parts of the surface, and possibly another recognizable object or two. I need to let thing s dry and look at it fresh tomorrow.

Stay tuned.  Next week I’ll post a picture of the finished work.

If you would like to see some of the larger quilts
I have created that use similar imagery,
I invite you to look through the gallery
 “Home is What You Remember”
On my website HERE

If you are near central Florida, please visit the DeLand Fall Festival of the Art this weekend. (Nov 23-24, 2019) It’s my hometown and I am very proud to be in this event. Downtown DeLand is a great place to visit, and there is an impressive group of artists exhibiting. See you there!

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

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