Ammonites

I have been working on a Fossils series. My screen printed fossil fabrics have been featured in previous posts. For the finished pieces, I want to embellish with real fossils, so I began searching for nice specimens. I found this group of 25 sliced and polished ammonites on eBay. They were shipped from Madagascar and arrived within a week of my order.
Aren't they lovely?

I

Yellowstone Art Museum Auction Opening

The Yellowstone Art Museum auction is the primary fundraiser. This is the 42nd annual auction. The final gala and live auction will take place on March 6.
Joe and I attended the opening reception. I was delighted to find my piece hanging prominently in the first room of the show!

We arrived early so I would be able to take a picture of my piece before it got too crowded.
The newspaper indicated that over 400 people attended the opening reception!

According to the newspaper, they received 600 entries and juried in 200 pieces.
These two pictures show some of the other works in the silent auction.

I am delighted and honored to have my work included in this event!

More Finger Painting on Fabric

These are some finger paintings (actually monoprints, but I did manipulate the paint with my fingers)

These have all been quilted and trimmed, but not yet bound.

I am still thinking about how to finish them off. A binding? Faced?

Still undecided, but I am sure I will figure it out eventually.

Fingerpaints

I've been monoprinting again.

Last summer, I met a man who's mother invented finger painting. Well, I looked her up online and she is indeed described as the mother of finger painting. She was using it therapeutically for adults. Anyway, I did quite a number of finger painted pieces using a gelatin plate - that was last summer. I have a large stack of those . . .and I know I need to take them further at some point.

Thinking about the process . . .I thought I would try it with a glass plate - and here are some of my results. It worked OK too. I was able to get a single good print with the glass. When I finger painted using the gelatin plate last summer - I was able to get several prints - the gelatin keeps the paint moist longer.

Anyway, I am thinking about different was to approach the finger painting on fabric thing.
I painted these using Setacolor fabric paints.
I would like to be able to find some actual finger paints so I can try a few of my other ideas.

Screen Printed Fossil Fabric

Here are some more of the pieces I have screen printed with fossil images.

Thermofax Screen Printing Fossil Series - more

More screen printed fabric.

Visual Journal Page #25

Visual Journal Page #26

Visual Journal Page #20

This page was created the day we left for Seattle to celebrate my father-in-law's
98th Birthday.

Thermofax Screen Printing - Fossil Series

I found a number of fossil textures that make terrific backgrounds.

Or they might play a starring role.
Below, I filled a large width of hand dyed fabric with patterns in strips that I think will be quite useful.

Plants, small crustacians, etc.

Fossil Series - Number 2

The first two pieces in the series are composed of wide and narrow strips representing the layers of earth in which the fossils are found. I felt it was important to maintain some consistency with the research I did.

Actual images of fossils have been used to create the printing screens.

Fossil Series - Practice Piece

I wanted to work with the fossil imagery a bit before starting in depth, so I put together a couple of smallish pieces. Very simple.

I wanted a chance to evaluate before I printed the bulk of the fabric.

I used scraps to print this first batch.

Here's the first practice piece. I am pleased so far, but I would really like to do something a bit more interesting. I am challenging myself to take it to a higher level.

Sacrifice Cliff in January

We've had some mild temperature days in January 2010.
A pleasant surprise, and Joe and I took advantage by exploring the
"Four Dances" area a bit west of our place in the Lockwood area of Billings.

This area is also known as "Sacrifice Cliff" - it overlooks the entire city of Billings as well as the Yellowstone river that winds around below it. The view above is to the north. The view below is to the south.

There are all kinds of legends about this area and various versions of how it got it's name. Several stories revolve around Native Americans who rode their horses off the cliff into the river, committing suicide. The Crow tribe refers to it as "the place where the white horse went down". The name "Four Dances" is also used by Native Americans.

The trail was still pretty icy the day we went, and the breeze had quite a bite, so we did not linger.

Fossils Series - Printing Fabric

I pulled earthtoned hand dyed fabrics from my drawer for this project.

Originally, I planned to use warm reds and oranges, but I found myself drawn to these rich earthtones.

I am doing several layers of printing. First, I create a background with some sort of all over image before coming back to print the individual fossils.

Starting a New Series

After spending several weeks deliberating, I have decided on a theme for a new series.
Fossils
To get started, I have spend many days researching, tracking down copyright free images, and preparing them to create Thermofax screens. The past two days, I have been burning screens on the Thermofax and taping the edges.
I will begin printing fabric tomorrow.
I happen to have a very old college textbook all about fossils. It was recommended to me by someone I met at a local Gem, Mineral, and Fossil show. This is a good reference for identifying fossils we have found while snooping around in the Pryor Mountains.

Paradise Valley

These pictures were taken during a drive up the Paradise Valley, where I lived for 10 years between 1979 and 1988. This view of the Yellowstone River was taken from a bridge just a bit south of Livingston.

The next three pictures were taken in Tom Miner Basin.

This view from Tom Miner takes in the Absarokee Mountains in the distance.

Visual Journal Page #31

I have started coloring the black and white faces with a Copec marker.
Seeing this one in black and white makes me realize I need to color it in, also.
The fish is a hand cut rubber stamp, and her tail is made from my hand painted papers.

Glue Gel Painted Animals

I know these look a bit distorted. I took these pictures while these were hanging to dry on the clothesline.

Now to decide how best to quilt them.

Mulling several ideas. . . .

Visual Journal Page #18

The vintage faces I have been using are from a 1920's high school yearbook.
The wings - from a diagram in a 1920's college textbook.
My research indicates that things printed before the 1920's are safe to use as
far as copyright. However, this Visual Journal is for my own use. I am not selling
the images so I don't think it is an issue, anyway.

Another page from my visual journal.