Paper and Threads

This is the first wedding chuppah that I made (Puck Building, Soho July 1999).  While wandering through the Jewish Museum design shop in New York City, right after my daughter was engaged, I saw a painted silk chuppah that could be commisioned by a local artist.  At that time I was learning how to use procion MX dyes to "paint silk" using 16 mummi white silk crepe de chine and wax resist.  I immediately realized that I could make one if my daughter planned a chuppah for their wedding.  These colors were mixed from the 3 primary color dyes to match the flower colors that my daughter selected for her wedding.  The streamers at all 4 corners are made from tubes of the same color dyed silk.  The piece was quilted using silk thread.  The design was created from small bits and pieces from multiple illustrations in a Dover publication.

To see the other two chuppahs that I made for my children's weddings click on "Threads" in the sidebar to the right and bypass all paper entries.  Thank goodness I don't have a 4th child!  Each one of these took me approximately 6 months to make because I had a full time job and could only devote small blocks of time to the project. 

My newest daughter-in-law just made me a large framed photo with each couple standing under their chuppah taking their wedding vows and a beautifully written piece entitled "What is a Chuppah" that she used as a reading at their wedding.  It makes me ecstatic to have this composite visual memory of 3 of the happiest days of our lives. 

Posted by Shirley at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is the wedding chuppah that I made for my oldest son's wedding which took place outdoors in July 2004.  The bride asked for turquoise and shades of pink and chose this traditional applique design which was adapted from a commercial pattern by Nancy Pearson.  The silk crepe de chine was dyed with procion MX dyes and then the flower heart wreath was created with machine applique.  Every petal was a different color and the machine thread had to be changed for each!!  The white border on the top was part of the florist's canopy and I was unable to attach the 6 foot silk quilt any other way.  The streamers were all tubes of silk fabric that were dyed with the dyes that I mixed for the quilt. 

Posted by Shirley at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been spending most of my leisure time since Christmas sketching and painting and I needed to remind myself why I named this website Paper and Threads.  For most of my lifetime my passion was for fabric.  As I began to dye my own fabric (background and pink fabric here), I learned about painting fabric with instant set dyes or thickened procion MX dyes.  This required me to improve my drawing and sketching ability and I reopened my sketchbook and bought some watercolor paints.  This Quilt Journal Page (so named in the quilt community because it is exactly 8.5 X 11 inches) is one of many that I made to play with designs and some of my dyed/painted fabric.  She hangs above my sewing machine as my muse....

Posted by Shirley at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I see this rooftop many times each day, but never previously considered it a scene for sketching.  Although I used only pen for all but one of my sketches in Sorrento Italy (see earlier entries from Moleskine journal), I recently started laying out lines in my sketches in pencil, usually because I had the time to play with lines a little more now than when I was standing and trying to draw in just a few minutes during our trip.  There was a wonderful exchange this week on the Everyday Matters group (and Danny Gregory's Everyday Matters website) about using pen versus pencil/then pen and I decided that I would do this sketch without allowing a pencil to touch the page.  I still have lots to learn about watercolor, but I found this quick sketch to be fun to do.

Posted by Shirley at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is the first opportunity for me to sketch a section of our new library.  My husband and I have watched the MacNeil-Lehrer (now Lehrer) News Hour since it was first broadcast.  We never got home from work in time for the national news, and enjoyed the more in-depth coverage of their reporting.  Our whole family are all also Law and Order fans, but I couldn't imagine how I could sketch the rapidly changing scenes in one of their episodes!  Maybe in my next lifetime!

Laura inspired many of us to sketch interiors this month and I decided to try another one from my apartment.  This is our wood-burning fireplace which hasn't been used yet this year because the winter has been mild.  The previous owner of our apartment bought the mantle which is one of my favorite possessions. 

Posted by Shirley at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

My 12 month old granddaughter Sydney was sitting quietly next to me watching Play with me Sesame when I did this quick pencil sketch on a scrap piece of paper.  She is much cuter than the drawing, but maybe more practice will make a difference.  The opportunities to really "look" at her face are rare since she started to walk so Ill have be content with fast portraits and hope that I'll get better. 

Posted by Shirley at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Reflections:

1. The Drawing:  This was one of the hardest sketches I have done.  I wanted to work in my 5.5 X 8.5 daily journal, but feel as if I really needed a huge piece of paper to draw all of the moldings and details.  Thus this is simplified for the smaller format.  The apartment walls and trim are off-white and the floors hardwood.  The furniture is all slightly different shades of brown wood and the quilt that I made is cream background with a red and green feathered star with mutliple red and green pieced borders.  Newbies like me should get a laugh when they notice that the furthest wall sconce "just appeared" in the middle of my quilt!  If you look really quickly you don't notice it.  The rug is a complicated red/green/beige geometric design - do I have enough inner strength to tackle the design?  I wanted to post this before I added watercolor because I have no idea how I will develop the sense of deep space and warm light.  Any ideas?

2. My feelings as I enter my apartment:  I love my apartment and my life in New York City.  My childhood home is 22 miles from our apartment, in Northern NJ - our move to Manhattan was like coming home.  Although we live on a busy avenue, it is possible for me to get completely lost in my apartment, or to be surrounded by people from all over the world within minutes.  We can walk almost anywhere that we want or take easily available public transportation.  Our car is used only when we are leaving the city - I drive 11 miles to work and back.  The entry hall has an antique table (purchased when we lived in San Antonio Texas) and an antique Victorian oak hall tree (purchased when we lived in San Diego).  It is covered with  hats, caps, and earmuffs which I ignored in my sketch, but just this minute realized that I should have then added the empty hooks!   The double doorway on the right leads to the living room and the door to the left leads to the dining room.  The light on the table is hand blown glass, and on most of the time, creating warm light and shadows.  The antique brass candle holder was purchased during a favorite vacation in Amsterdam.   We just renovated one of the bedrooms and now have a beautiful mahogany library  - my new favorite room.  Maybe I'll be brave enough in another week to sketch in there.

Posted by Shirley at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

EDM Callenge #49:  Draw my refrigerator.  Given the choice of drawing the outside or the inside, I decided to take a comfy seat instead of standing in a really small space.  We obviously have too many kitchen magnets - very few of them are holding anything up.  The three pig magnets have magical power to allow my husband and I to remain thin.  I think that I'll throw the rest of them away.  The baskets on top hold our bags of chips - very tempting.

Our 12 month-old granddaughter spent the night last weekend and I managed to get several quick sketches of her playing.  I have enormous difficulty drawing faces - and even though it doesn't look very much like her, it is an improvement over prior attempts which will remain unpublished.  

Posted by Shirley at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

 My Fabric Studio:  This is the old maid's room in my 1920s New York City apartment.  The previous owner made this 7 ft 3 inch by 9 foot 9 inch room into a small library and the lovely cabinets/bookshelves that line both side walls are just visible.  It would be hard to catalog all of the fabric, thread, and supplies that fill this small room - there is one ceiling to floor cabinet that is just filled with procion dyes and all of the supplies necessary to paint/dye silk. 

Below: EDM Challenge #9 - Controlled Chaos

This is a quick sketch of my fabric studio.  I love this space and can lose myself for hours in the midst of all of this fabric and these supplies.

My rudimentary art supplies:  French School student grade pan watercolor paints, several 5 ml Winsor Newton primary color tube watercolor paints, assorted brushes, a plastic palette, Pigma micron pens (03 and 05), a Derwent graphic 2B pencil, and a Bic click eraser.  I don't have room to expand so I'll have to continue to work in small format journal sketchbooks!

Posted by Shirley at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Santa Christmas Ornament Collection: EDM Challenges #19 (A Collection) and #46 (Holiday Themed)

For approximately 30 years I have selected and made a prototype ornament each Fall and then made 20-24 of the same ornament for gifts for Family and Friends.  Each of these is made entirely of fabric, usually scraps from my many quilting projects.  I couldn't think of any specific thing that I collect for EDM Callenge #19 until I started to decorate our Christmas tree this year.  Although I have a small collection of reindeer, angels, and birds, the Santas are my favorite.  Each of my children have a full set of these ornaments for their Christmas trees.  It was fun to paint the fabric designs.

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The top 2 Santas are flat.  The star Santa is heavily stuffed.

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This 7th Santa is made on a large red jingle bell and is the family favorite.

Posted by Shirley at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I had trouble deciding how to draw an animal - none around - and how to honor my Father.  He was an amateur photographer during his retirement and I have several mounted enlargements in my apartment.  I walked past this photo many times before suddenly realizing that it was perfect for EDM Challenges 20 (Draw something "Dad) and 44 (Draw an animal). 

Posted by Shirley at 11:39 AM | Permalink

Dreams for 2006 - on Paper

I would love to establish the habit of never going out without my sketch journal so I can draw daily throughout 2006.  My current angst:  which journal should I use? 

I regularly use the Aquabee sketch book because it is cheapest and I can add watercolor washes.  I am just finishing Volume 3.  I'm not inhibited by the journal itself and can therefore sketch freely.

 I loved using my Moleskine journal in Italy - the size was great for one page or doublepage sketches and it was easy to do fast sketches while standing because of the hard cover.  But the pages don't take watercolor as well and they scan too yellow.  I only filled half of Volume 1 in Italy and Volume 2 sits on my shelf.

The Cachet watercolor journal is wonderful with its bright chartreuse linen cover and great watercolor paper.  I have a purple one that I used intermittently "for special entries" since June 2003 and just finished it.  But its specialness makes me more cautious, and that is stifling.  

My current thoughts:  Use an Aquabee every day, take a Moleskine as a travel journal, and develop some of my fast sketches into "slower" sketches in the Cachet. 

Posted by Shirley at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Amalfi Coast:  We took a bus along the Amalfi Drive to Positano and then walked down the main stairway to the beach.  I fell in love immediately with the Positano style: the colors, the textures, and the amazing design of the clothes that were displayed in all of the shops along the passageway. We had 10 minutes for coffee on the beach before our boat arrived and I sketched a few buildings on the edge of the water.  We then cruised the coast to Amalfi and we walked so much in the main squares of Amalfi that I only had time for a few fast sketches.  I did buy a wonderful small watercolor journal in the oldest paper shop in Amalfi.

Posted by Shirley at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I loved Pompei!  We had an excellent guide and I was able to stop for really fast sketches while he was talking.  This is one sketchbook page showed my favorite view of the end of the forum with Mount Vesuvius towering in the background.  I was constantly amazed at the sophistication of this civilization that was buried in 79 AD - especially seeing the wonderful mosaics and almost contemorary silver designs from Pompei which are on view at the Archeology Museum in Naples.

Posted by Shirley at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At the beginning of our trip I made one square for a quick sketch from each day.  I usually filled in the square early the next morning, reflecting on one remembered image from the previous day.  This was a good way to loosen up my artistic muscles before grabbing my Moleskine and heading off to a new adventure.  I carried only my sketchbook and one Pigma Micron pen with me and had to learn how to juggle my camera and sketchbook. 

I clearly need to spend more time figuring out how to get better scans from my sketchbook, but I'm still struggling with just posting entries!

Posted by Shirley at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

 I asked a friendly waiter in our hotel bar for a lemon and to my delight he brought me this one, complete with leaves.  Sorrento is surrounded by lemon groves and lemon flavor and scent are used in numerous products. I thought that it was the perfect journal sketch for my newly acquired lemoncello recipe.  I can't wait to try it.

 Lemoncello:  7 medium-sized lemons, 1 L grain alcohol or good quality vodka, 1/2 L water, 500 gms sugar.  Peel lemons thinly, avoiding the bitter white and place peels in jar.  Add alcohol and leave for 10-30 days.  Boil sugar and water until syrup, then cool.  Add to mixture, then strain through cheesecloth.  Keep in freezer and serve really cold.

Posted by Shirley at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I didn't want to experiment with watercolor paints on Moleskine sketchbook paper before I had a chance to scan my drawing, so I went to the local Copy Shop in Sorrento and had a copy made on reasonable weight A3 paper.  I then painted the copy.  I originally intended to just use it as a sample when I returned to New York, but now it is hanging in my studio.  I photographed this sketch because of the size instead of scanning it for uploading.

Posted by Shirley at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

While my son honeymooned in Spain, my husband and I vacationed in Sorrento, Italy.  This was a perfect opportunity for me to see if I could make quick sketches and keep an illustrated travel journal.  I decided to use a Moleskine sketchbook even though it is not the best surface for watercolor paints.  Here is the view from our hotel window, overlooking Sorrento. 

Posted by Shirley at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I began sewing in 7th grade and began quilting 25 years ago.  Traditional quilting was followed by explorations in surface design using cotton or silk fabric and procion MX dyes.  As each of my children got married I made them a dyed, quilted, crepe de chine chuppah for their wedding ceremony.   

For my son's autumn wedding in October 2005,  I used silk resist from Prochem to draw the leaves and then painted them with dyes that were mixed from the primary colors.  The only mixed dye that I purchased was brown and it quickly separated into purple and green as it moved through the fabric creating some interesting effects!  As I was working on this piece, my interest in sketching and watercolor painting resurged and I joined the Everyday Matters Group to improve my sketching and painting on paper.

Posted by Shirley at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)