My Embroidery Learning curve

I have been teaching myself 

free-motion machine embroidery

and really enjoying the process.

This is my chronological embroidery journey.....

So that's is it in a nutshell.
Some of it is on Etsy and some I am putting in
Reverse Garbage's upcoming exhibition
"Thread Count".

If you want to keep up I post much more regularly on Facebook and instagram (elle and lou).

Text & Transfer Tutorial

I've been thinking about the the food chain
(actually I've mainly just been thinking about food) 

My artworks have been created through a wax transfer method, (which I'll talk about below) and reuses original pages from a great 1980's book "1500 Fascinating Facts about the Universe the World and its People".


I have displayed the two works together in the bathroom as I like the quirky intestinal connection between the images and the privy. Too much information?

The Other Information...how I did it:


First, iron some wax shavings onto some paper- I upcycled a page from a book and I do declare that text works well in this exercise.
Hints:

• Be sure to use a low heat as wax can ignite (yep, there is a danger factor and all good artists don't need to suffer for their work.
• Don't use your normal iron, preferably choose one without steam holes that is used specifically for this purpose.
• Also protect your ironing board!

Then, choose an image that you want to transfer on top. I chose scientific images as it suits my current obsession. On the back of the image cover with charcoal. 


Next, flip the image (charcoal down) onto the wax encrusted paper. Trace over it with a pen, checking the pressure is transferring well.


Finally, use your iron on a low heat to melt the wax slightly. It will then dry, sealing in the wax transferred image.

Another wax transfer example- click to link

Feel free to ask any questions if you are unsure about anything.
Thanks to Chris Stewart from Fine Artzs Studio for introducing me to the technique.




Linking Elle and Lou with:
Release Me Create

Dragonfly wax transfer tutorial

Today I played around with an easy transfer process using wax and charcoal.

Funnily enough the subject matter follows my current dragonfly fixation. 

So how did I do it?
Look for the full tutorial coming soon to Elle & Lou!

Collage art for primary children: Art meets Science

Combine recycling, paper collage and kids together...
throw in some imagination, just sparks of ideas... add a bit of science theory, storytelling and this is what 9 & 10 years olds do...

Apis parvusoptera: recycled lap-band boxes & paper

We are given boxes, which are designed to hold lap bands, from an eco-conscious parent who works in the medical world. So I decided to put them to use because they have this lovely bubble of plastic that helps create a magnifying glass illusion. 

In a nutshell this is what we did:
(1)    Collaged some bees wings and bodies onto a photocopy of a bee. 
Here is a link to my dragonfly project which followed a similar beginning http://ubersavvy.blogspot.com/2011/03/dragonflies-galore-art-for-10-year-olds.html

(2)    I spent some time explaining scientific names; how they are achieved, latin roots and common suffixes. This is a good link to the basics- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_and_Greek_words_commonly_used_in_systematic_names. Then the kids wrote their own scientific name for their bee which was printed along with their original story about their bee. 
(3)  I printed the story and scientific name onto paper and a plastic OHT- they could use either or both.
(4)  Collage away! 

Of course we looked at the visual genre of museum display, but this was only a starting point for their choices. 

They look great displayed collaboratively but up close they are so unique!

Dragonflies: the insect work continues...

To follow up.
This is another group effort by the Year 5s.
I like the blue foam core board for a change. 
The board comes in a whole range of colours so the possibilities are endless.

Dragonflies Galore - Art for 10 year olds and up

The Yr 5 boys I teach have been learning about insects in Science and I decided to complete a quick two lesson activity to revise and extend on their learning. The twist was that we substituted unexpected patterns and images for the usual delicate lace wings such as crocodile skin, water, bark & Mondrian reproductions etc. It might not be something you expect the boys to get into, but they absolutely loved it. As an added plus it gave them some fine practice developing their cutting skills. It is amazing how many 10 year old boys struggle with basics like cutting-no one has ever really shown them HOW to cut.


We arranged the dragonflies on foam core board and glued. Voila! 

Although I designed this activity for 9-10 year olds really a prep child would cope with this just fine, especially with some cutting help.

Next "my boys" are working on a bigger bee and fly which they will display a-la museum style. We discussed using text to layer the meaning which they have embraced  with enthusiasm. Keep an eye out for this in the next couple of weeks.


Note :The idea for the layout of the dragonflies came from http://www.walldesigns.net/2011/02/13/wall-painting/.


Here is a link to the fabulous free downloadable label holders which are perfect for museum stlye displays (amongst other things).  They are courtesy of Cathe Holden www.JustSomethingImade.com