I Need Some Help....

NO, not THAT kind of help.

I'm way beyond any professional help. NO!! I want help with Art Prize!!!!!

Remember this?

This is just a sketch, but if you can imagine, this will be a large wall hanging, between 5 and 6 feet high.

Well this is just one part of my Art Prize entry. It will be accompanied by a felted washing line, pegged with lots of hand felted and embroidered letters, and they are all oing to be about love, in all its many forms. Of course the love between lovers, at the beginning and at the end, but also the love between parent and child, and siblings and friends. The love expressed to someone when they lose a parent. The love we can offer total strangers (noooooooooooo not that kind....well OK maybe that kind too). I was originally going to use just my experiences, but I hit a little speed bump and after I had shook myself down and dusted myself off, I thought 'hey Jan, you are but one kitten in this crazy world, your experiences are just your experiences, other people might have some better ones".

So now I turn to you (yes, you!! You are still out there aren't you?), if you would like to be part of my Art Prize entry, I need you written expressions of love. Did your first proper boyfriend tell you he loved you by note? Did you ever write to your pet and tell them you loved them? How did you tell your mum you loved her? Did you ever get dumped by text message?

It doesn't have to be a whole letter, it can be a note, a text, an email, a line from a card, a postcard...hey maybe it was a little cartoon? And it doesn't have to be the whole thing, you can just send me a line or two. It doesn't have to be written in English (although I would like  a translation, just so I know I'm not putting up something rude about someone's mummy).

If you want it to be anonymous, I totally respect that and I will not add your name, but if you are happy to be given credit, your name will be on the letter.

If you think you have something that I would like, please email me your bit of love to janniejan@hotmail.co.uk, please mark the email as 'Love Letter" and please make sure you are clear about being anonymous or named. If you have any questions, feel free to email me too.

Are you excited....BLIMEY I AM!!

Stay peachy peeps

Jan xxxxxxxx

GOBSMACKED!!

ArtPrize 2012 here I come..

I'm IN!!!!!!

I still can't quite believe it, but I am now an exhibitor in this year's ArtPrize. My work "The Washing Line" will be showing at Minty Keen, and awesome handmade/vintage shop in Downtown Grand Rapids. I'm so chuffed that Angie of Minty Keen chose me as I think my work and the shop really compliment each other. If you are going to ArtPrize, it runs from September 19th in Grand Rapids MI, please make sure you go and see the work at Minty Keen.

And what will the piece be I hear you cry?

This is just a sketch, but if you can imagine, this will be a large wall hanging, between 5 and 6 feet high.

My piece has 2 parts to it, a wall hanging of the above image, except her face is going to a be A LOT better and the landscape will have more detail and animals in it. Our girl here is hanging old letters out on a washing line to dry, as these old mementos have brought back  old memories of the past. Accompanying the wall hanging will be felted washing lines, which will have individual hand felted and embroidered letters that can be unpegged and read. I'm hoping the piece is going to look amazing. I'm really excited about making it and also I'm utterly terrified! Once I get Art in the Park over with, I will be working all summer on this piece so I will keep you updated with progress. Isn't it funny? A few weeks ago I was thinking about submitting an idea and feeling completely overwhelmed by the submission process. Then once I had done that I had to approach venues and try and make a connection and I was overwhelmed by that. I didn't think I would get accepted but I just wanted to try, and now I'm in and I'm cacking myself about making the thing. ArtPrize has some big prizes, I don't expect to win anything, being in it has been prize enough. I can't get over what a great year this has been so far.

Talking of winning stuff, look what turned up in my inbox yesterday..

I won a prize!!!

Living Felt is one of the places I buy my supplies from, and I posted a couple of pictures of what I've been making recently on their Facebook page and look what happened! Honestly folks, keep doing what you're doing and putting yourself out there. Things do happen.

So this June I am still getting ready for Art in the Park July 13/14/15 Plymouth Michigan

Do you like my coat of arms I'm working on? Needs some foliage I think.

And I'm working on this big piece called School of Thought which I'm going to submit to the Northville Art House "Thoughts with Thread 2012" juried exhibition.

I've still got a way to go with this one but I'll put a post up when its done taking through the whole process.

So tell me what have you be doing? Are any of you able to come to Art in the Park or ArtPrize?

Hugs Jan xxxx

He Sent Irises and Yellow Roses

I made a felt piece for a local art show.

"He sent irises and yellow roses" felted merino and silk on pro fusion with machine embroidery embellishment.

The show was called "About Face" and was the annual open for the Plymouth Community Arts Council.

I like drawing and painting faces but I have generally avoided them in a felted pieces for a couple of reasons...

1) Achieving detail in wet felting can be tough as the rolling process can create a lot of movement. I don't mind this as it adds an element of chance to the piece, I kind of like the idea that a bit of the work has made itself. Unfortunately when you are working on something like a face a bit of slipping and sliding can make a big difference and not always in a good way.

2) The best way to achieve detail in a wet felted piece is to use pre felt....and that requires some forward thinking, and I'm not always that organised. (Who am I kidding, I'm NEVER that organised....however for you my little felt lovers I make an exception and I am as a blog working on a wall hanging that uses a lot of pre felt, just for your delight.)

However, I wanted a piece in this art show, and it had to deal with the human face, so I bit the bullet.

As you know I like to keep it simple with my work. I still follow the advice of my art teacher Phil Nolle 'Paint what you know", so rather than over complicate things, I decided to create something based on real life.

That week, Hubble sent me flowers for no particular reason other than it was a Tuesday, and smart cookie that he is, he sent me my favourites, yellow roses and irises. I had already planned to make some small pieces based on these flowers, so I figured I would make a piece based on how lovely and special that made me feel.

My composition was laid out on a square of Pro-Fusion.

So working with Pro-Fusion is a dream, it's super thin and you just lay out your design directly on to it. It felts super quick and because its so thin, you end up with a felt that is easy to machine embroider, without compromising on strength and durability. I bought mine from here.

I was pretty brave laying out the design, I didn't use any pre felt (part felted merino that has been cut into specific shapes). I was taking a big chance as I was not compromising on detail.

I added roses and irises in the background, working fromm life. And of course my girl had red hair.

Ready to roll, with a whimsical smile.

She rolled really well, and with the pro-fusion, rolling time is cut down.

The machine embroidery enabled me to add more detail to eyes and flowers and I think give a sculptural feel to the piece over all.

I was thrilled with the way this went.

I even liked the back!

Although I was initially against doing it, Hubble and I made a shallow glass-less box frame for the piece to sit in. I attached the felt to the mounting board at the back by using velcro - one side is sticky which I stuck to the card and the other side I stitched to the back of the felt, that way, I can roll the piece up and store it when the exhibition is over. I think this a great compromise to framing the work, as I'm still not super keen on putting it behind glass.

If you live in the Plymouth area, you can see this piece throughout April in the "About Face" exhibition at Plymouth Community Arts Council.

Love Jan xxxxxx