Art math

Tea bags + cotton + organza + 

rusting + mono printing + stitching +

a bit of storytelling + a few what ifs =

 My Morning Tea Series © 2012 

12 collages

So far...

The gift of tea...

 ...bags, that is.

These beauties arrived last week. A gift from Pam. The note included stated that she thought they were needed here sooner rather than later. [She's coming to visit at the end of October. Woohoo!]

I did a little dance, sent a whispered thank you floating on the breeze in Pam's direction, oohed and aahed over the lovely rusting and carried them to the studio to photograph. Pam's creative energy must have been lingering on the bags for soon an idea had me getting the sewing machine out.

 With 3 tea bags layered

 for body and depth of color,

 I happily stitched lines across the rusty circles.

Once 4 sets had been stitched and photographed, 

 I set about adding them 

  to the 4 collages

already in progress.

3 are now complete. The 4th is being stubborn and needs a bit of considering. 

 

Searching for Roy G Biv - Blue Update

 

detail of pin by Pam Sullivan

 Last Thursday was September's installment in Julie's and my search for Roy G Biv.

At the end of my post, I asked if you had blue...and some of you do!

Lisa over at Arzigogolare is Surrounded by Blue in Venice while

Ersi's blues are dazzling in her workroom .

Anyone else care to share their blues?

Flags for Peace Project 2012

I became aware of the Flags for Peace Project 2012 back in the spring 

and thought it a wonderful project to participate in. 

My discharged flags have been gracing our front yard since June. 

They've weathered several thunderstorms which have left the edges frazzled and fraying. 

The sun has faded some of the color. Yet the flags continue to hang around,

 sending out wishes of peace to all with each hint of a breeze.

Searching for Roy G Biv - Blue

London has blues.

 It is there, if one looks closely

 at  Tower Bridge,

 on the docks behind Tower Hotel,

 greeting customers at the Best of India along Brick Lane,

 on a plate at the Victoria and Albert,

 down an alley off Portobello Road, 

decorating not only the entry,

 but the windows as well.

New York has a blue mosaic

  outside one of the stores.

 You must look up to see it,

 although if the wind is blowing and you listen closely, 

the tinkling of the blues can be heard.

Boston has a bit of blue

of the natural sort 

 and the man made too.

Do you have blue?
Julie, Fiona and Flags for Peace do.

Searching for Roy G Biv reminder

Yikes! It's nearly time to continue the search for Roy G Biv.

This month's color is blue.

If you're in the mood for blue, join in the fun on Thursday.

What if #437

What if I tried machine stitching 2 tea bags together?

Would it work or would the sewing machine eat the tea bags?

It worked.

Monday

How enjoyable it was to spend Monday

in the studio

collaging

and stitching.

What a week

It's been a week of what if's in the studio. Major what if's. Breakthrough what if's, in fact. Yep. It's been that kind of week.

My Morning Tea, my sketchbook for the 2013 Sketchbook Project, is nearly finished. Just need to think about the cover design and what blurb about myself to put in back.

The pages...spreads really...alternate between marks and text. The marks are made of tea and rust using the tea bag my morning tea was brewed with on any given morning. The text is a memory from childhood regarding tea. More about the sketchbook once it is complete.

Pam's tip about ironing the tea bags on freezer paper to run through the copier worked so well with the tea bags that it was impossible not to try on...hmmm...

 a piece of rusted cotton or

 rusted silk organza.

[this is the breakthrough part, in case you're wondering]

Given organza's translucent qualities, it just begged for further exploration, don't you think?

 I did. A second printing was called for.

  And a third.

 It needed turning this way

 and that.

And then the tea bags were calling too. 

 They wanted to play with a canvas.  

 It became a bit of balancing act, needed turning this way and that, 

needed a bit added here and a tad added there.

In the end, all was right. A good balance of tea bags and rusted mono printed cotton.

 

And then...yes there's more...

A friend emailed to ask if I'd like her stash of DMC threads on a spool. She's moving and lightening her load in the process. I said I'd be happy to have them and promised to put them to good use. I'll admit my mind latched onto DMC threads and so was picturing DMC floss. 

What arrived yesterday from Joan was far more delicious than cross stitch floss! As I unpacked the box - oohing and aahing all the while - the patterns of the wrapping caught my eye. I'd never noticed how beautiful spools of threads are. 

Thank you Joan for the wonderful threads! One spool has already taken a good long soak in green tea with a rusty bit or two for company. It's now resting, airing itself in the studio.

At the end of partial week 2 of kindergarten, I can safely say that my brain cells are beginning to work again. And holy smoke Batman! does it feel good. 

In the studio

Still texting

and what if-ing 

with tea bags, rusted and monoprinted cotton on canvas.

2013 Sketchbook Project - texting

After laying out the text pages and playing with their arrangment, 

I began adhering them to my morning tea.

What do you think of page 1?

Rusty bits rediscovered

When Susan posted about her discovery of some lovely rusty bits on Wednesday, I admit to experiencing a bad case of rusty bit envy and to salivating just the teensiest bit. Well, let's be honest...I salivated a lot viewing the photos of her find. Oh! The possibilities those beauties offer!

My husband was working on something last evening and needed a few nails which he knew I was likely to have. It took a bit of searching in the studio before we managed to locate them though. While moving everything about and looking in every container, I happened to open an old tool box and discovered a mother load of rusty bits that had been long forgotten.

All were collected during the building of our last house in Virginia...oh...nearly 10 years ago. The carpenters thought me quite mad when I asked if it was okay to pick them up. After all, who'd want rusted washers, nails and pipes?