Open Studio!

Our team is busy getting our "pop up" studio ready for the upcoming Bridgeport Art Trail event! Please stop by The Nest Factory, 1720 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport - November 8th, 9th and 10th!

We will offer a variety of art work for sale!

fiber art

mixed media

jewelry

felted items

hand crafted fabric by the yard

and more!

Meet the Artists:
Deirdre Abbotts, Pam Poling, Kendall Storm, Karen Loprete
Mary Lachman,  Carol R Eaton and Mayann Weinburg

Karen Loprete, Pam Poling, Deirdre Abbotts and Mary Lachman are hard at work!

Deirdre and Mary clean every corner!

Mayann Weinburg makes the place sparkle!

Next we load up the studio with beautiful art and open our doors... see you there!

Too Much Fabric?!

Do you think it's ever possible to have too much fabric in your stash? I was looking for a specific fabric and started pulling pieces from my fabric cubbies and the supply seemed to be endless... it was a great feeling!

Do you agree that the skies the limit?!

The Printed Fabric Bee & Orange Circles!

Orange Circles everyone.... bouncing, bopping and binging around the fabric! Lynn Krawczyk from Smudged Textile Studios was the first artist of The Printed Fabric Bee  to determine the theme and she chose – Orange Circles!

The piece was challenging to create but that's what makes a collaboration fun - to push and grow! I know Lynn is fond of the green/brown tones and I had this crazy Confetti Dyed piece I'd done earlier that seemed like a good place to start. Now for orange circles... mmmmm.... I started looking at everything in a circular way! I was searching for color and texture that could be incorporated into orange circles.

It's goofy to say but the best tool I found for the project was the stiff cardboard tube from the inside of a spool of ribbon! I dipped it into an orange decolorant and let loose across the surface of the fabric. I also used stamps made from heated foam that allowed me to add texture to the stamp surface.

I set the piece aside for a while to see if I was done. It still needed another layer to achieve a feeling of depth. I mixed up some orange silk screen ink and gathered up a couple of circular sponges for the final push... yes... it's done!

Lynn will reveal the full collection in November but for a sneak peek at what the other artists have created please visit our Facebook page!

Coming soon... you will have an opportunity to win the same beautiful customized fabric being created for the Queen. Each month the "Queen" will give away the same fabric she receives with each piece being 6" X 6".

I'm participating in the Bridgeport Art Trail - November 7 - 10

I'm excited to announce my participation in the 2013 Bridgeport Art Trail event! 7 local artists collaborated to rent a west side studio in The Nest Factory at 1720 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.

November 8: 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
November 9: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
November 10: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Meet the artists; tour the open studios, listen to poets and musicians, enjoy a gallery show, view short art films, watch a dance performance, and see a variety of demonstrations. 

Enjoy refreshments on Saturday and Sunday prepared by Carrot Top Kitchens of Redding CT. Admission: free.

My fellow collaborators:

Mary Lachman, Karen Loprete, Deirdre Abbotts, Kendell Storm, Pam Polling and Mayann Weinberg!

 

Jacquard Color Magnet - A Great Tutorial!

Jacquard Color Magnet is a super-cool new product that creates a tone on tone quality to your hand dyed fabrics! Lynda Heines demonstrates how to use the product and the creative wheels are already turning! Lynn Krawczyk posted Lynda's tutorial as her guest blogger for October. Please click on Smudged Textiles Studio to see Lynda's directions and tips!

 

I can't wait to incorporate this into my work!

 

Combining Techniques to Achieve the Suggestion of Winter!

I'm determined to create a line of fabrics that provide the "feel" of winter! Because I'm going for a specific effect the process has pushed me into trying new combinations of techniques. I love it - I believe in order to continue to grow as an artist you have to get outside the comfort zone and experience the unknown!

My wonderful buddies from the Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective suggested I add a little bling to some of the fabrics in the series! I added some silver frost to the above piece and agree that it needed some sparkle!

This piece started with low immersion dyeing. I used white fabric paint
and splashed it here and there to suggest frost or snow.

The above fabric was first created using the ice dye technique. Next I covered the surface with a wash of blue and manipulated the fabric as it dried. It still needed "something" so I randomly added white fabric paint with a touch of silver across the surface.

I'm not to sure this piece will stay in the Winter Series. It's an ice dyed piece with a wash of blue added. Lastly I hit the fabric here and there with silver but I'm still not sure about it. Maybe I'll see if it grows on me!

What have you experimented with lately?!

The Printed Fabric Bee > Custom Fabric > Sneak Peek!

As a reminder The Printed Fabric Bee is a printed fabric exchange between 10 professional textile artists. Each month a member of the hive chooses a theme, making her the Queen, and the members of the Hive create a piece of fabric based on her choices. In the end, each member will have a collection of custom made fabric created by all the members of the Hive.

Coming soon... you will have an opportunity to win the same beautiful customized fabric being created for the Queen. Each month the "Queen" will give away the same fabric she receives with each piece being 6" X 6".

 

Lynn Krawczyk from Smudged Textile Studios was the first artist to determine the theme and she chose – Orange Circles! This is a little sampling of what I created. The FaceBook page has snippets and sneak peeks of fabric the artists are working on and in early November Lynn will reveal the entire collection!
 

 Please visit our FaceBook page!

 

Combining Techniques: Ice Dyeing, Stencils & Fabric Paint

I'm turning my thoughts to the upcoming winter and the colors we see during that season! I think of sparkling whites, many shades of grey, lavenders, blues, browns and even black. I've been experimenting with ice dyed fabric to capture the right intensity of colors to "read" as winter. I had a grey and lavender piece that stayed on my design wall waiting for more inspiration to come along.

I decided to trace leaves from the yard to create stencils. I lightly stenciled the fabric with shades of brown, gold, beige and white. I wanted just enough color for the illusion of faded leaves left over from autumn.

Next I painted the entire surface with a blue wash of fabric paint. I manipulated the surface and left to dry. I had some other techniques in mind but given the overcast and cool weather I stopped there!

Winter Leaves
1 yard - $30 -100% Cotton

 

Freestyle Dyeing!

It's fun to let go of "control" over how the dyes behave! In this experiment I hung damp fabric on the line. I took squeeze bottles filled with dye and began to drip the dye across the top of the fabric. How fun to see the dyes mingle and meander together.

Giving it my first try!
 

Feeling more comfortable!

In my happy place!
Don't forget to place fabric below the line to catch the wonderful drips
as the dye rolls off the fabric.
 

One of the finished pieces... just for fun!