Embroidered Collage

These cards started when I was looking for something completely different in my box of paper and stuck in the last layer was some of the work I'd abandoned when I decided to create only on canvas.  I had been working on a few sheets of paper for backgrounds - building up abstract tears of magazine paper in related colors or shapes.  The orange one caught my eye, partly because it was almost done and partly because of the time of the year.

  So I tore out a few more images and finished collaging it.  This technique is also a copyright violation, but if anyone can look at the work and identify where the images came from I'll be shocked.  The actual image that someone else created is not relevant.  They are there for texture and my next step was to paint over them with various transparent liquid acrylics to unify the color.

I ended up with nine 3x4 pieces that I stared at and contemplated for awhile.  Figuring out the next step was far more complicated than I had expected.  I did a search through collage images and did the card with numbers and the one below.  The little kitten was too sweet to pass up, but it will be an ATC since it doesn't fit with the idea thread I want to keep my ACEOs attached to.

  And then I stared at the seven remaining backgrounds for awhile longer.  I think the problem was that there wasn't enough contrast.  There was nothing to trigger an idea.  When I pulled out my papers and started adding blacks, that's when the ideas kicked in about how I could collage this here and add some pattern there.  I had a few failures in the process, which is why there are only six total cards made from the sheet and not nine. 

The focal fabric image of the turtle, found in a pack of scraps that I bought from who knows where, was the inspiration for this 6"x6" piece. It's a neat fabric too, kinda fuzzy, and the gold lines are a raised imprint.

The background is acrylic paint with just a bit of collage for texture and interest.  I went through my fabric stash looking for something to coordinate with the turtle and found the dark blue velveteen.  At first I intended to have it be the entire bottom right corner, with a wavy edge, but then thought it would look better as a divider.  So I cut out a wavy piece, carefully marked under it, and added another layer of paint to the corner.  I think pulling in another teal was very successful. 

The fun part for me was doing the pattern extrapolation.  I added the wavy lines in the bottom right based on the diamonds on the turtle's back.  I also echoed them in the way I chose to stitch down the dark blue fabric.  As a last touch I added the two stitched triangles to the turtle's head so that he'd be tied in more to the center of the piece.

ACEOs seemed akin to blasphemy when I first heard about them - artist trading cards were being SOLD!  Changing the name to Art Cards, Editions and Originals seemed a superficial trick that avoided the issue that these artists were commercializing a friendly pursuit. My attitude changed over time. Why shouldn't an artist sell work of a specific size and call it an art card, emphasizing its collectibility? Because there was a culture that traded works of that size as well? The one wouldn't hurt the other as long as no one sold another artist's work that was intended for trade only. So my approach came around a full 180 degrees and I even bought some cards from artists I admired.

And now I will be adding ACEOs to my Etsy store!  But not until November 1.  This week they are free treats with a purchase of another artwork.

I have always been more comfortable creating when I have an outlet for what I create. I need to keep playing with the idea of bands of color and design on a small scale so I can build up my visual sense to accomplish more dramatic works on larger scales and using the art card format satisfies me. This has been the driving force behind many of the cards you've seen over the last month, letting my play support my efforts for artistic growth.

I could have traded them, of course, but after doing some looking around on Etsy I became convinced that offering ACEOs would help keep my shop active as my available art time contracts further with the upcoming arrival of an infant. They would also provide a lower cost introduction to my work. I know that I've started purchasing more original art since I started looking at the ACEOs already listed for sale!

I will continue to create cards for trade but they will be in different styles than the ones I list on Etsy. All my cards for sale will be in the "Strata" series and individually numbered. While I will use various media on paper such as watercolor, collage, and acrylics, I will probably not add stitching to any of them. Each will be packaged in a stiff plastic sleeve and be listed for $7 with free shipping to anywhere. If I ever do create embroidered cards I will likely make a separate category for them.

During November I am going to show you some of the artists on Etsy who I have purchased original ACEOs from, or would like to do so. In some cases, their previous successes helped convince me that this endeavor was worth trying.

It looks awful while you're stitching it.  Seriously.  This has surprised me each of the times I've used the technique.  When you do this needlelace stitch close together, as the traditional lacemakers did, every part fits together and it forms a dense fabric, but when you do it further apart, trying to get a lacy network like the one in yesterday's piece or the one in Layered Leaf, everything seems to be off.  I took a picture of the red layer in progress.

Maybe some stitchers can control their tension well-enough to avoid this phase.  I can't yet.  And, honestly, I'm not sure I want to, since if there are loose bits it makes the effect when you put in the last layer of securing stitches more interesting, like this.

Doing the lace this way did make adding that last gold layer more challenging though, because I was trying to guess where to put that extra tension in order to have the border of the piece be square.  I need more practice - or to just accept and play with the limitations of the technique as I currently do it and make sure my bottom edge can be uneven.

This abstract 6"x6" came about because I wanted to play with needlelace again.  I thought it would be interesting to try out the layering that I had read about.  The effect is interesting, but it needed the beads to set it off and pull some of the dramatic black into the rest of the piece.  I have more ideas for developing this technique in my work and am looking forward to trying them out.

The background is the last of the four with the flame paper that I started way back in June - the one in the upper right of both pictures.  After I decided to work in strata I added more paper to it, but my camera ate the work in progess picture.  I then toned it down a little with some dry brushed gesso and gold point before I stitched on it.

This piece has a little more character around the edges than some of my others - it's a little lumpier because of all those layers of paper being folded on top of one another at the corners during the stretching process.  If I want a neat look then I need to use fewer layers of paper at the edges or develop a different technique doing the corners.

I haven't figured out what to call it yet, though.

I had really enjoyed making these watercolor atcs for a swap, so I decided to play with the technique again, using what I had learned about dabbing the bits of color on top of each other.  I started with yellow and went darker, varying how much of each color was on each card, also adding a wash for the ground along the way.  I did all six at once.  If you think the sky is a little blue then you're right, that's the actual color of the watercolor paper that I was using.

The interesting part for me was next - for three atcs I added some extra water, smoothing the little dabs into each other for a wall of color.  But for one I blotted the entire piece with a paper towel, achieving more of a ghost-like effect, or perhaps as if mist was obscuring the view.  I left two of the cards alone so the dabs could dry as they had been applied.  I really enjoyed seeing how these turned out.

After the cards were fully dry I used Pitt artist brush pens with India ink to draw in the tree trunks.  I played a bit here too, trying out different shapes and branchings.  I was afraid that the trunks done this way were going to look childish and ruin the cards but they fit well.  It's certainly not realistic that a line of trees would look this way, but that wasn't really the point.  The effect was the point and I was able to create something similar to what I envisioned.  I'm really starting to like watercolors more...