Tag: diy

Fabric and Paint, For a Start…

Dear Liza,

Ruthie Inman keeps getting my brain off on tangents! I’d complain, but I love it, and I always learn something.

Our latest wild goose chase started with telling her us to collect a zipper and some sturdy fabric, a hot glue gun and some acrylic paint. Easy enough.

The zipper came from a pillow that has been upcycled into a few other items already. The fabric was purchased years ago for a map quilt that didn’t need it. And the acrylics ( and the textile medium to make them work on fabric) were sitting in a box.

When I showed the fabric to Ruthie and Vimi (our parter in all things goofy and artsy), they said it reminded them of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. I didn’t want to copy, but I held the image in my head as I painted and we chatted.

I liked the swirly lines I set up, and kept going as I got more confident.

By the time our session ended, the fabric was wet and sticky, and I needed to figure out my next step.

The next day, that next step was realized with more contrast. The short brush strokes remind me of Van Gough’s.

And then, because I’m a crazy woman with a needle and thread, I laid in a bunch of running stitches, sort of stringing the short stitches together and following the swirls.


And then, remembering about complementary colors, I started putting in some orange stitches.

What do you think?


Love,

Grandma Judy

The Art of Figuring Stuff Out Part 1

Dear Liza,

My artist friend Ruthie Inman had a fun idea at our last Zoom class. She showed us some three dimensional artworks she found in the Internet, and told US to show HER how to make something like it.

I loved this structure that looks to be about 6 feet tall and made from metal, shown in a museum. I have searched the internet and cannot figure out who created it or where it is on display.

Bridgett and I talked about it, and came up with one way to reproduce it in miniature, out of common materials.

Tea boxes and scissors, paper strips, three different sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters, Elmer’s glue, and a pencil were my supplies.

Step one: Each heart in your structure will need two hearts of the same size. Trace the cookie cutters onto the tea box cardboard and cut out.

Step two: Cut strips in half inch, three quarter inch, and one inch widths. They should be about 4 inches long. Roll the strips around a pencil and glue the outside end down so it stays rolled up. You will use the longest pillars for the largest hearts.

Step 3: Lay a heart down and make small puddles of glue at close intervals. Stand each paper pillar in the puddle.


Step 4: Put glue around the edges of the top heart, rest carefully on the pillars to line up with the bottom heart, and let dry. A small weight might help them stick.

Leave the insides to dry until you figure out what comes next. Stay tuned.

Love,

Grandma Judy