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Category: Peeking Behind the Easel

July 3, 2012
Kathy
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New Years Resolutions……?

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel

So how about those New Years Resolutions?…… Oh yea, forgot about those!  : )  Anyone remember what yours were?….   I’ve forgotten mine….

kaybrotech via bing copyrightfree images

Ok so now that I cheated and looked up to see what they were….  Blog more often, oh yea….. that  one needs some work.  And the one that says paint one new painting a week needs more work too.  The last one that about getting more organized is actually one that I’ve had quite a bit of success.  Yea!

deposit photos via bing copyright free images

Opening a second shop this spring derailed the first two.  Should have made that a resolution!  I forgot how much time it takes to open a shop, all the writing that goes into a shop – policies, profile, descriptions for new items….making  items and starting from scratch promoting the shop. But it’s all come together and I’ve even made my first sale!  So as we are half  way through the year, I will resolve to blog more,  paint more, and sew!  Hope you have had better success with your resolutions…. if you remember what they were!

via bing copyright free images

May 18, 2012
Kathy
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Purple Clematis Wall Hanging, Part 2 Finished

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel, and Sewing: Finished Bags & Pouches

It's finished! What fun this quilt was!  Take a look and see what you think : )

purple clematis wall hanging by kathy sibley sibstudiosewing at etsy

 My favorite parts are the painted clematis and the quilting. I used a  heat sensitive pen to sketch out the clematis across the purple and white blocks to use as a guide for the quilting on the side panels.

purple clematis sibstudio dot com

  I'm ready to start the next one!  You can find this quilt later this morning at my SibStudioSewing shop at Etsy

May 16, 2012
Kathy
2 Comments

Purple Clematis Wall Hanging, Part 1

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel, and Sewing: Finished Bags & Pouches

I rarely used a pattern when creating a quilt. I usually have an imagine in mind and the trick is figure out how to make the imagine a reality.  If I am designing something  way out of the box, I use the tracing paper sheets taped together to draw out the actual quilt and proceed to make  the pattern pieces. In the case of this quilt, graph paper worked  just fine to draw out my design.

Tools for designing your own quilt sibstudio dot com

The little notebook on the right has the quilt idea that I am working on. I sketch out sewing ideas the same way I do for painting ideas. The graph paper has the nuts & bolts measurements and design for this quilt.

I wanted the quilt to be a vertical rectangle with a center panel of painted flowers. The sides will be narrow strips that picked up the colors of the flowers. The main color will be white to give the over all quilt a fresh, bright, contemporary  look.  I have finished the center strip of painted flowers.

Center strip of painted flowers for quilt sibstudio dot com

I used photos of clematis taken in the yard as my reference.  Stay tuned to see the finished quilt – it is almost finished!

May 1, 2012
Kathy
4 Comments

Bunnies In My Yard And On My Canvas

Posted in Art Work, and Peeking Behind the Easel

We have lots of bunnies in the yard year round.  There are at least four right now that hang out around the yard. They are a blast to watch when they start playing and chasing each other around the grass. They are very comfortable…. ok, overly comfortable…..

overly comfortable bunnies sibstudio dot com blog

and show little fear when we are around the yard.  When the dog is out and about in the yard, they stay where they are, nestle down in the flowers or grass, and  just watch him. Often they continue to munch on grass while they keep an eye on him.  Occasionally the dog spots them and then the chase is on.  The bunnies always win and slip away through the fence. I had the image of the bunnies nestled down in the flowers, keeping an eye on the dog,  when I painted this little miniature painting:

Bunnies and black eyed susans sibstudio dot com blog

And that is a peek behind my easel for the story behind the painting. : )    You can find this painting in my Etsy shop.

April 4, 2012
Kathy
4 Comments

Looking at Forsythia

Posted in Peeking Behind the Easel, and Reference Photos

I think it is so interesting that many of the first spring flowers are pink or yellow.  I have daffodils planted near forsythia in the yard. It was not done intentionally, but I love that they both bloom roughly the same time. The big burst of yellow shouts out Spring! like nothing else. Here's burst of yellow from the Forsythia:

Forsnthia in bloom

You can see each flower is held onto the branch by a little bit of green stem and four petals.

Yellow Forsythia in bloom

Inside each flower, there is also a touch of green near the upper base of the stamen.  Each flower has 4 petals with a faint raised line down the center of the petal. 

I like painting then with  any shade of blue background  – my preference is a grey-blue or a cerulean blue, depending on what mood Iam aiming for.  A  painting with single branch loaded with flowers makes a statement. But I also like painting them as a peek into the entire bush ,like the left side of photo above, where the flowers seem to go on and on.  No matter what the composition, they are just fun to paint for the sheer joy of burst of yellow color and the sign that spring is on it's way.