Amazing Winter Wedding Photograph




Yes! this is REAL!

It was a white wedding as the there was snow on the ground but then as the reception was  underway it started to snow that lovely gentle snowfall. Dj ju ju added to the mood with the song "Let it Snow" and it was pure magic. The Bride and Groom were stunning but then our photographer Crystal Heis came inside a minute later and showed me the photograph she had just taken and

Henna Night






Brides Hands

Boxing Day Sewing, Candy Canes and Panto


and it sat hidden in the cupboards for years since I bought it in a garage sale back in the 80's. Always intending to do it but oh well, you know how that goes.


Titan Needlecraft Felt Applique Tree Skirt Kit 1987


Still not quite finished (some pieces were missing), BUT ta DA! finished enough it can sit under the tree.  

Meanwhile outside on Boxing Day the candy canes dance in the trees as

Put a Bird on It-Brian it's Started









More Info

 Pal Brian Housh and I have decided that next year is the "put a bird on it " year in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and what better way for me to start than with the Christmas Wreath I just hung on the front door. I noticed it had NO BIRD in the nest. Hum, luckily I have a few spare birds and "put a bird on on it."



For those who don't know, "put a bird on it" is a hilarious skit

#FAFyes: Glittery Things




No quotes with this one, just seemed nice as is. Nothing handmade, but for the season who can resist glitter and a glue gun ;)



By the way did you know there is a

 Safe Sparkle Glitter Movement? 

It was started by the Crafty Chica and dedicated to self proclaimed glitter disliker Ellen DeGeneres, uh huh, take THAT Ellen.
 It's fun, check it out.

Back in 2007 I wrote a blog entry about

This time Last Year




Last year this time I was in San Juan Puerto  Rico watching fireworks








This year I'm in Ohio photographing










Winkles
Hum, not sure if winkles are as exciting, BUT hey, I have learned to make my OWN fun wherever I am. 
  I am finding taking black and white photographs quite a challenge. I see something I think is cool and then see it on my camera viewer (which is set to b&w) and

Vintage 1970 Christmas: Balls and Fudge


Giant Christmas Balls



Found a few old mags at the local charity shop and  thought this project I found in a 1970 Better Homes & Garden Magazine would be fun to do if anyone wants to give it a go.



and if you're in the mood for Fudge

(is there are time when you aren't ;)




A New Pencil



30 min pose


An art friend from NY sent me a wonderful pencil to try out called a Mitsu-bishi Hi-uni 10B.  I tried it in Life Drawing, and it's the softest pencil I have ever used and divine to draw with. 

The study looks like smudgy mess, but I was trying to get soft and hard lines for the form and smudging to get the muscles underneath.


30 min pose


Feet are always hard for me to do, so

It's a dull grey wet day in Ohio



2012 Fairfield Pike, Yellow Springs, Ohio




There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature ~ Thoreau



So yes, it's a dull day, but when I would normally just look at it, having to photograph it means having to SEE it. 



Looking vs Seeing: 15 min tutorial

Creature Bone






There is no light without shadow and no psychic wholeness without imperfection ~ Carl Jung



Developing Creativity - Our Shadow Side



I have and continue to be very partial to Chiaroscuro in my work and so I thought it would be a good exercise to explore black and white photography next year (along with daily drawing). My goal is to  see if I can evoke a mood beyond just the image as well

Sketchbook Studies: Pencil Drawing



pencil drawing in sketchbook


In order to keep up my drawing skills I go to life drawing OR do studies in my sketchbook.I used a photograph as a reference and drew out grid marks to get the general proportions of the nose and eyes and ear. The rest I relied on eyeballing it. Some don't like grid marks as a means to lay out a drawing.  I don't think there's a right way or a wrong way, just

Wordless Wednesday: Eye Study



1 hour study of an eye in graphite

K is for Kaput





Hand Embroidery by Jafabrit


Well not quite, but that's how I view the past year *artistically* speaking. Somehow I lost my footing and my self esteem and confidence took some huge hits. It wasn't any one thing but rather a collection of unpleasant unrelated events over the span of a few months beginning in March that did it. Boom! Boom! Boom! one thing after the other. Becoming a recluse

Drawing was a Struggle


Not sure why but I had such a difficult time at life drawing and just couldn't seem to get it together. I was going for economy of line but I struggled with proportion. Hands too, urg. I can do the foreshortened feet, but hands grrrrrrrrr!


30 minute pose


Let's just say I am happy with the right leg and the foot, difficult angle, but I was dithering all over the place. I have decided I nedd

Graffiti Merge








Just experimenting this morning with merging an image of my painting (my son) and a photo of some local graffiti before I go off to my life drawing. Not sure what I think of it, but I had fun doing it. 


C is for Circumbilivagination







design © corrine bayraktaroglu
ooooh, that sounds rather naughty doesn't it? It's NOT. It means going around in a circular motion as in: She saw lots of graffiti in her cicumbilivagination of the USA. Hard not to think it saucy though when one looks up the current definition of vagination but me thinks it didn't have the same meaning back in the 1600's, do you ;) Source Info: Phrontistery

New Work by Danielle Silva!

Tattoo by Danielle Silva

Tattoo by Danielle Silva

Tattoo by Danielle Silva

Tattoo By Danielle Silva

Tattoo by Danielle Silva

Tattoo by Danielle Silva
Danielle Silva has received some pretty stellar Yelp reviews as of late. Check them out by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Embroidered 3D Fly


I am just having way TOO much fun with the Free Art Friday Box-ism series.  Just hope those finding them are too. 

This one was inspired by Kurt Cobain's quote,

"If you're really a mean person you're going to come back as a fly and eat poop."


photograph,  hand embroidery fly (with wire, gauze, silk embroidery floss, googly eyes), vintage green shag fabric, altoid tin , poop (embroidery floss

Altoid Tin Art for Free Art Friday




Altoid Tin, Hand Made Owl, bark fabric, photograph, branch, googly eyes



Had fun making this little owl and putting together the box for FAFyes





LINKS

Craftster: Altered Altoid Tin Tutorial

Tinnovation: Oodles of ways to use Altoid Tins

22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoid tin

A very PRACTICAL use

The MUSE has spoken and Henna Night Preparation


FINALLY



and

I have my ducks in a row 

and

it's not even New Year's Eve & the requisite make a list of resolutions time

but

somehow after a year of plodding things have come together.

It will be busy

After THE WEDDING I can get cracking

but 

in the meantime I started doing another version of my potty mouth piece.



I got a FAB parcel from my sister in law in Turkey for the Wedding

The Magic of Line Drawing








20 minute pose

It's been a year since I did any life drawing and I feel so SO rusty. I had such a hard time with the angle of the head and the feet. Trying to get that sense of skeletal and muscular structure from this angle and with just contour drawing is a real challenge.  I struggled not to fall back on my comfort zone and blend and model.

So glad I was able to go and hope to be able

Free Art Friday: Karma Box








Somewhere in Yellow Springs, Ohio

altoid tin, computer parts, rubber cockroach, 

glitter, and screaming mouth sticker by moi.



Always intrigues me that some people think they can say what they want, be nasty, or snide and then act like the victim when they are called on it or get a reaction.  They troll the net and social networks hiding behind anonymity or the cloak of self

New Work by Brett Baumgart!

Tattoo by Brett Baumgart
Tattoo by Brett Baumgart


Tattoo by Brett Baumgart

Color Pencil by Brett Baumgart

Finished Color Pencil by Brett Baumgart

Tattoo by Brett Baumgart

Tattoo by Brett Baumgart

YAY! NEW TATTOOS by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker
Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker


Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker


Tattoo by Matt Decker


Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Custom Wedding Christmas Crackers




Spent the morning with jafapal Nancy decorating the Wedding Crackers. It's impossible to find finished wedding crackers in the USA so I bought empty one's from Old English Crackers based in the USA. These are called Ivory Swirl, and after adding an assortment of embellishments with my trusty glue gun I think they look very nice. 

Next step is to add the customary cracker joke, a sweet, and a

Sunny Yellow




Acrylic Reverse Painting on Plastic 

I asked the owner of Ha Ha Pizza if he minded if I stuck up a piece of art on their wall and got a resounding YES :) Hope the staff enjoy. 

It was Pepperoni & Anchovy Pizza day with pals



JafaT and JafaMOG aka Nancy Mellon

and 

Free Art Friday



 It may have been a dull grey day outside but inside it was sunny happy cozy day in this Yellow Springs,

Artful Dodger


 Organizing a wedding in 2 months has proved to be consuming and become a bit of an artful dodger, stealing all my time. I also seem to be prone to wedding humour.




BUT

there are windows of time where the  ART muse pokes her head around the corner and screams delights at me. 

So along with the joys of planning a wedding with my darling girl,  I am in the studio working. I finished the

Power of We: Creative Altruism


 It's Blog Action Day, a global event where bloggers around the world post on the same subject and this year the theme is 
The Power of We. 

Craft Activism 
It took me a while to consider myself a craft activist. I made the mistake of thinking that being an activist required joining a group and marching/ protesting in the classic sense and forgetting activism comes in all shapes and sizes.

Bones of Art






  Life Drawing Study by Jafabrit



Drawing is the 'bones' of art.

 You have to be able to walk

 before you can run.

 Dion Archibald



Never Underestimate the Power of Life Drawing

9 Common Figure Drawing Mistakes

World Smile Day


That's right, today is world smile day and to learn all about it visit their website at World Smile Day



San Antonio Texas

Their motto is Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile! and that is definitely a motto that fits with jafagirls operation smiley face, and all those artists who leave free art out all over the world. 

What are you doing to bring a smile today?


Today's free art for

So After the Museum




Bad Bunny Street Sticker made it to the sticky pole and I resumed my obsession with shadows






in downtown San Antonio. Then we got so hot and thirsty the new obsession was thirst






and what better than quenching it sitting by the Riverwalk ;)

AH! the Riverwalk ♥








Yarnbombing before there was Yarnbombing




Saw this crochet covered Beer Bottle circa 1995 by Bill Davenport at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Of course it wasn't called yarnbombing back then ;) Bill calls them yarnworks and you can see some examples on his website. I had fun visiting his site, what an interesting artist, AND he was doing a giant yarnball before it became popular with yarnbombers around the world.

Meanwhile how cool

Standing Tall in Texas and HOT




Visited San Antonio Texas and wearing cowboy hats was a must, not just because it's Texas but because the heat beats down on your head and wearing a hat is a saviour.  Hat hair is another story, ahem!

Bought the hats at El Mercado and ate at La Margarita and it was so fab that even the loo was cool.






Yes, I know strange, not a typical tourist pic, BUT it was hotter than the hinges of

Offline For a Week BUT


if you are new to my blog here is some info






I love to paint. I sometimes photograph the painting and then manipulate the image on Adobe. They could end up being street stickers or just something to put in my sketchbook/scrapbook for future inspiration.



I love to play in my sketchbook with paint and whatever is lying around the studio.



I love to find things in my studio, like old

Yarny Tales in Ohio and Things That Make Me Smile


On Saturday we (jafagirls) did a art 

 walking tour of Yellow Springs (check out the towns art map)  with about 22 Docents from the Dayton Art Institute.  They wanted to come and visit us and see our yarnbombs. After the walking tour we did a slide show presentation  and reception at the Yellow Springs Arts Council. Was such a delight to meet them and also hear about the public's response to

Smile






Keiths Alley

I know quite a few people going through a difficult time for one reason or another and so Jafa T (Talitha Greene) and I thought it would be fun to post smiley faces around town. 



Most of them are done on old vinyl records, but I'm sure we will be doing them on other found objects, scraps too.






Plastic Pollution: Tedious but not Boring




Perhaps it is for some, but for me spending quiet hours in the studio and cutting up old plastic garbage bags and gluing is a meditative process, much like embroidery or slowly building up a painting layer by layer.



I was invited to participate in a trash exhibit and the theme is plastic. My challenge was to  make something that helps make a statement about the damage plastic  has and do it

Stencil Art on Vinyl Record for fafYES






 fafYES 

 Yellow Springs, Ohio








I have a pile of old vinyl records and so here is another stencil based on a photograph of my daughter. I was going to add a stencil flower but just felt like doing something simple, and as some of you may know I love paint drips. Almost has a Mary Quant feel to it, yes?

Come to think of it I still have some original Mary Quant items from the late 60'

She's an Ambivert




ey up, what the heck is an ambivert, says she who lurks in shadows?  Well I tend more towards being an introvert, although many would not believe this.  




This is the best description so far: "You have the best of both worlds. You can enjoy your own company as well as the company of others. You can find plenty to occupy yourself with when alone without getting bored, but you also enjoy

Wisdom Is






Accepting that something you are working on with such love and care is just NOT working and it's time to let go. 



I liked all the elements, but they were just not working together visually or thematically. 

First a cup of tea 



 time to reflect



Rufus was indifferent but kept me company.

In a funny kind of way the act of letting go  of this piece fits with the theme. Hum maybe after

Loose Threads



Embroidery and Sketchbook





The Value of a Critique


One of the things I admire about how Nancy critiques my work is that she shares how it makes her feel, what confuses her, what she likes.  Her questions helped me figure out how I had originally planned to hang it seemed to contradict what it was about. So I decided to stitch down the loose threads on the side of the embroidery. It's very

The Crooked Paths


Today's Inspiration
 I have always struggled with Guston's work, particularly the later period. The colour and cartoon quality just did not draw me in toward further examination. I do admire his struggle to explore and express ideas, even in the face of harsh criticism. However, after reading his bio it has given me a better understanding of his work AND a new appreciation. 

"Studio Ghosts:

Sunday Snaps: Butterflies and Beer Cans









The sun is shining, the sky is blue and our garden is a mad flutter of butterflies and bees.

Butterfly Art  

I love to see art that is made from found trash and in this case artist Paul Villinski created this butterfly with beer cans he finds on the streets of New York.



check out his work, it's amazing.

Oh YEA! Spinning it in Israel




Yes, that's my Spin Art Vinyl on the Shelf with Rafi in Israel. One of the coolest things about doing Free Art Friday is knowing that you've made someone happy. The other thing is learning about or connecting with other artists around the world. While I don't understand the language visiting Rafi's FB photo album was so inspiring.



Meanwhile back in the USA



Somebody stole the Knitted Poo

Craftbombing: Sunflower and a Crisis




Spent the morning with Nancy putting up a few craftbombs and yarnbombs, meeting Connie from the Dayton Daily News who got IN on the jafa-action and put up a knit twit too



and

 the Crisis

arg, eeek, screech

Our jafagirl blog was suspended and I'm dealing with trying to get it resolved, grrrrr.

Body Art Expo - SF Cow Palace Aug. 24-26

Hey, tattoo ladies and gents! Premium Tattoo will be exhibitors at the Body Art Expo this weekend! If you are interested in booking an appointment with Matt, Brett, or Danielle during the convention give us a call at (510) 922-8901. Great shops, fun vendors, and friendly competition!  Follow the link at the bottom of the page to the Body Art Expo website for further information involving directions and hours of operation. Due to our participation in the expo, Premium Tattoo will be closed Friday, August 24 thru Tuesday, August 28. We will open our doors Wednesday, August 29 at 11 am. See you at the Body Art Expo!

www.bodyartexpo.com/MAIN

Silent Sentinels in Cincinnati




I  hitched a ride to Cincinnati Longworth Hall and instead of waiting in the car took a gander around the warehouse. I LOVE discovering art in places you least expect. While the cars whizzed by overhead on the freeways the birds were like silent sentinels amid rust, old railroad tracks, scrubby grass, concrete and steel.


  



"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." Aesop





Vinyl Art in Israel


Free Art Friday Tel Aviv Israel did a fab job with the video and what a lovely bonus to see my vinyl art included.






George

To learn more about Free Art Friday check in with FAF Blog About Page.


Sunday Snaps


Rufus does not want to be here






he would rather be there






frolicking in the Sunflower field 



Garden of Sunflowers





A garden of Sunflower beckoned to me -Come join us, my lady, and joyous you'll be!



We're large ones and small ones, some dainty and fair,And even some delicate to wear in your hair.



We follow the sun, swaying slowly without a care,We have a new dance that with

From Taedēre to Taedium


In other words I am at the point of going rather bonkers and wondering why the heck I decided to stitch around the troll with tedious cross hatching-arg!!!!!!!!!!!



Oh! I remember why, because it has the kind of effect I want, messy. Anyway, it's part of a larger piece in my Narrative Dreads series and is a mixture of paint, hand embroidery and a feather. It's based on a painting I did with my

Stencil Flower on Vinyl for Free Art Friday








Into the Midnight Garden



I'm at this very slow and tedious part of my embroidery and just needed to get away from it and get into the studio and play with paint. So 7:30am this morning off to the studio and I thought I would experiment with my old flower stencil. I couldn't resist adding a bit glitter, and mirror petals. This will go out for Free Art Friday :) 

Love Lies Bleeding


Amaranthus Caudatus









This one seems to be well nibbled on, must have tasty leaves.  My friend Karen gave them to me and I have been enjoying them in my garden vase. According to the wiki link above many parts of the plant are edible and used in Indian cooking (which explains why they are so tasty for the garden critters).  Some say the leaves taste like spinach but a bit stronger. The

Hand Embroidery of Troll Doll Face








Work in Progress



Troll dolls join dubiously popular toy and game based movie craze and it was the word dubiously in the headline that caught my attention. Dubiously, hum!  I used to collect them, and I remember they had a unique smell that plastic one's and current one's don't have. Wonder if it was the rubber they used at the time? Anyway the embroidery is based on a doll my mum bought

Craftbombing Inspiration: Blue Butterfly Colony








I saw this magnificent photo





source:  Milky Way Scientists - used with permission



 on KAOS Queen Karen Russell's fb page and went "WOW". It inspired me so much I wondered if Nancy and I could do a jafacraft felt version.









"bolt of blue"

 Here is what we came up with for the Dayton Art Institute. We could have added more felt butterflies, but wanted to save some for another

senile delinquents we presume







Inevitably you always get this one person who is a hater or a wet blanket and like a coward sneaks about cutting down people's art (whether you think it's art or not is beside the point). It is happening in our village with the ys pride craft and yarnbombs and it happens elsewhere. A comment in this article Council says sorry after workman removes Paignton yarnbombs had me in stitches; ""We

FAF Event in Tel Aviv







All sorts of goodies are being sent from around the world to Free Art Friday Event in Israel and this includes two of my painted vinyl records. This one is a stencil of an old pal of mine, George. It's one of my fave images because it's so George. He always had a fag hanging out of his mouth,even when painting plein air.






oil painting on canvas



oil painting on river stone



I think

Yarnbombed garden gnome






I was out and about Saturday morning helping re install some rainbow yarnbombs that had been hacked down (story here). I couldn't resist putting a little yarnbomb on this gnome in a local store.



Monday Morning



and I got up very very early eeeeeek! Time to trike and then work in the studio.







Going back to Dayton Art Institute later this week to yarnbomb with some pals, jafapal

Retro Corner: Painted Stones Old and New


NOTICE

Dear Visitor, thank you for visiting and my apologies. Unfortunately due to the continued infringement, mining and exploitation of my images by individuals, spammers and companies I no longer have the incentive to show my photographs and artwork.



Good Housekeeping NeedleCraft Magazine 

Winter 1968-69



Back in the day yer grannies were painting stones and today we are still painting

Craft Activism and small protest signs


 In our (jafagirls) frustration at the sudden news of ALL the trees being chopped down on the high street section of Xenia Ave in Yellow Springs we did what we often do,turn to our art/craft as a means of expression. So we made 14 or 15 felt patches that have various quotes on them, and attached them to the trees. One was quoted in the Dayton Daily News article Proposed removal of the trees

My Knees Know and Angry Man Attacks Yarnbombs




I can now attest to the fact that the bike trail in Yellow Springs, Ohio does indeed go uphill both ways, phew! What a glorious trail to ride my new trike bike and so lucky to have it nearby.



Local gossip

According to a couple of eye witnesses, 6:30am Friday morning a clean cut looking young man in his mid thirties wielding a knife was marching down Xenia Avenue  angrily hacking down every

East Bay Express:Best Tattoo Shop 2012!



East Bay Express Best of the Bay 2012 "Best Tattoo Shop"!!!!Thank you to all of our loyal clients! 

Hot Morning at the Dayton Art Institute


I won't repeat everything Nancy said on our Jafagirl website, but it was HOT. I've never yarnbombed something so fast in my life, faster than you can say,"don't get yer knicker's in a knot", which I did by the way.



knitting, crochet, applique and embroidery on craft felt 

We did several installations outdoors, the Hero Tree, lights out front, and the Admiral of the Blue tree which is a nod

What Represents YOU!


 Really like the idea of a biographical artifact box, and breaking it down into decades. 

I do feel an unease with the promotion of an product using an artist, but it does beg the question does a product represent you? How would you incorporate that into a display case about YOUR life?





The word context keeps creeping into my thoughts, and what is my art saying, and then I read Andy

Craft Felt Magic




It's amazing what one can do with a little craft felt.  The colours make this POP, don't you think?  Nancy and I drew out designs in red and were trying for the damask baroque wallpaper look. This is  55"x 26" panel for a larger project that I am doing with Jafapal Nancy.  Using gel medium to glue the red pieces on would have worked, but since gel medium now costs an arm and a leg and this was

Felt Tongues and Pens and crafty stuff




I know, I know, it's wierd! It's just that I volunteered to make a collection box for the YSKP, and then I was given three of these papier mache heads instead. Volunteers are going to walk around Cirque Carnival with these in hand. Where on earth am I supposed to put the sign,Feed the Arts?

 Aha, on the tongue.

 Hope they like it.

AND



 and I am doing fabric marker pens for another

Lazy Day Doodles and Sigara börek


Yep, it was Sunday and I just doodled aimlessly, going with the flow.






Sketchbook Page

and in the afternoon 

 Sigara (Cigarette) börek

A Deliciously Simple Pastry Snack







Made with Filo Pastry and Feta Cheese

1/2 lb filo pastry1-1 1/2 cup feta cheese1/2 cup fresh parsley and dill1/2cup veg oil for frying 



In bowl crumble and mix feta cheese with parsley and dill. Lay out three

Holiday Vacation

Happy 4th of July! We will be closed July1-July 4. See ya all Thursday July 5 at 11am!

Busy! Busy!



May and June have been super busy at the shop! What an exciting summer! Brett Baumgart had an amazing art opening at Geo Kayes! His show lassoed him a nice write up in the East Bay Express! We are preparing for the Body Art Expo at the Cow Palace in August....lots of sign making! Heres a sampling of whats been going on at the shop....


East Bay Express Write up on Brett 
TATTOO BY BRETT BAUMGART 
TATTOO BY BRETT BAUMGART 
TATTOO BY MATT DECKER

TATTOO BY MATT DECKER

TATTOO BY MATT DECKER

TATTOO BY DANIELLE SILVA

TATTOO BY DANIELLE SILVA

The Sunny Side of Life






Happy Face Yellow Springs, Ohio

I was really down one day and as I was driving downtown Dayton I saw a happy face someone had painted onto the side of a log by the side of the road. It was so unexpected and I don't know it just made me smile. I don't know if the person who did it realized the impact it might have, maybe they did, but seeing it  cheered me up no end. 

So I decided I would

There Was No Way




I was going to Ann Arbor and NOT get up to a little  guerrilla art mischief.  So our day trip included stops in my fave place, graffiti alley on Liberty Street






where I left a bit free art.

 and then general walkabout 








which included being accosted by greedy little squirrels whose look of disgust was clearly apparent when we had nothing to offer. 

"gimme food, gimme food, gimme,

Day Trip and Decorated Stones













Took a day trip to Ann Arbor Michigan and took along a couple of stones I'd painted to leave around somewhere.

Car music was 



Lunch was at the



Food (I had the Not Just BLT) ambiance and service was excellent.

Here is where I left one stone



Kind of gets lost next to the barber pole, but that is intentional. I like the idea of small surprises in unexpected places.




All in a tither


 I am tied up with a lot of things it seems all of a sudden. I am enjoying helping do my wee bit supporting the local Yellow Springs Pride group with a wee bit rainbow pride yarnbombing. I'm also trying to figure out how to alter large papier mache heads into money boxes for YSKP  who want them for the Cirque Carnival coming up in town.

Working on a secret project but as Geordies say, have to

Narrative Embroidery: A day in a Mining Village


Work In Progress

Mixed Media Embroidery







 paint,feather,embroidery on Linen







 I picked up the crows feather when I was visiting an old mining village in England with my mother and sister. The blue circle is reminiscent of a mining wheel similar to the one in the photo.  As a child I used to see these from my bedroom window in the next  village (Houghton-le-Spring) and watch the bins

On Display Chuck Close Portrait on Stone


On display in the Public Art Box



"Chuck Close"

Next to IN A FRAME on Dayton and Corry Street Yellow Springs



Actually it's more of an oddity box than an art box. Sometimes we (jafagirls) put in art, like the painted portrait on stone above. Other times odd little things such as "pickles goes hunting" seen below in slide show.







QUOTE

"Painting is the most magical of mediums. The

Wordless Wednesday: Niagara Falls Seagull





NOTICE

Dear Visitor, thank you for visiting and my apologies. Unfortunately due to the continued infringement, mining and exploitation of my images by individuals, spammers and companies I no longer have the incentive to show my photographs and artwork.




"huh, you lookin' at me" 




STIKMAN at Niagara Falls






Fun to find STIKMAN aka Bob at Niagara Falls USA, not sure what it is, but it just warms me cockles. On The Trail of the Mysterious STIKMAN explains a little about this funny little robot figure that shows up around the country.We have even had him show up here in Yellow Springs, Ohio.



Not one or two but quite a few on the crosswalks and walls around town. I did an embroidery version of

In the Shadow of Wennut and the Stillness of Stitch




May Wennut make firm your head for you, in shadows respite as the The Rabbit Goddess,the Lady of Unnut turns and rises above me

Holding the two jars,The Black and the White.She anoints my mouth...she anoints my heart and sunlight fills her up and spills in to her soul and she is reborn.



and now for something completely different. Well not quite!







 Ellen sings an aria “Embroidery in

Defying the Morality Police




Got this from Huffington Post and while some say how great it is to be in the west and freedom, let's not be so smug, we are fighting the morality police here in the west too.

A Message to Girls about Religious Men Who Fear You What's at Stake


and that is the tip of the iceberg, there have been hundreds of anti women bills passed or pending across the country.

State by State breakdown. 

Humiliating Revelations












eye of the blackbird



There is something uniquely humiliating and exhausting about
trying to cling onto a friendship that no longer exists as you know it. The realization
creeps up on you after a spiral of painful moments and after desperate clawing through piles of words, making you seem pathetic and needy. It's made all the more worse when all the
actions scream clearly it’s over

She don't Trust Me




"hum, I don't trust you" says henrietta as she looked into the camera and realized I may be lusting for her feathers.






The stitchery continues and I suppose I should call this next series narrative threads since the panels allude to snippets of life.



 Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 






hoot! hoot!



Embroidery Owl, a photo by jafabrit on Flickr.
Just a wee embroidery of a wee owl based on a wee drawing in my sketchbook.

oooooo, that sticky brown stuff and a crisis in New Zealand


yes :) I'm talking about marmite, groan! agaaaaaaaaaaain! The second edition (digital) of the Mish Mash Dictionary by Maggie Hall is now out and will fill all you lovelies in about the Wonderful Wacky World of this much loved and much hated sticky brown stuff. Of course the reason I'm mentioning all this is, well, cough! ta da, I'm one of the contributors (pic of my shrine). I mean, how could I

Free Art Friday Art and Embroidery Pattern






by jafabrit

Somewhere in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Reverse acrylic painting on plastic.

FAF LINKS

Free Art Friday Blog

FAF Community Facebook Page

Copyright Reminder: Free Art Friday is a movement by artists worldwide who gift original art pieces to the public, however they do not give up copyright to their work.


embroidery pattern 





from 1940's workbasket magazine




Public Art and Inspiring Children






Jafapal Nancy and I put up a new yarnbomb in town, and brits will recognize it ;)  More about it here. Told ya I love my marmite.

Above Magazine featured one of our yarnbombs in an article by Sass Brown.



I love this, so sweet.



Mills Lawn students were inspired by our textile totems and did this in front of their school. Deb Housh led the effort in her classes on Urban Design.



Not

Business of Art and Elitism


Joanne Mattera wrote a thought provoking article about artists, the business of art and educating the public.
5 Fears that can destroy an artist
9 Warning Signs of an Amateur Artist

Attended an Art Roundtable Discussion which I really enjoyed and gave me a lot to think about. One word came up that makes some visibly bristle with umbrage, elitist. It's a word that comes up a lot with people who

New Work by Matt Decker and Brett Baumgart

Tattoo by Matt Decker

Tattoo by Matt Decker
Tattoo By Matt Decker

Tattoo by Brett Baumgart "Johnny Cash"
Tattoo by Brett Baumgart


Tattoo By Matt Decker
Tattoo By Matt Decker

Tattoo By Matt Decker



                                                               
                                                          Sleeve in Progress by Matt Decker


Body Beautiful, Colour and Stitch




OH my DROOOOOOOOL! 

 I saw a link to this artist, Yasmina Alaoui and photography by Marco Guerra, via Sass Brown and CHECK it OUT.

Meanwhile back in the studio

I HAD to play with colour



with a bit reverse painting on plastic. Finger painting and dripping and wonderfully messy. 

AND

Yea, finished another needle painting exercise from  Trish Burr's needle painting book.



Here is a nice

In the Mint Garden with Mr. Twombly





more info


My painting experiment of Cy Twombly's abstract Lepanto ended up in the mint garden (yes, I know there are some that think that's where his work belongs), but only ended up there because one patch of resin wasn't mixed properly and remained sticky. A lesson in not rushing when measuring and mixing epoxy resin. Sun shadows and glitter sparkles were GLORIOUS this morning as I picked

A peek at Kehinde Wiley
















The Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia


Image Source CC Wiki



 by Kehinde Wiley


 I've seen his work in the real and they're really beautiful and because of their size also have a majestic presence.

"The artist describes his approach as "interrogating the notion of the master painter, at once critical and complicit." Wiley’s figurative paintings "quote historical sources and position

Strange question about artists




Altered Found Vintage Photo 





"I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know, I held opportunity." 


--Hazel Lee



If you don't know who Hazel Lee is, check out this amazing woman.




I was exploring the issue of seizing the moment and well, it's funny what you come across when meandering

Creativity, The Brain & The Muse


Blog visitor Treena  (thanks) shared a wonderful link from an news article titled Why Preserve Van Gogh's Palette? It's a fascinating peek at how master artists arranged their colours on their palettes and what it says about their working method.



© RMN / H. Lewandowski




What Delacroix's Palette says about him.



Creativity and the Brain





Meanwhile in Jafabrit's Studio,since my muse

Hand Embroidery : A bird for Mr. B






long and short, satin stitch on cotton

Original image source Matt Reinbold CC

I didn't want to finish this so fast, I was so enjoying getting lost in it like I do with painting. I thought a little about the process and I think that even though it might be smart to do a colour chart, it seems I approached it like I do painting. Usually I have some colours picked out, but I like to leave it

A Bird Builds its Nest







Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid
(Bit by bit, a bird builds its nest)



I decided to branch out on my own and try a needle painting embroidery of a bird (thrush). I can't decide which is easier, picking all the colours before you start or picking them out as you go along. Either way it's a real challenge: not comforting like having a colour/stitch guide in an exercise book.
Of course

He went Dotty


and I am not talking about Damien Hirst

but Jim Deitz and his need to paint dots. Of course he had to paint his own, he doesn't have a factory of painters to do his dots.



We, as in the jafagirls, had our moment with dots and did a dotty wotty pole quite a few moons ago.







Of course as with everything, dots are not a NEW idea, and certainly not on houses.

Just check out the dotty wotty

Exhibit at the Little Art Theatre




My very first show in Yellow Springs was at the Little Art Theatre back in 2002.  Jafapal Nancy has taken over the curators job there and I think she may be a little biased ahem! but she picked moi for her first exhibit in her new role as curator :)

I don't have a name for it, but it is a small selection  of hand embroidery pieces. 




Cheers


a bundle of paradoxes














time to get up and get cracking in the studio. 



"The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies  every morning to keep it late." Ogden Nash



LINKS

 My Bed by Tracey Emin (yes, an unmade bed)

Woman in Bed by Ron Mueck (giant sculpture)

Embroidery Figure on

Bullion Stitch: YouTube to the Rescue


It wasn't that I couldn't see how to do it in my little book of embroidery stitches BUT the video shared something the book couldn't, how to slide the stitches along the needle and thread.







I was doing the claws of the little needle painted bird last night and getting my feathers into quite a ruffle trying to figure it out. YEA for YouTube and thanks to dimenstitch for sharing your simple

Free Friday. Girl with Veggie Escorts Pattern






Link for this image available here



LINKS

Floresita at Vintage Transfer Finds and she has a great Flickr page too.

Free Embroidery Patterns at Craft Gossip

35 Free Embroidery Designs at SloDive  




Tea Room and Needle Painting










 We decided to covert the dining room into a small tea room and media room for reading and listening to music. It's a great room for light to sit next to the window and embroider. We got tired of this lovely room being used for one purpose and taken up with a huge dining set. 



 Needle Painting is coming along very nicely and I love the quiet time as I do it.





It's true creating is

Needle Painting: bird





more info


It is very time consuming, but not the actual stitching. It's getting all the colours organized and labeled correctly and setting them up so one does NOT get into a kerfuffle. I am enjoying exploring new ways of doing embroidery, and hope by the end of the year my doodle cloth has plenty of new stitches.



Reading: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and one review said if one is going to

Studio Shelf






The painting is finished and will sit on the shelf for a couple of months to dry before I figure out the way I want it framed.



I got this lovely book for my birthday



I had seen a link about it on one of my fave blogs, "feeling stitchy", and thought it would be fun exploring needle painting on my doodle cloth.



Interesting Article in New York ART called "how to make It in the Art

What do feminists look like?


I'm always astonished when I hear someone ask that question. Some of the views are strange, check these one's out.

 That anyone has to ask it just goes to show the propaganda has worked ;)



Reductio ad Hitlerum



Photograph of Vintage Embroidery manipulated on adobe with added tie dye,  embellished with embroidery and ribbon edging. Quote is  R.L.



LINKS

Media Matters-outrageous claims

Free Vintage Embroidery: Girl with Silver Knife




Enjoy!



Please go to flickr page to get pattern


The Lights are Too Bright








Embroidery of Sunglasses 



I read an interesting commentary about artists wanting attention and I sort of agree in that yes, there are some who want to be famous, some hope the work is famous, and some who love to share what they do, etc.  What I don't agree with is the notion that by virtue of displaying one's work on blogs or elsewhere artists just want attention for themselves, or are

New Work by Brett Baumgart

Salvador Dali by Brett Baumgart

Lipstick by Brett Baumgart

New Tattoo by Brett Baumgart

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