Hexies: A Long Time Coming

Just finished my quilt top of African Wax hexies.  The colors are a little more intense and pure than appear in this photo. I have been gathering materials, cutting out hexies and sewing for most of a year now.  I like a generous quilt so this quilt top is a little larger than a king size is usually but this one is for a queen bed.  I hope to find someone with a long arm to quilt the layers for me.

Getting Ready for the Kentucky Derby

One of the families in Ghana has decided to host a Kentucky Derby event.  We can not go to the actual derby of course, but we are all looking forward to this event with the seriousness of people going to the real thing.  This is the first derby for many of us.  The women have been searching for the perfect hat in the local markets and visiting milliners.  Click here to check out some local hats. 

I found a local fabric shop with sinamay, a woven, flexible plant material used in hat making, and decided to try to make my own fascinator.  Dee's videos were super helpful on sinamay and other hat making information.  Aside from the feathers, I crafted all of the items on my hat including the flower.  The peach flower is made from cut shapes of peach polyester and cream silk.  I stiffened the fabric with Stiffy and sewed the layers together.  Coiled wire rimmed ribbons make the little silver flowers peaking out.

The outfit is just as important as the hat, and I wanted to highlight one of my fabric designs.  This box pleat skirt is made from my Boho Blossoms Elegant Blush and Sage Petite in Organic Cotton Sateen Ultra. 
And lastly, SALE!
Get 15% off of yardage of any fabrics through 10 am, May 9th EDT.

Artist Spotlight: Maryse Lörtscher

Mosaic Series, March 2014, watercolor, collage, ink, pencils by Maryse Lörtscher 

January 2015

Recently I was able to connect with Maryse Lörtscher, someone who lived in Senegal when I first arrived.  I did not get to know her there but friends connected us in Ghana.   Like me, Maryse is a world traveler.  She has lived in Mali, Haiti, Oman, Senegal, Indonesia, Egypt as well the United States where she will be moving shortly.
Marsyse studied biochemistry in her early years and later studied art, first obtaining a BFA in printmaking/drawing then an MFA in painting.  Her printmaking background predisposes her to create a lot of series on a theme.


detail

I discussed with her some of her thoughts behind her artwork.  She reflected that her interests studying biology and chemistry early on perhaps explain how her work evolves to sometimes microcosmic renditions.  She also mentioned that her mixed media- collages and painting- derive from the interest in "shadowing the information", something is erased and to writing that she refers to as asemic writing or pseudo writing.  She explained 'My work refers to altered communication.  You can see ghost images through and then make connections between the marks, symbols, images and text.  Trace of memories and events in my life.'
 

detail

Collaged images layer in combination with paint and the psydocalligraphy to peek through.  Those collaged elements come from museum pamphlets acquired from all over the world, her late father's stamp collection and magazines collected during her travels.  Many of her works have a strong fiber or fabric element as well.  She mentioned that quilters frequently pin her work on Pinterest as inspiration.  Color play is also a strong mark of her work.

The painting below, Writing on the Wall, symbolizes the signs of events to come, good and bad.  Many of her works are stories and expressions of her internal musings.  Maryse, however, prefers viewers to tell their own stories when looking at her work.  She says 'I don't consider my interpretation of my work to be the best.  My work is not there to pass on a message.'


Writing on the Wall 2011

More of her work can be found on her Facebook page or her website.

You can also view many more works and follow her work on Pinterest. 

*note Maryse spells her surname alternate ways, Lortscher and Loertscher.

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

recent works on paper

watercolor, ink and collage

My Daughter's Art Card

My daughter came up with the idea of making an art card with many pages.  She had a vision of what she wanted this card to be.  She drew her shapes, colored some pieces in and directed me to place patterns using a limited set of colors in other areas. For some pages she cut out elements and arranged them in new ways.  It took us several hours but I am proud she persisted in her vision.  I hope you will enjoy her work as much as I did. Here are all seven pages in order.
I think her former art teacher, Jane Reiter may have had some influence on this project. 

Ghanain Artist Profile and Class with Oko-Matey

Our teacher, Oko-Matey, speaking. 

Eat and Paint is an events group combining creating art and dinner organized the sculpting and painting workshop I attended.  The session was led by Artist Oko-Matey a graduate and former Lecturer at College of Art at the Kwame Nikrumah University in Kumasi.   He recently returned from a fellowship in Oakton, Wisconsin.  His artwork combines relief sculpture and painting on wood, cement, and metal.  Oko-Matey focuses on integrating traditional themes of Ghanaian visual art into a contemporary idiom.
We explored woodcarving and painting on a plank of wood with.  In addition to this enjoyable class we were all treated to an excellent, gourmet dinner at the Roots Hotel Apartment Sky Deli.   You can contact Eat and Paint here or call Fredrick, 027 442 0466. Photo essay below.

Oko-Matey's painted and carved work.



Plank series by Oko-Matey, paint on sculpted wood.

A prepared sample plank by Oko-Matey.

 

Our planks set up for our class.

Carving and painting supplies prepared.



We begin with some sketches on the plank in chalk.



Getting started on my plank.

A couple participants with gouges (the cutting tool)
and wood to pound it to carve into the wood.



A break for some dinner, spicy chilled soup,
wine (not shown) and various finger foods.
Crème Brule or rice pudding for dessert.
Don't let the small plate fool you.  There was plenty. 

My painting complete! I call it Love Maybe.

What to wear to the concert

At Sprout Patterns, one can use any of the Spoonflower patterns to customize unique clothing. 
This month the Moneta Dress is 20% off with the code MONTETAMADNESS.  These dresses strike me as being particularly great outfits for going out for an evening.  Bonus:  Free US and International shipping through March as well on orders over $100.
Presenting:  What to wear to the concert.....

Afrocuban Retro Sleeveless Moneta Dress

This dress invokes the hot nights and hot rhythms of Afrocuban beats.  Get your dance on.

Collar: Solid Mint by Littlearrowdesign, Dress: African Visage Spring by Bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

Island Breeze Short Sleeve Moneta Dress

A fresh, breezy dress for listening to the mellow sounds of the steelpan band.

Dress: Tropical Paradise Scatter with Blue Mosaic Background by bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

 

Coffeehouse Acoustic 3/4 Sleeve Moneta Dress

Casual yet stylish threads to wear to open mic night.

Dress: Boho Blossoms Elegant Blush and Sage Large by bloomingwyldeiris

 or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

 

And if dresses aren't your thing, Sprout Patterns also has shirts.

Bluegrass Blues

Wear your love for Bluegrass on your sleeve.

Shirt: Strumming the Strings Blue by bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here. 



Batik Ghana Style

Using a wood stamp dipped in wax as a resist

Batik is a method of wax resist to dye to create designs on fabric.  Batik was popular in Senegal but motifs tended to be smaller than in Ghana, and really tie-dye was just as popular. In Ghana, batik is very popular and the motifs tend to be larger. Often two or more colors or designs may be used on the same fabric.  Adrinka symbols are common.
I participated in a workshop, organized by NAWA as a fundraiser for New Horizons School.  Our workshop leaders, Mariama, Bernice and Denise work with the school and teach this workshop regularly to organizations as well as the students of the school.
We were each given two yards of white cotton fabric and were allowed to select from a wide variety foam and wood wax stamps.  The stamp faces ranged from about three inches to approximately 1 foot square.  Mariama gave us each a turn with the stamps to see if we were more comfortable with the wood or foam.  Wood stamps are only good for one go while the foam absorbs more wax and can be used repeatedly before needing to be dipped again.  The foam takes a little more practice to control.  I ended up using one design from each material.

Mariama ironed my fabric before we left (she ironed all of them.)

After the first pass of the design, the fabric soaks for a couple minutes in cold water to harden the wax and then goes into the dye vat.  After a few minutes in the vat, it's out to the lawn to dry in the sun.  Once the fabric dries, it's time for round too.  Again stamping, again soaking and then the next dye.  The second dye easily overdyed the previous color and so only the new stamped resist is the first dye color.
Bernise and Denise were the pros at dyeing. 
After the second round dyeing and drying, our fabric goes in to a huge boiling pot of water where the wax melts and floats to the top.  There it is skimmed off to be used again.  Next the fabric is rinsed, and more wax floats off.  To finish, fabric is then washed, rinsed again and then ironed.
All of this process was completed without electricity.  We melted the wax and heated the water over charcoal fires.


warm wax on the grill

the dyes and gloves

new foam stamps

the first dye vat, it started golden and turned pink

Getting a good look at the progress so far with the 2nd stamping

drying after the 2nd dye

Mariama cleaning the wax off with boiling water

trying to wash the rest of the wax off

our class fabric drying on the line

designs from the New Horizons school shop