Self Portrait Progress

I suppose some of you are interested in how the self portrait is coming. As I thought, it is tedious and I have to limit myself to one small section at a time or I get a headache from all those tiny pieces. As with most of my art quilts, it went though a period where I didn't think it was going to work and looked very odd. However, I am pressing on and it is slowing developing into something I rather like.

It is still a bit wonky but that's because I have to finished certain sections first before I can sew it all together so right now you are also seeing 1/4 inch seam allowances around sections. I'll show you the finished product soon!

People Watching

Another of my goals for this year was to draw people. I need a whole lot of practice and while the ideal would be to draw from life, I feel like I need to start with people who are not moving. While out on my walks these past few weeks, I have been discreetly photographing people dressed in their warm winter outerwear. Then when I get home, I draw from my photos. As yet I haven't been putting a lot of detail in my sketches so I can concentrate on the shapes, body language and clothing.

The seated guy was drawn from life as I waited in the hospital during my sister's surgery. He was on his I-pad the whole time so he didn't move much.

This little guy was done from a photo in a magazine.

Sketching Field Trip

I have been on the lookout for a cozy place to sketch where the atmosphere is quaint, where there is interesting subject matter and perhaps a few people to sketch. Sketching outdoors in the Canadian winter just doesn't work. Today, the temperature was -11C with a wind chill of -16C. Not only would my fingers freeze but so would everything else plus the ink in my pen.

A friend of mine told me of a place that made and sold butter tarts that was not far from my home. I had forgotten about this place until I read about it in our local newspaper last week. I took down the address and decided to go out for a coffee and a butter tart.

This coffee shop is small and quaint and loaded with antiques and an eclectic mix of tables and chairs. I found a small table for two right beside the display case filled with every flavour of butter tart you could imagine. I ordered a coffee and a lemon butter tart, sat down and gazed around the place to find something to sketch. There was so much there! I decided that for my first time in this place I would just sketch my coffee and butter tart.

I did feel a bit self conscious but squashed the desire to finish my treats and leave without sketching. I took out the sketchbook and began. It wasn't going well at first but I admonished myself to keep at it. I was the only patron in the place and the owners were busy putting a huge order together to deliver that day so they left me alone.

It is not my best work, the mug is a bit wonky but today the success was not in the sketch, it was in the fact that I stepped out of my comfort zone, found the place, ordered something and sketched. When I was at the register to pay, I had a really nice conversation with the owner, Michelle, about art and fabric. I now have a bit of a relationship with her and when she sees me again (the next time I go there) she'll know I will most likely take out my sketchbook, order coffee and a butter tart and sit there for an hour documenting her shop. As you can see from the sketch, the shop is called Tartistry. I like the name!

This is a pecan butter tart that I bought for my husband. He loves pecan pie.

Attempting a Small Art Quilt

One of my goals for 2019 was to make 3 small art quilts. The subject for my first one is a self-portrait. I've been taking a ton of selfies and clearly I don't know how to do that well because I really didn't get one that I liked. I finally chose one and did a watercolour painting from the photo.

Not sure it looks anything like me but it is a portrait and a subject I have been wanting to try in the technique I use for my quilts.

Because this is a small art quilt, only 9"X 9", my pieces are miniscule such that I don't even have room on the pattern to write numbers or colour codes in them. I had to find a different way plot the fabric colours and sewing order on the plan.

I decided to work out the pattern and then I photocopied it. On the photocopy I put the sewing order numbers and on the actual pattern, I used different coloured pencils to colour in the areas of different fabrics I chose.

Making a small quilt does make a difference in the time it takes to plot out a pattern but today I started the sewing and I have a feeling this could take some time. We'll see.

Inspired by the Homes in my Neighbourhood

As you know, I like to go for walks. I go for exercise but also for inspiration. If I have time I walk outside my neighbourhood but if I can only take a short walk, I stay within my neighbourhood. The area where I live is called Thistletown and it used to be the area that the Toronto dwellers came for vacation. This was the early cottage country along the West Humber river. There are many small cottages that still exist here and there are other older brick houses too. Lately the large properties here are being sold and larger homes are being built. The neighbourhood is changing.

I think some of the homes here are really interesting and the area is eclectic. I was inspired on one of my walks to do sketches of the homes as a way of preserving them. I don't know how many I will complete but I sketched two in December.

This first one is one of the smallest homes in the area. I'm sure this one was considered a cottage. It is a wooden structure.

The second is a brick home but it looks very regal and neat. It is always well-kept and seems as if it is an older home. I've posted my process in which I first sketch with pencil, then I go over the pencil with a uniball pen with waterproof ink and then I used watercolour pencils to colour it in and afterwards added water to blend the colours.

I also printed off copies of each sketch and placed them in the mailbox of the home owners as a keepsake for them.