Five Foot Fat Baby on Silk is Resisted

Gotta love that title! Progress is going good on the nine silk paintings for the custom order. The 4 with words are done and resist has been applied to four of the nearly 5' square characters; the Monkey, Bathing Beauty, Super Hero and the Fat Baby. Today I need to work on my Taxes but if I get that finished up I am going to work on the sketch for the fifth character which is a headless guy in a Model T car. Then I will need to steam each one in the silk steamer (1½ hours for each painting) to set the resist before I can apply the dye.

The Monkey and the Fat Baby will have face holes cut out so the actor can poke his face through the hole. With the other the actors head will be above the silk painting providing the face for the characters.

Below is the sketch on paper of Fat Baby. When I put her on the silk I added polka dots to the blanket, more detail on the bottle and extra ruffles on her bonnet.

Below is Fat Baby on silk. The black resist lines have been applied and now she needs to be steamed. The  face hole will be cut out at the very end.

Hanging Silk Paintings for the Latchis Show

Here are some photos of Don and our good friend Tony hanging my paintings on silk at the Latchis Thearre on Main Street in Brattleboro. They will be on display for the month of April, including Gallery Walk.

My Love For You is a Stampede of Horses. P.S. It's not Cancer!

Dear Universe,

Moments ago I found out that the thing that is inside me, that has been causing me to bleed for 40 days, that I am told must come out of me, is NOT CANCER!!!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The moment I got the news I was filled with this overwhelming sense of love for my husband. I was so keenly aware of how much I loved him and how much a part of me he is that it felt as if I had just been told that HE did not have cancer. Nothing else seemed to matter, just Don and I , me and Don and we are going to be ok. I am soooooo..... in love with my husband! Wow..... wow... I don't have cancer :-)

After I told Don, I sat down at the computer to email a couple of friends that were waiting on the results and my “dear ada” blog feed came through with a link to Meighan O'toole's "My Love For You...." Blog (see link below) . It was joy on top of joy as this explosion of creative eye candy caused an already stimulated me to go into creative overdrive. I love this blog! I love the art, the commentary, the abundance of creative links! I LOVE my husband, my family, my dogs, my friends, I LOVE that I don’t have cancer! And I love you dear Universe, as impossible, unpredictable, and painfully beautiful as you can be, my love for you is like a stampede of horses!

Yours, For as Long as You Let Me Stay,
Linda

Visit Meighan's blog and prepare to have your creative circurt breaker blown at least once or twice:
My Love for You... is an art blog curated by Meighan O'Toole. Cataloging low brow and contemporary art, My Love for You features Q&A's, studio visits and daily posts about artists from all over the world. http://myloveforyou.typepad.com/my_love_for_you/

A Super Hero, a Bathing Beauty, and a Monkey Walk into an Artists Studio.....

I got the black resist lines applied to three of the nearly 5' square characters that I am painting on silk for a custom order. They still need to be steamed , have the dye applied and then steamed again.

They are to be used in a stage show of some sort and the actor will hold up the headless ones with his head providing the face of the character. The Monkey will have a face hole cut out and the actor will peek his face through the hole. I still have two characters left to draw will do some sketches of the last two tomorrow.

April Gallery Walk: Eighteen Paintings on Silk by Linda Marcille

First Friday Gallery Walk: Paintings on Silk by Linda Marcille at the Latchis Theatre throughout the Month of April

18 paintings on silk by artist Linda Marcille will be on display at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro for the First Friday Gallery Walk and throughout the month of April.

Linda is an award winning artist whose paintings on silk have been sold internationally. Her silk paintings are created using the highest quality steam set French dyes from Europe, the finest crepe de chine silk from China and a one of a kind resist made only in New Zealand. She has taken an ancient Asian art form and infused it with her own joyful and whimsical style. Linda’s original paintings on silk as well as her limited edition prints are available locally through Vermont Artisans Designs on Main Street in downtown Brattleboro. Linda also creates limited quantities of silk scarves which she sells only through wholesale accounts, online, or at her Brattleboro studio.

You can see more of Linda's silk art on her website at  http://www.crowhousestudio.com/

Please visit Linda's Studio page on Facebook and click on the "Become a Fan" link!:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Marcille-Crow-House-Studio/31337354316?ref=s

Still Working on the 54 x 54 Silk Paintings for Stage Show

So I have been working on this custom order for 8 large silk paintings that will be used by an actor on stage. The four 36" x 36" paintings with words are done and now I am moving onto the 8 larger 54" x 54" ones and they are big pieces of silk in my small studio!

In the photo below I have put my sketch onto a transparency via the computer and I am using an overhead projector to transfer that sketch onto the silk.

In this photo I am touching up the sketch (This is actually a different drawing in this photo)

Below I am applying the black resist lines to the silk with a tiny air compressor. I normally work on silk paintings flat like watercolors but in this case the paintings are too large to reach into the center when laid flat.

Below the resist has been applied to the entire drawing and I am allowing it to cure before I steam it. It will be rolled in interfacing and paper and placed in a silk steamer for 2 hours to set the resist lines.

Silk Painting Photos: Sketching, Dyeing, Salting, Rolling & Loading the Steamer

Sketching on a large silk square with a water soluble quilters pencil. The light grey lines will disolve when the finished painting is washed

Sprinkling salt on wet dye for a cool effect.

Dribbling alcohol onto the dried dye, another cool effect

Rolling the silk in interfacing and paper for steaming

The rolled silk ready for the steamer

Don filling the steamer with water and loading the silk roll

The loaded silk roll. The steamer is then covered with layers of paper &

a towel to avoid drips landing on the roll

The finished silk painting hanging in the sun drying

The International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters

I am posting some photos of the Spring 2010 issue  of the International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters Journal. The Guild of Silk Painters is a non-profit organization that promotes the art of silk painting. I have long been a fan of this organization and recently was asked if I would display my paintings on silk in the Spring issue. When the Journal arrived I saw that they had used one of my silk paintings on the cover as well as giving my work a 2 page glossy spread inside.

The Silk Painters Guild is based in Great Britain but its members come from all over the world. The silk painting galleries on their website showcase the world’s finest silk painters and are so inspirational. Please visit their website and consider becoming a member. The Guild of Silk Painters website can be found at: http://www.silkpainters-guild.co.uk/

Click on photos to enlarge

Rejoice in Your Wellness

I have so many creative ideas, so much I want to do in the studio and most days I am paralyzed with fatigue and pain. I dream about paintings and projects that I want to do every night only to find myself too exhausted to start them the next day. I am spending a lot of time homebound again, which I normally don’t mind as long as I can work in the studio, but when I can’t create every hour passes like days. My temper grows short and I am a misery to be around on those days. I am reading piles of books on using the mind to heal, positive thinking, illness without suffering, but this stealth pathogen that has invaded me does not seem to care about that.

I am really struggling with this bacterial dye off and the resulting autoimmune reaction. My Dr said I may have to stop the meds again to let my system calm down a bit but if I do then the whole process gets dragged out even longer because I have to restart at the beginning. She said it takes some people years to get up to the full dose for the time needed to kill off the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria. I have 4 medical appointments next week and I am down in the dumps lately, I really believed I would feel better by now. I feel so sad that this infection continues after 10 years, I want to be well again.

So many people are suffering with this disease and so many of them write to me and tell me how misunderstood and isolated they feel. I wish I could do more to help. I started the Lyme Awareness Art Project (LAAP) to give people with Neuroborriliosis (Advanced Neurological Lyme Disease) a creative outlet but aside from the online gallery I created for them: http://www.lymeawarenessartproject.com/ , I really don’t have the energy to promote more shows for all the artwork and poetry they have submitted right now.

People with a debilitating chronic illness that causes pain 24/7, doesn’t allow for sleep or even decent rest are often difficult to be around. They are often exhausted, in pain, depressed and can get really negative and cross. If you are a person that is blessed with health ask yourself this: “Is there something I can do to help someone I know that is suffering”. Do you have a talent or gift that you can share? If you are an artist make a creative art card and hand deliver it. Bake a healthy treat, often people with chronic illness are no longer able to do any baking for themselves. Ask them if they need a ride to go shopping or to a Doctor’s appointment. Sometimes it is worth more than words can say to just go sit with someone, just be there to listen and to offer your support.

As you move through your day today rejoice in your wellness, really feel the blessing of health in your body, then draw from that spacious place and reach out to someone that is suffering.

Building a Homemade Silk Steamer (For Steamset Dyes on Silk)

UPDATE 3/2018: I get a lot of questions on this post but this steamer was built back in 2010 so I don't remember much about how it was built. I now use Dharma's horizontal stove top steamer and Jacquard's vertical bullet steamer because I found the temperature hard to regulate in these homemade steamers.

Don built me a silk steamer for the custom project I was working on. He does such a nice job on the projects he does for me and has such an eye for detail that I thought I would share the process in photos.

You can click on the photos to enlarge them.