Pulled off Course

I was deep in the process of my new silk painting when I got pulled off course by a health set back and then company. The company was my sister from Connecticut whom I have not seen in far too long. We had a wonderful few days together and laughed a lot. She shared some childhood photos with me and I was delighted by them. I felt so sad when she left, we have become so close in the second half of our lives.

After Cindy left on Thursday Don & I then went on the First Friday Gallery Walk here in Brattleboro. The weather was awesome and there were lots of bands and street musicians playing for entertainment as well as all the wonderfully diverse art on display.

 

We saw this little pooch riding on the back of a motorbike with goggles on as we drove down to gallery walk on Friday.

On Saturday  we went to Brattstock. Brattleboro's version of Woodstock. It was a wonderful summer day and we sat in the shade of ancient trees in dappled sunlight enjoying the musical talents of some of Brattleboro's finest musicians. We had the dogs with us and they seemed to enjoy the outing as much as we did. I will try to upload some of the Brattstock photos tomorrow.

Monday I have 2 Doctors appointments but I am hoping after that to put some serious time into my silk paintings this week. I would like to get the resist applied and steamed by Tuesday, time will tell ;~)

TAFA List and the Awesome Page they Published for Me!!!!

I just became a member of TAFA (The Textile and Fiber Art List) and they made me the most comprehensive listing on their website. I am so impressed with the detail and sheer volume of information that goes into the members pages on this site. Here is a link to my page, I hope you will check it out and leave a comment for me!!! Click this link to see my page. My Silk Painting Page on TAFA

I have been sick the last 2 days and was up with tremors all night last night. That has not happened in a long time and I am wondering if it is a relapse from the Lyme induced autoimmune disease??? So anyway I did not get much more done on my silk painting and I am not sure if I will be able to work on it today. Feel a bit like I was run over by a truck!

Creating a Color Sketch with Dyes on Paper for my Silk Painting

Today I mixed up some dyes and painted a small color sketch to plan out the colors I will be using on my current silk painting. The photo above shows my original large sketch and the smaller color sketch that I created today. I had planned to do a couple of versions but I was so happy with the first one that I am going to use it as my guide. This sketch was created with dyes on cheap copy paper, the dyes on silk will actually respond very differently, but it gives me a guide to go by when choosing and mixing my dyes.

Working on Fall and Winter Sketches for Silk Paintings

I have put away the scarf racks and silk screens and today I started working on sketches for my next silk painting. Hard to believe that I need to hurry to get some fall and winter paintings done because it is so darn hot! But it is nearly August and I need to get some new work ready for the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons.
 
Don came home early and snapped some photos of me working on it in my studio. I need to wear the therapeutic glove when I work because the autoimmune disease has wreaked havoc with my hands.

 Well, there it is, the sketch is finished, now I just need to trace it onto the silk and apply the resist and dyes. I always feel a little overwhelmed and under confident at this point. Time will tell!

My Scarves & Prints are Currently Featured in 5 Etsy Treasuries

My scarves and prints are currently being featured in 5 Etsy Showcase Treasuries. Check them out via the 4 links below:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c2a4a633d6d8eef76e29f44/waterwater-everywhere-not-a-drop-to

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c45b3483f476d91aa615b28/laundry-day

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4847c0ea5f8eefa249cf42/celestial-glow?index=0

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c4b33c34a9f8eef8703300f/blue-waves?index=16 

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c42857e57e06d9171958371/summer-in-new-england
 
Don't miss my Christmas in July and August sale on Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/silkartisan

Christmas in July & August Sale on Etsy!

Huge Christmas in July Sale on Etsy!!!! Limited edition prints of my silk paintings are $25.00 (reg. $35.00). All silk scarves are listed at reduced prices. There are also Art Magnets as low as $3.99 and Mini-Prints for $12.95. Christmas is 5 months away so stock up and save!!!!! If you see a print on my Crow House Studio website (http://www.crowhousestudio.com/ ) that you love, email me and I will list it on Etsy at the sale price for you!

Vist my Etsy shop and take advantage of the Christmas in July & August Sale at this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/silkartisan

Creating Color Mockups in Photoshop CS4

I have been fooling around with color choices in Photoshop and for the most part I have been inporting a scanned color sketch and using the Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, Chanel Mixer, and Selective Color tools but my friend Angel from Muse Silk Painting was doing some really cool things with color mock ups in Illustrator and she gave me the idea that there was a simpler way to change color in Photoshop. I started poking around in PS today I discovered the "Replace Color" Tool and it is a blast to use! Here are some simple directions on how to use it that I found on Bair Art Edition's website.

Bair Art Edition's Tutorial on:
Adjusting Color & Exposure
In Adobe Photoshop

Color Adjustment: Replace Color

If the Hue/Saturation tool isn't giving you the fine-tuned color adjustment that you desire, then you may consider using the Replace Color adjustment. This tool is not as preferred as the Hue/Saturation tool because it can't be made into an adjustment layer. If at all possible, first try using the Hue/Saturation tool and use the hue guides to fine tune what you are adjusting. If that doesn't work, do this:

Make a copy of the background layer, you will be permanently changing the file information, and don't want to do it to the background. This is done in the layers palette by dragging the background into the new layer icon. Or in the layer menu: Layer/ Duplicate Layer... Name the new layer, for example, Replace Green.

Click this link to read the rest of this article on the authors website: http://www.bairarteditions.com/pages/tutorials/photoshop/cbreplace.html