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In the Middles

First small experiment in a possible new inquiry (thank you, Michelle Nyberg):

• limited palette,
• fusible fabric (thank you, MaryAnn Shupe),
• printing with botanicals (slim pickings in New England in March!).

Finding Quiet in the Middles of a Day
3.5 x 3.5″; acrylic, oil pastel, and fabric collage on art journal page
floral
2024


14 responses to “In the Middles”

  1. imajenationgmailcom Avatar
    imajenationgmailcom

    oh man oh man! I tried to leave a comment twice, but it didn’t seem to go through. So here is what I said:

    Printing with botanicals! WHOA! Yes, please! Finding quiet in the middles…yes to that, too. xo Lola Jovan sparkle seeker, explorations of the ineffable

    Website http://www.lolajovan.com | Facebook http://facebook.com/lolajovanart | Artfinder http://artfinder.com/jen-walls | Instagram http://instagram.com/lolajovanart

    Like

    1. Comment received! Here’s what I THINK may have happened: I signed out of and back in at WordPress since last I posted, so today WordPress thought you were a new commenter (silly WP) and sent your comment to my email first so I could APPROVE you (um, YES, I APPROVE), and THEN you were IN. Hoops, so many hoops. Thank you for jumping through, sparkle seeker!!!

      It was fun to snip the tiniest bits of botanicals from my yard—pussywillow, azalea, juniper, and some kind of ground cover. I loved how imprecise and delicate the marks were!

      And yes to quiet in the middles; painting was what let me find quiet after a smidgen of kerfuffle had me a bit agitated in one of the middles of today.

      Like

  2. cheryldmcbride Avatar
    cheryldmcbride

    This is outstanding!

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  3. Joyful Puttering Avatar
    Joyful Puttering

    OK…where do I start?

    Love the title….finding quiet in the middles is always a goal.

    Love the piece with the limited pallet. Soft and pretty with just the right pop of color.

    Love your use of the fused fabric. Such a great pop of color and the different texture makes it special. And the fact that you painted a bit onto it makes it flow so well. 

    FYI….I press botanicals from the summer….and I can use them all winter in my printing. 

    Well done Dotty! I’m smiling ear to ear!

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    1. So grateful for all your welcome feedback, MaryAnn!

      Finding quiet when I did in my studio was just the right tonic in today’s middles.

      I had to exercise restraint a few times to stick with my limited palette; very glad I did.

      It was with SUCH JOY that I used fused fabric in this piece! I love feeling connected to you as I use my treasured snippets, and it’s fun knowing that, even though THOUSANDS of scraps of every sort have passed through your hands, you’d recognize that fabric even if I didn’t credit you! : )

      Your nod to the pop of color of the fabric, its different texture, and the fact that I painted a bit onto it for flow was affirming.

      Finally, thank you for the tip re pressing botanicals from the summer. Will do! Do you have a press? or do you press between book pages or the like?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Joyful Puttering Avatar
        Joyful Puttering

        Again…well done! I do press my leaves and flowers in books…although I do have a small flower press somewhere. Books are just easier. Once they are dry….I keep some of them hand in a tray. But I do love finding a perfectly pressed leave month and months later. 

        And once I’ve printed with them and they are covered in acrylic paint they sometimes even last longer. I use them over and over. I just printed with a palm branch that I found in my high school scrapbook. 

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  4. MaryAnn, thanks for the additional info here. I look forward to eye-spying, harvesting, drying, printing, and sharing!

    Like

  5. Love this, Dotty! The quiet palette. The marks, the splatter, and that glorious little fabric vase! And you used your comb! I’m trying to figure out what you used to make the black oval marks. I am sure it is something really interesting. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Sheila. I like your referring to this as a “quiet” palette. The entire arrangement in the vase was made by painting botanicals from my yard and pressing/printing them onto the paper—what you refer to as splatter comes from touching down lightly with sprigs of juniper, and the ovals come from sprigs of azalea leaves (just the edges printed v. the entire leaf). What you see as comb marks (the very light teal?) come from a texture pad sent to me several years ago … by YOU! Fun all the way around!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. So awesome! Thank you for all of the details, Looking again! I am so glad you liked the texture pad. It really looks like comb marks here. 🙂 More often than not, I use my comb to make stamped marks. But years ago, I did paint an old dresser using it to make soft waves. I used a white, and a champagne so the stripes were subtle.

        Love your shapes from nature, Dotty! xoxo

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  6. Sheila, glad you had fun going back for a second look!

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  7. LOVELY, to see the fabric experiments. VERY inspiring!

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    1. Thanks, Simone! The fabric experiments have been so much fun to explore. Always new angles to learn about.

      Like

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