Search Results for: heron fabric painting

Jon and I talked about taking the holiday off and decided we’d stop working early and spend the afternoon together.  But it’s a dreary day and we both ended up working longer than we intended.

Not that either of us is surprised. I got into working on my heron fabric painting and Jon wrote a meaningful piece about beginning life anew, something we both seem to be doing again and again since we found each other.

I prepped the backing for my heron.

I chose an old quilt for the backing and this morning I sewed the sleeve to hang it by and the batting on the back of it. I always hand sew the sleeve because I don’t the line a sewing machine stitch makes across the top of the backing.

I cut a template for the semi-circle the heron is standing on.  I will be cutting away some of the backing to expose a blue piece of fabric behind the lower part of the heron’s legs. And I cut out the drawing I did of the heron and will trace around it to get a silhouette of the bird to work from.

When I first drew the heron, it got bigger and bigger as I made corrections to it.  The neck and legs both needed to be longer. I thought it was too big and  I kept trying to draw it smaller, but every time I drew it, it came out the same size.

I finally relented and accepted that this was how it was supposed to be.

Today when I looked at it hanging on the wall for the first time, I didn’t think it was too big at all.

After doing this work, I needed a break. Although some planning is helpful, like knowing which pieces should be sewn down first and knowing I’ll be cutting away some of the backing I felt like I was doing too much planning.  I don’t want the piece to lose its spontaneity.

So we had lunch then I took a walk in the rain with the dogs.

It was just what I needed to clear my head. When I got back I knew I had chosen the wrong blue fabric and which one I wanted to use instead.  I also found a piece of material that I think will work perfectly for the semi-circle that heron is standing on.

But I’m going to leave that for another day.

It’s already close to dinner time and even though we didn’t take the time off we intended, it will be nice to stop working after dinner and cozy up in the house together, reading and watching the rain.

Yesterday, after I made my bee and was disappointed with it, I went to the Battenkill for a swim.  It was hot here and the river is always cool.  I wanted to float for a while.

When I got to my usual swimming hole, there were two men there.  One on the small beach of pebbles and one in the parking lot drinking a beer.  Usually when I go to the river there might be an older couple sitting on low chairs or a family with kids.

The swimming hole is small and I didn’t feel comfortable being there with the two men.  So I turned my car around and drove a little further to the Georgi museum.  A small park with access to the same river.

At the Georgi there was a couple on the lawn and  three women swimming.  I dove into the water which was cool and shallow, what I would expect for this time of year. I swam for a while then decided to walk further up the river and catch the current which would bring me back to where I had been.

I was wading through the low water, walking slow on the rocky river bottom when a white egret flew right over my head.  Then it circled around  twice and landed on the opposite bank of the river right in front of me.

I stood still watching it for a  while then walked toward it to the place in the river I was originally headed. This egret must have been very used to people because it was only when I was about ten feet away that it took off.

But it did go far, just to a log about twenty feet down river.

I caught the current letting it carry me back to where I started thinking the whole time about the egret.

As I walked back to the car I decided I wasn’t ready to go home, so I took a foot path through the brush to a rock formation jutting out into the river.  I stood looking for the best place to sit and put my feet in the water when once again the egret flew right over my head low enough so I could see its legs and feet stretched out along its belly.

Again it circled over head twice.  This time it disappeared in the trees on the other side of the river.

When I got home I looked up egret in the book Animal Speak  and learned that an egret is a kind of heron.

Now I knew what I was going to do.

When I made the bee yesterday I’d been thinking about the ravens who have been visiting the farm and the green heron that I’ve been watching all summer.

When I first saw the heron I had no idea what kind of bird it was.  I only knew it was something I’d never seen before.  It would sit in the trees on the edge of the farm, crying out, then fly straight over the barnyard and out of sight.

Using the Merlin bird identification app I learned the bird was a juvenile green heron.

It seemed every time I was outside, the green heron would fly over and either land in the same tree or would fly from that tree and head north.

I think the bee was a warm up.  A way of easing me into what I really wanted to do.  And after my encounter with the egret, I knew that meant creating a heron.

So that’s what I began working on today. I did a bunch of drawing and came up with just the right heron for a new fabric painting.

I’ll write more about the meaning of the heron and the process of creating it as I do. For now it feels good to be on the right path and to have gotten started on my next fabric painting.

When I made my Heron fabric painting last summer I was inspired by two different herons.  The green heron that made a lookout of the stand of trees on the edge of the farm and the great blue heron who fished in our pond.

The symbolism of the heron was a big part of why I was drawn to create this piece and as I think of it today it still holds powerful meaning for me.  Although I have come to see that people have many different reasons for heron being important in their lives.

For me, Heron represents finding my own path through life and my ability to stand on my own. It’s about looking inward to find the answers that are right for me,  not looking to what others say and do.  It’s about being able to evolve into my true self.

It’s because the Heron is an important symbol to me and so many other people find the Heron has meaning in their lives that I decided to make more of my Heron Magnets.

Amy, who bought one of my Heron Magnets told me that she doesn’t own many things by choice, but she was glad that I reproduced my Heron on a magnet because it was small and inexpensive which fit in with her lifestyle.

I love that idea, and as much as I want and need to sell my art because it’s how I make a living, I also like that people don’t have to buy it at all if they can’t afford it or don’t want to live with it.  They can always just look at it on my blog.

My Heron Magnets are $7 including shipping.  They are 2 1/4″x4″ you can buy them here. 

And if you prefer not to use Etsy, you can buy anything in my Etsy Shop by emailing me at [email protected].  I take checks, PayPal, and Venmo. 

Today I picked up my Heron Posters and postcards from A&M Printers.  And when I got home from town, my Heron magnets had arrived too.

So now I have my Heron fabric painting reproduced in three different ways.

My Heron Poster is 11″x17″ and I sign them on the back.  They are $30 including shipping.

My Heron Postcards are 4″x6″ and come in a pack of 6 for $12 including shipping.

My Heron Magnets are 2″x4″ and are $7 including shipping.

You can buy them all in my Etsy Shop, just click here.

Or if you don’t like to use Etsy, you can email me at [email protected] and let me know what you would like.  I take checks, PayPal, and Venmo.

I began hemming the sides and bottom of my Heron fabric painting today and putting a backing on it.  I sew the backing on by hand because I like the way the edges look better than when they’re machine stitched.

I’ll be using an old linen for the backing as I usually do.

I also sent Sara Kelly a photo of my Heron so she can size it for making prints and postcards.  The prints will most likely be 11×17″ or close to that size.  I’ll sell them both in my Etsy Shop and directly from my blog.

I have Bellydancing tonight so I know I won’t be able to finish the backing today, but I am excited to get back to work on it and get as much done as possible.

I have gotten so many people asking about buying my Heron fabric painting. I appreciate them all and the stories that go along with them.  I can see how much herons touch people’s lives, as they have touched mine.

My Heron is sold.

I  want you to know how I go about selling my work.   I don’t ask people to commit to a piece of art that I’m working on until it’s finished.  The first person who asked about it gets first choice.  If there is more than one person who is interested, as with my Heron, I keep a list according to the order in which people contact me.

So if the first person doesn’t want it for some reason, I move down the list.

Since my Heron is so popular, when It’s finished I will be making prints which I will sign and postcards of her.

This way my Heron, in a different form, will be available to anyone who wants her.

I had a good day in my studio working on my Heron fabric painting.  Once I started working on the eye and beak, I was into it.  I stitched the eye, beak and top of the heron’s head using my free motion sewing machine.

Then I started adding the fabric.  The first pieces I sewed to incorporate with the stitching.

Then I added the rest of the fabric using matte medium. Those scrap pieces that Karen sent me were just the right shape and size.  I only had do so a small amount of trimming.

I had the fabric laid out on my work table and just chose the colors that looked right as I went along.  I knew I wanted darker blue on the bottom and more of the greens for the wing.

I love working with the matte medium.  In the past I would have hand-stitched the fabric on to the backing.  I was always trying to hide the stitches.  I didn’t like the lines they made on the fabric. I wanted the pieces of fabric to be more integrated with each other.

I started using the matte medium when I made some collages inspired by my friend Emily during the pandemic lockdown.

Tomorrow I’ll start working on the legs and feet. I already know which fabric I want to use and that   I’ll be hand sewing the legs.

“Get the sheep”, I yelled to Fate, motioning with my hand for her to keep running.

We were in the back pasture, the light already fading at 7:30 pm.  I walked backward, the sheep following me to the far fence, Fate circling round and round.

Even though the flowers are long gone I caught the scent of beebalm as I crushed the tall leafy plants under my feet.  I saw the green heron, which I’ve been watching all summer,  coming from a distance and looked up as he flew right over my head and landed in the marsh on the other side of the fence.

I took it as an affirmation to continue working on my Heron fabric painting.

I didn’t get much studio time today.  It was time for me to catch up on my bookkeeping again.  As usual, I put it off so that I was three months behind.

By the time I got to my studio, the sun was already on the west side of the house, the thick orange light streaming in my front window. I sat on my floor an emptied bag of fabric scraps from Nancy piled in front of me.  I picked through the slices of circles putting aside the blues and greens.

For some reason, there were a lot of them, just the colors I was looking for. Their shapes, close enough to create the illusion of feathers.

I also did a few drawings to get a feeling for what the eye and markings around the head will look like.  I’ll stitch the eye, but I’m not sure where the stitching will end and the fabric begin. I’ll figure that out as I work on it.

The heron eye I liked best was on a piece of paper with my list of things I’d like to get done this week.

Thursday Jon and I are going to Bishop Gibbons.  Sue Silverstein said the kids in her class are excited to make some dog and cat beds for a local shelter. It’s a good place to start then we can work our way up to the lap quilts.

I had a big bag of polyester batting that someone gave me a while ago. We’ll use that for the batting.  But I want to make a sample bed so the students will have something to work from.

I owe someone a Chicken Potholder so that’s on my list.

And I want to work on my Corona Kimono.  Now that Jon and I both got covid I know what I’ll be stitching on the collar, the last place to fill in with my drawings.

Tomorrow I hope to cross the “heron face” off my list. Because that’s what I plan on working on in the morning.

I got some good work done on my Heron fabric painting today.

The idea for the Heron standing on a sphere underwater, but the water also being the night sky, came to me when I was reading about Heron in Ted Andrews’s book Animal Speak.

The image came to me when I read…. “[Herons] are the symbol of balance and they represent the ability to progress and evolve. The longer the legs, the deeper the water the heron will feed in. The deeper life can be explored….When it feeds it stands in the water, reflecting a connection to the earth-while implying the exploration of other dimensions on the earth.”  

This morning I found the fabric for the sphere.  I had so many ideas about what it would look like. And I tried a lot of different fabric before I found these two.   I pieced them together and sewed the half sphere on the backing after placing the night sky fabric behind it.

I took out the hand-stitches from the quilt backing and let that define the dividing line between the “water” and “sky.”   I will hand stitch that soft edge down. But I’m not sure what kind of stitch I’ll use yet.

Then, when Jon and I were on a call with our web designers I figured out how I would make the legs.  They’ll be fabric and I’ll stitch them the same way I sew the branches on my fabric trees, by looping the thread around the fabric, pulling it into the shape I want it to be.

This way the legs and feet will pop off the backing a bit. And they’ll be a lot of fun to make. I can’t wait to get to them.

But next, I need to sew the Heron’s beak and eye. I’ll be using fabric and matt medium for the body, but I’ll stitch the eye and the fabric for the beak.