Gone Fishing…
I don’t know if its spring or summer or something in the creative cosmic atmosphere, but it seems fish have become a theme for art lately.
Cathy (Luvswool) and I got together before she went to her Colorado residency and I went to Florida a few weeks back. We wanted to do something different together. We remembered the cool fish Galina ( Felicity) did a while back on her blog and decided to try that. (Thanks for the inspiration Galina!)
We each made our resists beforehand. Of course, we were busy chatting while deciding on colors. It took a bit before we got started.
Cathy chose yellow and blue. I went with my teal (I have sooo much) and purple.
We each used three layers (one layer of domestic 56 batt in between) and tried to get the fish mouth like Galina had hers not too successfully. I guess we need practice. We also used gems for eyes.
I made separate prefelt for fins and tail.
When I got to the prefelt stage on my fish, I cut out and attached the tail and fins. I couldn’t find the resists for my gills when it came time to take the resists out.
We weren’t trying to make exact fish, but have fun coming up with our own fantasy fish.
Cathy did get the gill resist out, but it ended up too wide, so she embroidered it to close it up. She also added some roving around the eye and needlefelted it to get it to stay.
I decided to work on another fish that week and ended up with two more just experimenting with colors and embellishments. I managed to get gills on the second one. I also added bottom fins by needlefelting them on. The eyes were hard to get even on each side. I got a little better at the eyes, but they’re still not perfect.
I’m not sure how I’ll display them. I originally thought I hang them in the bathroom, but I don’t think my husband would approve of flying fish.
Have you done any summer or fish themed projects?
21 thoughts on “Gone Fishing…”
Such lovely fish – the eyes are great!
Perhaps an empty fish tank? You could attach suspension wires to the underside of the lid.
sorry, meant to say, “display them in an empty fish tank”
Thanks Lyn! Great idea for display. I just don’t know where I’d put it. I do like the idea. Perhaps I can find one at the thrift store and try it.
Love the teals on those fish, Marilyn! What a fun project 😀
I’m with Lyn on this, how about an empty fish tank to suspend them in? Or, how about just suspending them from the ceiling, and never mind they’re not flying fish 😉
Thanks Leonor! My favorite color, can you tell? I had intended to hang them from the ceiling but don’t think Craig would appreciate that. 🙂
Looks like you had lots of fun with the fish. There seems to be lots of fish popping upon facebook too. Perhaps I will have to have a go too.
Thanks Ann, it was fun. Try it. I’ll probably make more to give to the grandkids.
Terrific post, Marilyn! I like the use of the silk hanky on the last fish, which I had not seen before.
I see a trend in using fish in our decor, as we become more aware of how we’ve depleted our oceans of fish.
Thanks Cathy! It’s actually hand dyed cheesecloth I thought would make good scales. I kept forgetting to take out the silk hankies. I guess I’ll have to make more and use the hankies. :-). I love that you put your fish on the planter with the purple flowers to photograph, nice touch.
Marilyn, what a lovely fish! True fantasy fish!I hope you find my tutorial useful.
Thanks Galina! It was. I’m not sure we followed the tutorial to the letter, but you certainly were our inspiration! I still need practice on the lips, gills and scales.
I never would have guessed your last fish has cheesecloth on it…really nice textural effect.
Thanks! I almost forgot I had it. If I wasn’t cleaning up and trying to organize my workspace I doubt I’d have remembered. 😉
who shall have a fishy on a little dishy
who shall have a fishy when the boat comes in
that would look great a boat full of fish, catch of the day 🙂
Now there’s an idea Carole, fish on a dish. Maybe I should serve that at my next dinner party. :-). Yes, if I keep making fish, I should build a boat to out them in.
What a fun project! And I love the eyes! I’d hang them in a window. From the outside, it could look like you are looking into a fish tank. 😉
Thanks Zara! That’s a wonderful idea. The eyes are glass gems you find in the floral department.
The grandkids would love them Marilyn 🙂 Maybe you could start a new trend and discretely hang them around the neighbourhood, instead of yarn bombing, fish bombing 😉
Thanks Zed! I had showed Luke a picture when I was there and he was intrigued, especially with the eyes. Fish bombing now there’s an idea! I can see our birds either fighting with it or taking off with it. I should try it.
Great fish Marilyn! I agree with Zed, fish bombing would be cool.
Thanks Ruth!