Call for Entry – The Enticing World of Plants
The Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts has announced a call for entry for an online auction to support the center. This is the center where I take classes and I highly recommend Gail’s classes. It’s located in La Conner, WA, USA. The fun thing about this auction is that it is online so anyone can participate. You can read more information about the call for entry and the auction here.
I decided that I would do a combination of paper and stitch for my entries. The entries can be paper, or fabric, or felt or stitching but need to be 5″ x 7″. The theme is “The Enticing World of Plants”.
I already had a large piece of watercolor paper that was painted with a very light value of blue green and blue violet. I thought this would be great for my backgrounds. I had been thinking about trying some leaf printing and thought that would work with the theme.
So I went outside and found some leaves first. This works best with thinner leaves that will stick down to wet paper. Heavy, waxy leaves do not work as well. I got my watercolor paper wet and laid the leaves out. Then I mixed up some stronger paint in the blue green and blue violets and dropped the paint around the leaves. This can be done with watercolor paint (needs to be watery) but I used high flow acrylics for mine. Then the hard part, letting it dry. Once dry, I removed the leaves and cut the paper up into 5″x 7″ sections. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo before I cut it up.
The next step was to find some plant related designs. I have a stash of designs on tracing paper that I have used in Gail’s classes for years. I don’t throw them away since I can always use them for a project such as this. I transferred the pomegranate design on to the paper with pencil and punched holes about 1/8″ apart for my stitching. I don’t measure the distance between holes but just punch them with an awl or a needle by eye.
Next up is the stitching. I used hand dyed perle cotton and a tapestry needle to work through the paper. The outlines are done with back stitch and the insides are filled with needle lace. I usually use single Brussels stitch for this as it goes quickly and is easy to fill the small shapes. This design is a water lily stencil that I cut ages ago.
This one I followed the shape of the leaf prints for the maple leaf design.
This is a design of a glacier lily that I created in Level 3 Art & Design. If you’re interested in submitting a piece, please read all about it here.
There is also a free open house coming up with stitch demonstrations and plant related artwork by Gail’s students. If you’re in the La Conner, WA area, I hope you can stop by.
