after the rains came...the buds and blossoms are opening to those who care to really see...

I continued on my photo transfers today employing several different fiber transfer products...June Tailor's Print and Press will have to wait until tomorrow as I ran out of color inks after about three hours of collecting my research. I have had great experience with June Tailor' Colorfast sew-in ink fabric sheets....you print then heat set and they can be rinsed and are ready to sew into a composition. I have let the inks set and then printed on top with a variety of inks and acrylics to add textures and context clues. Now be sure to read the labels very carefully...because Tailor also makes a computer ink jet fabric that is not colorfast so depending on your individual project and whether the finished product needs to be washable or additional wet elements added in the processes . The orange envelope fabric images may be dry cleaned...that is a step I would prefer to skip due to chemicals and costs. I will replenish my color inks tomorrow when I get out to go to the bank, pay a few bills and hit the discounts at Walmart...they seem to have the best prices for inks in my area.

I also worked in my studio upstairs and the sunshine warmed up the whole floor ...I cleared the work table, heat set the fabric photo images , sorted through my mother of pearl buttons and located some colorful losses that had been hidden under a pile of fabric. One of my quilter friend's husband says ...."we are trying to commit suicide by fabric"....what does he know??? I laundered some fat quarters and a few more vintage pieces to hopefully be able to soften the surface so I will be able to layer over with silk transparent images...sounds like a plan but who knows.

I have learned about making cloth/paper fabrics to use in my mixed media assemblages...have you used the book by Kelli Perkins Stitch Alchemy? This approach melds together all the bits and pieces of fabrics and trims in a way that appears to be limitless in its diversity. Now that the warm weather has arrived I will be able to work outside on the front porch and the materials should dry a little more quickly. Sewing through this material will be another slow lesson with the sewing machine and possible paper punches to create a lacy image for peek -a-boo effects...possibly.

I also recommend checking out Jo Horswill's collagraphs (Collagraphs and Mixed Media Printmaking by Brenda Hartill and Richard Clarke) from a process she developed a few years ago and rediscovered when she tore them apart and reassembled is a mysterious intuitive manner. Jo lives in Melbourne, Australia and is very generous in explaining her inspirations . She exemplifies a no fear approach to making her compositions and personal narratives. I am drawn to her works and will be glad to share how she has shared her images with me and my narratives. Her photography and printmaking techniques are well executed and she is always searching for ways to stretch her vision quest.

I am going to try to be still tonight and make small stitches in my March moon work to finalize for photos tomorrow. I will post January, February and March all together so I can preview the April Spring Moon ...the Pink Moon work as well as work on a few more small works for the framed assemblages. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart