Fabric and Textile Art - Slow Stitching

Over the years I have been combining a lot of slow stitch and working with fabric within my work and have really enjoyed the process.  It started getting serious at the beginning of lockdown when the whole world seem to changed overnight and we had to come to terms with a new normal.

As I looked at the creative activities that I was doing none of them seem to still my mind until I remembered the work that I had done the previous year for a textile exhibition in Barbados at the Queens Park Gallery called Celebrating Textiles ( I will share about the exhibition tomorrow).

I realized that I liked the detail that you could get with stitch, fabric and paint - I was keen to experiment, learn new stitches and it set me on an amazing adventure of embroidery, fabric and textile art.

I had done a few fabric projects and made things from fabric as you can see in some of my 'Material Monday projects'  which mostly included crochet pieces.  The stitching, painting, dyeing started to grow.

I combined my love for painting with stitching and haven't looked back.  I start out painting my backgrounds, adding the figure and then the stitching process continues until the piece feels done, learning new embroidery stitches and being comfortable with the supplies.

I am still learning about fabrics and how to work with all the different supplies to create the look and feel that I am after.  I have been enjoying the process and continue to allow my imagination to come up with different characters and scenes.

I  immersed myself into all the fabric, threads, beads and more that I had collected over the years.  It was all there waiting for me to recognize their importance in my creative journey, and so I set about stitching, dyeing, embellishing and bringing together an array of techniques that I had developed over the years into a needle, my sewing machine and all the supplies that welcomed me with open arms, and I have not looked back.

What creative activities have you immersed yourself in over the past 2 years that has helped with your health and well-being?

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Art Journal Page - Inspired, Material Mondays!

 Art Journal Page Process

Today I share an art journal page process as I do quite a bit of mark making on the page.  I had already created the face, which is something I do a lot in my journals, either fill up the pages with background color or faces until I am ready for them.

Material Inspired

One of the other things that I would like to get back to is working with fabric.  I like creating different activities that enable you to play with your supplies.  These spools have been wrapped in fabric and lace and I have added stitching and a variety of different fabrics together

I also found some beads and buttons that were in my overspill container and was able to use them.  The container holds all those elements that I haven't yet put away and so I would see what could be used on a project.

I managed to put together 3 spools that I can use in other projects.  It was really fun working on them.

What do you have on hand in your creative space that you can get to work on if you had limited time to create, you have to try and make time for your creative practice?

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Mixed Media Art Collaborations, Textile Love and Courses Offers!

 

I am taking part in a monthly art collaboration and will be painting this image.  The video goes live tomorrow, and you can set a reminder - if you do join I will be in the chat answering any questions that may pop up as we see how the painting takes shape.

  

The monthly collaboration is a great way to get together virtually with other artists and share the love we have for creativity.  In this collaboration we do not have any prompts you just create what you are inspired to do.  One of the things that I would like to share over time is my love for creating sculptural art and working with recycled materials.  

As a mixed media artist I love creating full stop, and I always have a million and one ideas of things I want to work on, or experiment with - and I give myself the time each and every day.  I schedule the time for myself and show up even if I don't have a particular project in mind.

I also do a lot of work with fabric - painting my fabric, creating sculptural elements in the art and the stitching of these pieces are very therapeutic.

The arts (across the board) have a very positive effect on health and wellbeing and it is important that you try and do something every day.  The arts have been used in may medical environments - hospital waiting rooms, recovery rooms, corridors, my dentist has a nature scene on his ceiling which has a relaxing affect as you try and drown out the sound of the drill.

What ever you do I hope you are able to take the time to do something creative this week, and I would love to know what creative activities you find the time to do.

Stay blessed and be a blessing

If you would like to see the stamps daily you can check out my Instagram HERE

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 I am taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge and you can check out the previous posts HERE

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Mixed Media Art Courses to Check out

SALE - Enjoy $10 OFF all courses until 30th April Click on the image to see the course.

Use the Code at the checkout - create2

Textile Arts - Slow Stitching

Slow stitching is one of the things that I love to do when creating.  I have been thinking about designing my own figures and started playing about with some ideas.

Here is one that I worked on.  It started out as a simple line drawing, then I transferred it to fabric and worked on it as you can see in the video.

The fabric has been wax resisted, dyed and then stitched and I am really enjoying this part.  I still have a backing to put on and my beads are singing to me but I think that it is quite full on at the moment.

You can see some of my other textile work in the Playlist HERE

Also catch one of the videos below

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Courses - Enjoy $10 OFF all courses until 30th April

Use the Code at the checkout - Create2

Fabric Stash

 

Join me as I share with you my new textile stacking system.  I have rearranged the shelving so that they wouldn't topple over and be a bit neater.

Over the weeks I will share some of the contents with you which include some projects that I have started - I am challenging myself to get some of them complete

Word for the Week - Perceptive - Arts and Wellness Café

Welcome to this week, the word has been so far 'Perceptive' and it is great to think about how the word relates to our creativity.  When you think about what you do creatively how much of it would you say you get a sense that there is more to it than you yourself put in - in regards to effort?  Do things click, work out and often give you goosebumps or chills.  

It matters not if that is not the case for you at the moment, as there are areas of what you do that you just can't quite explain, and you don't need to (smile).

I started the week off with the podcast and you can listen to the episode HERE or below

In Arts and Wellness Café I continue the theme and you can watch the video HERE or below

I share some of the work that I have been doing in the studio along with some of my stitched pieces.

Textile Wall Hanging - Amanda Trought

For more behind the scenes and exclusive content you can check me out on Patreon

Stitched Meditations - Boro Shasheko Stitching

 

In this video I share with you some of the processes used for creating this wall hanging, it uses some of the techniques known as Boro Shasheko also Slow Stitching.

I created on several small pieces to begin with and then brought them together.

The pieces of material all were recycled and they have their own story to tell.  Let me know if you have ever used the stitches in your own work.

It is a very meditative piece and I also added a number of additional elements and sculptural pieces onto it.  I also used Moringa wood harvested from my garden as sculptural hangings at the base of the wall hanging.  Thank you for taking time out to watch the video.

Dimensional Paints & More Painted Fabrics

Here are the next two videos in the series using dimensional paints and fabric.  It is a great way to use up supplies that you just have sitting around and you end up with some great patterns on your fabric that you can use in your creative stitched projects.

Here is the first one that I shared earlier this week.

If you were nervous about painting on fabric, these short videos will help you get over that hesitation, just think about the playing aspect and have fun.

I would love to see what you come up with if you decide to play with your art supplies and fabric.

Painted Fabrics

Painted Fabrics

Painting Fabrics

Here is a short video in which I share with you painting on fabric. It is one of 3 short videos to get you inspired to creatively play with your supplies.

I think it is important to get a view of how things start their journey, usually at this stage as a piece of fabric that gets painted, then it is built upon.

It is great to experiment and find ways to either use the pieces as accents or main feature in a stitched piece. There are many fabrics that you can create different effects with using your art supplies.

I also have an Arts and Health NHS Network for information on activities and organisations working in the field. You are welcome to join, it is a FREE resource and if you have any activities or want to talk about your work you are welcome to send me the information and I will see that it gets uploaded. You can create your own profile on the network and connect with others who are passionate about the arts in health too.

What else is happening:

Come and join me on Patreon 

I am Teaching on Life Book 2021

Stitched Projects - Wall Hanging

 

Here is one of my recently finished stitched wall hangings.

It is a mixed media piece that includes fabrics, beading, slow stitching and Moringa Wood that has been harvested from my garden and then wood burned.

The nature of the piece encourages reflection.  The stitching by hand encourages you to slow down, the addition of seed beads and jewelry embellishments sets the whole piece off.

I find the stitching to be very therapeutic as well as selecting the threads and the embellishments that want to be added.

The wood that is harvest from the garden has to be stripped first, then dried before it can be wood burned. This piece is available for sale and I will be adding it to my website if you would like to welcome it into your home.

Thank you for joining me, Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Arts and Wellness - Fabric Journals

Arts and Wellness - Working with Fabrics and Journals

Welcome to Arts and Wellness Episode 233 which you can also listen on the Podcast.  Check out the video where you will see how I use the fabric scraps in the art journal, making use of the texture and colour that comes from the material.

Taking time to create enables you to focus on you and work on areas of your life that need some thought.  It is a great stress reliever as well.  There are many ways in which you can take part in the arts from participating, watching someone create or looking at the finished art in a gallery setting.

Check out the video HERE where you get a glimpse in the studio and we work on an art journal with fabric scraps

Working with scraps in Art Journal as a background

On Wednesdays we focus on the Arts and how it can impact our health and well-being. I will be talking with artists, looking at activities that you can do to be more creative across the board and for those who are carers tips and strategies that you can use. I will also be sharing reviews, resources and other insights. I will be looking at the nuggets that the artists share and see how we can apply it in some way to our own lives, what ever your interests.

Lots of yummy colour on the baby wipes

Watch the video below and subscribe to the art channel

Listen to the podcast HERE

Join me on Patreon

Join Me

You will get to see a bit more behind the scenes on Patreon and have access to some great rewards on each of the tiers 

Stay Blessed and be a blessing

Arts and Wellness Wednesday - Slow Stitching and Art Journalling

Welcome, in today's video I share we look at the importance of taking time for your self to make sure that you nurture and spend as much creative time as you can.

We can very often forget to even think about what we want, how we are or where we are going.  In times especially like these where we can be surrounded by stressful situation taking time just to ask yourself the question 'How am I' and then thinking of a creative activity that you can take part in can go a long way.

I also share about some creative stitching projects that I have been doing - these are my stitched meditations that I dip into every now and then and have created quite a few art panels.

 

Stitched Meditations - Amanda Trought

Mixed Media Art - Amanda Trought

Loom and Stitching

Shades of Green

I will be giving you a closer look of each of them over the coming weeks.

I was inspired by an artist  Arthur Ange on Facebook who creates fabric masks you can see some of his other work HERE  You can also take a look at artist Bisa Butler and her amazing fabric portraits.

I was so inspired to create a fabric portrait that I put together this piece, I want to do more so need to move some tasks I have to do around a bit.  You can also create stitched projects to go in your journal, which adds interesting details and textures.

Stitched Faces - Stories await

I am looking forward to creating some on a larger scale.  It is more like a wall hanging than a mask at the moment.

I hope you enjoy the video, let me know what you are working on at the moment and connect with me.  You can also listen to this post on my Podcast HERE

Stay Blessed and be a Blessing - Amanda!