J for Jen Hewitt My Admiration for a Fellow Fiber Artist

This is Jen Hewitt. She prints fabric with hand carved blocks and silk screen designs.

Her Etsy shop has a whole selection of beautifully printed pieces you can buy by the yard.

 

She teaches classes you can attend in person in some wonderful locations as well as online.
I have been following her for a few years. She has done very well for herself
as a self employed solo fiber artist. Bravo! She puts her heart out there
 on matters of race & gender. She is working on her second book about crafters of color.

Fringe & Company

Jen's aesthetic appeals to me. Simple forms that repeat, many inspired by nature.


One of my recent creations that echos her design style.

I think along the same lines. No pun intended.

Her sweet little dog is a frequent subject of her Instagram feed.


Who do you admire from afar online? Do theyinspire you in your craft?

Revolving on a Spindle

I became enamored with vintage spindles after learning paper yarn making at PBI (Paper & Book Intensive) last spring.  Aime Lee had some beautiful examples. Take a look at her knitted books.


 Found these beauties on Ebay. Very affordable.  I pulled out some of the Hanji paper we made with Aimee and did some paper yarn spinning by hand. The first step in being able to knit, crochet, or weave a piece of art.

Now on to what was underneath the spindle.

 My Queen Anne's Lace stencil is getting a lot of use. Printed on some brown linen 

to make a little zipper bag I saw in a Jen Hewitt tutorial. I adore her work. She creates her own stamps to print her fabric. Her use of multiple simple forms to create patterns really appeal to me. 

For my purposes I'm using my Shiva Paintsticks with stencils for the design on the fabric.

I'll post pictures of the pattern & progress attaching the zipper & lining next time.

Tid Bits Abstractions & Summer

Good Summer Morning Everyone!  The weather & the vibes in & around Traverse City have been pretty good lately. Just a few little artsy things to share for a week end send off.

 I'll be on the Boardman River this week end with 12 work mates for a retirement party for a gal a couple months younger than myself. I may be next. I'm finding the retirement decision a tough one. Anyone else?

But on to artistic musings.

Latest ATC swap. Here was my offering I sent out before PBI. Little abstractions.

 Just finished another art journal cover. Ready to fill up with ideas sketches & mental meanderings.

 

Found a great tutorial on getting the cover off this very book I use. Made the painting of the cover MUCH easier. I love sewing fabric to the front & back covers. So that was lots easier with the covers off as well.

 Finishing up a couple more of the fabric "pods" I started awhile ago. I love them but need to move on to some book & fabric structure ideas that have been banging around in my head. Ouch.

                     
Would love to hear how your summer is shaping up. What creative endeavors have caught your fancy?