Latest Studio Work

I saw a great leaf wreath (what a mouthful) the other day on one of the many blogs I visit and came up with this one.  I added paint to leaves I already printed and stitched for earlier projects.  I wanted more fall-like colors.  I hot glued them on an embroidery hoop and voila!  a Fall wreath!  I'm tickled to use up some of those leftover leaves.

The First Street Gallery, Neptune Beach, Florida, sells my composition book and covers.  So I painted, collaged and stitched the above plus a few more that look similar.  Off they go to the gallery!

Another Fabric Portrait



One Plus One Equals Three by Diane Hamburg

This fabric portrait is one of my daughter, Kara, and her husband, Matt.  The photo was taken by a friend of Kara's while Kara was waiting for baby Max to enter the family.  The faces were done using Ellen Lindner's technique Double Reverse Applique.  The background was the challenge!  The show this was made for is entitled "Split Complements."  I had to design a background using the split complementary colors of the blue dyed fabrics I used for the faces.  After several tries, I ended up with a mixed media background - I collaged old book pages using matt medium and heat adhered painted silk organza on top of a dyed blue fabric that was painted using a stencil and Shiva oilsticks.  I'm pleased with my efforts.

And I am pleased to have received an Honorable Mention for this at my local Island Art Association's Nouveau Art Exhibit.

Surface Design Work

Getting ready for my surface design classes I'm offering at my local art association www.islandart.org this Fall.  Monoprinting, screenprinting, stampmaking.

New work

A couple of weeks ago I dove into discharging again and had a great time.  I was suppose to be getting ready to teach a class but the timing was off.  What I had fun doing was tearing my discharged fabrics into strips and weaving them.  Oh, just remembered, one of the pieces I wove the different blacks first then discharged.  I then cut fused silks into the above pieces and stitched.  I mounted the finished pieces on gallery wrapped 8 x 8" frames.  I'm pleased.  I will revisit the weaving again.

Continuous Line Drawing

I've been drawing on transparencies using a wipe-out pen - tracing over magazine faces using a continuous line.  All in the hope of being able to draw faces easily using the sewing machine.  I traced the face drawn on the transparency onto tissue paper with a transfer pencil and then transferred the face onto fabric using the iron.  Then I stitched.  Way too much fun. Someday I'll stitch without all that work beforehand.  I have this fixation on faces, I'm afraid.

My France Fabric Travel Journal

My trip to France has now been documented.  I created the pages before I left.  I was pretty good about journaling - not every day but close to it.  I used site brochures, postcards, tickets and my trusty PoGo printer - a little Polaroid printer that prints out 2x3" photo stickers (love it).  I didn't create the cover til I got home to save on luggage weight, but I'll not do that again.  The reason is that my first signature became way too big making the sewing/attaching it in the cover so very difficult.   I also found the loose pages a pain to work with.  The other thing I will do differently is to always carry paper and pen to jot down happenings it keep my memory fresh.  Oh, one more thing I will do differently is to take a digital of the name of the place we're exploring.  Sorting out towns and images was trying.  Lessons learned!  I do love the record of my trip!

The only thing left in order for the journal to be complete is to get some prints made of some of my many digital images to add to the last section of the journal.  I'm still going through the 1000+ images though I'm just about finished.

Here are three of my "artsy" photos to whet your appetite!

The hand door knockers!

The beautiful stone carvings, especially the faces!

Niki de Saint Phalle's sculptures, some with yarn clothing!

I've added entries to my grandson's fabric journal as well.  Plus I'll began to practice, practice, practice continuous line drawings of faces.  And play with discharging fabrics again.  More on that later.

Just Another Parrotthead

I'm back from my trip, fabulous trip to France and had a more fabulous visit from my daughter and grandson.  Upon return, I received a message from my local art association, Island Art Association that I won thrid prize for "Just Another Parrotthead."  Yeah!!!!!