Tag Archives: children

Girl Sitting on the Step

I have completed the little girl sitting on the step!

Little girl on step - Valerie Wilson 2015.

A little girl on a step – Valerie Wilson 2015.

I love the pink socks and Mary Jane shoes. The colourful polka dot fabric for her dress was a great find. This piece came together well. I am very pleased with her hair, as I tried a different technique of layering small pieces of fabric to create it.

I wonder what her story is?

She looks a bit hesitant and somewhat sad and is biting her lip

Did a best friend not come to play?

Is she all dressed up to go someplace special, and has been told to go outside, but to stay clean, until the family leaves for the event?

Is it her birthday, and she didn’t get the present that she most wanted?

I always wonder about the back story behind the photographs that I use. Do you see a story in this piece?

I think that she needs a name. One person suggested Violet.

Would you give her a name, or name the quilt? Such as “All Dressed Up and No Place to Go” or …………..

Let me know your ideas!

She’s a Cutie! My Latest Portrait Quilt Completed.

A little girl hoding a colourful sand pail stands on a beach.

Summer Fun Quilted

I have finished my latest portrait quilt, the little girl at the beach, and decided to call the quilt “Summer Fun”. She has turned out to be quite cute! I love her sparkly blue eyes and her sweet smile.

Detail of Summer Fun

Now I have to decide what the next one will be. I have two pictures that I am considering. One is a little girl sitting on a porch, and another is one of three boys in hockey uniforms, circa 1934. Subscribe to my blog, and find out what is next!

Gallery News

“Summer Fun” and a number of my other quilts are currently hanging in the Blankstein Gallery, on the second floor of the Millennium Library in downtown Winnipeg, MB. Here are a couple of photos of the preparations for hanging the show and a few of the quilts.

Laying out the quilts

First we laid out the quilts on the floor, to decide the order in which they would hang. My husband was wonderful as a helper. Here he is putting a hanging rod in one of the quilts:

Getting the hangers ready

The next step was to actually get the quilts hung. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get it all done! It went faster after the first two, when we had figured out the easiest way to hang them. Here are some of the quilts on exhibit:

Vintage Portraits

Nature’s Glory

And here is the view in to the gallery from the library:

View from the entrance of the Gallery

It was wonderful to see them all hung. I hope that if you are in the area you can check it out! The gallery is open during library hours . The exhibit runs from August 3 – 30, 2015.

From Ugly Duckling to Swan

After I posted my progress on the little girl in the sunsuit, I decided she was in fact rather an “ugly duckling”.

I spent a couple of days, filled with angst before I figured out what was wrong.

Then came a number of changes to her face, hair and her eyes (I straightened them) and I like the result.

Part of the problem was the lack of eyebrows (see the previous post). Also, I felt that her hair looked too orange, so out came the Tsukineko inks.

I figured that if I hated the changes, I could always give her new hair. I am pleased to say that all worked out well! The new colour looks better and the highlights and shadows are in place.

She also now has feet and shoes which helps. Don’t you just love her strappy sandals?!

A little standing on a beach, holding a sand pail.

Girl in sunsuit revisited

I am now creating a beach scene in the background, complete with a sand castle! So far, I only have a piece of paper standing in for the sand castle, as a prop, to see how it will fit into the scene.

I didn’t have a fabric that I liked for the water, so I painted some white fabric with Setacolor transparent paint. I love the look of the rolling waves.

A small island in the distance helps with perspective and I have pinned a piece of multicolour fabric in place, as a test, to see if I like it for the sand pail.

If this piece is like any of my other works in progress, it will undergo several more changes before its final look.

Do you go with the flow when you are working on a piece, or do you have a plan and stick to it?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please comment.

Sun and Sand

A little girl in a sunsuit holding a sand

My latest vintage portrait is one of a little girl with a sand pail. I loved her smile, the funky sun suit, pail and sandals. Don’t you just love the tan line on her legs? It looks as though she normally wears longer shorts.

Since so much of her face is in dark shadow, the trick was to create what I couldn’t see.

I think that she is coming along fairly well. Her face will gain more definition after adding stitching.

It is always hard to remember that the stitching adds so much life, and detail, to the portrait.

And now, I see below, that I need to move one of her irises, as she is looking a little cross-eyed.

Girl started

I have changed her hair twice now, as I didn’t like the first set of highlights that I did. And originally I had given her a little flip of hair on the left side but decided it looked odd, so cut it off. I like the rounded look of the cap of hair better.

Do you make adjustments as you work, or do you keep to a set path in your work?

I find photos a great help for me to notice little things that need adjusting. It is so easy now with digital cameras!

Do you take photos of your work as you go?

Exhibition Update

Well, I didn’t get them all sewn down before I left for Quilt Canada, but I was happy with what I had done. I knew, that I only had a few more pieces of fabric to sew down, once I got back home.

The plan is to get these guy done by mid-June, for my solo exhibition, so I have to concentrate and work hard!

The kids were cut off the backing that I had used – in this case, stabilizer. I will never use this again as it is too stiff, and wrinkles badly. Lesson learned! I was able to cut some of it away but left the rest in place.

The kids were then placed on the background that I created.

I found a lovely fabric, at a local quilt shop, that looked to me a lot like falling snow. Wonderful for the sky!

The trees I had painted were appliqued to the background. I played with positioning them as I wanted them to act as a frame for the kids on the sleigh.

Then on to sewing everything down. It always surprises me how long it takes. Why I don’t know, as I have done this many times. Maybe wishful thinking that it will be faster this time!

As seen below this piece had more snow added and further detail on the faces.

The next step is the quilting. First, the detail quilting the boys, and then on to the background.

I always have a hard time coming up with names for my art. Is this a problem for you too?

I am trying to think of a name for this quilt. Perhaps the Four Musketeers. What do you think? What name would you give this piece? Can you help me out? I would love it if you would!

Last minute changes

Based on a comment by a reader – Thanks Marg – I added further detail to the eyes of the boy at the front of the sleigh. My husband says “he is now looking at you and not staring”. Check it out below:

Eyes on boy at front of sleigh have added detail.

Eyes on the boy in front of sleigh have added detail.

I like the change!

Preparing for a New Exhibit

Exciting news! I will have an exhibit in the Portage & District Arts Centre Gallery, in Portage la Prairie, MB next year, from April 4 – May 14, 2016.

The exhibit will be called “Past Lives“, and it will feature my portraits created from vintage black and white photographs.

To celebrate, I am planning on featuring my progress here in my blog, as I work on various portraits for the show.

The first one is four little boys on a sled.

Original photograph of four kids on a sleigh.

I loved the four children piled on to the sleigh. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.

Note: In my research on this unusual design of this sleigh, I found out that this is considered a bobsled. The definition is a sled, or sleigh, with the front runners moving independently of the rear ones. I found some pictures of log pulling sleighs with similar runners. The idea is if the front runners move separately from the back, the sleigh will go around corners easily.

Enlarged photo and line drawing of 4 chidlren on bob sled

Enlarged photo and line drawing of 4 children on a bobsled

Having recently learned how to select part of a photo, through a Photoshop Elements class at Pixeladies I removed the kids from their background – a rather boring part of a house and changed the direction they were heading. I plan on creating an outdoor setting for them.

I then enlarged the photo to the size that I wanted. I traced the main elements on to a plastic overlay this time. Usually, I use tracing paper but thought that I would give this method a try.

It didn’t work that well for me, although I know of many artists who use plastic all the time. First, I found the plastic much heavier to lift, and second, that somehow some of the fabric pieces ended up stuck to the plastic when I raised it to add another piece. Very irritating! I think that I will probably go back to using tracing paper.

Anyone else with a preference for or any hints for using plastic as an overlay?

Once I got started on the kids, I really enjoyed putting the pieces together. I had discovered some cotton fabrics at a local quilt store, Quilt as Desired, that looked like various woven or linen fabrics, and came in 3 or 4 values of the same colour. A real bonus when doing portraits!

Here are two of the guys with all the fabrics in place:

Picture showing part of the enlaged photo of four small boys on a sleigh and the line tracing.

Picture showing tracing overlay on plastic and two children completed in fabric

A lot of the fun of doing these vintage portraits is researching the elements in the photos. All the kids had those old fashioned rubber boots with the metal closures and big loose mitts. It was fun finding different fabrics for the mitts and socks. Did you know that in the 1930s McCall’s patterns had patterns for these snowsuits complete with the helmet-like caps?

Now on to finishing these four guys before I go to Quilt Canada on June 2! I have two quilts, Stepping Out and The Bather, in the Juried show and am soooo excited about seeing them hanging in the show.

Keep posted for future developments in the work involved in getting ready for a solo show. To easily follow my blog, subscribe to my Studio Updates (the box on the lower left).

Stepping Out – my latest portrait

My latest portrait is done! This little girl looks as though she has just started walking, and is delighted to be able to get around on her own.

I was thrilled to have it finished! The next thing then was to decide on a title for this portrait. I have a difficult time naming quilts. Do you? My husband suggested “Spokesperson”. Funny, but no. After some deliberation, I finally decided on “Stepping Out”.

I did some research on the car, to try and date the photo. I love researching the details! It helps to bring the person, and the piece, to life. I found out that this car was probably a 1920 – 30’s car.

Then at a recent vintage car show in Selkirk, MB I found a 1925 model, beautifully restored! I was thrilled! I took several photos and used these to help with some of the details that were “flashed out” in the original photo.

Vintage 1925 car

One major part of this quilt was done twice, to get the look that I wanted. I redid the entire car as I decided that, although looking great, it was too bright in relationship to the little girl. I wanted the girl to be the focus, not the car.

Stepping Out – first attempt

I find that I always resist changing anything, as I see all the work that needs to be done again. I try to talk myself out of changing anything. So I go away for a break, and as soon as I get back, I look at the portrait. If something is still bugging me, I resolve to change it. I am always happier with the result in the end. I then take a deep breath, and just start.

Have you ever had to redo part of your quilt? How did you meet the challenge? Do you have any advice for people facing the same situation?

A Sneak Preview of my Latest Portrait Work

This is my latest portrait in progress. I have done more work on it since I took this photo, so this is only a teaser.

This little girl intrigued me from the first moment that I saw the photograph. She is just starting to walk, dressed in her rompers (puffy looking, probably from her diaper underneath), her hair sticking out in all directions and holding on to the spokes of this 1930’s car. She is just so cute! It brought back memories of photos that my parents had taken of me and my family. I always wonder what the story is behind the photo.

Portrait of girl with 1930’s car

The original photo was quite small – only 2″ x 3″, so I enlarged it, so that the child would be closer to life size. The larger size also makes it a lot easier to recreate the details. This piece will finish at 25 1/2″ x 35 1/2″.

When I start on a new piece, I choose the details that I think are most relevant to the picture, and then decide on the values (e.g. light, medium and dark), and finally the colours that I feel best fit the scene. I wanted the little girl to stand out and be the focal point, so I chose a bright red for her T-shirt. The car will be a blue-green, to complement the red. You can see some of the fabrics, that I am thinking of using for the car, on the right side of the photo.

The method that I use to create my art is fusible applique, where a sticky film is adhered to the back of each piece of fabric, and then the pieces are assembled like a puzzle to create the picture. Once the picture is complete, it is ironed to fuse it and to keep everything firmly in place. Then, I add stitching to add further detail, and finally quilt the piece to add dimension. I am looking forward to getting the car started!

Let me know what you think!

Valerie Wilson Fibre Artist

Painting with Fabric