Wyncia

Bwyneth Pocket Scarves

"The indispensable summer accessory..." A scarf, shawl, pocketed thing from colorful up-cycled fabrics. The wearable accessory to have on hand (that means in the car, or back pack) to comfort you when the evening chills, the sun burns, the wind, rios, or the air conditioning at work is freezing.

Sold yet? See Dolly displaying the comforts of the Bwyneth Pocket Scarf.

     

     
That Dolly may be a dummy, but she sure knows how to accessorize. Wasn't it Jackie K (pre-O) who described eternal good taste in dress as, "basic black and Bwyneth Pocket Scarf."

Maker as Model with the muslim of India print, winter 2011.

Need one, for wind, or rain, or fire(as an all purpose accessory for your fire evac to go bag?). Ask me or the illusive Bwyneth at www.bwyneth.com

A couple of other art bags...

I have gotten a few more of the mixed media art bags into the co-op (Uniquely Natural in Lafayette, CO), but I have not been getting images before deploying them to the retail front. I tried a couple of photos last week for Sue Lion's home show where these bags will appear, no longer a UN exclusive! Take a look:

 
This one is made from hand dyed old lace, AAA map, upholstery fabric, lined with gold accented teal and burgundy chrysanthemum print cotton, and embellished with a vintage lace rose and cut glass topaz beads.

On this one the map show more clearly. It is dyed and treated with tinted medium. Silk fibers act as an overlay. The lining and tassels are striped Southwestern fabric. 

The tags are Japanese paper, hand written, and waxed! I like the layered made fabic. Every one is a uniquel creation.

Silk Hanging Honoring the Elements

Earth, Air, Fire, Water...the primary elements of living and being as we know it. 

The Earth - rock, soil, that which is under our feet - grounding.

The Air - breathe, wind, mystical ether of spirit - soaring.

The Fire - flame, heat, passion, destruction - cleansing.

The Water - life-giving, flow, ocean, lake - quenching.

Earth and water - mud and Golem.  Fire and air - consuming sensual passion and stardust. Fire and air - steam and force. Earth, air, fire, and water - Home.

Here is a banner with the Kanji symbols for water (blue), earth (sienna), air (purple, and fire (orange).  The backing material is handmade silk paper.  The symbols are waxed silk fabric. The hanger is beetle chewed pine. 

Earth
 

Air

 

Fire

Water

Namaste, fellow Earthings.

Studio Views: I spy something...

I started the new year by cleaning my studio.  I lugged out tons of paper to recycle, assorted clutter, even some fabric destined not to be used by me.  Now I have taken a few pictures of the room, to discover it is cluttered still.  What I see is all sorts of beloved inspirations and reminders of where my heart lies!

 

I spy a 60 year old Adirondack pack basket from my grandparent's Little Moose Lake summer home.  And beloved Larry as a boy. And plastic St. Francis for the love of critters and plastic St. Andrew for help in locating lost things.  An bowl from a Native American artist. A casting of a frieze of an ancient Celtic snake goddess (thanks Ann).  I spy Mexican folk art cross. a picture of my father as an infant, some art by Maggie, a fancy fly tied by Gardner, and a colorful goblet from Rachel owner of Arkay Workshop in San Fransisco. 

I spy an antique bag from the sleeve of a Greek dancer's outfit.  A picture of an old man in a curio shop that was a wedding gift to my mother and father. A jolly farmer doll head. A framed card of gratitude from Jenn. I can find Cardboard Man from doll pattern making class and a miniature bendy manikin dressed in a holiday ornament sweater with wool roving hair.

Here's Maggie in at a Maui waterfall on Mother's Day, appliqued and quilted. There is a picture of her under a red umbrella at the Adirondack summer home of her great grandparents along with postcards from her when she was in Bali.  Remember the little fox I knitted?  Maggie and I used to read the book Little Fox Goes to the End of the World.  And she did!

Looking out the inside window, I spy the Gypsy chandelier and the paper mobile. On the window frame I spy Maggie and me, a tongue of fire from a Kilauea postcard, a bit of free quilting sampler.  I spy vintage sewing needle cases, a dragon doll from an exchange last year.  I spy miniature prayer flags, a mess of colored threads, and hear a million whispered blessings.

I spy a scrap of an ink blot image (definitively a butterfly). I spy a print of critters of the Northwest in pairs and a couple wrapped in a marriage blanket which I bought in Seattle and which rode east across the US taped to the ceiling of the car in 1977.  I spy a card with a love note from Larry.  I spy half a postcard of the lake in the Adirondacks where my grandparents had their summer house and where I lived year round from '77 for about six years.  I see memories and paths that divided;  unimagined ways traveled into memories.

I spy a shelf of fabrics, so many creations to be born. I see a an Indigo wrap and quilted bags.  I see green cats and butterfly bears.  I see a melon colored dog bed, a window quilt from my sky light, and a summer dress for baby Mya...all imagination, all tints of dreams, a wealth of possibilities.

I feel gratitude.

Namaste.

ETSY 2010

No promises, but ETSY shop is open again and I hope to keep it that way!

I put the Lend a Hand bags on.  These benefit the Boulder County Emergency Family Assistance and are free shipping!

Here's striped silk

 

Here's contemporary Japanese designer cotton print

 

Fun, practical, and good for the community!  What could be better?

Namaste, Wyncia

Elephant are Beautiful

Elephants are known for there memory, enduring emotional attachments (we humans call that love), and nurturing motherhood.  These huge creatures are so like us.  They are at times gentle, caring, angry, rampaging, playful, and sad.  Sounds like the average day to me!

The elephant in art is beautiful.  When I dyed and embellished fabrics at Gail Denton's natural dying studio, I chose the elephant stamp for a final flourish on one piece.

Here is a recent secret pocket bag from the fabric. (Sorry, I have already passed ownership to another.)

See how to open the bag.

 

More details

 

And it has a place for your ear phone to exit, if you are packing an ipod!

 

Not too bad, eh?

 

The materials used: hand dyed and printed rayon, cotton print, metallic scarf, handmade fabric beads, bone beads, gold paint and pigment, gold filigree ornament, cotton braid, and waxed fiber cording.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you soon!

 

Stone Button Bag Completed

Here is the final result.  What do you think?

And from same fabric in a lavender color way with fabric barrel beads...

Thanks for stopping by!  Namaste, Wyncia

etsy Reopening and Interview

This is fun!  See my interview at the etsy Fiber Arts Street Team  (etsyFAST link) blog!  Wyncia's etsy store re-opening today! 

Bubbles, Bangles and Fabric Beads

Recently I have been fascinated with turning bits and scraps of fabric into beads.  Here are some of the supplies.  I used the top to a fruit box to create a workspace, but the work sprawled all over the table anyway.

  

My first attempts have involved rolling pieces of fabric and fiber scraps around a waxed string.  Like this: 

 

After the rolls are dry I have finished them with several coats either oil based (messy) or acrylic based polyurethane.

Then I pulled out the core, leaving a hole, and cut the rolls into beads.  These are then finished by treating the bead ends with varnish, paint, or lacquer.

 

The results are interesting, but not quite what I want yet.  I am looking for a slightly larger hole.  The beads do not drill out well because fibers twist onto the drill.  I also want a harder substrate and finish that is more like typical beads.

What I like is the primitive look of the beads.  Slight differences an the size and shape of the beads is natural.  I think they will combine nicely with glass, wood, and metal beads for a gypsy-esque look.

 

 

Doll Repair at my Dining Table, Mountain Style

At the Boulder Farmer's Market last month a customer bought a Gemini doll based on a stump doll pattern from Frowning Francis. The doll is made of  Japanese style quilting cotton treated with transparent gesso, then highlighted in acrylic.  Her arms are hand dyed and stamped.  At her heart center window hangs origami peace crane.

Later the customer called to say that she discovered a crack in the hollow wooden base of the figure which may or may not have been there when she purchased it.  This crack was at eye-level for the purchaser when she places the doll on her shelf.

Hard to see the crack, but it needed to be repaired.  She also said that she wanted the figure to "lean forward a bit more" to look better on the chosen shelf. So I gathered the necessary supplies for evening doll base repair. The lovely dark beer is Pearl Street Porter created by Twisted Pine Brewing Company for the 150th birthday of Boulder Colorado, the town down the hill from my studio. 

Wood putty was colored with a jar of mixed paint that had been used on the base.  (Tofutti sour cream is great stuff, but it will not fix a crack in wood.) It was  not the exact same, because I paint by mixing acrylics on palette (usually a pie pan or something like that).  I squirt out colors, dab a bit of each, and go at it for many layers.  But this jar of left over paint was close.  Mixed unevenly with the putty it made a gooey, spreadable mix.

I urged the stuff into the crack and painted it over the rest of the stand.

In the back I urged some of the goo between the base and the stump bottom.

Then I leaned the doll forward, balanced on a couple of paint tubes in hopes she will lean more forward as the customer requested.

She looks okay on my shelf, an old piano that doesn't get played much anymore. 

 

I hope the customer is pleased with the results.