The first week - Plus one

Here they are... The first 8 pictures of my 30 day challenge. I feel like I am getting into the groove again. I am making lines in my head all the time now and examining everything... EVERYTHING... as if I would be drawing it.  I'm trying to not go easy on myself too. I let myself get reacquainted with my pencil the first couple days and then it was down to business. I'm trying people in awkward positions (see day 7) because the human body is weird and beautiful and complicated and it is difficult to accurately capture it in strange positions. And, I am trying people who are recognizable (day 8) because then I have to really study them. What is it about Audrey's face that makes it Audrey? Maybe I didn't quite get her, maybe her eyes are too big and something is just a little off about her nose... but somewhere around the corner of her mouth I added a shadow, and all of a sudden she was there. That is Audrey. I found a tiny piece of her at least. Anyway, enjoy! If you have any suggestions for subject matter I am ready to consider them. 

If you want to see them better (I can't get the bird to not be sideways) go to my FB art page: Pam Fraley's Art. 

Remaking my clothes...

Okay, a couple years ago I was at Forever 21 during one of their ridiculous sales and I saw a rack with $3 t-shirts. They were just average looking, flimsy white, nothing too special, shirts but I bought 2 of them because they were cheap. I never really liked them all that much and I've been thinking about what to do with them ever since. Today, Colby fell asleep shortly after his 9am feeding and Taylor Bug and Jacks were playing together so well (jumping on the couch etc.) that I was actually able to get out my sewing machine. Yay! Scott got me a Singer Heavy Duty commercial grade machine for Christmas. I cried when I opened it.  Anyway, I found my two average white t-shits and went to work and thought I would post a tutorial here incase anyone else has some old shirts they want to have fun with.

Here's what I did...
First, I cut the neck off the shirt I wanted to use as my base (I just left that part unfinished). Then, because the shirt as a whole was too short for my taste, I cut about a 5in section off the bottom of the other shirt to attach to the bottom of the base shirt. I also cut several strips (about 1 or 2in wide) off the extra shirt to use as embellishments.

Next, I put the lengthening strip inside the bottom of the base shirt, matched the seams and pinned it. I guess it's kinda weird that I didn't cut the hem off the bottom of the base shirt, but I'm lazy and it ended up cute anyway. 

After pinning, I put my machine on a wide surger-type stitch and sewed the two pieces together.

This is the fun part... The embellishing! I wanted a long ruffle down the front of my shirt. In order to do this I upped the tension on my machine to the highest number and increased my stitch length to the longest it would go. This makes it so the fabric going through the machine automatically ruffles up. Just don't backstitch and be sure to leave yourself a LONG piece of thread on either end of your fabric. You will need the extra thread to spread your ruffles out because it will be very tightly bunched on the other side of the needle. To start, center the first strip of fabric under the presser foot and start sewing. When you get close to the end of that strip, overlap the next strip a bit and keep feeding it through. Attach as many pieces as you need till you have a long enough piece for your shirt.  I did a long piece and then a shorter one so I could have 2 ruffles.

Place the ruffles how you want to the front of your shirt with pins.

For an extra little embellishment use the collar you cut off the top of the shirt to make a flower. I put it through the machine on the high tension setting so it bunched up. Then, I just shaped it into a flower.

Return the machine to normal tension and stitch length settings. Sew your ruffles to the front of the shirt, being sure to backstitch this time so they don't come loose. It takes a little finesse to get the ruffles under the presser foot, so go slow. 

After the ruffles are done put your flower where you want and tack it down by hand with a needle and thread. I also attached a small square of cotton on top of the flower stitches inside my shirt with a bit of hot glue - just for some extra stability.

Voila! New Shirt.

For washing, I'll probably machine wash it inside out and just not put it in the dryer.

Here it is on me. I'm so happy. I got a fun new thing to wear without spending any money. My husband thought it was super cute too. He asked me where I bought it. Hee hee  :D

drawing again

So, I was telling Joelene today that I kind of let the medium I use dictate the style of my art. Paint is fluid, and when I paint I become a little more fluid myself. Pen and pencil are much more precise, so I become more precise. Because of this, my pencil drawings reflect a bit more of my perfectionism and the real everyday things I think are beautiful. When I paint, it is much more imagination and feeling.
The thing is... I haven't drawn in a long time. I'm not even sure where this "30 drawings in 30 days" idea came from because I have been much more preoccupied with crafting/painting lately. Anyway, It's been interesting. I feel like I am learning my craft again... figuring out how to hold a pencil again, and how to make a decent line. I guess it has been A LOT longer than I thought. The first 2 days were admittedly awkward. Since then I have been reaching into the recesses of my brain and beginning to remember the tools and tricks I used to know. Somewhere back in there I have stored away the methods to properly angle lines and make things proportionate. The hardest thing, though? I am fighting my old tendency to start detailing when I haven't got everything placed right. Gahhhh! It's so aggravating. You know, I think most people are actually pretty good with details. A good artist, though, gets everything laid out right before they dive into the details, because if they don't, they end up with a bunch of horribly proportioned details in the wrong place and it all just looks lame. I think that's actually one of my biggest flaws. I tend to do that with a lot of things. I focus in on one little detail of life and try to work it all out and get it just right, and then I step back and realize that it all has to be erased because the stupid thing was in the wrong spot. *sigh* What am I talking about? Priorities maybe? Oy. Somedays it seems like I have 100 priority #1's and I try to start plowing through them all and I realize that they were all more like #3 or 4 and I really should have been at work over in this other spot instead. Anyone else? :)
Well, anyhow, I have 2 more days of drawings till the first week will be posted. I'm glad I am using the time after all the babies are tucked in bed to challenge myself artistically. It's frustrating at times, but it is better, I think, than just submitting to the call of netflix and disengaging my brain every night.

30 days

How do the months get away from me?
Well, I am embarking on a new experiment in art. 30 drawings in 30 days. Big or small, good or bad, I will be faithful to do them. I will also faithfully post them (*cringe*) on my facebook art page. And, hopefully I will get a bit of myself back in the process. Don't get me wrong. I love to express myself in my house and in the things I bake. I love braiding bread. I love making the cookies that take 2 days and ridiculous amounts of time and finesse. I like making the cream puffs by hand, from scratch. I do. I will admit it. But, I love, more than all of those forms of self-expression, a nice quiet spot with a pencil and a blank piece of paper. Even when I am less than satisfied with the things I try to capture, I like what it takes for me to do it. My art teacher in high school said that artists are observers more than anything. To look at something close and careful and long enough to draw it takes patience and a sense of wonder. It teaches you to see the beauty in things like pepper shakers, wrinkles, flecks of color in an eye... Things become more beautiful when you take the time to draw and I haven't taken time in too long. So, that is what I am doing. My lines may be a bit timid at first, but I am diving back in because I want to SEE better. I will let you all know how it turns out.