Paintings

Jedburgh Abbey Doorway Details

Drawing of a doorway detail, Jedburgh Abbey, Scotland

In school, I was never very good at history, I always managed to only pass by the skin of my teeth. I had the hardest time following the syllabus. Whenever I came across an era that I liked, I researched, read and dove in, completely ignoring everything else that was being taught in the classroom. The good thing about being a grown up is that now I can continue to do that without the pressure of grades. I also don’t have to stick to just books, I can now travel to places of historic interest as well. I love prehistory, archaeology and ruins. That took me to Scotland twice.

Sword Relief On Stone From Iona Abbey

Drawing of a stone relief, Iona Abbey, Scotland

I recently started drawing again after a long hiatus. I missed the scratching sound of pencil on paper too much. I went through my Scotland photos and picked out a few to draw. In the evening after a long day, it’s wonderfully relaxing to revisit the places through drawing while listening to some comforting old TV show or movie. I think these drawings would make nice embroidery designs too.

DSLR Camera Quilt Pattern

I could not have done these drawings without my trusty camera. I made the SLR camera pattern many months ago and never got around to making it. My friend Amanda recently made this pillow from that pattern. I squealed in joy when I saw the picture. I LOVE the way she quilted it. I already told her that I am going to copy that quilting design when I make my quilted camera.

-Soma

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Our neighbour’s flower peeking through the fence to say Hello!

When I saw the announcement for the Flag On A Stick blog hop, I teeter-tottered on the decision of joining. As I was sorting through things and putting stuff up in my new workroom, I came across a drawing I did for a college project few years ago. The objective was to describe yourself on a shield. I thought that would make a perfect pennant to hang in my new atelier, as my husband lovingly calls my new workroom. So I ended up joining the Flag On A Stick blog hop hosted by Sew We Quilt. It’s an indoor flag, so I used a very light interfacing to give it a little stability and sewed two tabs to the top so it can be hung on a wall. I took the picture outside just in time before the rain started pelting down.

This is the original painting that I scanned. It is done in watercolour pencils and marker. The scan wasn’t quite large enough for this project, so I scaled it up and printed it out. I then traced the drawing on the fabric in pencil and painted with acrylic colour pencils, paintbrush and textile medium. I haven’t done textile painting in a very, very long time and I couldn’t find any reference on how to go about it when using pencils. So I did a few test doodles to figure out what method works best for fabric painting.

The flag is steeped in symbolism. Every single colour and element in the flag has some meaning that describes me, but I won’t bore you with all the details. The only thing I think I should mention is this – the cat on the top is not there because I love cats. It’s there because I am very much like a cat – I am an extreme introvert, I like small spaces to hide in and I like to have control over my own life situations. The last bit is probably best described in the Latin phrase you see on the shield – Resolutely in action, gently in manner – which is why I chose it.

Thank you so much, Thearica and Mdm Samm, for coordinating the blog hop. I would have never worked on this otherwise and my new atelier would have remained without a flag. There are some really awesome flags being created by the other participants in the blog hop. I am sharing my day with these talented ladies and they would love for you to visit them –

Thimblemouse & Spouse

Stitchin’ By The Lake

Just One More Stitch

The Quilting Queen Online

Selina quilts

I am giving away these two patterns from my shop to celebrate spring – Spring Kites and Fair Isle Star. My giveaways are for my followers only and I would love for you to follow me anyway you like. Please leave a comment and let me know how you follow my blog and you will be entered in my giveaway. The winner will be announced on Thursday, April 10th.

Thank you so much for visiting!
-Soma

Capturing A Little History

Flag For My Atelier