this is not why I stayed up late

[jinian]

That one will, I hope, be appearing tomorrow.



This is the baby square for my cousin Lily, who will be born in several months. Writing Rock is a pair of stones in a cage, basically. They're covered with some very interesting petroglyphs, most of which I didn't reproduce on the square. The story is that the stones were used by the tribes of the region to tell the future, up until some dumb white guys moved one of them. The rock was moved back, but they never worked again. The site is one of the few interesting things near Crosby, ND, if you're not a member of my family. (If you are, there are several houses of relatives and at least two ancestral farms.)

I painted despite my preference for needlework because pretty much everyone else painted. My aunt who's making the blanket brought the squares and her meager collection of fabric-paint markers to the family reunion, along with some cheesy designs and coloring books, so most people sat at the table and did their grim duty to the genome for about five minutes in dreadful colors. I had warned my aunt beforehand that My Square Would Not Suck, and she was supposed to get my squares to me early. Didn't happen, so I'm doing them after. But I have this thing about not standing out too much. intimidating people, making them feel inadequate. A blanket full of simple markered designs does not welcome such as Mr. Octy. This is still far above the rest in quality (and I completely changed the background color. Heh.), but at least the medium isn't a total departure.

What I learned: Silk painting is great. (Well, I was reminded of that. I knew it from costuming in college.) Writing on fabric with Sharpie is not so great; embroidery is much better because you can pull it out if it goes wrong. Artistic license is a good thing.

Comments

[jinian.livejournal.com]

You know, I use this as my making-stuff userpic most times, but nobody but me knows that I am looking up from working on a heraldic lion in needlepoint. (That's still not done, either -- I need to rip out and replace some of the browns. They are rusty-uck next to the reds and blues. Project pushed back to Someday.) I am pleased. And now I've told you all, so I am even more pleased.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

It is a very good picture of you. I'd be hard pressed to have to choose a favorite, but this would be among the finalists.

[jenett]

It is immensely spiffy. I am all envious and stuff.

So there *big grin*

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Silk painting is surprisingly easy. I could show you next time we're in the same place, if you like.

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaaaaaay petroglyphs! Super-yaaaaaaaay petroglyphs with local historical importance! :D And it's a beautiful painting. If you ever got tired of making necklaces and jewelry, I bet you could make t-shirts or somesuch with silk-painted petroglyph designs on them. I envy your l33t cr3ativ3 skillz. ;)

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Pff. You have l33t cr3ativ3 skillz too.

Lucky for me, I don't have to get tired of something to switch to something else! :) They'd have to be awfully thin t-shirts for the resist to work... or maybe I could thin it a bunch. Hmm. Vile (read: excellent) temptress.