Maria Elkins

I think I’m nearly done with the top. There are a couple painted areas I want to tweak, and I’m not terribly fond of that bottom edge, but at least I’m getting close. I hope to resolve those issues quickly so I can get this basted. Then I need to clean up my studio enough to reach the sewing machine!

Yesterday, I finished putting the shadow and highlight accents on the two dresses. I also started painting the clivia (AKA Kaffir lily). However, the painted version is not quite as neon orange as it appears in this photo. By the way, thank you to everyone who helped identify that flower. Backgrounds are a problem for me. I typically say, “Backgrounds are boring.” But I’m thinking this image will need something at the bottom. I can just leave these poor little girls floating in space. It seems like they need to be standing on something. And, in the photo, the space [ ... ]

I worked on painting the dresses yesterday. Overall, I like how they turned out, even if I still didn’t get that watercolor feeling I was envisioning. I think that effect is going to need a lot more practice when I don’t have a deadline. (The rippling you see in the photo is really the dropcloth underneath, not stripes in the fabric.) While I like the painted look, I had a “what if” idea that I wanted to try out. I started cutting out a couple print fabrics and incorporated them in the shadowed and highlighted areas on the dress. [ ... ]

I finally finished cutting out all the GFG blocks (I never imagined it would take so long!), and I started painting, just like I promised. I thought the hair would be a safe place to start. While I like how it turned out, it doesn’t look anything like the real hair colors. Oh, well. That was just a “source photo,” right? I’m not trying to reproduce the photo, just the idea. Since I’m fairly messy, I’ve started covering lots of surfaces when I paint. These “chucks” work great under the palette, the brushes, and the water bucket. I got [ ... ]

You may have noticed that I am actively avoiding Step 2 of Plan B. You know, the part where I actually paint something. Instead, I was kind of enjoying the simple black and white outline. While I was looking at the image, it made me think of my mother-in-law, “Grandma Ellie” to our daughters. This picture was taken years ago in her front garden. That’s when my mind connected the two ideas: Grandma Ellie’s garden and the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt block. I wondered what the image of the two girls would look like in front of a Grandmother’s [ ... ]

I took the first step of Plan B today. I really wanted a different look for this quilt, and I’m not exactly sure if I’ll be able to pull it off, but that’s not going to stop me from trying. I’m hoping to create some beautiful, but controlled, watercolor washes. My initial attempt was dismal, but I’ve got a couple of ideas I’m going to try. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions, too! I really do appreciate it. I know I have lots to learn, and there are so many new products available to us now that it’s [ ... ]

I started painting yesterday. Let’s just say, it didn’t go as planned! This is not quite what I imagined. I wanted a watercolor look, but I haven’t been able to control the bleeding. Hmph! I suppose I could cut it out and fuse it to a background fabric. I’m not ready to quit yet, though. I’m going to try again today. I might try a different technique today to see if I can still get the effect I want. If all else fails, I will resort to the paint, cut and fuse approach. Just for fun, I thought I’d show [ ... ]