Photoshop Friday

Oooo pattern © Karen Thiessen 2014

Do you remember this? This week I performed some Photoshop magic on it with the help of my magnetic lasso tool and a lot of rotation and repetition. Oooo pattern adds a cheery warm note to this unusually frigid winter here in Canada. The highlight of January has been binge-watching seasons one and two of Call the Midwife while stitching most evenings.

Studio Series: First. quilt. ever.

Katja Elizabeth quilt © Karen Thiessen 2014

We all start somewhere. Katja Elizabeth is my very first quilt. I made the quilt during my second year of marriage when my husband and I had no money and empty walls that begged for art. Framing was expensive, fabric was inexpensive. The photograph is terrible. I took it a lifetime ago. The hand-stitching within the black sashing is gorgeous. I used embroidery floss.

I hand-painted the silk panels whose designs I based on art deco ornamentation. The black sashing and purple corners are poly-cotton, before I knew better about using polyester. My grandma gave me one of her old quilt frames, the stands, and the appropriate tacks, and showed me how to put a quilt on a frame. This quilt would not have turned out as well as it did without her help. She was proud of me to carry on her skills, although with a twist. Later, whenever she saw this quilt on our living room wall, she would comment that if my husband and I got cold at night we could take it down and sleep under it. There was never any need because the log cabin quilt that grandma made for our wedding served us well. 

Katja Elizabeth quilt detail © Karen Thiessen 2014

When I made the quilt, I was studying interior design. Although I learned a lot, it was not a good fit for me. I submitted the quilt into a juried province-wide show and it was accepted. This was a sign for me to pursue my dream and study textiles at Sheridan College's School of Craft and Design. One day I should count all of the quilts that I have made. They all started with Katja Elizabeth and the helping hands of my grandma.

Great design: Centro bag

Centro Garden bag detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

My friend Jen manages Centro Garden in Burlington, Ontario. It's a gorgeous space that reminds me more of Brooklyn than Southern Ontario. Recently they had these bags printed, and the design is so pleasing that I'll likely hang it on my studio wall. Whenever I buy or receive something from Centro, I'm always blown away with the small details – an understated bow here, or a few chunks of molten glass nestled in moss at the base of a plant to add subtle sparkle. Small details really do make a difference.

Week 78: Adobe Illustrator + Photoshop!

Dotty hexbridge on Tea Stain Pattern © Karen Thiessen,  2014

Well, I finally did it– I created a pattern using both Illustrator and Photoshop. The Dotty Hexbridge pattern is old, but the tea stain pattern using triangles is brand new. As I combined the two patterns, made independently of each other, I realized that I can't just slap two random patterns together and make them work. This new discovery is a work in progress. If I stick with this newfound knowledge, I'm curious to see how my work will evolve over the course of a year. I had to relearn (by bumbling and stumbling of course) how to create triangular selections in Photoshop, and eventually I made it work. The trick was to draw an equilateral triangle using the polygon tool and then draw over it using the Polygonal Lasso tool. I had never used the lasso tool in this way and I still haven't figured out what the polygon tool does, other than provide a template for the Polygonal Lasso tool. Progress!!

Studio Series: Chortitza oak pattern

Chortitza oak pattern © Karen Thiessen 2014

Since January is turning out to be "sit at the computer" instead of "play in my studio" month I'm making the most of it. Learning Adobe Illustrator has occupied much of my computer time over the past two years and in the process my Adobe Photoshop skills atrophied. So it's time to dust off my manual and start playing with making patterns in Photoshop again and maybe one day I'll learn how to create patterns using both Illustrator and Photoshop. Chortitza oak is a very basic pattern of a tree that I am obsessed with at the moment.

Tammy Sutherland: Festival

Tammy Sutherland Festival, 2012

Tammy Sutherland's stitched and screened textiles are among the work that I am looking at for inspiration for my new series. This image is from a card of her work. The echoes of colour (red and yellow) and shape (circles) knit Festival together. I'm in awe of how the child resembles one of her sons. Brilliant work. The emotional and visual feel of Festival offers me much to consider.

Week 77: Adobe Illustrator

Ukrainian crosses © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Another upside to spending January in front of a computer is that I am back to learning Adobe Illustrator again after a hiatus of several months. I'm curious to see how my AI skills will develop this year. It's been a while since I used a manual and now it's time to go back to learning new skills from a book and then playing with those skills.