Experimentation in the New Year

This is a "before" image of FERNS + FEATHERS, which was posted quite awhile ago (Tuesday, June 14, 2005!) with a request of assistance with the design.
While I recieved some great feed-back, I put the piece away because nothing seemed 'right' for it at the time. This year I've decided to do a lot of experimentation to expand my skills and to move beyond self-imposed limitations. This past week began the first in a series of many experiments - this time I played with Setacolor fabric paints on fabric and Tyvek, metallic powders mixed with Setacolor, and colored pencils over watercolor - not even on fabric, but on watercolor paper!

Here is the latest version of Ferns + Feathers, after an application of green and blue Setacolors to bring more depth to the color aspect of the design. Since this piece has already been quilted and even has binding on two sides, it's definitely an experiment outside my comfort zone. Yet I'm satisfied witht the results thus far. (The color is not quite accurate - the yellows are still quite intense!)


This is another finished quilt to which was added paint. This piece was done years ago and is a 'nice little piece' but it didn't have much punch. I'm not at all sure that adding the silvery metallic pigment paint adds anything artistically to the piece, but it is slightly more interesting...

WHISPERING 16" square (C)2003 Pat Dolan

This piece was a 2006 experiment using Angelina Fibers and other forms sandwiched between two sheer fabrics.

Last week, I added Setacolor paints to deepen the contrast between hidden images and the rest of the piece. I also used metallic pigments with Setacolor to add much needed highlight to the piece. It's now ready for quilting.


This is my watercolor/colored pencil experiment. The watercolor was painted at least 10 years ago as part of an unfinished series featuring carousel horses in many different media.


Tyvek experiments using Setacolor paints and metallic powdered pigments. These eventually will be cut up and become part of other projects. I loved the way the paint worked on/in the Tyvek (mailing envelopes!) and the metallic powders make it even more luminous.


For this one, crumpling the Tyvek seemed like a fun thing to try, so I did, of course!


Below you can see my latest experiment in decorating with my art. We recently gave away an old piano that had taken up a lot of space in our small townhouse. Because the space was short, a large wing-back chair has stood in front of our fireplace since our arrival. Now the chair is where the piano was, leaving a gaping black hole of the fireplace to be address. Below is my solution to the problem.