YvonneBrooks, Author at Yvonne’s Artwork

Colours of the tropics Textile by Yvonne Chapman Brooks

Colours of the Tropics A quilt

“Colours of the tropics” . A quilt Colours of the tropics was a quilt I made in 2009, hot on the heels of The Four Seasons of Harvey. The WAQA (West Australian Quilters Association) was holding another annual exhibition, this time the theme was Tropical Delight. I had been wanting to do a Macaw for ages, and after my success with Free motion Machine Sewing with the previous quilt, I was confident enough to do another. Making the Macaw A good a place to start as any, but one that governed the size of the overall quilt, I knew from the image I had selected to make that he needed to be in the top left corner, his wings outstretched as he swooped in over the scene. He would stand proud at the top of the quilt, and I wanted the gold of his undercarriage to be almost like the sun coming through. I had chosen to put the tri coloured Macaws into the centre of the quilt, so this one was a solo feature, setting the tone for the quilt. Diving to the depths. The diver was a fun piece to make, complicated, but looked really great as a centre piece. I used 3 different materials for the ocean, 2 patterned, and a hand dyed yellow for the beach. The coral was made from 2 different yellow felt squares, the fish were individually made and inserted between the coral before more pink felt made the pink coral. This was over sewn with thread and beaded. Air bubbles are iridised beads, and the hair was sewn with glossy embroidery thread. I was asked if it was me in the panel, alas no, I swim like a brick! Connecting the pieces together Construction is always a detailed process, I would cut out the pieces I had made and place them together, layering and changing things around, adding more, finding the best layout so everything flowed together as you viewed the finished quilt, your eye following tail feathers down or logs and branches left and right, moving from each individual subject to the other effortlessly, yet not missing anything. There were so many individual pieces to make in this quilt, Birds, snakes, spiders, frogs, foliage and water, butterflies, flowers, rocks and trees. I lost count of the pieces, just kept making them until I felt I had enough to fill in the gaps. Using various different fabrics from dress fabric, cottons, my own hand dyed cottons, velvets and silks, plus hundreds of beads, this quilt took nearly a year to make. Some were large pieces, like the Macaws, Toucan and the trees. I fashioned those on the tropical fig trees whose root systems are like buttresses holding up the enormous trunks. I decided the best way to frame the quilt was with the trees either side, and flowers along the top. Hibiscus and Passion fruit flowers I probably made more flowers than I actually needed, and I recall using them on other projects, there are still a couple of hibiscus in my stash at home. They all started as flat pieces of coloured fabric, but with a bit of stitching and thread painting they came to life. Wildlife The tropics are full of the most amazing fauna. I chose birds that would be big and bold, the Toucan was gorgeous in black velvet, slightly padded to stand out , and with iridised tulle to create a glossy shine. I hunted for vibrant fabrics with texture and shine, Ulysses butterflies were Velvet and silk, Kingfishers made from satin and dress making fabrics. The mossy rocks were cut from mottled brown fabrics and then sewn with small zig-zag stitch, in a circular free motion to create a soft mossy covering. I used rather cheap, matte yet glary, almost dayglo thread, in limes and yellow-greens, knowing they would “fluff up” over time, and create a soft wispy look, along with greens and dark green polyester thread for depth and a bit of shine. There were about 5 different threads in those rocks, Hibiscus flowers were fun to do and most references were taken from my garden. small gold seed beads and pearls made the stamens. They were appliqued on using small zig-zag stitch, which I worked into the flower so it wasn’t really seen as an outline. The Orb Spider web was made up almost entirely of beads. The web was sewn in silver metallic thread, and the water droplets were clear seed beads. Sewing with metallic thread poses a problem over layers of fabric as I had discovered with previous quilts, it kept snapping, so frustrating! So the spider web was sewn before other layers were added around it, the beads helped to “Quilt” that area by sewing the layers together. I realised that for exhibition and competition the quilts had to be “sewn to with an inch of their lives” which was very challenging with just a normal sewing machine, and not a “long arm” beauty like most of the competition used. I could be found buried under huge layers of quilt just about able to see. My poor machine … It would clunk away through sometimes up to 10 layers of fabric. I must have been doing something right though, I chose good, heavy duty needles and only broke 2 in the whole project. Finishing the Quilt In total there were 9 frogs in the quilt, some hidden away, and the only piece on the entire quilt that I did not make was one of these frogs. It was a tiny pre-made embroidered frog. The fungi was made from felt, and sewn onto a long branch that formed the bottom of the quilt, covered in moss, and lizards, then covered in small flower shaped buttons in three shades of green. The fungi stands free held onto the quilt with one layer of the circular pattern stitching . The whole quilt is so very tactile. On display, the viewer just wanted to

The Four Seasons of Harvey. A quilt.

The Four season of Harvey The Four Seasons of Harvey was a quilt that started my quilt journey back in 2008. The local Art society and the local craft groups in Harvey, a small town in the Southwest of Western Australia, decided to hold a joint exhibition in the Harvey Districts Creative Arts Centre , so we picked a theme, “The Four Seasons.” I decided to make a quilt as I was just beginning to learn how to do free motion machine sewing, and thread painting. I decided to do a large quilt, 1.3M wide by 2.4M long, to fit in my hallway in a house I was renovating. It took a full year to make and is the largest free motion piece I have ever done. The quilt was constructed in 5 panels, the top one for the sky and distant hills, which would be finalised with gum leaves, blossoms and gum nuts. The second depicted both the orange orchards that Harvey was known for, and its Dairy produce. The Orange trees are laden with fruit in the middle of the piece, then back to bare trees. The paddocks show the seasonal changes as they go from grass to hay, (I used upholstery ruching for this,) which is then harvested and baled, and finally covered in grazing cattle. The third panel was probably my first big challenge. The cows in Harvey represent the beef and dairy industry, and in town there is a historic old abattoir, which is now slowly, sadly, falling to pieces, but at the time had a water tank and windmill still intact. The main cow was from a photo taken by a friend of mine, Bryan Waller, who allowed me to use his image, a cow licking its nose leaning over a fence. This was the main subject piece for this panel. By now I had some practice with my free motion and piecing of images, so the cow was the first thread painted piece that I felt really proud of. The other cows consisted of appliqued pieces cut from printed fabric, and two images taken from paintings of mine, and fabric pieced and sewn. I was also quite proud of my building too, it looked textural and 3D . From drawing to pieced image, to sewn. Note the collie next to the cow. I had jsut recently lost my collie cross dog Max, so decided to put him into the quilt. Getting adventurous! Vineyards in the Harvey region are represented by grape vines. I tried to depict the changing season by first showing empty vines, then vines with green and black grapes with a full ripe bunch in the centre. The late harvest is shown in rust and orange tones, and then the vine goes back to to being an empty vine. This was very ambitious for me. I was using different fabrics and sewing with metallic thread, something I found really difficult over several layers of fabric. Very frustrating when the thread kept snapping. I used beads to create 3D texture to the finished piece, and the main bunch was a mix of velvets and hand dyed cotton. Max made his second appearance in this panel too. Wild Flowers The next panel depicts the spring wild flowers, Spider Orchid, Blue enamel orchid, Donkey Orchids, Banksia, Poppy. I also added some Blackberries, not native to WA but I had found some in Tasmania and they reminded me of home, plus, I wanted to make some as I had found perfect black beads! There was a lot of beading on this piece. I searched for ages to get beads that I could use in this quilt. The magpie with his ever watchful beady eye was fun to make, I like him, I think he adds character. In WA we have magnificent coloured Splendid Fairy Wrens, the males are the most spectacular blue during mating season. Waterways Around Harvey are rivers and waterways plus irrigation ditches for the paddocks, in them there is an abundance of wildlife, kingfishers, ducks, dragon flies and frogs. Now I was getting really adventurous! I made my own fabric using silk tops and PVA glue, this meant I could cut it to shape and sew it! I used it on the breast of the central front facing duck, which I was really proud of, and my Bobtail Lizard, made entirely of silk paper. A little bit of thread painting and free motion sewing and they were the best pieces so far! The bottom branch was also made entirely of silk paper and thread painted. By now though I had been sewing for almost a year, so my technique improved and my confidence had grown, setting myself more challenges. Finishing the Quilt Finishing touches were placed around the quilt to bring the quilt together, Bees, extra birds, Oranges and gum flowers. construction was challenged using my tiny Janome sewing machine, and was completed using two tree trucks as a frame. I was so pleased with the finished quilt. It was a journey of discovery and firsts, along with learning a technique that grew as the quilt grew, I grew in confidence. My next quilt was even better! That’s for the next blog…. The Four Seasons exhibition was a great success with a great mix of art and craft. My quilt was entered into the 2009 WAQA quilt exhibition where I entered it under the Theme for that year “Natures Beauty.” It WON! It also won Peoples Choice, Members Choice and went on to the BEST OF THE BEST Exhibition in Melbourne the following year. Not bad for an absolute beginner. It hangs in my home, I have moved form the original house it was designed for, but it still hangs proudly in my entrance hall.

Carousel. Tradition with a Twist quilt

Tradition with a Twist was the 2016 Theme for the AQC challenge, I chose to create a “Carousel”. The tradition being a yearly fair that would attend local towns in the Uk when I was growing up, where the favourite attraction was the Carousel. The twist, well I always liked to think I was riding a real horse, so there he is, a real horse in the carousel. I started with a watercolour concept of the four horses I wanted to recreate, then had to replicate this into material. Making a pattern and placing the fabric Making a pattern is important, I have enlarged my image onto several acetate pieces and drawn the image as detailed as possible. I reverse this acetate pattern and use it to trace the Vliesofix, a bonding mesh that will be used to iron the fabric on to the calico backing, by reversing the image for drawing I can put the tracing the right way up to place the fabric underneath in the right spot. I call this Trace and Place. It allows me to place several layers of fabric in the right spot for ironing and bonding, and finally sewing. Sewing begins As the shapes begin to take place and once layering has been completed Sewing begins. I use only straight and zig zag stitch for all my textiles. I have a very basic small Janome for this so as the quilt gets bigger it can be a challenge to sew. I have a huge stash of thread which I begin to thread paint over my fabric pieces, paying attention to direction, texture and colour. As sewing is completed on the horse images, I cut them out from their calico backing, making a piece that will eventually be sewn into place, making it in separate pieces means I can keep it as flat as possible with no buckling as I sew. I can also compose the best composition, they look quite stunning on a black background! Making up the background I hand painted the background using acrylic paints mixed with a textile medium for permanence. I was going to have an evening look but decided it wasn’t bold enough, so went with the black and made it night time, this way the lights of the carousel would appear brighter. I added white globes over the painted light so there would be a glow behind them. I also added the 3rd and 4th horse poles. The shine on the real horse is a cellophane Angel Hair filament, when placed between baking paper and ironed it makes a solid web of “fabric” that can be cut to shape and sewn, without losing any of its shine or glitter. the floor was made from large pieces of fabric, sewn to look like wood, then blended with velvet that had been hand dyed with real bright colours, to create reflected lights. The finished quilt measured approximately 36 inches square. 90cm x 90cm. Winning quilt. This quilt was entered into the AQC (Australian Quilt Challenge) in 2016 It very nearly didn’t make it at all, as on the 7th January 2016, when it was halfway though construction, WA’s Largest bushfire threatened our town, having destroyed the neighbouring town of Yarloop and tragically, with loss of life. I was evacuated to a nearby town and taken in by really amazing strangers who quickly became friends. They took in a woman with a half finished quilt, a few clothes, a car full of dogs and all stressed to the max! it was almost a week before we were allowed home. But I finished it. CAROUSEL was entered and chosen to exhibit with 30 others at the craft exhibition in Melbourne, and around Australia for the next year. It didn’t win anything here, but the following year I entered it into the Mancuso World of Quilts in the USA where it won “Best use of Colour: Innovative section” I was blown away. A major prize!

Paint your pet workshop

“Paint your pet” workshop Teaching art is my something I love to do, combine this with teaching you how to paint using my signature style and this makes for a great workshop. Once again I am holding a Paint your pet Workshop. In the past these have proved to be very popular, and the results are amazing. From people with artistic knowledge and experience to the beginners, everyone leaves with a stunning pet portrait. I have taught at several workshops now and each one has been an amazing experience. I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful artists and beginners , and been lucky enough to help them on their art journey. A great learning opportunity At one of my workshops you will learn a few valuable tools to enable you to paint from a photograph. Pet portraits are fun as you already have great knowledge about your chosen subject, and that helps with the fine detail. DAY ONE Step one: Learn how to stretch watercolour paper. This is so the paper dries flat when you apply large amounts of water. The paper is soaked so the paint will run and blend during the process of painting the background. Without stretching the paper it will dry buckled, this doesn’t come out either, making framing almost impossible. You can create a fantastic piece of art that is ruined by buckled paper. Enlarging a drawing from a photograph Step two: You will learn is how to use a grid to enlarge a photograph. This is a fantastic way of enlarging or reducing an image, you can pick out fine detail, shading, shapes and know the proportions and the placement is correct. Essential for a good pet portrait! Here two students, one a total beginner, are enlarging their photographs. This was from a workshop in the Porongorups, WA Step Three: Learn about warm and cool colours and how to paint “wet on wet” to achieve my signature backgrounds. I give you a material list of paints to buy and brushes that will be used in this workshop, that way everyone is using the same colours as I use, a great way of making a start to your art supply collection. I use tubes of watercolour paint as they go further and spread easily during the wet on wet process. Once the portrait is drawn the background is completed. That concludes day one of the workshop. DAY TWO Step four: The next day students learn how to paint the portrait, what colours to use to achieve my signature rainbow styling, and tips and hints to achieve a great portrait. Step five: Pen work. I use pen work on top of my portraits to add extra depth and texture. I use a draftsman Rotoring ink pen but a artline fine marker works just as well. Finally the white gouache, the end touch, the dot in the eye or highlight that finishes the portrait. Not one student has left any of my workshops so far without a fantastic painting. I am thrilled that some have attended several of my workshops, and all students agree they have learnt a lot of valuable information during the workshop. I like to think that I can help them to gain confidence and most of all enjoy the process. The workshops are full on, busy, and most of all FUN! Want to book a workshop? My workshops are advertised on my Facebook Art page, the next on is the 18th and 19th of March, 2023, where I have 3 places still available. The cost is $250pp. You can contact me about doing a workshop, either by using the contact form on this website, or through my Facebook page. I work in my studio at my home in Pinjarra, Western Australia, and can take 6 comfortably in a class. Otherwise if you can rustle up some like minded friends, (no more than 10) I could possibly come to your venue, within Western Australia. (travel cost apply to workshops in states outside the southwest WA) https://www.facebook.com/YvonnesArtwork/

Saving Magic. A quilt with a story

The making of the “Saving Magic” quilt, depicting magic, Macau Canidrome survivor by Yvonne Chapman Brooks

True Blue Mates. A Quilt

Making of “True Blue Mates.” A Quilt. in 2015 I made a quilt for the Australian Quilt Challenge (AQC) for the themed challenge “True Blue,” I decided on “True Blue Mates” based on several True Blue Aussie iconic images, the Swagman, based on my late husband, but with more hair… the Blue Heeler dog, my friends dog NED, a typical Australian bush scene, billy on the campfire and swag with Australian green and gold wattle just for good measure. Making the quilt took around 9 months, from concept and design to the finished product. it is 90cm x 90 cm. It won People’s choice that year and had an Honorary mention. the following year it went to America to the “Mancuso World of Quilts,” where it won Best of Country for Australia Making the quilt Each element of the quilt is made in the same way. Each image is simplified into a shape and colour making almost a “paint by numbers”, each piece of material is cut and fused into place, in this case onto calico, the image is then sewn over using multiple threads and “Painted” using the thread to depict direction and texture. I use a very simple Janome sewing machine and free motion my thread painting. I only use straight and zig-zag stitch. Once finished this image is cut out and forms a sort of “Badge” that can then be put into the final layout. Making the “Swagman” making the Swagman took a lot of hours, the shirt alone was a huge undertaking with multiple thread changes, as the original fabric was just plain navy with a grey grid of fabric fused on top. so dimension and shading were added using a very fine free motion zig-zag stitch. The jeans were make from two old pairs of jeans cut to get the faded, worn look where the creases are, then stitched and thread painted. The boots, which were so typical of Jeff, were the finishing touch to the worn well trodden look I was after Making the background elements A great deal of thought went into the background, I wanted to display as much Australiana as I could with out it being over the top. I decided a swag was obvious, a traveller needs his bed roll, so I made a swag for him to sit on, but it didn’t look like a swag as I had over sewn it, so I made it into a tree trunk! The swag had to be added separately and for good measure I attached a pre-embroidered Australian flag badge. The duffle bag was padded to add dimension and loose shoe laces added for a 3D effect. Trees were sewn to look like bark and the wattle was sewn with free motion zig-zag in green with three shades of yellow forming the wattle flower. The floor covering of leaves were all individually cut and appliqued into place with some metallic filament for a bit of shine. The poem G”Day my name is Ned, and “Aussie Icon I’ve been told, A true Blue Australian loved by many young and old, Been travelling with a mate of mine, we’ve found the perfect spot, campfire lit , billy on, its contents piping hot! After a bit of tucker roll the swag out for a rest, curl up by the fireside, the time I love the best. Stories of our travels, the many miles we’ve done as the Southern Cross lifts high after the setting of the sun. Memories of the early days, of others that he knew those that came before me all fondly thought of too. Gentle hands stroke my head, I give my paw, to let him know I’m listening, well…. that’s what friends are for! I decided to make the quilt about the dog Ned, he is the character in the foreground so needed to be bought into the story. The poem told the story about mate ship, travel and finding peace. Jeff died of prostate cancer in 2017, he was 61. Neds human, my “bestie” Bev died 3 weeks before him of Motor Neurone Disease. Ned died a couple of years later. So the quilt is in memory of people in my life and Ned who was adored by us all, it was seen around the world and appreciated by many. It was shared as an image worldwide and I am so proud to be able to say it is mine! A friend bought it and it is displayed in his entrance hall at his home for all to see, he has kindly lent it to me for display at quilt exhibitions.

True Blue Mates. A Quilt

It’s Christmas!

Let us celebrate with a card or two! It’s that time of year again and once again I have designs for my colourful Greyhound watercolour Christmas cards. It is no secret that I adore greyhounds, they are the most adorable creatures, so loving and lazy, the biggest couch potatoes you ever wish to meet, “Gain a Grey, lose a couch!” Well, I have two rescued Greys, Daisy, and Otis, both were my foster fails and now both are 12+ years old and enjoying a very lazy old age. Over the years I have made my images available for a couple of Greyhound rescue organisations, for them to fundraise. I support GAWA (Greyhound Adoptions WA) and BGA (Busselton Greyhound awareness.) In the past have designed a card of “Granny pants” for “Galgo’s Del Sol” in Spain. In fact, it all started with cards for the Galgo rescue in Spain several years ago, just a generic Galgo, and then I began to design cards for myself. I have also made calendars in the past featuring some of my commissions for the year which have proved popular. My Christmas card muse is often Daisy or Otis, but I have used others in the past, Maya and Zezan were a friend’s dogs from Holand, they made a beautiful Galgo dreaming card, when I saw the image and with my friend’s permission, I could not resist using it as my card for 2021. This year I have two images. The rescue fundraising card is featuring Otis, the photo was taken on holiday earlier in the year, he does not like his photo being taken and always looks like he has been told off for something, so I painted this image with a destroyed gift or two, I thought the image was perfect for “Dear Santa….define “Good” I did add a couple of PNG images (the baubles and ribbon) to my original painting to give them a little bit more depth. Otis however is not destructive in any way at all. He is an absolute gem. For the painting that I will use as my own cards this year, I chose a much simpler image, shown at the top of this blog, that of Santa giving a gentle embrace to a greyhound, a look of love, trust, and hope. I love the simplicity of it. “What would YOU like for Christmas?” I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and a happy and prosperous 2023. Paintings shown are:- What would You like for Christmas? Galgo Dreaming My Christmas hat Granny Pants GDS Dear Santa….define “Good” Christmas wish list Christmas lights This is for you I found mine!

Watercolour Rainbow landscape almost completed watercolour layering

Landscape layering

MAKING A LANDSCAPE I love doing watercolour landscapes using the bright rainbow colouring, using the warm (light) and cool (Shadows) colours. I start very basically with a rough idea of where I want the light, being transparent Yellow is easy to hide with other colours, so this is my first layer, with splashes of water I create the soft mottling look that also helps to add depth to the finished piece. Here I have used Art Spectrum Lemon yellow with a hint of Windsor and newton Cobalt blue Light. Step 2 When the first layer is dry I start to add details that will also add depth, I am starting to deepen my colours, but still keeping the warm colour tones. Here the distant branches are starting to take shape using the pale yellow greens, then adding the deeper cooler blue greens you can see how the image starts to move towards the viewer. Here I use Holbein Bamboo green and Daniel smith Spring green, plus a deeper yellow for the branches. Step 3 Now my third layer begins to bring the foreground closer using the cooler colours. Simple straight lines form tree trunks. Some painted in the Australian red gold to provide a mid-ground, then the blues and purples for foreground. A spattering of leaves, careful not to completely block out the background, re painted in a mix of the cool colours, I have used Art Spectrum Phthalo Blue, Windsor and Newton Dioxazine Purple and Windsor and Newton Bengal rose Gouache. Step 4 Some extra branches have been added in the cool colours, and using wet on wet the ground has been added, keeping the light in the centre and deepening the edges to create a pathway, water has been splashed on the paint as it dries to create my signature mottling. Finishing I decided that the painting looked too empty at the top and wanted to create more of a forest walk feel, so I added more leaves and deeper branches to the centre, some splashes of paint and some liquid acrylic iridised paint to add a little bit of shine, then detail in the pathway using a liner brush and a bit of white for the highlights. I have used cool colours, mainly greens to bring the “Light” forward, and a deep blue green for the shadowing. Some of the pink works as a warm tone when mixed with the orange, yet still acts as shadow due to the intensity of the colour compared to the distant paler more diluted colours.

Yvonne’s Artwork

Blog

Colours of the Tropics A quilt

The Four Seasons of Harvey. A quilt.

Carousel. Tradition with a Twist quilt

Paint your pet workshop

Saving Magic. A quilt with a story

True Blue Mates. A Quilt

True Blue Mates. A Quilt

It’s Christmas!

Landscape layering

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