exploring in (and out of) the studio

A look into what I’ve been up to in the studio - lots of experimenting + re-exploring.

For a long time I’ve desired to try painting on fabric. Making marks and colors in new ways that are more exact then when dyeing. I have an endless selection of second hand pieces in my studio that I’ve collected over the years, waiting to be updated, so that’s where I started. I got a bunch of secondhand paintbrushes from The Makery down the street and started making marks with fabric paint on cotton and linen pieces. It’s been so fun to play with the different brushes and the marks they make, along with layering colors, adding more or less water to the paints, and trying different fabrics. This is something I’m excited to dive deeper into! I’m putting some of these experiments up on the site to see what ya think!

This last week I started exploring updating vintage pieces I have for my By the Ruyles vintage collection and have been hanging around for a while. The week prior I had made a linen top that had a peasant type sleeve with elastic and I thought that would be cute on a button down top. So that’s where I started, cutting off the cuff of the sleeves and shortening the top a bit. The sleeves came out great but the body was a bit boxy, so I added elastic along the hem and voila! It felt like a feminine take on a mens button down and I loved the new style it added, so I kept going. Taking a few more button downs for adjustment and then playing with maxi dresses and turning them into matching sets. Each day I would do just one piece and see what happened. It was such a fun way to get my creativity flowing and I really love the results. They’re available under the by the ruyles section now!

Re-working secondhand pieces is something I’ve been doing for a long time. In 2018 I started the “Re-explored” part of Explore, finding vintage silk pieces to hand dye and give a new life. While road tripping across the country we’d stop in secondhand stores all over the place and I’d search the racks for silk. This is actually how By the Ruyles started because I was finding so much other cool stuff I couldn’t pass up. I’d send boxes of vintage to my parents for me to come home to. This winter I dyed some very special vintage silk pieces in colors that reminded me of spring. While everything was still white outside I was dreaming of blooming flowers and blue skies.

I’ve been having a good time playing outside of the studio these last few months too… I signed up for a mixed media class over the winter and that helped unlock a new way of being creative with new tools and techniques. I was able to have the mindset of just try it, without the pressure of selling, and enjoy the process of creating just to create.. So here’s some of the things I’ve been trying and playing with!

A creative practice I started doing over the winter is one water color a morning for 10-15 minutes. Playing with color in this was has been so wonderful. It’s like a journal practice but a bit more fun… I think it goes hand in hand with the painting on fabric for getting new ideas of shapes and colors I want to create. Watercolor has been magical to me, it feels so much like dyeing fabric the ways you can play with how wet the page is and watching the colors move and blend. I’ve moved on to adding pen and paint details to the watercolors and am looking forward to exploring this more!

I’ve also started a stitching on paper practice at the studio. This has been especially great for when I’m feeling in a rut to just get the machine going. I grab a few random scraps from my endless scraps supply and slice them up into shapes while I stitch onto two sheets of paper. It’s kind of like collage. I’m not sure what this will turn into but it’s been a great study for me and it’s fun to see it evolve with each one.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading along and peeking inside my brain! Maybe this inspires you to pick up a paint brush, join a class, or just try something new. These last couple months have been a needed reminder that being an artist doesn’t mean selling work, it means creating, experimenting and playing. Thanks for exploring with me. xo Emelia