Progress

I have no idea how these pictures are going to line up or why I have underlining under my words.  I can't seem to remove it!  But I wanted to share how my studio is progressing.  It is almost done!  Two more days and I can start loading it up.  When I get everything in there it will of course look much different.  The top picture is the room I am moving out of so you can see this will be a marked improvement.  The fact that my computer is intent on underlining all this is driving my crazy so I am going to stop now.  Will post after I load everything in and am functional again.  It has seemed extremely weird not to be able to hide out and create....

(the underlining isn't showing  up in the preview....hmmm)

My studio, my studio...it is finally happening....

 

So it is finally going to happen.  After the small building I was going to purchase fell through we decided to find a way for me to have a larger studio at home.  For two months we have been building a new garage for the cars and NOW we are going to remodel the old tandem garage into a studio for me.  An 'art cave' if you will call it.  I will have room for painting and my textiles.  I can not wait.  And yes the concrete floor is going to be hot pink.  This is my space and when I enter I want to smile.  Thanks for my poor husband who has been emptying all the stuff out of the old garage so that they can start in two days.  Projected time to complete the project is three weeks, hmmmm, we will see if that can happen....Until then I am happy dancing....

Asheville Show...

Show is done and the year is wrapping up.  Next project is remodeling a garage into a studio.  This is starting later this week and I am really excited.  Everything in the studio is on  hold until probably the new year.  I am sure there will be some small projects in order for me to retain  my sanity but no serious sewing until January.  The holiday season is upon us and it is time for family and friends!

Last Quilt for the Show, and then...

...the Holiday season attacks and there will be a slight pause as the seasonal decorating etc...kicks in!
As for now, I will be participating in the Southern Highland Craft Guild Show (October 17-20th, Ashville) which is always a great time.  Come by booth #420 and say hi if you come to the event.  The quilt in the picture is going to be about 40"x40" and will be the largest piece in my arsenal this year.  It is a fun, whimsical piece, which I am liking a lot - at the moment.  All is good, creativity is a high...and it is not even illegal!

"Angels in My Garden"

This is the sister piece to "Dreaming with the Angels", it is called "Angels in My Garden".  It is 14"x29" and is a really sweet piece.  Now onto an optical illusion piece in primary colors and of course I have a lot of busy work to get ready for the shows.  Including pricing my pieces, something I really hate to do.  I know what I would like to get for the wall hangings, I just do not know if they will sell.  We shall see....
 

On schedule and happy, happy, happy!!

This piece is called "Dreaming with the Angels" and I am doing a sister piece right now called "Angels in the Garden".  Both of these pieces will be at the Southern Highland Guild Show in Ashville, October 17-20th.  I have been working steadily since April making a body of work to present.  The usual self-doubts are not surfacing yet and I am happy with everything.  Of course, there are little things I would have done differently if I were to do some of them over.  

The summer was hectic as I had a lot of company (some unexpected!) but all is well and it is a good day......it is a blessed day.....(isn't it nice when things are on track)

piles of this and piles of that!

Just came back from a wonderful visit with my son and his family and now back to work before more company comes.....still working....The studio building that I was hoping to buy fell through the day before closing so I am back to looking for a space.  Life!

creating printing block...

I am gearing up for the Southern Highland Craft show in October and I have to have some smalls so that I will be sure of paying for my booth fee!  I just finished making a printing block so that I can print angels for ornaments again and again and again.  Then I will paint/ink, embellish etc.....I only need about 100 so that will only take me FOREVER!....This was the first run and I have some adjustments to do...then on to making them irresistible....hopefully!!

two panels ready to go.....

Have been working with bleaching/color discharge and decided to go with two vertical panels for the next projects.  Discharged the tops and left the bottom the original prints.  I am seeing a dark city scene for the left and gardeny for the right.

I also want these to have my little angels dancing in the skies or hidden in the scenery.  We shall see what progresses....

Company coming...finish up for now and thinking

So, have been working on these and they are done...love them, hate them....will evaluate them in three months.  They are evolving and I am really liking the triangular angels...

Somewhere on facebook was posted a saying to the effect that " an artist's job is not to evaluate their work, their job is to create it.."  .I have taken that saying very much to heart and whenever I start to critique my own work, I stop myself!

If a creator/artist produces and produces, their style and viewpoint becomes more evident and technique will improve just by the repetition of the processes.  So it is a win/win for an artist to show up everyday and work, work, work.  That is exactly what I do....everyday. 

Sooo..saying all that, I am not judging my work, I am just "evolving" although sometimes it seems more like revolving...but that's a path I am not going down...lol

So much going on.....

a dream of a lifetime is trying to come true..I am about to put a contract on a small studio!  Time will tell but I am ever hopeful.  As for my day to day, I am still working on small art quilts.  The latest two are below....the top quilt is created with silk dyes and the lower with inks....

 

The next ones in queue will not be faces.  They will have stairs and figures.  I need at least 10 more smalls and then I can concentrate on a large piece.  Experimenting with all sorts of products is helping me to identify what processes work best for what I want to accomplish.  A lot of little chores await on my 'to do' list, such as setting up an ETSY store, ordering labels, etc.  Marketing/selling is so not what I want to do..  With a studio on the horizon, it is time to start promoting myself again and justify the expense of my own space.  I have dreamed of a space that I would not have to leave or pay someone's  mortgage off for them and it is just at the edge of my fingertips....wish me luck....d

I just read this and I do sound a little 'harried'...oh well, life

Silk Art Quilts...

Just finished my first trial with the silk paintings for the center of the small art quilts....I have done silk painting in the past but it has been a while.  The time it took for these was much longer than anticipated due to my having to remember steps, etc.  I am reasonably happy with them and will do some more.  The next piece I want to do will be a larger piece using the silk techniques, hopefully, it will be a success!  Onward, I go.  The purpose of all these quilts are to get ready for a show BUT also to build up a portfolio of current work and experiment for a  fresh new look for what I have been doing.  I am enjoying the process...so, I think that is what ultimately counts.   Back to work.....

New Approach...

So this is a year of experimentation and I am continuing the small art quilts but now I am experimenting with creating my own image, ie silk painting/dying, and then I will explore how I want them finished.  Silk has such a beautiful sheen and it makes the whole piece look so rich!  Will probably be using some hand embellishment, ribbons, and textile paints.  We shall see.  I am already thinking of  another technique in the next batch that will rev the look up quite a bit.  Hopefully, when I try my idea out it will look like what I have in my head.  Always a journey...

Just came back from visiting two of my precious grandaughters in Colorado and guess what we did!  My eight year old is learning sewing and we made....you will never guess....American Girl doll clothes....it was a great trip....

Happy creating....

Whoops....down one

Out of my three pieces for this week, one has died as a big blob of black fabric paint splattered on the face of the walking umbrella man....oh, well...it is now a practice fabric for new techniques!  Here is my favorite of the two left....

Now a slight break as I have to make some doll quilts for an upcoming visit with my grandaughters...but will be drawing designs so I will be able to get back to work as soon as I return...

Silk painting is getting ready to be added to the processes....can't wait because I love to make art!!

These still have a way to go...

I still have a way to go BUT I am on schedule.  Every week I pick two images that must be in each block and then pick a background fabric for all three of them.  Then I get to work, trying different compositions, mediums, procedures, etc., etc.  These are not done so don't be too harsh, I will post the favorite of my the three in a couple of days.  Right now the bottom left is winning.  One never knows until they are done.....

This weeks images had to have buildings and umbrellas/parasols...of course that is a totally normal choice as I perceive it...ahhh, perception

Next three almost done!

 

I am on my way to having 30 quilts this medium size (for a small quilt), and then I need several smaller ones (which will probably be faces), and one large for display....THEN I will be ready for the Southern Highland  Craft Guild's show in the fall.  Whether all this is achievable, I will let you know in September. LOL...

 

Working on three at a time lets me be a little more efficient in pulling out fabrics etc, plus I just like the challenge of doing three that coordinate yet are different.  You can tell as the fabrics I am working with run out because I have to draw from a different palette, ie the red.  These three are about connection as per the cord/thread that connects us as human beings, families, and societies is represented in each piece. 

 

Just catching up on the blog....now I need to go quilt the one on the right and bind it....

I am excited about the next three the back will be a lovey soft color...we shall see, have a couple of ideas for the theme but am not sure yet....bye

Airbrushing

Went to Susan Shie's 'Turtle Moon Art Camp' in Wooster, Ohio last week and learned a lot of new techniques for painting on fabric.  This is the 'look' for airbrushing, (I am on the right).  The mask is a killer!! 

First Three Done....27 to go

I think the title for these three will be 'Crossing Over'.

it's a start!

There are just not enough minutes in the day...but here is the start of a long project...

Happy Dance!

Just was notified that the quilt I submitted for, "Light, Hope, Opportunity: Empowering Women through Clean Energy" exhibit,was accepted and will be showing at the Palais des Nations of the European headquarters of the United Nations in June.  Very excited, then it will be touring in the USA in various venues.  This show is abouting bringing awareness to the community/world about energy poverty and ways to be a part of the solution.  The show is sponsored by Solar Sisters...check out their website www.solarsister.org .  They are a good thing....

'Leftover' quilt

This quilt is a compilation of leftover boom blocks and a round robin gone awry!  It was fun to come up with a design solution with all the disparate parts...and I actually like it alot...I like working asymetrically...should do it more often! 

projects in the studio

Working on several projects!  The bird is a round robin that never became completed in the group process...so I am going to finish it now for me..the brown will be a contemporary art quilt with ladders and souls, and the floral is a spring swap piece...I am trying to tie up a few loose ends ( partially finished projects which luckily I don't have very many ...maybe 4 or five), no rush but like to plug along and get them finished... will post progress as it happens

The most important of the above is the brown.  I have bleach discharged part of the fabric and drawn out the images that will be involved...this will be a fairly complex piece, so wish me luck...argh

'A Hint of Green'

This is for a lady in Florida who collects teapots and likes black and whites.  This is for a March swap of small pieces with the theme 'A Hint of Green'.  When I first heard the theme I thought of the green of Granny Smith apples.  It is such a beautiful color.

Now, I have one more project to complete and then I am starting a series of small art quilts.  Have images in my mind for them but not quite sure of the underlying theme yet. I am still thinking....so while I have been thinking I did this small swap quilt.  Hope she likes it. 

Completed, Shown, and won an award

Finished image of quilt shown in process in previous blog.  
The official title is

"A Lifetime of Monograms"

A Cinderella Story?

 

The quilt placed 2nd in our guild challenge and now it is out that I have been married more than once, oh well....

Finished!

Just finished the quilt that is celebrating the use of solar power in underdeveloped nations.  Whether it is accepted into the show or not, is now in the judges hands.  It was a really fun quilt to make and I have to admit I like it.  For me it is full of hope and joy.  If the quilt is accepted it will be shown at the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, which would be absolutely awesome!  The quilt is done, letting go, and what will be, will be!  Wish me luck.....

Great News!

This past week I was notified that one of my quilts was accepted into SAQA's "Metaphors on Aging" show, which is premiering in Birmingham, UK at the Festival of Quilts and then on to the Johannesburg Quilt Festival in South Africa.  The show will be traveling from 2013-2015.  Very exciting.

How 'Happy" is this!

This is the start for a small quilt to enter in a show about solar power.  The show is sponsored by  an organization called 'Solar Sisters'. One of their missions is to help African women to improve their life standards by using solar power to energize lanterns that the families can use to be productive at night... children can do homework, read, etc.  It is so just that 'light begats light' both literally and figeratively.  My parading women will each have a lantern (the lanterns are actually red, how cool it that), and there will be a sun,  houses with lite windows and we shall see what happens from there.  For more information about the show go to www.quiltforchange.org  .
                                                      

Something more traditional for a change!

This is a mini "doll" quilt for a swap.  The theme is 'Stripes and Strips'.  I had just purchased the book "String Quilt Revival" when I saw this swap...so  it must have been meant for me to participate.    The quilt is going to Arizona  (I think) and my swap partner shared that she liked pink and purple.  There are almost 300 pieces in this 18 x 18 inch piece.  Note to self: do not make your own pieced stripe fabric ever again!  Hopefully my swap partner  will like this piece.  If not, she can send it back.  Just kidding.....sort of...  :-)

Having fun with "Bottles"

"Bottles"

My quilting bee is doing a project where we  draw out of a paper bag, a subject, a color palette, and a size for fun.  This one is bottles, cool colors, and only 6"x12".  It was really  fun to do and since it isn't very big it wasn't too intimidating!  Tomorrow I get to see what everyone else came up with.  These are 'play' and I really enjoy the challenge....and I get to try out different techniques, so it is allll good.

 

next project on the way....

 

This has to do with a challenge of "Monograms".  Started to think about it and I realized I have had four monograms in my life!  Which one is me?  At first I was leaning towards my maiden name intitials but then I realized that I am a product of all the initials I have worn in my life.  Hence this project. Each row of initials is composed of the years that I carried them.  The pink hand embroidered areas say, I Do, I Do Not, Who Am I, No No No, Do Do Do, etc....This possibly suggests that I am conflicted about relationships.  Just a guess!!!!

 Not quite done yet but soon.  Have some embellishing to do and don't know what else yet.

The title of the piece is "A Lifetime of Monograms, A Cinderella Story?"

The base of what it is really about (I think) is how different our lives turn out than what we expected....

I think too much....