starting new smalls....so fun!

Life is simple when one gets excited by color.  Take me to a museum, paint store, whatever, and if it is full of glorious hues, I am in heaven.  Just started to intensify some smalls with inks and the colors are fabulous... it is a.good day and yes I am easy

Quilt accepted into PAQA show

My quilt, "Life's Brew," has been accepted into the PAQA show "Reminisce" which will be opening on April 22 at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary, North Carolina. The show runs until June 22.   Hope to see you there!

Exercising the Brain Matter....

Am taking a month long drawing class online with Susan Shie.  The first big assignment is to draw your closet with a surprise in it.  Having literally not drawn anything other than quick sketches for compositions of quilts in the last 12 years this is a challenge.  I love to draw, just do not make time for it anymore.  So here is my closet on the way (it is due Monday!).....one misconception about drawing is that it is always a quick procedure but let me assure you that colored pencils are sloooow....

View outside of my studio window.....

What a beautiful and peaceful day to work in my studio....the earth blanketed in white, no footprints, and silence....

Finished up a piece for the SacredThreads show.  Have to get professional pictures made and then I am ready to enter it.  I usually will not show a piece until it is accepted (or not), but I decided to go ahead and post this.  It's title is 'The Clarion Call', and it is about how we are called to praise, give thanks, and lift our hearts up in joy.  Those of you who have know me for awhile will see the connection to the paintings I use to do.  I have been feeling the need to connect back to my core.

This is where it gets scary....

This piece is  halfway composed and before I go any further in the sky I have to do some dying/inking.  Now why is this scary?  The answer is because I have already input many hours to get this far, the pieces are quilted together and some embellishment has already been added. The ink is applied on a wet surface and can very easily bleed into areas where it is unwanted.  So, my self-taught technique is, I have an iron right next to where I am inking and just work in small areas at a time..Drying and setting the ink with the heat ...works most of the time  ;-), of course I also use the crossed fingers technique....it is the times it doesn't work that make it scary...

Three of Three...done!

Blue indigo done.....IF I had to pick my very, very, favorite color, it might just be indigo blue.  I am a blue person and have always been drawn to it.  On the right,  the next small to be done and then of course I have a larger 30"x 30" piece I need to get done in the next 2 weeks....I do keep busy but making art is what makes me happy and keeps me sane....sane being a subjective thing....

I must be getting old-because I now love purple....

This is the second of three that have been waiting since Christmas to be finished.  The third one will be done tomorrow.  I do not know if it is my age or what but I have been really drawn to purple lately.  Is it hormones??????

Back in the normal routine....ahhhhh

Finished a long list of things 'to do' this month and now I can get back to the daily pick and choose of what I am going to work on today.  I finally finished a collage vase of flowers, not my normal subject matter but it was fun to do.  It is a vahhh-se, instead of a vase because it costs more than $25...lol.  One this size (16"x 22") unframed goes for $350, so it is a vahhh-se.  Now, I have to get back to work because I have two more that need to be completed....I love my life !!!!!  PS you can not see it in this picture but there is some beading in the flowers.  What? you say, use bigger beads so they show up....hmmmm

Long----week

It seems all I did this week was art related computer work....I shall go MAAAD.  All a necessary evil in a professional world.  I think I prefer living under the rock...

A Peek.....

This is all that I can reveal to you at this time.  I am doing this piece for something specific. Many shows request that you do not show your entered work before the show opens.  So, I make it a rule not to show any of my big pieces until they are opening in a show.  This was inspired by a painting I made  years ago.  Today, the jungle is being added and then the inking begins.  Let us hope that it is accepted in the exhibit I intend it to go in.  No matter, if it is rejected by one, it can be accepted in another.  That is the game of art!

New Year-New Work on the way....

This is how I create a larger piece (over 40")...I plan the design, draw on muslin, load up on a mid-arm, surround myself with fabric of all colors and sizes, and then go to town.  Not anything mysterious to the process, it just takes time!  My mid-arm gives me  a lot of trouble so sometimes the process is wrought with frustration.  I scream, yell, curse, and then prevail as I refuse to have a machine limit me.  The fun part of this process is I don't get to see the whole piece until I unroll it off the machine...so it is sort of like Christmas and getting a present, (I might like it, I might not).  Of course, I can always reload it on the machine and finesse the whole thing. until it is right. 

A Happy New Year to all...may it be filled with laughter and joy....di

(I forgot to add the part where I paint, ink, and embellish.....after the composition is done....
Minor details...)

Design Wall Today....

Having fun.....raw silks, indigos...what could be better??

There is a reason I do not do bedspreads BUT....

Okay, here is the way it is.....remodeling guest room, (low budget of course).  Doing boom swaps, given a ton of black background, rose/floral material (did I mention my house is victorian)..and I say to self--self you can make the bedspread for the room--save big money LOL.  Many months later, I have finished  piecing the top of the comforter and still have the shams to make.  The low budget part, haven't bought the batting yet $70, paid for quilting yet $100, bought pillow forms??? you get the idea...BUT..I will have a comforter with blocks made from many friends and it will be special...will I do it again...ummmm NO!  Do not try to find a place for  your eyes to rest...there is none :-(

I really like doing the art pieces much -more-better....

Haven't posted in a while.....

Been rather busy and have not been in my studio as much as normal.  However, I do have 11 smalls, composed and ready to begin working on.  This picture is the first one I have stitched and started to paint on.  Can you believe I am actually doing a floral still life!!  If you look closely you will see the vase is not even close to balanced as it was created out of an irregular scrap...love irregularities.  This is just pinned on a background as I decide what the next progression will be.....

 I think this will be a pretty one when it is done.....onward.

Houston International Quilt Show

Alas!  I did not win an award but my quilt was one of 19 selected for the exhibit, 'Festival Gallery of Quilt Art: Home', and will be showing at the International Quilt Show in Houston this week.
The show opens tomorrow to the public so if you are one of the lucky ones attending please check it out.  I have never been able to go to the show BUT one of these days......I will.

The proper title of the quilt is, "Checkered Cab Take Me Home".  And the thought behind the image is returning from a trip, getting into a cab and returning to your land, your domicile, and your people.  All of which comprise 'home'. 

time to work on gifts....

In between art projects, so I am starting to work on gifts for the Holiday Season...here is a traditional? scrappy top ready to go to the long armer.  Have been making scrappy blocks on and off for the last 4-5 months when I needed something brainless to do.  Now they are all together and will be a surprise for someone!  It is a bit bright and bold but so is the recipient... :-)..now on to the next project....

Lollipop and the Giraffes...

I have NO idea what I was thinking when I made this piece!  I started with making this at a demo when I was, how you say, getting bored out of my mind.  So to entertain myself, I did the center portion and named her 'Miss Lollipops'...now, you have to admit she has a certain charm about her so I couldn't throw her away.  She did so want to live.  The rest is history...and she is watching the giraffes (I ask why not?) parade below her window.

I do not know if this is a masterpiece LOL but you have to love it.....di

I am going crazy-but of course in a good way?

"Get the bookworm out of here and give me some eyes!" before I breath fire all over you.

Prince Charming says, "Stripe my crown, give me some eyes-I have a kingdom to rule...".

I do not have to talk to myself because my ornaments speak to me.....LOL

So much fun!!

Sometimes I think these guys become a part of my family. I am currently in the process of finishing painting them and glazing etc.  Some demand names, and their personalities just jump out and make me laugh.  These are the end batch of the ornaments that I will make this year.  There are a few, I will just hate to sell.  However, it is fun to think of someone smiling every year when they place one of my creations on their trees.

When I make these, I think of the saying that -"Creativity is intelligence having fun"- and that is so true.  Birthing an image, deciding on a nose shape, and letting them come forth is more fun than should be allowed.  

"Abstract Narratives"....

What is abstraction?  I once had a professor who said that everything that was not realism is abstract.  Now, I think he was a little extreme in his definition but he did have a valid point.  My work is abstracted/stylized imagery that creates a little world of somewhat illogical happenings.  Chairs, ladders, angels, spirit people all live in compositions that hopefully will encourage a lingering glance and a smile.  These are five in 'process' artworks that I am having fun working on this week.  Enjoy.....life, love, and art!