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Archive for the ‘critiques’ Category

Here I Am!!

Monday, April 11th, 2016

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Not sure if time is flying or time is dragging by, but anyway, I am in waiting mode for my new knee. I am trying to keep busy. My SDA job has been keeping me very busy. In the evening, I have been slow stitching and knitting. I am making progress on the piece for the SAQA auction. I am about half done with the front of the Winnie the Pooh sweater:

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On Saturday, I went to my Oregon critique group in Eugene. Here are two of my quilts waiting to be discussed:

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I have always felt that my Blue Picasso Woman needed something and she helped me realize what it is – she does not have enough space around her. I am thinking about cutting her up and redoing her as a more complicated Picassoesque piece:

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Today, I spent the afternoon at the hospital getting poked and prodded to make sure I am fit for the surgery. Hopefully, I am. I have seen folks in worse shape than me come through it ok!!

 

A Hectic, Satisfying Day

Thursday, January 7th, 2016

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When I took this quilt (without the tree) to my critique session last fall, the critic said it was not finished, it needed something else. I had always thought about putting a California Oak on it because you often see a lone Oak on the golden hills. I thought it might be too realistic for the overall tone of the quilt. But, today I did it. And, I am still not sure, but I sure love the tree.

I took off for the studio this morning to get this done. I cut a trunk.

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I auditioned some green fabrics and ended up using this batik. I think it worked well.

I fused the tree together on a teflon sheet.

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Then, I auditioned it in different spots on the landscape and fused it down.

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I took it home and quilted it.

I also finished this little quilt. I scattered a few more leaves on it before I added the facing.

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Tonight, we took the street car down to the Pearl to the opening of an art exhibit that 3 friends are in. I also retrieved my Blue Picasso Woman and brought it home. It has been traveling for a year and a half.

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I took all 3 of these quilts to Kristin LaFlamme who is taking them to Seattle with her tomorrow to be photographed by Mark Frey, who is a great photographer of textiles and art objects. Kristin has a 3-D piece that needs to be photographed for a catalog for a SAQA exhibit at the Textile Museum, Migration Stories. Here she is photographing it in our condo hallway for a video she plans to make of it in various sites.

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And so, I am feeling pretty good tonight. Got a lot accomplished. Tomorrow, I start an online dyeing class with Elizabeth Barton. While I was at the studio, I checked on my supplies. In this workshop she promises:

If you’ve never dyed before, this is the class to take. If you have taken a class but ended up feeling confused about the whole process, this is the class to take. If you have taken a class, and felt like it was all too much work, this is the class to take! If you have taken a class and had wimpy or muddy results, this is the class to take! If you have read about a class where you had to dye thousands of little square samples before you could even think about what you needed to make that quilt you have in mind, this is the class to take! If you want to be able to dye a reasonable approximation of any color you see anywhere, this is the class to take! In five lessons, I explain the process of hand dyeing in simple, safe, clear, easy to remember terms. We make enough dye concentrate in the first class to last us through the whole course – and beyond! You really don’t need to be mixing up dye every single time! There are only a few key factors to successful dyeing and I’ll explain them very clearly, so failure just simply is not an option! We will cover: dye mixing, gradation dyeing, pure versus mixed colors, how to derive your own recipes, how to dye neutrals and why you need them and the benefits of overdyeing. In the last class, working from a color inspiration source, we dye the fabric for your next quilt!

 

 

Oops! Missing in Action

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

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This may be a record for me! Seventeen days since my last post. I don’t have any exciting reason. I got a really nasty sinus infection with the worst vertigo. Ended up in bed for a few days. Then, this past week, I had a hectic schedule. On Monday, Mr C and I helped to hang the SAQA Oregon Exploring Layers show at the AIR Gallery in Pioneer Place, downtown Portland. It will be there through May 17th. The Gallery is open Thursday – Sunday, noon to 6 pm. That is Walking with Scooter and Mr C hanging at the show.

On Tuesday, I got caught up with some SDA work. On Wednesday, I joined a large group of SAQA members for a docent tour at the Portland Art Museum of Italian Style, a comprehensive look at Italian fashion from the end of the Second World War to the present day.  It was fantastic. I had lunch with friends and then took the street car back home.

On Wednesday night, I went to Trinity for the latest art short course. This month, we are screen printing. I could, of course, teach this class, but it is fun to be a participant. We used torn and cut paper to make our designs. First, I cut craft paper into rectangles in a pattern. by folding and cutting.

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Then, I cut circles in freezer paper.

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Her is my first print from the rectangles.

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Then, I printed magenta circles.

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We printed on paper. I am quite happy with this.

On Thursday, I got my neglected hair cut an colored. I felt so much better. Mr C and I took the street car downtown to a symphony concert. It was a one hour free concert for donors, educators and other community folks. It was at 6 pm and and then we stopped at one of the breweries for supper.

On Friday, I got lots of errands done. I found some steel rods to use for my 3-D construction and have started work. Hopefully, I can share some progress tomorrow. I also produced the Constant Contact newsetter for Columbia FiberArts Guild and got it sent Friday night. Whew!

On Saturday, I met a friend at 8:30 in the morning and we drove down to Silverton for our Oregon Critique group meeting. This was the beautiful view of the Silver Lake reservoir from Carol’s deck. So pretty and peaceful.

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Our critic was an artist from Salem. I thought she was a bit too complimentary of our work. Didn’t really get much out of it. I did enjoy seeing the work the others have done.

Betty and I left, Silverton and then went to Pioneer Place to set up for the opening reception of the exhibit. Hung out there until 9 pm, when Mr C came and picked me up. Today, I have been trying to recover from the week and to get caught up on SDA work! Here is a shot from the show. It looks great.

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So, now we are all caught up. I hope I can get back to my regular blogging schedule again.

Here I Am!!

Saturday, October 25th, 2014

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It has been a week since our critique group met. I have been busy, busy. Here is Taking Leaf of My Senses redux. I like it so much more. I need to take some yellow paint to the fall leaves as they are not showing up as well as I would like.

Here is Flight Through Sky Blue Pink redux. I lopped off the top so that the pink cheesecloth area is not in the middle. I think it works much better. You can click on either image to see them larger.

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I met with the church ladies in Albany on Monday. I thought I was a go to get the commission and then I got an e-mail from them saying that the church requires to submissions so they were meeting with a second artist this week. Then they will take both proposals to the board  next month to make the final decision.

I received my copy of Women Who Come to the Table this week. It is a book about the Dinner at Eight exhibits that Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison have curated for several years. It is a nice book of images of all the quilts and photos of the dinners that have taken place in Houston.

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I was honored to have my Hugs and Kisses quilt introduce the section about the An Exquisite Moment exhibit, last year.

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I have been in 3 of the exhibits. I never got anything done for this year since I was busy moving.

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I have been working on printing fabric for this month’s theme for The Printed Fabric Bee. The theme is science. Here is a sneak peak:

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We just got home from a wonderful concert by The Oregon Symphony. Time to call it a day.

Seduced by Technique

Sunday, October 20th, 2013

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I went back to the Oregon critque group on Saturday, after taking a time out for most of this year. I just was too busy to attend the other two meetings this year. We had a wonderful artist as our guest critic. Jennifer, is a native Scot, but has not lived there for some time. She has an MFA and is an acrylic painter and works at the Bush Barn Art Center in Salem. I took my graffiti piece and my moon pieces. She really loved the graffiti piece — the only downside was the purple/blue paint being too much the same value as the background. I agree. It was exciting to have this chance to hear comments about this daring approach to my art.

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I asked her to look at my moon pieces, as a series. She thought they were boring and didn’t quite get how the person who created the graffiti piece did these. As I sat there and looked at them, I had to agree. On my over hour long drive home, I thought about it. I think I became seduced by a technique and lost my creative edge. I am going to abandon this work for awhile and go back to my more creative work.

I am working on a piece for our local SAQA show, layers. I am working on a background of fabrics that represent the 4 seasons. I have cut the pieces for summer and fall.

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We have been having glorious fall weather. Yesterday’s drive to Silverton, through the Oregon countryside, was beautiful. We met at Carol Heist’s home, which is up on a hill, overlooking the Silverton reservoir. Here is the view from her deck.

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We had the crit session in her studio which is built behind their home with a passageway. The studio is truly envy worthy. Here is a view from the outside.

 

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I did some experimenting with Jacquard’s Dye Magnet today. I can’t share that until later.