home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for October, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014

WW 10-29-14

Around the World Blog Post

Monday, October 27th, 2014

Seems every one is doing it or refusing to do it.  I was invited by the very talented and uber fun Pixel Ladies, Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki. You can follow their blog here: www.pixeladies.com/blog/. I first met them in person at the SAQA/SDA conference in San Francisco and enjoyed sharing a van with them when we did the studio tours. They are very active in SAQA – Kris is the president of the board and Deb is an active volunteer for SAQA. I am looking forward to seeing them in Portland for the SAQA Fiberlandia conference next year. I recommend their blog to you because it often has a great tip or tutorial for using Photoshop in your art.

To complete my task, I need to answer some questions for you and then assign the task to someone else.

1. What am I working on?

I should be honest and say that I am mainly working on getting my level of creativity back to where it was before we moved to our condo and my studio got seriously downsized. I went from a huge well-lighted daylight basement space to a room that is not quite big enough to be a bedroom for one person. I miss my huge design wall and my large tables on wheels where I did my surface design work. And most of all room to dance while I work!!

I am happy to be part of The Printed Fabric Bee which keeps me in the studio doing some fabric printing every month. This month we are challenged to do a 12 X 12 piece with a science theme. I chose DNA strands. This is my practice fabric where I test colors and prints.

 

 

dnapractice

I have also been working on rehabilitating some quilts that were rushed to finish and needed some help. I am quite happy with the change in this one which I call Taking Leaf of My Seasons. Here is the before. I scanned actual leaves and printed them on silk and just kind of threw them at my beautiful hand painted silk organza background. The realistic leaves did  not work well with the background and the placement was not artistic. So I patiently removed them.

takingleafpreview

I painted more silk organza which I fused together and then cut leaves for each season. I wanted a more artistic placement and I think I have achieved that. This is not a very good photo – which is another thing I lost when we moved – a place to photograph my quilts.

leafquiltrehab1

The problem is with the fall leaves that are too close to the color of the background. I am going to add some yellow and chartreuse paint to them.

leafpaint

I am also working on a design for a large quilt for a commission for a church here in Oregon. Not sure if I will get the job as they are considering two of us.
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I love to experiment with new ways of adding texture, color and design to my work. I don’t use patterns. I don’t do piecing. I am a fuser and I really like to use fabric like paint in composing an art quilt. I may have a quick sketch, but in general, I work more spontaneously, cutting and placing fabric and finally fusing into place.
3. Why do I write/create what I do?

Well, what would I be doing if I didn’t do what I do? That is the question. I am not one to sit around and read and watch TV all day. I must constantly be knitting, sewing, cooking, quilting, painting. This passion for creating keeps me healthy, mentally and physically.
4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I think I answered that up there in question 2. I just plunge in and start playing with paint, dye, fabric, thread. I often play with an idea in my head for days until I can start working on it.

I have tagged my good friend, Judy Carpenter, who lives in Georgia. We have met in person over the years at conferences and workshops. She does beautiful dye work on fabric and creates the most gorgeous scarves. She also knits obsessively, making beautiful creations. Here is her blog: Judy in the Dyes. Look for her post next Monday.

Here I Am!!

Saturday, October 25th, 2014

fallingleaves

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.

skybluepink2

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.

dinnerbook3

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

dinnerbook1

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

dinnerbook2

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:

sciencedetail

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

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014

WW10-22-14

Making Progress

Thursday, October 16th, 2014

leafquiltrehab1

Yes, I am! I am making progress and I like how this is coming along.

leafquilt2

I love the ethereal look of these leaves compared to the previous leaves that I printed on silk.

leafquilt3

I am almost done stitching the leaves down. Then, I will work on the other quilt that I want to rehab for my crit group on Saturday.

That is all I have for tonight. Ta ta!