home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for the ‘Paige Ada’ Category

That Was Fun!

Monday, August 11th, 2014

paigeslide

We had some precious bonding time with that adorable child. She is beautiful, charming, mischievous and the epitome of the strong willed child. She loves being in the center of the action and insinuating herself into whatever conversation is going on around her. Walking back from dinner one night, she kept trying to get our attention by saying, “Hey, I’m here!” She thought the six adults were ignoring, as we chatted on our walk back to the house.

A couple more pics of her – one afternoon, she dressed herself up in her boots, backpack and hat, ready for a hike. So we marched around, singing, I love to go awandering!

2014-08-08 18.24.05

She eats like a farmer. She loves veggies and fish is her favorite protein.

paigeatbrunch

I don’t know how the three of them manage their crazy life. Jayme is currently spending a month in a trial residency program, learning what it will be like next year. She is working in the neonatal intensive care unit at SF General, which is walking distance from their house. She puts in 12 hours on most days, with one day off. She is taking fewer days off early in the month so that she can come to Bodega Bay on Labor Day week-end to help celebrate our 50th anniversary.

While we were there, we stayed at a flat on their street, house sitting and cat sitting for their friends. The cat, Alice, is 18 years old and requires meds morning and night. She was very shy until our last day, when she finally warmed up to me.

alice

I was finally able to snag a copy of my prolific daughter, Lisa’s, new book, Art, Inc., in which she interviews successful artists and the ins and outs of the business side of being an artist.

artinc

I love this dedication!

artincdedication

On Saturday afternoon, Lisa, Clay and I went to the American Craft Council show at Fort Mason. Here I am with one of my brilliant daughters.

meandlisa8-2014

I thought a lot of the work was very pedestrian and some was downright bad. I did see lots of gorgeous, but very expensive wearable art that I would have loved to walk off with. I ended up buying this ring which I just love. A silver tape measure!

 

 

newring

 

 

 

I ran into an SDA acquaintance, Lynn Pollard who is dipping paper into indigo and making these lovely prints.

indigopaper

I know I promised more photos of the show, but was not that inspired or I was too busy shmoozing to take photos.

On a sad note, on our drive home this morning, we got a call from Scooter’s vet telling us that he had had some kind of serious episode on his morning walk. He vomited twice and then collapsed and was totally out. The young man who was walking him had to carry him back. She thought it could be a seizure or perhaps he has Addison’s disease, which is not that uncommon in Poodles. I cried most of the drive home, but we got to the vet hospital and he was fine. So he is home with us now and we are waiting for test results to come tomorrow. If it is Addison’s, it can be treated with prednisone and monthly shots.

scooter8-11-14

Tomorrow, I am going to the convention center to help set up the SAQA booth at Quilt Knit Stitch, the new Quilts, Inc show debuting later this week. It is going to be a busy week. I am looking forward to having Kristin LaFlamme, my art quilt daughter, come to spend the rest of the week with us on Wednesday. She has been staying with Terry Grant and visiting her Mom in Eugene.

 

Where Does the Time Go?

Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

paigesweaterfinal

My life has changed so much over the past few months. I no longer have a daily studio practice that I can blog about. My studio is too hot to spend time there right now. I also have taken on an extra job with Surface Design Association which requires a minimum of 15 hours a week on my computer. I really like the job and feel that I am helping to get our online database in good order. I know I can fit in some quality studio time when the weather gets cooler.

Tomorrow, we are heading down to San Francisco to spend some time with the adorable Paige and her Mom and Dad. Remember that sweater that I started oh so long ago. It took a back seat in my life when we were going through the downsizing and moving. I decided to finish it and take it with me. It has short sleeves so that is why it looks a little odd.  It is all done and washed and blocked and just needs a couple of buttons. My button supply is at the studio so I will stop in the morning and grab a couple and get it finished before we get there on Thursday.

I am excited to go to the American Craft Council show at Fort Mason on Saturday with Lisa and Clay. I hope to have lots of cool photos to show.

Last week, I went down to a church in Albany, Or to talk to 3 lovely ladies about doing a commission for them. Here is the wall where the quilt would go.

commissionwall1stChristian

The round fiber art piece seems to be a glued collage. It has no stitching. The wall will stay that brownish color. You can see from the sanctuary that this neutral color scheme it their vibe.

albanychurchcross

I usually work with a more primary color scheme for my liturgical work so I was thinking, this is going to be a problem. I talked to them about what vision they have. They talked about something with rounded edges and sculptural or 3-D. Oh, oh – that would not be my thing at all. As I talked to them, I realized that what they wanted was something that did not have straight edges and had movement – I could do that. We talked about the mission of the church which is encapsulated in 3 words: Spirituality, Community and Justice. We talked about incorporating those ideas into the work, with symbols or scripture.

I was still worrying about colors when we went on a tour of the facilities and I saw this vestment hanging:

albanychurchvestments

I knew I had found the color palette that would work. So, next, I will dye some color samples – I want to do this in silk and do some sketches and go back to meet with them in a couple of months.

So, that is what I have been up to.

I promise to check in from the City by the Bay!!

Would Picasso Approve?

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

picassowomanfused

I got the blue picasso woman fused and ready for quilting. I debated and made a mess of my studio looking for the right background fabric. This has been really fun to put together. I don’t think the quilting is going to be easy, but it has to be done!!

 

picassowomanontable

I needed a large workspace to fuse this so I worked at home on the dining room table. I think I need to make her rosy cheek larger. Need to go back to the studio and find the right fabric.

I used an old drop cloth for the back. I think Picasso would approve.

picassowomanquiltback

We have been enjoying our walks around the neighborhood. There is front yard across the street from us with the most amazing poppies.

redpoppies

I am venturing out of my comfort zone tomorrow and going to a new person to get my hair cut. Tomorrow night is Mia’s Middle School graduation. Can’t believe she is off to high school in the fall.

How cute is this little girl. I am missing her so much. Might have to head down to CA soon.

Screenshot 2014-06-10 20.44.43

Life in the Fast Lane! (And some winners)

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

paigequiltfinal

It has been a busy time since I last checked in here. We had a quick trip to the CA bay area to spend time with family and to attend Paige’s second birthday party. She was basically ambivalent about her quilt, but Mom and Dad liked it! She is two, after all. We enjoyed the drive in our very efficient Prius. We would fill it up with 12 gallons of gas and then be able to drive for over 500 miles. We enjoyed the satellite radio in the areas of Oregon and California where the reception is not very good. The voice activated navigation is having a hard time understanding us. Have to work on that.

We came back yesterday because we have so much to do to get ready for our move. I did the random number generator for my art giveaway.

#26 – Fitzy gets first choice of the 3 pieces. Let me know soon and send me your snail mail address.

#34 – Diane English gets second choice. I will let you know which two are available as soon as Fitzy makes a selection.

#21 – Jen Page, my niece gets the third piece. I will send you whatever is left!!

The night before we left on our trip, Mr C and I had dinner with two of the Twelves. Deborah Boschart and her family spent spring break here in the northwest and Terry and her husband joined all of us for a fun night.

2014-03-12 20.14.44

Here are some photos from our trip.

2014-03-14 15.15.59-1

A pile of Lisa’s latest book, Whatever You are, Be a Good One, a compilation of hand lettered and illustrated quotes. I got to bring one home with me.

2014-03-15 11.01.22

Here is Paige with her handsome Daddy.

paigeinswing

A daredevil on the swings!

paigeclarkcake

Lighting the candles on the cake. She had a joint party with her buddy, Clark, who lives on their street.

2014-03-17 08.17.51

On the drive home, we saw a rainbow, but didn’t find the pot of gold.

crayontrucksI did manage to get a photo of the crayon trucks on i-5 in Northern California. I usually see them too late and am not ready with the camera, but this time, I did it.

We are not able to put in hardwood floors in the condo because of noise issues. So, today, we ventured out to look at carpet options. We found a new type, SmartStrand, which is made from corn and is very durable and soft and cleans up with plain water. It has no off-gassing and is great for people with allergies. We decided to go with this and are now trying to decide on what color.

I really can’t think too much about all that has to be done. I am just taking one day at a time.

 

A Celebration

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

westover

We found our new home. Life has been very crazy around here since I last posted. I had a great time at the SAQA Oregon conference and got some nice feedback on my talk. On Friday, the condo we have been waiting for popped up on our RLMS feed. We got an appointment to see it on Saturday and made our offer which was presented to the seller on Tuesday along with two other offers. We were very aggressive in our offer because this was the one we had been waiting for.  See the arrow up there? Our new home is on the fourth floor, not the top. There is a nice sized deck on the back which overlooks the hillside. We have a view from the dining room area bay windows down to the Willamette river which is east of us.

diningroom

Those draperies and the chandelier have gone with the seller, thank goodness! The place is decorated in a much more formal manner than we  like. We will be ripping out the carpet and putting in hardwoods for the sake of my allergies. The kitchen appears to be recently redone. It is very stylish and modern.

newkitchenThe seller was moving out yesterday and today so it will be a fast turnover. We get to go in for the inspection tomorrow and will do some measuring and have a chance to see it without all the furniture. It has two bedrooms and two baths, a laundry/utility room with a sink and great room adjacent to the kitchen plus a separate storage area. It has a walking score of 94 which was one thing we were looking for. The condo has a gym, meeting/party room which you can reserve free of charge and a library/reading room. We also have two primo parking spots.

Needless to say, we are very happy! So, I have an additional reason to celebrate.

Leave me a comment and have a chance to win a piece of Gericon art. I will select 3 names. First name gets first choice, etc. Here is the art.

Aspens.

blogiversaryaspens

Northwest Winter

NWWinterblogiversary

X Marks the Spot.

blogiversarygiveaway1

I will randomly select names after we get back from our trip to California for Paige’s 2nd birthday. I am finishing her quilt today – stitching the binding. This afternoon, we are going back to see Dan at Toyota for some instruction on all the extras on our Prius. Tomorrow, I have guild meeting in the morning and the home inspection in the afternoon and then dinner with Deborah Boschert, one of the Twelves, who is visiting Portland with her family. On Thursday, we are off to California.

Busy, busy!