I have spent much of today stitching the lutradur leaves to the quilt, one at a time and reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

As I stitched, I thought about Aspens and Birches as themes in art work. My friend who has been sending me links to birch and aspen work said she is just seeing them a lot lately.

She said she had even seen them on a bag for sale at Target. I couldn’t capture the image, but it is this one, painted by my daughter, Lisa, and licensed for this wallet and for a bag on sale at Target. She paints birches. I make aspens out of fabric.

There is also a new set of stationary from Chronicle Books with her tree paintings. I love these:

I have been using aspens in my work since my first Art Quilt Tahoe workshop with Sue Benner. I took that class in 2004, I think, and took another class in 2005 and did this piece:

My friend Teri Springer owns this. The other piece, much more abstract, is owned by Sally Morris, a friend from California.

In 2006, I started painting organza and creating simple aspen landscapes.

I see my recent work as expanding the aspen pieces into grander landscapes on a scale that I had not known I could accomplish until now. Perhaps the progression of my work has now thrown me smack in the middle of the au courant, seen every where, image of the day. I did not see it coming.

It is hot here in Portland. I am just happy that I have my fairly cool basement studio where I can happily work on my art.