home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for September, 2011

Secret Project Revealed

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

At the end of June, my good fiber friend, Judy, who lives in Georgia, posted this photo of her mother and her grandson that was taken on father’s day, just a couple of weeks before her mom passed away. I just love this photo. Her mother was failing, but rallied on that day when Charlie came to visit. It just speaks volumes about our lives and moms, grandmom and great grandmoms. I knew I just had to create something for Judy with the photo as a remembrance of her mom.

Using Photoshop Elements, I created a line drawing/sketch of the photo.

 

I experimented with different colors of organza and background fabric and finally found the right combination. I fused the photo to the background chiffon and took it New York with me where I worked on the background stitching, a combination of French knots and seed stitch.

Here is a detail:

I decided that it needed a frame to set it off instead of having a hanging rod. I am very happy with the result.

I sent it off, priority mail, last Friday and Judy called me today, in tears, as she had received it.

I had a really nice long week-end. I managed to stitch the rod pockets for severalĀ  black felt panels for the Twelve by Twelve exhibit at IQF in Houston in November. Terry has been cutting the panels. When they are all finished, we will attach the quilts and send them off to Houston.

On Sunday, Mr C and I went to the lighting store to find new pendent lights for the kitchen. We have four, two over two separate counters. They have always been a problem. The lights keep needing to be changed and finally, this week, one of the globes broke and fell in shatters on the counter and floor. Here is one of the old ones.

Here is the new one. Makes more of a statement and provides better task lighting.

And The Winner Is

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Kathleen Sweeney! The number 67 was selected from the 123 comments left on my blog. I will notify Lark Publishing after you send me your address. Use the contact form on my website. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a comment. I wish I could give away more than one book.

Art in the Pearl 2011

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Mr. C, Scooter and I went downtown to check out the Art in the Pearl. These are necklaces made by iber/metal artist, Trisha Hassler. Click her name to see her larger works. She made these miniature pieces because people had asked for something smaller and more affordable.

As an anniversary gift, Mr C let me pick out something to take home. I came home with on of her necklaces.

Here is a detail. You can see the fiber background with a bit of metal attached to it, similar to her larger work.

We notice that there were a lot fewer jewelry artists this year, but a whole lot more fiber/felted clothing artists. Here are a few glimpses.

It was very crowded so I was limited in the photography area. After a time, it was like seeing the same thing over and over!

Here is a new take on fiber. This woman crochets paper on which she has made marks with a pen or a pencil. She then cuts the roll of paper into long strips.

There was a young woman creating this sculpture from twigs. It was very cool.

Here is some random art that caught my eye.

These are encaustics with embellishments. He adds elements that make the work 3-D.

I love fused glass. These had beautiful colorways.

These glass whirligigs always gather an audience.

Painted metal pieces, that look a lot like quilt art, don’t you think?

This week-end is our 47th wedding anniversary. We were married on Labor Day week-end so we always celebrate all week-end. Our actual anniversary is on Monday. We are going out to dinner tonight. We were supposed to go out on our friends’ boat tomorrow, but the wife is not feeling well so that will happen next week. On Monday, we will have the annual family Labor Day barbecue. We have hot weather, finally. The wind is blowing from the east, bringing us hot air and smoke from the fires.

You can still leave a comment on my August 31 post for a chance to win Masters Art Quilts, Vol. 2. The drawing will be on Tuesday.

Endless Summer And Fiesta

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

For the orange Twelve by Twelve colorplay challenge, I painted raw silk and silk organza with Dynaflow paints. I loved the fabric so much, I ended up creating two pieces. The above piece was created by cutting strips of the painted fabric and fusing the composition and then machine stitching.

Here is the raw silk fabric that I painted.

Here is a detail:

As I was working on this, I kept having a flashback to a memory of something. It finally came to me. When we were a young married couple, Mr C and I fell in love with a certain poster that brought a bit of summer to our Schenectady, NY home. So I have named this piece, Endless Summer.

I love painted organza. I have made many pieces with it.

I painted some batting with the orange Dynaflow. I scrunched the organza and pleated it and ironed it and pinned it.

I then started stitching by hand with Perle cotton. I finished it late last night. Whew! I thought perhaps I should name it Insanity, but instead, it has the fun name, Fiesta.

Here is a detail:

Now, I have to decide which one joins the Twelve by Twelve group. Do you have an opinion?

Reminder: if you haven’t left a comment for a chance to win Masters Art Quilts Vol 2, go to yesterday’s post and add your two cents. The drawing will be on Tuesday.