Sunday, June 12, 2016

2016 is a year of color!

First and upfront, some exciting news!

My Unity Mandala has been accepted into the Maryland Federation of Art's Fiber Options show this summer!  The exhibition runs from July 14th to August 6th in Annapolis, MD.  I am humbled and thrilled to be included in this exclusive show, not to mention beyond excited to (hopefully) meet one of my absolute favorite fiber artists,  Elaine Longtemps.  She does brilliant work with powerful messages. 


A few other quilts this winter:
Thread Art free motion mandala close up. 

This was a FUN piece!!  I made about a million 1" English Paper Piecing hexagons all in patriotic fabrics last year and FINALLY I got to quilt them!  Appliqued to a solid background fabric and the quilting makes it a bit 3-dimensional. 

 
Shortly after the last blog post, I ripped my thumb tendons and partially dislocated the joint - taking quilting out of the picture for a few weeks.  

Which ended up being a blessing in disguise!

Not being able to handle heavy layers and a machine opened up the creative juices for other art and it has been really fun!  Gelli printing, mono printing, cutting stencils, watercolors and acrylics, art journal-ling, fiber arts, even book illustrations.  It's been a fantastic year!  














All are made with original, hand cut stencils.  All the above are acrylic on 140lb paper.  Several of the above were made to be backgrounds for other art pieces or art journals.  Just layer by layer by layer...

(I might have a small obsession with feathers and birds and wings... call it a series!) 






These are the same process but on a cotton/linen blend fabric.  My next experiment will be quilting with them.





These were part of an artists grant proposal I put together this spring, Dissection of a Modern Quilt.  More in the series and more to come.

I've also had the opportunity to do lots of research and work for some First Nation artists in Manitoba, British Columbia, North Dakota and New York.  While I'm not able to share those pieces just yet (soon, very soon!!) I have been greatly inspired and have been trying my own art in the Pacific Northwest Tribal style.  It is a beautiful, rich art style and I am deeply in love.

Original ink, Ravens in Love

I LOVELOVELOVE the texture of acrylic!

Acrylic mono-print of Tribal Mask by artist Eric Schweig 


All this work has been so much fun that it doesn't even feel like work!

"I have conquered the Studio!"
But it's messy and I often end up looking like:



And I usually crash like this with the Pooch:


Coming up soon:
-Etsy Shoppe
-Summer Folk Art Festival
-Girls Camp Art Counselor
-Art Journal Classes
-Hopeful Grant Emissary acceptance (CROSS YO' FINGERS!!)
-Book Publications  (Say WHA??)

Be well, love life, make art and be happy.  Thanks for stoppin' by!

Mood: Spunky
Music: "Sunset in July" by 311..

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Sunlight in February

February 1st in Boston and it was warm, sunny and gorgeous!  Perfect weather for celebrating the Hubs birthday!
Photography challenge for "Frosted"  - pineapple and coconut cake

One of my all time faves of my all time faves
 Django and I have been having a blast outside.  We had one small storm that brought us a picturesque snowfall and now it is just about gone!


Hubs has an amazing eye for photography and has been teaching me some about composition and shadows, which has been very helpful for my challenges this week!  (Maybe soon I can get Hubs to share some of his great work...)
Moon - Space

Prompt was "Daily Favorite"

Daily Favorite

"Connected"

Texture - "Quilted Landscape"

I belong to a wonderful and active quit guild, the Proper Bostonian Quilters, who are always doing some sort of charitable sewing.  This week was my turn to contribute - pillowcases using the "hot-dog" method!

Its fun picking fabrics for teens!

There have been so many babies born among our friends - so happy and bustling - and more being announced all the time.  It's almost impossible to keep up with quilts for each one, so I've started making "Grow with me" charts.  Essentially a long table runner that hangs on the wall with lines for kids to get measured against!  And since many of our friends are in a transient part of their life, these charts can travel with them!  It can also be used for all kids, not just one - or customized for a one and only.  Super simple and so many ways to be creative!


"Watch me sprout and grow!"

I also made an orange peel quilt for Hubs' boss, who just had their first - and like a noob, I forgot to take completed pictures of the quilt.  Just know it was terribly cute!


In a change of pace, I took time last week to do some hand work.  I have a growing love for English Paper Piecing and taking a more hands-on approach.  This little table runner was made with a charm pack for the top and 1 yard cut into 5" squares for the back.  Tutorial...?





This week - print making and Project Quilting 7.3!

Cheers and happy stitching!

Mood: Amped
Music: "Drop Dead Cynical" by Amaranthe