Rebel Quilter

Celebrating Normalcy- debut

2010-07-16T09:44:00.004-05:00

It's SOOO quiet!!!! This is the finished newest piece-- Celebrating Normalcy. If you scan down to some previous posts you'll get the concept in full detail. But the short version is this piece celebrates the return to the mundane after a period of crisis. It is the sigh, the exhale, the relief of not having to think in crisis mode. The image is a stylized version of a moonrise over a calm bay. The back is silk screened with examples of daily mundacity--walking the dog, feeding the cat, unloading the dishwasher, taking a luxurious bath, sleeping in your own bed--all activities that, when life is normal, have very little significance. But when they return following a crisis- medical or otherwise, they are worth a little celebratory jig.

This piece has just been juried into Celebrating Creativity at William Woods University which opens in late August. The happy/sad part is that I will not be able to enter it into Quilt National as it will have been posted to a website-- disqualifying it from entry. Unless something else majorly inspires me, I won't have an entry for it this year.

CAOs (Crazy Ass Onions)

2010-06-29T13:51:00.003-05:00

As a gardener who is attempting to grow some of our own foods, when it comes to onions I am a complete failure. I have yet to grow an onion that has an edible bulb.(I did great with garlic) But I seem to have mastered onions as abstract art! This image shows the beginnings of just how whacky those guys can get. I swear they are dancing and singing there way through the season. I am quite sure I was supposed to do somethng before they got to this state. That was weeks ago. Now there are bulbettes where all those higgledy piggledy stems originate from the main stems. I just know that this is the inspiration for my next quilt.

BTW- I did finish my last piece "Celebrating Normalcy" and depending on what happens with the show I just entered it into, I'll post images later. FYI-- there are some shows where they will not accept pieces that have shown up on websites- period. So to leave that option open I'll be keeping the finished image to myself for now. And yes-- they DO check.

2010-03-23T14:13:00.003-05:00

What do these things have in common?

Making coffee

emptying the dishwasher

doing laundry

reading a book

cooking dinner

taking out the trash

walking the dog

checking email

brushing my teeth

taking a bath

They are all activities that are not a part of daily activity while one is experiencing a crisis. As the crisis resolves, these activities slowly come back into one's life. As each is re-introduced a feeling of celebration greets the activity. I call it celebrating normalcy. That is what my current piece is all about.

The back of my piece is made of hand-dyed silk noil in a charcoal coloration. Silk screened on top in several pastel hues are the above activities. To me they capture the essence of everyday life that slips to the margins of daily activity when a loved one is sick, a flood occurs, power goes out for days, or an earthquake shakes our world. I have experienced it a few times and have always marveled at the preciousness of those daily activities we so easily take for granted. But it is just such activiity which separates us from crisis. It is how we know life will again return to normal. It is the re-introduction of the mundane that gives us hope of life being closer to what we imagine it should be.

Today I was finally back in my studio after weeks of chasing the dime. I finally got hte quilt layered and basted and did my first row of stitching- the horizon line that runs across the middle. Aaah normal!

Celebrating Normalcy

2010-02-10T12:09:00.005-06:00

For several years I have been fascinated with what is happening on the horizon opposite where the big show is going on. At sunrise I like to look west and at sunset I like to look east. The way the light acts, the way the existing part of the day is dissolving just makes me grin. I was especially taken by an exhibition I saw years ago in Memphis by artist Burton Callicott. This piece of his is entitled Moonrise Naucet Beach. I always liked that image but only recently realized it was exactly the kind of image I was loving. The moon is a full moon rising just after sunset. The day is still receeding and the colorations above the horizon are slowly changing to darkness. The only reason we are looking that direction is that the moon is on the rise. But the quietness, the stillness and the subtleness prevail. So I have been wanting to do a piece that captures that feel.

Introducing Magic Time for "Celebrating Normalcy". For those of you who haven't been following me for long-- Magic Time is the point at which I first put a quilt up on the design wall. To me this is where it breathes its first breath of life and "becomes"a piece of art. Until this point it exists only in my mind. As you can see, the blocks are not yet assembled nor joined- they are simply stuck to the flannel design wall in the expected final layout.

Today I managed to get the top half pieced into rows. I am not trying to copy Callicott's piece but am using his coloration of strata as a reference. I want this piece to be VERY peaceful. Like looking over the ocean on a very cloudy day, where you can't quite tell where the water ends and the sky begins. This won't be QUITE that subtle. I opted to keep the line of land that separates the sky from the water.

I can tell that I have matured somewhat as an artist in that, although at this point the piece isn't going exactly the direction I originally envisioned, I am comfortable enough with my technical skills and vision to have a reasonable expectation that I'll be able to draw it closer to my vision in the remaining steps. This could be the stitching, possible layering, surface design options--who knows?

Celebrating Normalcy--What's with the name? As anyone who has been through a major event can tell you-- whether a medical crisis or a major weather event, a terrorist bombing, an earthquake or similar-- that when life begins to have a few elements of normalcy once again, hope can blossom and be very exciting. We can find that our attention can once again be distracted from the "EVENT" and we can look around and see beauty again. For me, that is symbolized by being able to see the opposite horizon following a sunset or sunrise.

Last year's ice storm, Mom's periodic medical crises, this year's heavy snow-- all qualify as times to recover from.

Since I am not sure where this piece will be taking me, I invite you along to discover it with me.
So you can be oriented- each bull's eye block (4 pieces that comprise a circle) is 8 inches across before assembling. The finished piece will approximate 56" tall and 63" wide.

This is the first piece in over a year where I have dyed fabrics specific to the piece and each block is built for it. Last year each piece I worked on( except one) was made up of leftovers from previous work. While my income has been sucking air thus far this year, I am hopeful that it will be a more prosperous year. That calls for creation!!!!

Let's enjoy the view.

Solo Exhibition part II

2010-01-28T22:07:00.006-06:00

We are taking up where we left off on the previous post. If you want to see it from the beginning see previous post first. As you come around the corner from the long wall you will see "Yikes! Stripes" and "Spots, Dots, Speckles & Freckles". Take note of the purple columns that bring out an amazing amount of purple in my work.

Bypassing the doors that lead to the art department, the next piece is "Sky West".

Then my absolute favorite "Listening for the Silence"-- which we are doing right now-- awaiting the beginning of the snowfall and the cessation of sleet and ice.

Turn the corner again, going clockwise On the left is "Fowl Fantasy III", a runner, then "Neon Cha Cha" and another runner. "Neon Cha Cha" is placed in front of a window and the back can be viewed from the atrium. As with many of my pieces-- the backs have a lot going on.

Which now brings us "Reconcilable Differences."

You have now taken the tour. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. Please feel free to leave your comments.

Driscoll Gallery solo exhibition

2010-01-27T12:19:00.004-06:00

My most recent solo exhibition has opened at the Driscoll Gallery at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO. This is the first view as you enter the double doors. Shown are "Shadow Pool" and "35 Years-- Still Turns Me On". Moving clockwise around the room...

Shown here are "Black Leaf Runner", "Energy of Hope" and "Anhinga". And then...

The big reddish one is "Bass Ackwards--Bee Balm", then Monumetals: Silver, Gold and Copper" then "Luck Sonata in Scarlet Major". Then...

At the end is "Moon Over Marshall Ford", "Slipstream Adventure", "Live Water" and
"Sweeping Changes".

The next issue will follow around the rest of the room.

My warmest thanks to Dianna Callahan who made this exhibition happen. It'll hang through mid February.

Nekkid yoga part 2

2009-09-13T13:28:00.006-05:00

There was some clamouring going on for detail shots of my gals. So here you go. Sadly, I shot them in a hurry and they don't all look squared up or flat. They are. I didn't measure yet but I think they are about 9" x 12".

If you click on each image I think you can blow them up so you can see the stitching around the bodies. I wish I had a good visual reference to be able to name these poses.

When I redrew these poses from Aubrey Beardsley's versions I plumped them up about 30 pounds, removed the high heels, pearls and earrings.

Don't know what that dark cloud is in the lower left corner- photographer error-- not the work.

I am looking for pricing feedback as well as any critiqueing you wish.

This is the back printed with my silkscreen. I haven't signed them yet. Not sure where would be best-- back, front, on a label?

Nekkid yoga

2009-09-12T15:40:00.003-05:00

This is a series I started based on Aubrey Beardsley's 1920s drawings. His yoga girls were all very very slender, often wearing high heels, pearls and earrings while posing. Sheesh! I have redrawn them much plumper and, hopefully, more realistic of today's female yoga participant.

Regarding their creation: the flesh tone fabric is hand-dyed silk. The major background fabric is a black linen to which I applied paint using a silk screen I created that is simply the text of many different yoga poses plus their Indian names. The polka dot fabric was purchased. The black edging is black linen. Actually the backs have been silk screened as well with a simple texture and the edges wrapped around to the front. Before the final wrap and application of fusible I trimmed the fabric using a wavy rotary tool. Then I went back and couched down a gray yarn to finish it. I am doing this in several color ways. I did hte black first simply because I used pigment instead of thicked dyes to print and it was therefore faster to get to a proto-type stage.

I am looking for feedback and pricing suggestions. They are each about 9" x 12".

I know that the detail is hard to see-- but each figure is outline stitched plus contour stitched to show som eof the plumpness. I'll shoot a detail shot later.

Botanicals

2009-09-04T11:15:00.005-05:00

For the lst week I have been playing in the arena of Botanicals. Next month I have the pleasure of accepting an invitation to have a booth at the Best of Missouri Market at the Shaw Botanical Gardens. When I was doing shows regularly I would have given my eye teeth to get this invite.

I've been trying to develop a new series based on four trees that grow in our region--Post Oak, Southern Magnolia, Osage Orange ( Bois D'arc), and Dogwood. My concept-- should this prove marketable, is to choose four species every year and feature them for the year-- exploring their elements-- leaves, silhouette, wood grain, seed pods, flowers, medicinal, culinary and industrial uses and even unusal history that involves that tree.

The first tree I began with is the Post oak- because we lost our 200 yr old post oak that shaded our entire backyard in 2007. What you see here is a very simple wreath made from block prints created with meat packing trays. I then went back and free motion stitched to highlight the vein structure. I think you can click each image and it'll blow up larger so you can see better. I'm starting with wreaths because they can be something of a smapler for the variosu stamps I am creating.

This next grouping is on black linen. You can see the various elements-- oak leaves, oak acorns, osage orange fruit, dogwood leaf and dogwood berries, magnolia seed pod. It looks very flat, I know. But my plan is to outline stitch to bring out details. The white lines are just chalk to make sure I keep it even-ish.

The same bunch of elements on dyed silk noil. I added some smaller dogwood leaves.

This piece is probably the closest to completion- all the elements are there and I've included more of the dogwood berries.

This one you can see the two tones of the magnolia seed pod.

Where am I going with this? not sure. I'm sure they'll look quite different once I quilt them. But I could sure use some feedback. I don't wish to do boring, trite or cute.

Federal Marbles

2009-08-20T15:15:00.004-05:00

Another piece that had been hanging unfinished on the wall for quite some time. Kitty Chrysalis and I were experimenting with marbling about 4 years ago. We came up with enough small pieces to make the 6" circles for this piece. In a time when it seems that all sorts of distortion of the facts are happening in the federal debate over healthcare reform.. perhaps it should be "Federal Lost-its Marbles". The quilting originates on the back where I had printed some large stars and strips of marks that resemble stripes... could have named it stars and stripes, also... but boring and cliche'. I'm just pleased to finally have this piece done as it has been hanging on the design wall for over a year awaiting quilting and finishing.

This piece is mostly silk.

And now for something REALLY different...

2009-08-14T14:53:00.005-05:00

This small piece is a playful approach to texture. All the silks are hand dyed. some I used potato dextrin to create and under-texture. Some parts I used copper leaf scraps sprinkled over the base with tuille on top to hold in place. The silver fish were created using my fish stamp made with a glue gun outline then silver leaf was attached using matte medium. Then lots of stitching. The "flies" are beads made from metallic painted tyvek rolled and wrapped using mettalic threads and blasted with a heat gun. I attached them using silver embroidery floss.

Next to color as my favorite aspect of creating art is texture. This is a fun way to capture and create it. I think I'll be playing with this some more. What do you think? Should I spend time on exploring this?

It may seem I am cranking out the work lickety split these days. Well yes and no. This piece hung on the wall for a few weeks while I figured out what to do to complete it. I have a deadline of October 3rd for a high volume art festival where I'll need lots of smaller works. Crank crank crank.

Neon Cha Cha

2009-08-13T11:28:00.003-05:00

This is another piece in my series I've decided to call my Serendipity Series. Each piece in the series is made up, primarily, of pieces leftover from previous quilt projects. This time I gathered up all the really bright colored scraps from cutting my 8" blocks and interspered them with solid black homespun. It hung on the wall for several weeks while I tried to figure out the quilting. Once that was decided the piece flew together.

This detail shot shows the variety of stitches as well as the neon colors used in the stitching. Once again I forgot to photograph the back- argh! It has a wonderful floral design printed using stamps that have been repurposed to make flowers. I love the way the bright colors come forward and the cool colors recede.

Severe Clear

2009-08-03T11:56:00.002-05:00

I vividly remember hearing a meteorologist in Austin explain about the intense blue sky we were experiencing following a big storm. It is an indication of low humidity and seldom seen in mid summer in the Ozarks. But THIS July has sported several days like that with temps that invite one outside. Another feature of July are Surprise Lillies that seem to pop up from nowhere following a drenching rain, in almost no time at all. The leaves came up with the daffodils and are long gone. Now, too, I see the Rubekias--Black-eyed Susans and the roadside chickory-- that like the specimens here, almost disappear into the landscape.

This happy little piece is another in my Serendipity series to use up scraps from other projects. I couched down a blue yarn onto each piece before assembling the background. The flowers are all hand-dyed silk.

The approximate dimensions are 28" x 40".

Red Rover, Red Rover!

2009-07-15T12:57:00.004-05:00

I started this a few months ago utilizing leftover strips from my block building process. I had the columns built and they hung on the wall for a long time. I knew the concept of what I wanted to create. When I saw the the way the rows seems to be tied together with the couched yarn it reminded me of the school yard game. In planning my write up about this piece I decided to go to wikipedia to try to get more info. It seems that after the 70s the game lost its luster, replaced by more updated pursuits and because of its history of being relatively dangerous-- broken arms and "clotheslining" where your neck gets caught in the arms of the receiving team....for those of you who are very young, a clothesline is that outdoor device for drying ones clothes on a wire or cord stretched between 2 poles-- now often against the rules in deed restricted neighborhoods.

Here's a detail shot showing the couched yarn as well as the outlined figures in the quilting.

This is the back. If did the figures on silk organza. I made a stamp from plexiglas plus drawing using my glue gun. Each was cut out and fused to the foundation. Then I freemotion outline stitched from the back using the thicker metallic thread as bobbin work.

Sprung! finished

2009-07-02T21:34:00.003-05:00

This is such a happy piece. It stayed on the design wall without being quilted for several weeks. Although I loved the color movement I couldn't seem to resolve the quilting. Then I realised I wanted a fairly realistic depiction of some flowers. I traced some clipart flowers onto tracing paper in a wreath design. Then laid the tracing paper on the quilt top and stitched through the tracing paper to get the detailed outlines. After doing the two inside wreaths I was again stuck and unable to resolve the outer corners nor the in-between sections. So again it hung on the design wall while I finished Sweeping Changes. Finally I had stared at it long enough that it started talking to me again. Another wreath of detailed flowers, this time apple blossoms, daffodils and daylily. Then I wanted to boost the visibility of the flowers I had made so much effort to create. So I got out my paints.

Here you can see the inner circle of daffodils as well as the in-between stitching and the apple blossoms and daylillies of the second wreath.

In addition to the flower detail, you can see where I switched to a metallic thread for the in-between quilting.

This was a sweet little piece to create. Its size is 35" x 35". I'll have it posted on my website shortly. I have entered it in Fiber Focus along with Slipstream Adventure and Freefall. Fiber Focus is a nine state textile exhibition presented by Art St. Louis. The competition is tough. I have only once been able to get my work in.

I was shooting it in my studio this morning. Completely forgot to shoot the back. I'll try to get at least a preview shot tomorrow so you can see the back. I had such fun creating it. I repurposed all sorts of stamps I had, to use them as elements in a big flower bouquet. You'll see..........

Sweeping changes--DONE!!!!

2009-06-25T21:41:00.005-05:00

I am delighted to have finished this new piece. It is the first "social conscience" piece I have done in quite a while. My last one was "Oh Martha! How can this be a good thing?". I realised going into the project that it would be unlikely to be easily marketable. So this is done purely from the heart without an eye toward what might be publicly popular. The "Sweeping Changes" are those policy changes that have gone into effect or are being addressed since President Obama took office. The bright copper is what is revealed when all the old policies are swept away. The dust stirred up are the old policies and ways of operating.

The stitching is quite tight in the "dust" as elaborate feathers. I have also stitched around all of the text. The bright metallic is copper leaf. I used most of 2 packs of 25 sheets of copper leaf.
The lower portion has all the text outlined-stitched in metallic thread.

Here's a close-up of a dust swirl with its text and stitching. You can see parts of 2 different text messages-- NAFTA & Religion = politics--- BTW these are outgoing attitudes.

Here's a close-up of the lower copper- clad portion. The x's are in copper leaf. The text is in copper acrylic pigment. The stitching around the text and x's is metallic thread. At the top you can see a portion of the broom.

The overall size is 70" x 70" in 2 panels.

I just submitted it to the show I had planned on entering it in along with Live Water.

My fingers are crossed. I'll know in about 2 weeks whether my work made it. Don't worry-- I'll let you know.

In the mean time it is now "crank it out" time to get ready for my brother and SIL to arrive for my Mom's 80th birthday. Yikes! Time to do all those little things that kept being put off until I had a moment. That moment has arrived!

Sweeping changes--progess

2009-06-01T14:33:00.002-05:00

Ok. I lied. I had planned on showing you the back but I got more interested in the front first. This is where I left the piece today. I have cut apart the silk with the copper leaf, applied black misty fuse and attached. Then I stamped phrases that are timely with current events.

Here you can see the individual "islands" of copper leaf before I printed the phrases.

This is a detail shot showing a few of the phrases. Included in this shot are: corporate responsibility, home gardens, eco-friendly, stimulus, consensus building. There are about 15 in all. The paint used is a copper metallic acrylic. The copper leaf is real.

New work--at last!!!

2009-05-29T15:33:00.003-05:00

This is my latest piece. Entitled "Sweeping Changes". You are seeing it after "magic time" when it has been pieced together but not yet layered or quilted. I have had a game going on this year and recent work-- not yet posted--has all been created using leftovers from previous projects. This one has 400 quadrants all made with leftover pieces... and I didn't even use half of them!
The concept here is the major changes we are currently experiencing in our government and economy-- much of it based on the new policies in place from the election of Barack Obama.
There is a vague black line of demarcation running northeast to southwest. Below that line will be what has been the result of sweeping. Above the line will be what has been swept away.

The area below the black has been swept and what is left are positive (+ signs) in real copper leaf. Here you can see the copper leaf in the process of being cleaned up. The sheets of copper leaf are being brushed to remove the unattached leaf from the silk organza. The color of the silk is too vibrant, I think, so I am over-dyeing using color-hue dyes to deepen it.

The area above the black line is the area that has what has been swept. The first indication is the spirals of "dust". These were created using freezer paper and paint sticks with a stencil brush.

What's next? Well you haven't seen the back yet. It has been dyed and I'll post that progress tomorrow. I have already done it.

The next new step for me will be attaching the silk organza with the copper leaf. I screwed up and applied the copper to the wrong side of the left piece. So I have to work out a solution-- that doesn't involve starting over. The copper leaf had to be ordered online from an art supply and I DON'T have that kind of time-- so time to improvise. I think I'll probbly cut the silk into smaller pieces and attach via black misty fuse in small groupings. There will be much writing/ text on the piece. The bottom will contain things that have changed in a positive way since Obama's election. Above the line will be things that have been or are in the process of being modified or eradiciated. DEEP!!!! Well for me, anyway.

I am finally highly motivated. There is a particular exhibition I am creating this for. I have a July 1 deadline to get images in. Pedal to the metal!!!!!!!!

The Energy of Hope

2009-02-12T13:45:00.004-06:00

I created this piece as a whole cloth quilt. It is actually 2 top layers-- silk broadcloth covered by silk organza. Some of the imagery is printed on the organza and some on the broadcloth. It is very intensively quilted. The images are created using a variety of my own stamps, silk screens, plus the spool ends of many of my threads. The gold is actual gold leaf using Jane Dunnewald's method of using matte medium as a bonding agent applied via silk screen.

Here you can see how tightly it is stitched. I forgot to measure this before posting but it is approximately 4ft x 3 ft.

The name comes from how I felt going into the election and aftermath. With the economy in the tank, it is amazing how one's outlook affects one's energy.

Ice Storm

2009-02-12T12:06:00.005-06:00

The beautiful, the desolate destruction, the times together--

The beautiful-- Here is one of our maple trees covered in about 3/4" of ice. The freezing rain fell most of the night. We could hear the trees breaking all night long.

For nine long days and nights we cuddled around the candles and the small propane heater. I had bought the heater at an auction for Best of Missouri Hands with the idea of using it in my booth on chilly days. I didn't expect to use it to keep warm in my own house. This is my mother all bundled up to play cards.

My husband, Jon, was utterly frustrated trying to practice. It was so cold his fingers just weren't working. But we got reacquainted with the card game Kings in a Corner which I hadn't played since my kids were little-- 20+ years ago. We tried other games but this was the one my mom could recall.

This is typical of the destruction we found. Our maples were just devastated. Several of the branches still attached in this photo ( below) didn't make it until the thaw.

Thankfully this is now all behind us-- except the clean-up. When the ice fell from the trees it added about 4" of ice to the snow and ice already on the ground. Moving along......

Next post will have new work and a return to normalcy. Aah! Precious normalcy--warm toilet seats, TV, water pressure sufficient to shower, no need to wear a knit hat to bed, but alas, the cats no longer want to snuggle under the covers.

Where I have been/ where I am off to

2009-01-05T13:24:00.003-06:00

What a shock to discover it had been 2 months since my last post. In early November I had to go to Florida unexpectedly while my son's body figured out how to settle down on blood pressure medications. As a Mom, let me tell you, it is scary to see your kid hooked up to IVs and monitors in ICU. Fortunately things have settled down and he is respecting his body and treating it with care.

In the mean time I came home and realized we had been living in crisis mode on some level ever since my parents had moved in 2 years ago. The result had been that the partly remodeled kitchen had never been finished. While still not completely done it is now much closer to the ideal. From my chair in the breakfast area I no longer have to look at open cabinets and shelves. It may look great in a restaurant kitchen but in my very full shelves it does not! All the cabinets now are stained and varnished in a cherry finish, have doors and new hardware. The peeling ceiling is now smooth and painted. The 1968 ivy trellis wallpaper is now finally gone and the walls painted a dusty mid-range teal. We still have circa 1968 carpet on our kitchen floor in a "lovely" avocado medallion. As soon as I sell my next piece of artwork the floor will get replaced with a ceramic that mimics slate. It all blends nicely with the granite tile we used for the counter and back splash. The under counter lights have been enjoyed every day as well as the ceramic black sink and copper faucets. Progress! What a great way to start the new year!

In a rampage, I also finally got the upstairs bathroom up to a tolerable state. We still need to re-tile the shower. But no more peeling ceiling or woodwork. Civilized!!!!

I am finishing the piece I started awhile back-- The Energy of Hope. It'll be the image on my annual New Year's Card. Ok... I'm a week behind.

But hope is where I have planted myself this season. For the first time in several years I don't feel hopeless about the direction our country is moving. Even though we hear daily reports of lingering financial crisis ahead I personally believe the worst is over and that brighter days lie ahead. I think that the belt tightening most of us have been doing has been a good practice that is often overlooked with complacency. Never the less, income production MUST occur.

As a possible income source I am sending out a few letters to offer my services as a personal chef-- available to provide a delicious meal as a part of a private dinner party or cook a week's worth of meals for a busy family. While I have no plans to make this a full time gig I am hopeful that it will take some of the financial strain off our household.

Cooking for me has always been a source of creative joy. Over the years I have developed a reputation for putting on spectacular meals. I have resisted "going professional" simply because I haven't wanted to be pulled from creating my art. Now is the time.

This year I am already committed to create lots of new work. My art quilt group is producing a coffin quilt for use by our members. Last one to die gets to keep the quilt!!! Actually it'll probably go to the quilt study center. We all felt like being an artquilter was a major part of who we are. The idea that perhaps that wouldn't be represented at our memorials was not acceptable. None of us are getting any younger and having one "ready to go" seemed like a smart project.

In April our group is having a show at the Springfield Nature Center and I'll be making special piece for that-- I'm thinking Cleome!!!

In last August I have a show in Dallas at Cerulean Gallery and plan to produce quite a few new pieces for that. Then in September is Fiber Focus in St. Louis. I am planning to help produce a regional show of SAQA members work for that.

I have also been invited to create a work for an internationally traveling exhibition of quilts that celebrate various holidays. My father's favorite holiday was the Chinese New Year. He loved all the traditional foods served as well as dragon dances and kites. I'm sure I'll incorporate all those in to the piece somehow.

So here is to prosperity! Here is to new beginnings! All hail the hope for the future.

Lots of new work

2008-11-05T15:00:00.006-06:00

This piece is entitled "Freefall" in recognition and/or celebration of both the craziness of the stock market and earmarking the season. These are gingko leaves in motion. The panels on the right have gingko leaves in gold leaf--not foil--leaf.

The leaves on the left side are done as thread lace. Except for some tuille, every bit of those leaves were done with freemotion stitching. Except for a couple of sashing pieces all was hand-dyed silk. I love the rich intensity of colors.

This piece is still in progress. There is more than one layer. The bottom later is noil that has been dyed and painted with stamps and silk screens. The top layer is divided into 2 main sections. The left is dyed and painted silk organza. In addition, I have used gold leaf to add the alchemy symbols and the woven patch. The right side is also silk organza. It is using more of the pieces I dyed last year when I dyed the fabric for the previous piece (Freefall). The sections have not been assembled with batting yet. I have no idea yet how I'll quilt it.

Here you can get a better idea of the layers. All those circles were printed using a few of my dozens of empty spools.

Another detail showing the right side. After last night's election and Obama's speech I am feeling more optimistic about life in general and especially our future as a country. By the way-- the name of this piece is "Energy of Hope".

I have no idea where this piece is going. It is made up of many of my scraps from previous circle quilts. I added a line of multi-colored couched yarn. This, so far, is just pinned to the wall in rows. I am not sure yet whether it'll be vertically oriented or horizonally. I, for sure, have no idea how to quilt it.

So, while I have been in my studio feeling somewhat aimless, I have found all sorts of directions to investigate. If has been fun.

I think I'll go back to celebrating and drinking in that warm glow of hope. I remember that feeling. It has been a while. I liked it a lot.

Jon will be home tomorrow with his CD completed and ready for publication. This is a landmark event in our lives and I expect that forever after our lives will reflect the changes this CD will have wrought.

New work--Reconcilable Differences

2008-10-17T12:28:00.002-05:00

This piece was nearly self-created. By that I mean a piece that seemed to know what it wanted to be even before I began. It started several months ago when I was between projects. When I cut my blocks to build my circle blocks I almost always have anywhere from 1-5" strips that are 8" long as leftovers. Consequently I have drawers full of these mostly silk scraps. When I am in my studio without any perceivable direction I will grab these strips in similar colorations and just build long strips. In this case I had over 16 ft of these strips in various shades of brown.
I began by simply hanging four 4 ft strips near each other. Somewhere in there the concept of reconcilable differences popped into my head. ( I seem to have been surrounded lately by people who love each other but can't seem to get along)
The general layout is 4 vertical strips made up of the horizontal strips. Between them are vertical strips printed entirely in circular images. There is a diamond overlaying the whole thing. Inside of the diamond is a melding of imagery- strips and circles. Outside the diamond each vertical strip has quilting that is individual to the strip. Inside the diamond the quilting is an allover looping and semi- floral pattern. Outside the diamond the quilting is jagged straight lines for the odd strips and all circles for the even ones. Outside the diamond there are words--mine, I, me. Inside the diamond are the words our, us, we.

The concept is that when one goes beyond thinking only about oneself then differences begin to disappear and consensus and compromise can be found.

I would love to see this piece end up in a law office or perhaps the office of someone who works to mediate family relationships. The overall size is nearly 4 ft square. These are only my "blog quality" photos. I'll be shoot it again at higher resolution immediately. If you want to see higher res shots-- email me directly.

Dang!!!!! Quilt National anyway!!!

2008-10-06T12:21:00.006-05:00

Live Water

Live Water-- detail

Well Gosh Darn!!!! If you know me well you know this is NOT what I have just spit from my mouth. I truly thought this piece had what it took to get selected for Quilt National. The upside is that I can now market the heck out of this piece. Had it been selected it would have been traveling for the next 2 years. Part of the highly restrictive rules of QN is that you can't post the work to anything but your own website. Fear of someone else copying and reposting my work kept me from posting when I completed it. So NOW you can see it in all its glory. This piece finished out at 70" x 105" in three panels. It is a happy piece that takes you to another world. The price is $9750. If you'd like to receive a higer resolution image of this, please email me and I'll get it right off to you. The back side has a similar imagery done in dyes and pigments-- so it could hang against a curtain wall (an interior glass wall) and both sides could work for you.

One of the trickier aspects of making pieces this large is that there are so few venues that will allow pieces of this scale. So my new marketing plan is to send out portfolios to art consultants and architectural firms that have the audience I am seeking.

In the meantime I'll work out my frustration discovering some new avenues with the potato dextrin and see what my next major thing will be. The upside is that my studio is getting a cleaning it hasn't had in over a year.

Good news has also come this week. Barnes Jewish Hospital has selected Burning Leaves to hang in its lobby area. This is a major piece that was most recently shown at William Woods University-- Celebrating Creativity. Thanks to my agent Sandra Kolde. I really appreciate her keeping my work in mind when talking with major accounts. Although I would much rather sell my work outright, leasing provides a foundation that pays my studio rent and frees up my attention for creating.

Now that I am no longer wondering about QN I can get back to wondering if the sky is falling in the stock market. Oh joy!

Recent experiments

2008-09-26T13:01:00.004-05:00

I've been spending the month of September playing around. Most of my experimenting has to do with playing around with thickened dyes and silk screen variations. The flashes above were done with freezer paper adhered temporarily to my blank silkscreen. The gingko, yoga gal, and weave were done with my thermofax silkscreens, again using thickened dyes. The pale reddish part was done with the technique of painting thickened dyes onto a silkscreen, letting it dry and then using dye thickener goop to release the color onto the piece.--deconstuctive silkscreening.
This one, as with the previous one, has been built up over several months. This is on a 100% linen that I found for $1/yd on the stack at Walmart. ( I bought the bolt) All except the gloppy streaks were done with thickened dyes and silkscreen. The gloppy was done by simply dripping thickened dyes off the end of a brush.
This is another idea I've been playing with. I had bought a bag similar to this at the Dairy Barn a few years ago. At the time I thought it was a small bag for evening use. As it turned out, it was more of a pocket to wear around your neck. Lately I have been wearing lots of clothes that don't seem to have pockets. That means nowhere to put my phone. So I decided to resurrect this concept using recent colorations. I found a small shop in Hardy, Arkansas that is carrying ( AND SELLING!!!!!) some of my smaller works. I brought them my little pockets-- we're calling them Posh Pockets. At a mere $18 I am hoping they fly off the rack.

I also bought a needle felting machine recently and have been playing around with it. I'm still breaking needles- argh. But it is a fun toy.

My immediate experiments are with Potato Dextrin. I've got several pieces batching right now and expect to receive some more potato dextrim powder in the mail today.

This is the longest I have allowed myself for pure experimenting in ages. While on this jag I am also playing with some disperse dyes, and am delving into the methods Jane Dunnewold and friends have used to laminate imagery and metal leaf to fabrics.

My next major actual project is to do three vertical panels that will have the silhouettes of 3 musicians who were sidemen to my husband's recording sessions. Since he normally plays alone on stage, these will hang as backdrops behind him-- giving the illusion that he is not alone on stage. There will be a stand-up bass, a clarinet or saxaphone, and a lead guitar. Perhaps even a drummer. I am hoping to incorporate some of these new methodoligies into that project. The plan is to use them on the CD cover. It is due out just before Christmas. Time to get cracking!

Stolen work

2008-09-18T12:26:00.003-05:00

This was truly a roller coaster day. First the good news-- 2 of my works that I have been trying to get into shows for a while finally made it. My Bass Ackwards Series: Sunflower and Bee Balm were both accepted into the 4 state regional show at the Springfield Art Museum. They'll hang from mid October through mid January.

Now the disappointing news-- my quilt Full Moon/ Low Ceiling has been stolen from the wall of my exhibition at the Gillioz Theater. As it is an ongoing investigation there isn't much I can or should say about it except that it appears to have been stolen by a patron of the restaurant Tonic which is next to the theater and shares a lobby/ bathrooms. I am quite encouraged by the response from both the theater and the police. They are surprisingly optimistic about recovery. When I know more and am allowed to share I'll do so. In the mean time I am posting here so there is a place that can be easily referenced. The size is 49" H x 35" W.

This piece depicts the sky on one of those nights when the moon is very full and the clouds are quite low-- creating an eery mauvy glow.

While I am sad at the piece being out there without a legitimate owner I am hoping that it is an opportunity for it to bring joy to someone along its path. And yes-- I WILL prosecute!!!

But the thief cannot take away the joy I felt while creating this piece. I'll have that forever. This is one of my personal favorites.

In the mean time I am spending September experimenting with various resists. Potato dextrin is my current playmate. I'll post some images in a few days.

recent commission

2008-08-05T09:43:00.005-05:00

This commission is one I sent off yesterday to its new home in Chicago. It was commissioned as a reward to herself by a lady who had finally completed her training toward her PhD. It is a prime example of combining my talents with the individual desires of my client. She was in love with my quilt (seen below) Ridgeline:Afterglow. She had seen the work while it hung as the focal point in the restaurant Cafe 37 in West Plains, MO. The size and cost of the bigger piece was overwhelming so we collaborated to come up with a more appropriate work for her circumstances. I had a lot of fun revisiting the sunset as a color element and I have refined my trees. Her love of cypress trees plus my previous use of the looking-up-through-the-trees imagery (in Listening for the Silence) steered us toward this combination. http://www.rebelquilter.com/recent_works.htm to see this work.
I had created Ridgeline: Afterglow in 2003 or 4. Since then I have created over 75 works over 27" in width.

Thanks to my longtime friend Suzanne Fuqua from Dallas I have a new gallery I'll be working with. The Cerulean Gallery in Snyder Plaza has one of the toniest addresses and is adjacent to SMU. I had a nicely successful exhibition last year in Dallas at the MADI Museum and I believe that helped to open the door to my work being embraced by the gallery owner. I look forward to this new relationship. Check out their website www.theceruleangallery.com and Suzanne's at www.suzannespaintings.com.

I am back hard at work on my "Live Water" piece. I have begun the quilting on the center panel. It must be finished by the end of the month. Zoom zoom zoom. My local library hasn't added any new books on Cd recently so I have been listening to my sirius radio. It is a recent addition to my studio and a blessing. My studio is in a hollow so I can only get the strongest local stations-- country. UGH. I love listening to NPR Now as well as the coffee house stations.

Hasta la vista.

Live Water Progress

2008-07-29T06:49:00.003-05:00

This is the current state of the three panels -- front side.
I decided I would, using surface design techniques, somewhat duplicate the front on the back
Here is a detail of the back panel. You can see I have used the fish again- painted this time. I first dyed the panel using thickened dyes. Hollis Chatelain you have nothing to worry about from me!!! Then to blend the colors more I went back and stamped more color with my 2 favorite stamps. One uses those floor tile spacers- the tiny ones. The other is just pieces of foam stuck onto a piece of plexiglas. I used acrylics and textile medium when needed to thin.
Another of the panels.
This shows all three back panels. Hopefully you can see that they are somewhat a duplicate of the front. I am not trying for an exact match- just a disorientation.

Scalped!!!

2008-07-28T14:27:00.003-05:00

This was not at all the haircut I had planned. In fact I just wanted the usual 1/2" off my normal do. But this is what happened when I requested my hairdresser get off the phone while cutting my hair. She had been speaking to her mother-in-law for several minutes with no indication she planned to get off. After fuming, myself, for several minutes I finally said, "I'll be happy to wait until you are off the phone for you to finish my haircut". She actually said "Why? Am I messing up the cut?" I said, "No. But I am not paying you to talk on the phone. I am paying for you to cut my hair." Several near silent minutes later I commented that it sure was short. She said," Well I had to even things up!" Then she blasted me for treating her so badly and fired me as a client. The conversation went downhill from there and I realised there was no point in trying for rationality any longer.

So, Katie Grimes, I hope everyone in Thayer, MO sees your scalping and doesn't give you the chance to mess with them. I considered having business cards made of this photo and giving Ms. Grimes the credit she deserves while posting them on bulletin boards all over town.... But a week later, I am nearly over this by now. Grrr. and yes, I even paid her but NO TIP!!!!

live water

2008-07-07T13:00:00.003-05:00

Swarms= schools of fish
To create the fish I first made a stamp using a glue gun to outline the fish shape onto silk organza. Then I came back and painted in the shading. I added fusible web to the back side of the organza. Then stitched around the fish shapes to create appliques. Then I cut away the extra organza and then heat fused the fish down.

This larger view shows how the fish flow onto the first and third panels.

My next step is to dye the backs. I plan to use thickened dyes to paint on the dyes in such a way that it looks like you are seeing the front from the back.

Magic time! Live Water

2008-03-14T18:13:00.003-05:00

Here are the blocks up on the wall. In this lighting it isn't terribly brilliant. In real life the colors glow! It'll be divided into three panels each 5 blocks wide. At least this piece is small enough to get all the parts in one photo.

I've used the "excitement energy" to get the first 6 rows of the left panel assembled. Then I went home for lunch and pretty much collapsed with the creeping crud that is going around. I had hoped to get it completely pieced over the weekend but somehow doubt my energy will carry me that far. cough cough, hack hack.

Time to take a deep breath!

2008-03-13T09:08:00.003-05:00

Today is the day I'll be doing Magic Time! for "Live Water" I can hardly wait. I have made about 170 blocks which translates to 680 quadrants. I expect to use only about 150/ 600 of them.
The weather is totally spring. On Monday I'll get word on the commission for MSU. Fingers more than crossed--expected even!

So come back and hopefully tomorrow I'll have the first images of the new work.

In the mean time- I'll note the first crocuses and jonquils. Last night we slept with one bedroom window partially open. Our 6 mo old kittens HAD to sit in it. You could just see them discussing the inflow of new information. Mingus was saying, "Look at those birds! and the smells!" Django was saying "Do know how scary it is out there? Those birds could attack!"

So I am off to my studio.....

EEEEWWWWW! Spring is coming!

2008-02-21T09:56:00.005-06:00

The very first sign of SPRING in the Ozarks is the smell of skunk. They are on the move and getting hit on the road. So it is the olfactory sense that first kicks in the anticipation of the end of cold weather. That is good news as we are currently being hit with 36 hours of "wintery mix." There is a 1/4" coat of ice on the car and we are only 6 hours into the 36. I know this because I had to go out to the car to bring in my sketch book.

As crude as this drawing is, it is the sketch for my newest work--"Visions of Plenty:Live Water"

We live in one of the few places in the US that not only has lots of acreage with live water but the cost is generally still under $2000/acre... sometimes lots less. As the race for water gets more heated having live water on one's property will get more valuable. What is "live water?" It is water that is moving-- a creek, a river, a spring.

This piece is well underway. I have the blocks with 2 layers of circles thus far. If I can get down to my studio (2 blocks away--downhill) I'll get the third layer on and get them quartered. Tentative "Magic Time" is scheduled for Sunday. I'll probably have to get out the crimpons (those ice traction thingies) to get down the hill. Oh yeah. I don't have any of those. Hmmm. Guess I'll stay put and make curry instead.

Photo at last--Slipstream Adventure

2008-02-18T12:16:00.004-06:00

I'm happy to at last have a "finished" photo of this pieice that I can now use for promoting it. The finished size of the piece is 80" x 156". I'm working on getting the back view compiled. This is actually 4 separate photos which have been combined onto a single canvas. My friend Bruce Carr shot the work and my friend Jim Kraus did the Photoshop work. The only manipulation was to correct some keystoning and evening up the sizes. Great job, guys!!!

The next step is to find venues for exhibition and potential clients for purchase. You'll be seeing this piece in every exhibition that will accept a piece this large for the next 2 years... unless that wonderful client comes along who wants to purchase it early on.

Now on to the next piece-- which is well underway. I expect I'll be doing "Magic Time" for it later this week. There will be approx 150 blocks--smaller than the last one but still quite large. The colors are deep purples to rich blues to citreon green with a light source that brightens one section to light greens. Yum!

Now what?

2008-02-15T14:29:00.002-06:00

Last month I finally finished "Slipstream Adventure." I was expecting to start a new job in outside sales that would be now taking up much of my time and creative energy. The job didn't materialize. Now most of my art friends are shouting, "It's a sign! Just do your art!" As much as I wish that was my only focus, the reality is that I spent much of 2006 traveling the country showcasing my wares and 2007 paying interest on those expenses. So I either need to do a whole lot more commissions, sell much of what I have already done, find other art outlets or... gulp... get a job. My work ethic is such that when I take on a job I give it my all. So I know I won't be creating my artwork on the level I have previously if I get a job--even a part-time one.... and NOOOOO network marketing is not the answer for me. Been there, done that, still got the mugs, platters, t-shirts, stained glass awards, etc.

I know that one of the key definitions of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome. On the other hand, I can't tell you how many bios I've read of successful artists, musicians, or writers that contain something along the line of--- "well if I had given up 2 weeks earlier I wouldn't be here." Certainly mixed messages from the universe.

I have never had a problem with persistence. That I have (as long as it doesn't involve deprivation.)

So my solution has several points. Like my annual goal setting- it reads more like a business plan than anything else.

Create work that satisfies me first. Right now this means large scale, intense pieces. It might also mean exploring more thoroughly surface design techniques. But I have found a voice I like with those darn circles.
Build up my shibori scarf wholesale business. I have a listing on Wholesalecrafts.com which reaches 16,000 retailers throughout the country. Update images regularly so my work stays near the top in "new work."
Plan on doing 2-3 wholesale shows in 2009 featuring the scarves. Schedule now.
Stay up to date in knowledge of color trends for fashion and commercial decor.
Get my Rebel Quilter Gallery up and open to the public before the spring tourist traffic hits the area. Get brochure done that can be handed out at the local tourist info sites.
Do a thorough inventory of existing works. Make sure they are all properly documented and whereabouts known. You'd be surprised how complicated this can get when you have over 75 created pieces that are at least 2 ft square.
Enter lots of exhibitions with exisiting work.
Send out exhibition proposals to non-profit galleries and museums for solo shows. Target is 3-5 solo exhibitions per year. Team up with others to promote small group shows.
Respond to requests for qualifications for large scale public art indoor projects.
Get more savvy in my internet news releases so "successes" are noted by the public on a larger scale and journalists seek me outas an authority on artquilts, surface design, and marketing.
Get those who have voiced an interest in commissioning my work to go ahead and let me get started. (I love commissions that let me do my style)
Schedule and promote a series of surface design classes to be taught in my studio.
Line up more teaching and trunk show gigs for pay.
Find a way to pay for a part-time studio assistant or intern.
Continue to make small framed works from remaining blocks of bigger quilts.
Assist my husband in his massage newsletter business target and secure more clients.
Be open to opportunities that come my way for a real "Job." My ego is strong enough that I'd want it to be a job that demands quality performance and high rewards. Outside sales is most likely since it would allow a more flexible schedule--allowing time off for my mother's health issues and my monthly artquilt group meetings which are out of town.
Keep myself open to finding a gallery or two that can handle my large-scale work and actually MOVE them.

I'm sure that list will grow.

I have started a new piece. I'll post in progress photos next time.

Done at last! Slipstream Adventure

2008-01-25T16:53:00.000-06:00

The 2 left panels of Slipstream Adventure.
The 2 right panels. As soon as I get the REAL photography done I'll compose a single image that lines them all up. Right now I can't do that. This is the 4 panels hanging in my gallery at the front of the studio. As you can see I "wrapped" the third panel around the corner.

This is a detail shot showing the quilting as well as the foiling done with fusible thread.

I am so glad I did this huge project. As I was diving into it I was reminded of the whole house remodel I did in Florida several years ago. Each day it is just a matter of seeing where I was in the full scheme of the project. This project was started 6 months ago. I took off about 5 weeks overall. It's final size is 76" x 154" or about 6 1/2 ft x almost 13 ft.

There is a certain relationship one develops with a project of this magnitude. Understanding its parts and being able to break it down into those pieces is what makes it confrontable. Getting the sequence right is a bit trickier and involves being able to think several steps ahead of where you are. For instance-- I couldn't do the fusble thread/ foiling until I had already done the side binding because I wouldn't be able to press the whole piece once the foil was on it-- it would have melted back off and left a mess. Also-- thinking ahead far enough to tear off the side strips that became the facing before assembling the layers enabled me to have facings that matched the backs. This is something one learns from DOING.. as opposed to simply planning or thinking about it.

This project's inspiration came primarily from a vision I had of a coloration. On August 16th, 2007 I posted an image of a drawing I did with colored pencils. It was my initial vision of where this project was going. This isn't the first time I was inspired simply by wanting to see what happens when I put certain colors together. I'm not aware of other artists having this as an inspiration point. Perhaps it happens all the time. Maybe I'm just weird. I'm okay with that.

As I write this I am awaiting an offer from a prospective employer. I'm thinking my next piece will be along a theme of "When push comes to shove."-- which pretty much covers where things have been at. So I am thinking along the lines of the juxtapositioning of the desire to create art, the need to have an income and the irony that I've worked harder in the last 6 years than I have in my life and that none of those years count at all toward the needed credited quarters of "employment" that allows me to have earned the opportunity at 65 of using Medicare. I don't know about you-- I knew you had to earn social security. But I didn't know you had to earn Medicare. I thought you just paid for it every month. Seems like there is the potential for a social issue there. I never heard of someone not qualifying for Medicare--unless they were a foreign illegal or something.

Thanks for going the distance with me. I WILL have quality photos posted here as soon as I get them. I will include the backs as well. I love reading your comments and appreciate them immensely.

the big tease--Slipstream Adventure

2008-01-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

Here is a photo of most of the third panel quilted. I have finished all the quilting on all four pieces--sigh. Make that YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!
This is a detail shot of panel number 2. You can still see my chalk lines for dividing and conquering the overall quilting. The circles with the winding threads goes through all four panels in five different colors. In each panel the sizes shift--getting larger and spiraling all the way.
Again you can see the winding circles plus still the chalk. It'll go away when I get all the steaming done. In order to get all four panels to be exactly the same size I am steaming, trimming and doing the vertical binding on all. Then I'll come back and do the horizontal binding-- more like facing actually.

Also-- I am going to do a little trick using the Charlotte's Fusible Web to add foil to each of the spiral circles. It is a neat little product from Superior threads my friend Marlene told me about. It is a thread form of fusible web. I'll stitch it in the sprials using it as a bobbin thread-- but it can't be done until all the steaming, ironing etc is done. Essentially this means I'll be finishing the whole thing and then coming back, stitching with the fusible web and then laying in the foil. It'll be a fairly subtle touch- I hope.

One of the aspects that most intrigues me is the journey of discovery as a project of this magnitude evolves. You may remember my initial colored pencil drawing-- go back a few months to see it. In August I started dyeing fabrics and began the assembly. I had NO idea then about anything other than the overall color flow. As it began to be assembled the story line about the "Slip Stream Adventure" came into play while listening to a Van Morrison CD. From that began a dialog with myself about how to create the imagery of a slip stream. So the back got the imagery and then I had to translate that to the front in the form of quilting.

To do that I first basted each piece completely so that I was stitching from the back. I stitched around each of the painted circles and outlines of the slipstreams using monofilament thread. This created landmarks that I could see from the front. Then I completely re-basted making the front my stitching platform.

The next step was to divide and conquer the overall quilting. I used an echo pattern but divided the surface into rough triangles of about 6". Then I stitched from the outer edge to the center of each and moved to the next. The circles and pathways between them were marked in chalk. After the overall quilting was done then I went back and did the circles, pathways and slipstream.

So all that is left is the facings and the foil. Hold your breath! It'll happen!

So --hope that holds you for a few more days until I figure out the photography thing.

I have targeted this weekend for final, total, no going back completion. Then I have to figure out how to photograph it! My plan is to shoot all four separately and then assemble them in photoshop. The next runway of learning raises its ugly head!!! (if you know the workflow for this please email me!!!)

Overall I am very pleased with this project. I started dyeing the fabrics in August. I took over 5 weeks off completely between trips to Canada and Florida and one miserable week sick.

You might wonder why I took on a projectof this scale. Besides being an eternal optimist... I have wanted do to large scale commissioned work for a long while now. The last large scale work I had done was in 2003. I was applying for a large scale project and wanted to make sure that if I got that job that I knew what I was in for. Since 2003 I have learned much and was able to apply it. Also-- doing this project with its grand scale had all sorts of logistical details that I wanted worked out before tackling an even larger project. Next week I'll finally hear whether my work is being considered for the Emerson Electric Auditorium Lobby. Fingers are mucho crossed. Their budget is extensive and it could make a major difference in how my next few months go artwise.

Thanks for taking the ride with me. It has been fun.

a brush with fame!!!

2007-12-11T15:08:00.001-06:00

No that isn't ME! It is my friend and soon to be famous singer songwriter Emily Higgins, at her recent video taping for broadcast. She sent the photo to me because she is wearing one of my silk scarves.

I recently went through the jury process at Wholesalecrafts.com so that I can present my scarves to more than 16,000 retailers across the country. Hopefully this will provide the income foundation that allows me to stay home and create my art quilts. By spring you might see some of my scarves in fine craft galleries as you cross the country. If you don't see them.. ask for them by name! "It's a Floozie!". ( The name of my wholesale scarf division is "Floozie Productions")

Progress report on the giant quilt: I am about 50% of the way through the 3rd panel. I might even get through the 4th one before leaving town for the holidays. I am having oodles of fun and have just listened to the final Harry Potter book-- all 21 hours of it. Today I picked up my next book on CD to listen to while quilting. This one is David Baldacci's latest. Sure to add a different flavor to my quilting. Thankfully the librarian at our library has been listening to me beg for more listening material. Over the course of the last few years of traveling plus quilting I had listened to every book on CD they had. Some of you have wondered about the many hours I spend in my studio-- the books on CD are the answer. Like a secret lover they lure me to my studio even if I'm not really in the mood. Next thing I know-- the hours have passed and lots of work got done. And you thought I just had intense enthusiasm or strong work ethic... well I do, but the books on CD sure help!

Visions of Plenty-> progress

2007-11-01T14:06:00.001-05:00

At last! I have finished piecing the four sections.

I LOVE the way the color moves across the piece. The redder section becomes the light sourcepoint and all the "imagery" will radiate out from there.
This is the back of the reddish section (section A). I am using freezer paper to act as a stencil for painting on the swirling vortex that surrounds the slip stream. The circles vary in size and are created using several silkscreens and are applied using acrylic paints.
Here are the a & b sections. They are reversed so they correspond to the fronts of similar color. That means the reddish one is on the right.
These are the c & d sections. The freezer paper is still adhered. I figured I'd surprise you with the full effect after I get them quilted. I am currently awaiting paint drying on section A back before I layer and baste before quilting. I'll be initially quilitng from the backside- so have to pin with the back up. First I'll be outlining all those circles in invisible thread and then the swirling vortexes. After that is done I'll flip it over and re-pin and quilt from the front. That way the circles will act as landmarks and I can quilt the design that is on the back from the front. Clear as mud? Feel free to ask questions.

I've been tagged!

2007-10-24T15:35:00.000-05:00

This is a blogger version of a chain letter but with no downside.. and no threats. I'm supposed to list 7 things that are odd about myself and pass that along to 7 others. I am picking Mary, Suzi, Pat, Dee, Emmie, and 2 others still to be named ( I don't know that many who have blogs!)

Ok. So 7 odd things about myself.
1) If you have ever heard me speak you'll know I sound much more like Texas than anywhere else. Alas, though I claim to be Texan, I was born in Ontario... as in Canada. My family moved to Texas when I was 3 so I learned to speak from other Texans. That works, eh?
2) My grandmother started doing water color drypoint botanical illustrations when she was over 60 yrs. old. As I understand it, she taught herself while ministering to my grandfather who was sick for a long period. ( I have no idea what was ailing him) As an avid amateur botanist and birder she had a lifelong affection for nature. On our birding outings I got great joy by creating strange bird sounds with the bird whistle. She'd get so excited thinking that she'd heard a new bird for her "life list". Then I'd get the "scowl".
3) at 53 I have been married for more than 2/3 of my life. Jon and I married when I was 17 and he was 18. The first 5 years we stayed together mostly to prove everyone else wrong. After that we learned to communicate.
4) I have delusions of grandeur- I keep thinking that someday my art will be my ticket to the world and I'll be able to glide through.
5) I am a fabulous cook and love to entertain. Someday one of my parties will be featured in Southern Living or some such magazine. If I could just afford the groceries. But I do love the salvege grocery for finding odd ingredients. I'm still trying to figure out how to use coconut vinegar.
6) Until I was an adult, the only "art class" I ever took was after school in 6th grade. I took pastel and oil painting from Mrs. Lipscomb in her garage studio. She usually finished the "hard parts" of my artwork.
7) Though I am left handed and proud of it, my physical strength is in my right hand. I use the left for anything requiring detail and finesse. I use right handed scissiors- the usual way, iron right handed, bat right handed ( or at least I did in school).
There! Now I just have to figure out the blog addresses for those I have tagged myself!

Visions of plenty: slipstream adventure

2007-10-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

Here three out of four of the panels have the rows pieced. I wish I knew how to move these photos around. The left side of the second photo is the right side of the first photo.

Overall I am very pleased with the color movement. I should have the fourth panel's rows pieced by tomorrow. Then I'll start the backs- dyeing of same.

For the quilting--I am picturing not only tons of bubbles but for them to be arranged to appear to be flowing out of a slipstream. That means they'll have movement to them and not appear static.

As you can see, the panels shrink as they get pieced. So they are aleady 6 inches shorter and 4.5 inches narrower. They'll get another 6 inches shorter as I piece the rows together.

Magic time! Visions of Plenty

2007-10-18T15:58:00.001-05:00

I finally got "Visions of Plenty" on the design wall. It'll be 12 blocks tall and 22 blocks wide. That translates to more or less 7 ft tall and 12+ ft wide. (somehow I wound up with fewer blocks than I estimated I had) It'll be divided into 4 sections of width- which will allow me to maintain good control while quilting this huge sucker. I got the 1st 6 rows of the left most section pieced today. It took about 5 hours just to lay out the blocks on the wall. (That black thing is my rolled up black paper photo backdrop)

I'm excited about this piece. The immense size - done on spec- is insane. I haven't yet decided on how I'll quilt it. But one thing I do know-- I'll be concentrating on lots of variety in the quilting itself. I'm considering doing something somewhat similar to how I handled the quilting on Yikes Stripes-- lots of varying sized, overlapping circles. Like bubbles gone mad! Each bubble would have a unique thread color and quilting pattern. I want the quilting to visually flow from one section to the next.

It is a statement about my frame of mind that I am doing a piece this large with this name. I've had an extraordinary level of losses this year. My father died, our 200 year old post oak died, my dearest friend is moving to Prague next week, and earlier this week I ran over my 17 yr old cat. ugh! So I am conjuring up lots to replace these losses. I'm creating bigger, bolder and happier.

As I get more of it pieced I'll shoot more photos. While still piecing I'll begin dyeing and printing the backs as well. Yes there will be pictures. Please keep your eyes out for an opportunity for me to sell this piece. It would be great going up a big stairwell--because of it being in several sections-- or perhaps a large wall in a conference room or bank lobby, perhaps that airport concourse I've been hoping for. Maybe even a hospital lobby or great room. The final price will be in the $19,000 range.

I love working this large. It gives me a feeling of expanse and grandeur. Since I am not doing the art festivals anymore--yep, decision reached-- I will be focusing on creating work that is either for commission, purely to delight me or for specific exhibitions.

I spent so much time trying to second guess the public while doing art shows that I kinda lost the joy of just creating a piece because it moved me. Hopefully these newer works will reflect that new found joy. I'd love your feedback!

New gallery

2007-09-27T20:49:00.000-05:00

Since I last wrote I have been 4800 miles by car to Canada and Maine. With my mother in the car we had to stop every 60 miles for "washroom" breaks. But since I got home I started back dyeing my silk scarves. Here's an early batch hanging for audition. If they had too much white space or were too "tie-dye" looking the chances are they have already been overdyed. Yeah.. that mess is my studio. The table is where I lay out my circles for assembly.
The other major activity this summer has been to turn my otherwise unused front two rooms of my studio into a micro gallery. I've wanted someplace I could sit down with a prosepctive client and show my work in an elegant manner. So these three photos show the inside of my "gallery space".

On the left side you can see some of my scarves.

You can now order scarves directly from me. I'm still trying to figure out how to create an order form. My plan is to focus on wholesale for the scarves plus what I can sell out of my gallery plus online. By the way the size of the scarves is 12" x 60". Most are crepe de chine. Some are habotai. All are over-dyed with black accents. BTW- They have beads on each corner extending about 2.5-3 inches. The added weight of the beads make them very desirable for simply draping around your neck over a sweater, jacket or shirt. The price is $42.

The best sellers are the ones in autumn tones, jewel tones, bright red, & bright blue (Not in the same piece) If you have colors you especially like I can choose one for you based on your tastes. I'll happily guarantee your pleasure or return or exchange for another. Just call me at 417-274-1561. I'll take most credit cards or your check. Wholesale orders--contact me directly as well.

The address of the gallery is 219 Chestnut in Thayer, MO.

Now to round three of my 300 block "Visions of Plenty". Hopefully next week I'll do "magic time" and you'll begin to see where this quilt is going. So far I am planning for 6 panels each 8 feet tall and totalling 18ft wide. Now where can I exhibit this piece?

Visions of plenty

2007-08-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

This is the preliminary sketch of my newest quilt. It moves from Turkey red in the top left through eggplant in the mid range to tobacco brown in the lower right. There are flashes of golden yellow throughout. It is going to be QUITE large. The vertical height will be about 8 ft and the width somewhere between 15-18 ft. It'll be broken down into5-6 panels.

This is the stack of cut blocks and circles for applique. Rather daunting, huh? It is over 300 blocks so you are looking at 600+ layers of fabric stacked up-- from bridal silk satin to cotton flannel-- all except a few metallics are hand dyed. That yellow piece is one of the metallic fabrics of the "flash". The first round of stitching took over 5 hours--that's at 1 minute per block-- which is about right. Next step is to cut a smaller circle out of the square from the underside. That in itself will take another 5-6 hours. Then onto round 2.

But before I stack the pieces up for round 2 I will take about 10% of the next group of circles and stamp them with metallic x's. This will add a limited amount of additional texture and interest to an otherwise image free area.

Why am I doing this huge piece? To make sure I have evidence that I can truly work "large."
I hope that I'll be able to find ways to exhibit it as well as eventually sell it. Do you know a venue that needs a really large piece? 8ft x 18ft? Hey! It is still early in the process-- it could be 12 x 12 or 6 ft x 24ft. . We're looking at 144sq ft. Want it bigger? Get hold of me NOW!

My plan is to very tightly quilt the surface with color blends and flashes--many, many different patterns. Oh for a long arm! My plan has been to buy a longarm when I get a commission to do a very large piece. But in the meantime, I'll break it down into about 5-6 panels like I did with my previous triptychs ( Ridgeline: Afterglow & Burning Leaves)

See? Finally, Pictures!

a deep breath

2007-08-14T18:23:00.000-05:00

The last month has been one of hope, anticpation and wait. I haughtily anticipated receiving the acceptence letter from Fiber Focus and having the pleasure of a face to face conversation with the Juror. It was not to be.

I had recently jumped off in a new direction of work, walking that tight rope of self-doubt and exhiliaration, stepping into pathways not yet followed by me. That in itself is a scary place to be. To make matters even tougher, I had made a point of getting the work done in muliples so that I had a "body of work" AND was presenting it to the juror I most wanted to see my work. YIKES!

I KNOW better than to invest so much energy into hope. I've been there! I've done that! It doesn't pay, it doesn't help and it certainly doesn't feel good when the anticipation meets disappointment. You'd think after 5 years of doing art festivals where the operating basis had become- lower your expectations- I'd and back off and not tangle up so much emotional energy.

But in my arrogance I had actually thought my work had reached a point where I felt secure in presenting it and having it be well received. Just so you know-- so far the public reception of my new work has been great. But back to my issue--disappoinment. I personally think there is real value in having a severe reality check every once in a while. Not often- but occasionally.

In case you haven't figured it out-- I didn't get into the exhibition. But rejection has its purposes. I've really gotten stronger along the way. And I think that people who know me well, appreciate the fact my head isn't on a contiunual unabated expansion. I KNOW I have a large ego. To my dismay I find there is a competitive edge to me as well. (To my defense in that realm- I have several relatives who have competed internationally in the olympic games. Is there a competitive gene?)

When I step back from my immediate disappointment and look back at my big picture, I remember that I am first creating work that pleases me. The only time I am disappointed in my work is if I have allowed myself to be lead astray for a commission that doesn't at least echo the style I've developed. But if I am scratching my own itch first-- then allow it to be presented for critiquing and judgement, I am at least starting from a point of satisfaction.

While I do allow myself to simply follow a path of exploration, I generally do so with at least an eye for my bigger goals and targets. I don't want to wander so far afield that I look back 6 months from now and wonder how I got so far off path. Even while exploring the new printing techniques, or even doing marbling--I do so within the 7" square format so that it could be incorporated into my existing 7" bulls eye block. I have recently been playing with some new silk screens. Guess what size I am printing most of it on? Yep! 7". I have also been playing with thickened dyes. Oh my! They are so luscious to use! ( I know--where are the pictures? I'll get there. But not today.)

But what new project lures me like an illicit romance? My latest quilt started with the arrival of new dyes--Turkey Red and Eggplant. I did a morph of those colors using 7 gradations. For each coloration I used fat quarters of silk broadcloth, cotton broadcloth, bridal weight silk satin, silk noil and cotton flannel. I was delighted with ithe results. BTW- the silk just doesn't take the blue in the eggplant as deeply as does the cotton. I know I should have taken a photo of the fabrics before I started cutting them up. Next time...

Then I got out my colored pencils and sketched out a gradation from the turkey red through to the eggplant and onto a deep brown. Flashes of a bright golden yellow would pop up occasionallly. Wow! I liked that!

So then I did a morph of eggplant to tobacco brown. Again yum! Plus, again, the blue in the dyes isn't as well absorbed in the silks--so the color variations from silk to cotton are remarkable.

Where is all this going? B_I_G!!!!!I have cut out over 300 blocks and circles and begun my largest piece yet. Finished this piece could be 8 ft tall by 18 ft wide. Don't worry-- I wouldn't consider doing it all in one piece ( unless it was a comission and I had a longarm machine to do it on).

Now why is it like an illicit romance? Because I am still struggling with an unfinished commission-- I am actually nearly done with it. But I am only allowing myself a short while each day to work on it until I finish the commission. It is the reward I am teasing myself with for catching up with parts of my life that have fallen WAY off the normal time track of life.

Since I started caring for my ageing parents and went on the road 5 years ago doing art festivals my life has been in overwhelm. So this month I am addressing those issues. Well at least most of them. Everything from sales tax reports, to income tax, to transferring my father's assets, to finishing the kitchen I started remodeling 4 years ago-- all need attention.

But there is NO way I'd completely walk away from work in my studio. If I did I'd find I had forgotten who I was for a while. I've done it before and no doubt I'll have to do it again sometime. But at this point it would take a major event to prevent me from making time in my studio a fairly high priority for me.

The other thing I've been working on is getting the front part of my studio in shape to be a small gallery. I'm delighted with how it is beginning to look... photos soon!

Let's go back and get 'em!

Artistic voice

2007-07-17T16:10:00.000-05:00

The piece above is entitled "What if?" It came about because I wondered what would happen if I painted across my blocks before they were assembled. This is a typical situation I often find myself in.

Kim Ritter asked about artistic voices and suggested we share about our own. hmmm. Since I am in the midst of a stylistic transition this might be a good time to address the subject. First of all, for me, the inital tickle I usually feel for a new work is almost always based on a supposed color grouping. I just love to see what happens when certain colors are combined. Occasionally I am surprised because the colors I imagined being combined I "saw" with vastly different proportions than I executed. Those proportions can make a huge difference.

Currently, I am exploring more drawing skills. My paternal grandmother was an exquisite watercolor painter of botanicals. She didn't even start painting until she was at least 65. Her work looks like illustrations from a field guide of wildflowers. But she drew from collected specimens. While I find I have little desire to create artwork that simply replicates nature- I do find that I am drawn to botanicals as a subject matter for increasing my drawing skills. I don't want to get terrbly detailed. I find I am more interested in capturing the essence or gesture rather than the exactness.

I just bought a sumi painting book and materials and hope to play with that as a means for exploring gesture. I would love to find a local life drawing group-- although here in my small town the chances are rather remote. My interest in drawing figures is in defining long curves and sweeps.

What keeps me going from one piece to the next is the tickle-- the itch. I'll wonder... what would happen if? and off I go!

Bass Ackwards: Poppy

2007-07-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

Here is the version I did in Black and White. You'll see the poppy image later as I add images that include the painting on the back.

On Bass Ackwards: Sunflower ( the one in greens)I painted the back with stamps I created to make a large sunflower arrangement.. But I painted it entirely in Black- because the colors of the backing fabric hid all the other colors I tried to paint them. So it is a silhouette. Such a tease. I'll try to shoot photos tomorrow so you can see what I am talking about.

Wednesday is a big day for me. I am finally bringing my work to my new gallery in Hot Springs. Blue Moon Art Gallery. I'm adding a link from here as well as from my website.

My work has just been returned from the MADI Museum in Dallas. I THINK a review has been wirtten. I am awaiting final word on that. Fingers crossed.

Since I am no longer going to be on the road, I have been redoing the front portion of my studio space to include a small gallery of my work. I just want to be comfortable bringing in a potential collector---instead of experienceing excruciating embarrassment at such a trashed out studio. It is coming along. My part-time assistant and I have painted one room and will do the 2nd one as soon as we've removed ll extraneous furniture. Don't worry-- as soon as it is done I'll shoot photos. I've made use of my track lighting from my booth set-up and am using the same chain/ shower curtain hanging mechanism I used in my booth. It works quite well. I have a REAL challenge in using my space. All the walls up front are paneling glued to glazed ceramic bricks. So I can't hang directly from the walls. Then, I have only the ceiling frm which to mount my pipes/ hanging devices.... I KNOW... images, images images. Patience dear ones.

Bass Ackwards: Bee Balm

2007-07-07T13:05:00.000-05:00

Whew! big deadline came and went. I've been knee deep in this project for over three weeks now--non stop. I especially wanted to have this work done in time to enter it in an exhibition that has a particular juror who I wanted to see my work.

This first piece you saw as a quilt top - well here it is quilted. I used the bee balm imagery blown WAY up. The colors are primarly reds, oranges and blacks/ grays. The flowers are in various shades of pinks and lavendars.

This piece is Bass Ackwards: Sunflower. the colors are deep greens, citreons and eggplant. What you can't see the sunflower quilting? I'll give a detail on my followup post.

I have also done this in simply black and white. The flower that is quilted into it is a poppy. It'll be in a followup post.

Right now I am zombie. The last 2 days I put in over 13 hours a day and previous to the 4th I was at it for about 8 hours a day for many, many days. I took off on the 4th because we had our annual 4th of July bash-- which is always a lot of fun, but poorly timed this year. I've promised my husband for days that I would be more available for household participation after this deadline. I wonder what he has planned for me?

Next week I'll be working on making the front part of my studio more of a gallery space. Since I am not going on the road any more for art festivals I'll use my lights etc. to make my gallery show off my work. Since I got it cleaned up last week-- I didn't personally do it-- I was workiing on deadline, remember?-- I'll get it painted and then hang the lights. I'll hang a picture rail as well to simplify hanging. oh yeah-- and I'll finally be getting down to my new gallery in Hot Springs to deliver work...then to Dallas to pick up what remains from the MADI Museum show.

Then maybe I'll finally get around to income tax...ugh

Bass Ackwards

2007-06-22T15:20:00.000-05:00

Well I am finally back in my studio and able to focus. I've planned a new body of work and have spent a few weeks researching and beginning to play with the new processes and techniques.

A couple of years ago I came across a book called "Art is where the foam is". You can get it at http://www.foamiswheretheartis.com/. I was fascinated by the immediacy of print making using foam meat packing trays. I can draw directly on them with a pen or pencil and then print using acrylic paints or water soluable printing inks.

Here are three of the prints I made using this technique. The first is a drawing of basil plants in my garden. BTW- since I am no longer doing art festivals- Whoa! ... I am once again able to spend time in my garden as well as my studio. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working in my garden. The second drawing is of pepper plants and the third are poppies.
I also did some blocks that are just texture- I didn't photograph them this time.

This is the quilt top assembled. I used discharge as well as paints and inks. I have no idea yet where this is going. But I have to make tracks cuz I have a show deadline on the 7th of July in which I need to have three good pieces of my new series. Yikes!!!!

It is called "Bass Ackwards" because the sashing, which is usually fairly quiet and used to tie together somewhat different blocks is, instead, the jazzy part.

I'll be back in my stdio tomoor for hte next step- whatever it is. Tonight we'll have guests for dinner in the garden and I better get to the store.

pure gold

2007-06-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

This quilt is one of 4 that I did last summer for the Creamery exhibition in Springfield, MO. It now resides on the wall at Barnes Jewish Hospital with its companion pieces- silver, copper and bronze. The center medallion of this piece was done with tyvek. First I painted it; then stitched a filagree pattern; then hit it with a heat gun. ZAP! Later I combined the medallion with blocks made from silk- mostly dupionis. After pieceing I applied foil using a stamp I made and foiling glue. Then I applied foil using heat.

Today I have been in my studio working on 2 commissions that seem to be taking longer than they should. One required just the right dyeing combination to get the foundation correct- it is a larger version of "1st of November". After 4 tries I finally got the color right and have begun the printing process using fresh tree leaves. I actually had to wait a few weeks because we had a really late hard freeze here and the trees had to start over. I understand the oaks probably won't produce acorns this year. There is going to be some very hungry deer come fall.

The other piece was one where I was using a water soluable stabilizer in order to do the stitchery I wanted. While I was out of town there was a small ceiling leak....onto my piece. GRRRRRR!. So I had to soak the whole thing in a tub of water and let it air dry. Hopefully there will be no spot from the earlier wetting. It had all just shrunk up and turned hard. Yucko mucko.

For the first time in 6 years I am able to spend time during the summer in my garden. I'm thoroughly enjoying the poppies and we should have a grand crop of tomaotes all summer. I planted 4 different ones in big tubs. and I finally replanted my basil after losing the first crop. I can't imagine summer without basil.

I'm thrilled to be back in my studio. I am chomping at the bit to try some new stuff but can't quite seem to get started. How frustrating!

Getting back to normal

2007-05-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

This is an "in progress" photo of one of the quilts I did as a commission last fall. I have all the layers down but have not cut the blocks into quadrants.

This week has been kinda unreal. Since my last post, my father, who I mentioned had had a stroke on Apr. 22ND has died. His memorial service was on the 7Th. The last while has been a time of re-orienting for myself as well as my mother. Thankfully, he went pretty quickly, considering the damage the stroke did. We are healing and moving forward- bit by bit.

Good news came last week when I got a call from Kim Ritter. Unfortunately for her, her son is having some tough health problems and she opted to step down from her upcoming workshop at the Studio Art Quilt Associates national convention. Her topic was going to be "How to go professional without tripping over your feet." In her stead I have been asked to teach it. Wow! I am SO honored!

So for the last week I've been re-working the workshop I taught in February at the Springfield Visual Arts Alliance. I'm trying to figure out how much I can cover in 50 minutes and still sound knowledgeable. I'll be teaching it 4 times...and getting to go to the Quilt National opening as well. There is much synchonicity going on here. The only reason I was able to help Kim out was because I had cancelled all my shows (due to Dad's health) and the weekend was free.

After the intensity of the last few weeks I am thrilled to have the chance to re-connect with many firends who will be at the conference as well as get a jolt of inspiration always prevalent at Quilt National. Plus it will be a large boost on my resume' for teaching on a national level.
I am realising that there seems to be a niche I might be able to fill in the teaching market.

After I finish the 2 commissions that have been interrupted by my dad's scene, I am really looking forward to playing with collagraphs. I have had an interest in printmaking for a while. My personal fascination has been with printing on fabric. I saw work done recently using plexiglass and cardboard and printed onto watercolor paper. The process is so freeing. I'll think it'll first turn up on my backs and as I develop the techniques you may find them on the fronts-- or as the quilt itself in framed work. Since I don't have any shows scheduled I'll be able to focus on it sooner than I might have previously.

You two who have commissions outstanding- I'm on it!

Museum of Geometric and MADI Art- Dallas

2007-04-27T11:44:00.000-05:00

What a glorious experience I had in Dallas at my museum opening!
My work hung with 2 glass artists- Jim Bowman and Mary Lynn Devereux.
It was quite a posh affair with valet parking, bartenders, waiters and patrons.
The wall colors were quite a surprise. My Cobalt Kisses/ Tangerine Hugs looked spectacular on that cobalt wall.

I NEVER would have envisioned hanging "Matter of Perspective" on a baby pink wall but it was perfect! That piece sold- by the way! Yippee!
Even that funky green wall and the gray wall were very complimentary to my work.
These flowers were sent via UPS! My parents and husband sent them.
These were sent by Brad and Kitty Smith and added a glorious fragrance to the air!
Here's some friends from years ago that showed up. Even more were there but the photos taken were by others and I don't have the images. We are all getting much older but I think looking so much wiser and happy.

On a sadder note- As I was getting ready to drive home from Dallas my husband called to tell me my Dad wasn't looking so good. An hour later he told me they were taking him to the ER. Then he was airlifted to Springfield where he remains. He had a hemorrhagic stroke. At first it didn't seem terribly severe. Yesterday that changed and we are in the "wait and see" mode without much encouragement for his getting better. We expect to have a better idea of his prognosis after this weekend. Your prayers are welcomed.

Show schedules

2007-04-05T09:12:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I did my first art show of the year at Queeny Park in St. Louis. Fortunately it was an indoor show--because the weather got downright NASTY!

I have been extraordinarily fortunate this spring to have developed some new wonderful friendships. They are all artists--which is no surprise to me. By definition, I think most artists are optimists and generally happy people. That's the kind of people I like to hang with.
Sour pusses can hang elsewhere! That is also one of the perks of doing the shows is being surrounded by these happy people.

At Queeny I was awarded third place in the 2-D category. It was accompanied by a nice check. I am really anticipating the joy of spending one of these award checks on something for myself. In the meantime it counts as income and pays my rent. But something about that just isn't right! I am NOT, however, complaining!

The photo above is one of four pieces in my Elements and Monu-metals series. This one is "Gold". The others are "Silver", "Copper" and "Bronze". They are hanging at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. I hear they look great. My agent set this up and I am delighted! The center block is done with Tyvek- painted, then stitched to a foundation, then blasted with a heat gun. There is something almost primal about watching the Tyvek melt away when the heat hits it. I also applied gold foil as the last step--as well as to the other blocks. The crosses are made with a stamp I created using lucite and those plastic tile spacing thingies. I made several stamps in different sizes.

I thought you might want to know where I'll be showing my work in the next couple of months. So here's my schedule:

April 20-July25th MADI Museum Dallas- exhibition
April 27-29 St. Charles Spring Art Walk-St. Charles, MO
May 4-6 Walnut Street Festival- Springfield, MO
May 11-13 Laumeier Sculpture Park Art Show-St. Louis, MO
May 17-20 Tulsa Mayfest- Tulsa, OK
June 2-3 57th St. Art Festival- Chicago, IL
July 7-8 Oak Brook Invitational- Oak Brook, IL (Chicago)

I'm still deciding just how many shows I'll do this year. With Mom and Dad now a part of our household I am finding that being away for more than a day or two is tough on my husband- Bless his soul! As much as I love doing the shows- and I do--the time has come to cut down on some "road time."

With that in mind I am actively shopping for galleries. I am looking for a few galleries that can successfully show and sell my larger pieces. Ones that understand fiber and care about the individual artist. I want a long term relationship where there is time to build a following and large works are not a problem to sell. I only want a maximum of six nationally and none in cities where I am likely to do art festivals. I respect the marketing that a gallery does and have no interst in being competition to them. Naturally I want professionalism from them as I expect them to get it from me. No flighty chaos merchants for me, thank you!

So-- Who do you know?

With 16 national awards in the last 2 years I hope I am a good candidate for a well placed gallery. I will still have my smaller works available but not in the bigger galleries.

I figure if the universe knows what I am in search of--the right opportunities will appear.

With that in mind...

Just so you know-- My long term direction is to do large scale pieces that hang in very public spaces--like hospitals, airports, community centers, hotel lobbies, restaurants, corporate lobbies, etc. I have had a vision for many years that I want my art to affect people in a positive way. One vision I keep getting is of someone walking through an airport after returning from a family funeral. They walk past one of my artquilts and suddenly just realize they feel a bit better. They may not even know why. That is why, although I appreciate the individual collector, I am really in search of the more public client. I want to create nice effects on large numbers of people. That is my mission. Do you have a place in that mission? I hope so. Please keep your eyes open for opportunities that go that direction. I'd appreciate it, no end! If you have a referral please email me privately. susan@rebelquilter.com

As glorious as the weather has been this spring--major changes are afoot. Can you believe they are forecasting S-N-O-W? We've been enjoying our red leaf lettuce from the garden as well as dill and fennel. Time to cover up and hunker down!

Spots Dots Speckles & Freckles

2007-03-08T10:08:00.000-06:00

I've had pedal to the metal this week trying to get this finished in time for the catalog of the MADI Museum. This is a companion piece to Yikes Stripes!

As I mentioned in my last post- all the color choices were by simply good fortune- or perhaps previous good judgement. Every fabric except the black were already in my stash. I simply made a block with every spotted, dotted, speckled or freckled fabric I had.

Because the fabrics were terribly busy when placed next to each other, I used black sashing. To quilt, I picked a point to have everything eminate from. The illusion is created that all the background is behind the spotted blocks. I used metallics and went from a very dark purple to a royal purple to a lavendar to a metallic clear ( greenish) and then a metallic charcoal. It kinda looks like there is an explosion going on behind the scenes.

Here's a detail showing the explosion point.

This is the back. Guess how I painted it! I flung paint off my brush to create spots, dots, speckles and freckles! The grid you see is the varigated thread where I quilted. There currently is no quilting on the spotted, dotted, speckled or freckled fabrics.

I am off to the Best of Missouri Hands Art Smart Conference in Jefferson City this weekend. On the way home I'll be visiting a gallery near Lake of the Ozarks that called me for a possible solo exhibition.

I really like getting calls like that! Bring them on!

Yeehaw! award and new work

2007-03-01T15:31:00.000-06:00

Big deal award! Niche Award!

Niche Award! Yep! It happened! I won the award for the Pieced/ Quilted Category! I told you EVERYONE would know! I'm still not real sure what this award gains me other than another national award on my resume'- I am not complaining!!!!! I just know it is a big deal and I got it! This quilt is A Matter of Perspective and that is the quilt that garnered the award. Now on to my next excitement......

This quilt has grabbed me by the short hairs and won't let go. All the fabrics except the solid blacks are "Spots, Dots, Speckles and Freckles"- it's name! There is such energy and the colors are totally by accident. They were the fabrics in my stash that had spots, dots, speckles or freckles. As it turns out the colors are happy, optimistic and so retro! But with the blocks directly against each other there is just TOOO much energy. So I am taming them down JUST a tinch by adding black sashing between the blocks like this....
Aaah. Isn't this better? So far the blocks are connected into rows but they are just pinned to the design wall. I have fairly elaborate plans for both the back and the quilting. The challenge is that I have SOOO much I need to be doing like selecting the 10 images for the MADI Museum catalog, and sending 2 dozen scarves to the Arkansas History Museum and finishing that gorgeous liturgical stole and being interviewed for a magazine article. But this piece is just haunting me and won't let go. So I may miss out on some sleep here for a few days. I really want this to be in the MADI catalog- as a finished piece.

But I haven't quit dancing the happy dance! Quick! Once around the cutting table -Yeehaw!

Peach Mango Salsa

2007-02-15T23:12:00.000-06:00

Okay. This stash won't qualify me for neatest studio.

What you are seeing here is approx 1/3 of my working stash.

These are a collection of mostly silks-- hand-dyed and not, metallics, cotton prints and stripes.

I have an entire 8 x 10 room with my undyed fabrics plus older cottons etc. Those are mostly in stacks and boxes so I'm skipping sharing those with you.
This is the other side of that mess--my golds, yellows, pinks, reds & oranges.
I didn't dye any new fabrics for the front of this piece.

Theses are the fabrics I chose to represent the mangoes, peaches, garlic, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, chile powder & lemon

This is round 1 with the initial blocks and circles before any stitching.
This is round 2. The newest layer of circles came from the underside- the bottom layer.

We're robbing Peter to pay Paul. Gee- sounds like my life!

This is round 3. This layer came from the bottom again but it was the original circles that are used. As you can see, I scramble each time so the same fabrics don't repeat on a single block.

After building the blocks I then cut them into quarters. I call them quadrants.

The challenge here is to replicate randomity. It isn't as random as it looks.

This is the fabric for the back. I have gathered for shibori. The effect came out more subtle than I expected so I'll not give it a big ta-dah!
Okay. now I am excited. I made these stamps from craft foam. It is 2 layers of craft foam adhered to plexiglas. I paint the stamps with a brush and then lay it down onto the fabric and apply pressure.

Here's the overall effect. Keep in mind--this is the back.

Here I have layered the top, cotton batting and the back. You can still see the tracing paper that I used as patterns for the images I stitched into it.

Ta--dah!!!!! Here's the completed quilt.

Peach Mango Salsa

Size is 35" x 35"

I FINALLY remembered to photograph the completed back.

The thread for the back was a varigated peach to cream.

Here's a detail shot of the front showing the variety of stitching. The small boxes are chopped up mangoes, there are peaches, cilantro and lemon in this shot. There are also red onion and garlic. In between the ingredients I did a jagged roughly triangular pattern. Most of the ingredients are stitched in various metallic threads.

Yikes Stripes finished!

2007-02-01T14:38:00.000-06:00

Here I am pinning the three layers together before quilting. I use large safety pins .

Here's the full of Yikes Stripes fully quilted and the edges finished

Here's the detail shot showing some of the quilting. I mostly used metallics for the insides of my balls and an invisible smoke thread for the spaces in between the balls. The balls had mostly stippling and the spaces had mostly jagged box shapes.

Finally I remembered to photograph the back of this one. I almost always forget to get a shot of the back. The thread in my bobbin- which is what you see here- is a variegated black to white. That's why the stitching seems to come and go. All in all I am very tickled with this piece.

I wonder what I'm going to do next. As I was lying awake last night, after too many cups of coffee, I kept getting partial images of a concept. One of my first circle quilts was called "Holy Guacamole." I used various fabrics to represent the various ingredients in guacamole. I'm thinking of a similar idea but with different foods. I'm thinking "Pico de Gallo", "Orange Marmelade" and "Peach-Mango Salsa." Are you hungry yet? It seems to me that if I added the fabrics in somewhat similar percentages to what they are in the actual foods then the look should be about right. Guess we'll just have to see. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to dig through my fabric stash.

During the period while my kids were growing up my creative efforts were pretty restricted to cooking- which I love! Hah! I even got a 4 forks review for the food I provided for the Visual Arts Alliance of Nashville's Art Show. That was well before I had figured out my medium. I was keeping those creative juices alive until I could focus later.

Pico de Gallo

tomatoes- ripe and lots of them

onions- red and white

garlic- yum!

cilantro

jalapeno

lemon juice

salt and pepper

Peach/ Mango Salsa

peaches- with that darker red toward the center

mangoes- oranges to green

onion- plum colored red onion

Cilantro

garlic- of course!

Lemon juice

jalapeno

That ought to get things started. Tomorrow I'll show you my existing fabric stash. Together we'll decide whether I need to dye more fabrics or perhaps paint some yardage for those peaches and mangoes.

Or maybe between now and then I'll get another bright idea and go off on it!

Yikes Stripes Back

2007-01-27T15:36:00.000-06:00

Here I am at my most scenic glory using freezer paper stencils to paint the circles on the back of Yikes Stripes!
I decided less is more and opted to end off adding more elements to the back. All of the painting here is done with either freezer paper stencils or a stamp made from craft foam mounted on a piece of lathe. The paints were interference and metallic acrylic paints.

Tomorrow I'll pin the three layers together in preparation for quilting. Still don't know how I'll quilt it. Perhaps I'll start out by sewing from underside first using the outline of the circles to freemotion the shapes and fill in from there.

Yikes Stripes pieced

2007-01-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

Well I had threatened to cheat when I pieced the top. I was afraid that trying to get all those cornerstones to line up nicely would be really hard. As it turned out it pieced exceptionally well. My fallback plan had been to use solid black for the horizontal pieces and then fuse the corners in place. Well I didn't need to. Whew!

I still have no idea how I am going to quilt this puppy. This afternoon I'll work on the back. So far I"m thinking I'll use a solid black homespun (same fabric I used for the sashing) then I'll paint it using various fiber paints. I chose homespun because it matched the texture of many of the striped fabics. I'll incorporate circles of all sizes- both positive and negative ( done with freezer paper stencils). I'll also use some checkerboard stamps and maybe a few stripes. I'll use opaque and metallic paints so the colors will show up well.

Here's a closeup of the top.

Back to the studio for round 2- the back

Listening for the Silence

2007-01-26T20:13:00.000-06:00

One cold rainy day a couple of weeks ago I went out with my dad to a local state park in search of trees to photograph in order to create a quilt. I was fascinated with the perspective of looking up at tall trees from the ground. You only occasionally see this perspective in photographs or art. Perhaps the "artworld" shuns this view. But to me it captivates me and changes my dimensions. As you can see from the blurry spots it was actually raining at the time and about 40 degrees F. Brrr.
Here's my quilt created from that photo. Except for the metallics it is all hand-dyed silks. I used my usual method of creating the bulls-eye blocks: robbing peter to pay paul. If you want detailed info- just ask. To make the trees, I dyed a large piece of silk in the dark brown. It wasn't dark enough for my use so I painted a thin wash of charcoal over the top with a wide brush. Then I applied fusible web to the back side and peeled off the paper.

To get the detail of the trees I printed the photo with my inkjet printer onto plain white paper. Then I traced the key branches onto acetate. I blew it up with an overhead projector and inked in the elements onto tracing paper.

Then I laid out the quilt top, layered it with the brown fabric then the tracing paper and pinned it all down. Then stitching through the paper I freemotion outlined all the trunks and branches.

Then I tore off the paper and cut away all that wasn't tree- kinda like Leonardo DeVinci when he said that to make his masterpiece sculptures he just kept chiseling away anything that wasn't the sculpture within.... so much for comparing myself to ole Leonardo! Hah!

After all the extraneous fabric was cut away I then activated the fusing by ironing the brown fabric down.

Then I layered the quilt top, cotton batting, and the back (Yes I painted the heck out of it and when the piece comes back from Milwaukee I'll try to remember to photograph the back) Then I again outlined all the trees and branches with freemotion stitching using a varigated rayon thread.

For the background quilting I used metallics threads- the center panel thread is a holographic white, the middle panel is hologrphic silver and the outer panel is a holographic charcoal.

All in all I am very pleased with the results. The title is "Listening for the Silence." It is inspired by the quiet that comes in extreme cold or waiting for the snow. Since my parents have moved in I find I miss those utterly quiet moments that come with being completely alone.

Here's a detail shot. I think you can see the metallics better in this shot. BTW if you click on a photo you'll get a larger version to view. I finished this last Thursday.

I plan to finish piecing "Yikes Stripes! " this weekend and I get to finsh signing the 1,000+ posters for the Missouri Art Commission Arts Awards. Perhaps since I have been pacing myself, I haven't had as sore a wrist as I expected from having to autograph that many posters. Ah-- the lessons learned along the road to fame and fortune.

This time of year is fraught with periods of uncertainty coupled with periods of supreme exhilaration. Before you think I've gone bi-polar, let me explain. This is the time of year when I have to send out applications for upcoming shows. There is always a certain anxiety of wondering if I'll get into the shows of my choice. Even though I have created work of the caliber I believe should allow me to join the ranks of the "chosen," that choice is not up to me. I create the work, photograph it to the best of my ability and let it go. For weeks I await a decision.

During this same period I am at my most intense period of creativity. I am between show seasons and this is when I can focus on new work. I consider this a period of conversations with the universe. I am almost always surprised at what gets created during this period. I enter the period with a vague idea of what I'd like to address. More like an opening conversation. Since I no longer feel I am alone when I am creating (the universe usually has something to say), I am often quite tickled to see where the universe and I wind up.

At this point I have no idea of how I'll do the back of "Yikes Stripes" nor how I'll quilt it. That'll be the adventure that awaits.

Yikes stripes!

2007-01-26T15:25:00.000-06:00

Here's the project I've been working on for the last 2 days. In general I've begun working on a series of quilts for my exhibition at the MADI Museum Dallas in April. I'm at the point where I have assembled the individual blocks but am trying to decide how the blocks will be joined. Here's a photo showing the blocks up against each other with nothing to separate them visually.

To me the stripes have so much energy that I need to separate them and give the eye a place to rest between blocks. So in this photo you can see I've separated them with a black sashing.

Then I thought maybe the sashing needed a bit more color... something to interrupt the flow

On this one I played with a zany checkerboard as the centerpoint.
This is the choice I finally went with.

Hello world/adios Jan

2007-01-25T19:57:00.000-06:00

It is strange that the day I finally decide to start my blog is the same day I found out that my friend Jan Boyer died several months ago. Jan was instrumental in introducing me to the world of dyeing and surface design. I was the fortunate recipient of her dyes when she decided that she had become super sensitive to mx dyes. As it turned out- her challenge turned out to be long undiagnosed Lyme's Disease. What a tragic loss to the world. I am generally a believer in "you get what you earn." In Jan's case I think that rule can't be right. Perhaps this is the first instance for myself of seeing that maybe life often just isn't fair. I hope to see more "life is fair" to compensate for this loss. Jan- you are truly missed.