Stolen work

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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!

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.....