What did I buy?

Well, before I get to that, let me share this little corner of my home.

On the left is the "breakfast nook" area off the kitchen. As if I ever eat breakfast there. I usually carry a cup of coffee straight up to the computer so I can read blogs. Jeff and I hung my Anthony Avenue quilt on the wall there. It's a map of our neighborhood in Maine. That door leads to the laundry room. That's a mosiac mirror for last minute lipstick touch-ups before you head out the garage door (which is just beyond the mirror). Because you know, you gotta wear lipstick in Texas. And then you see the crosses hanging in the archway between the kitchen and the family room.

The top one has the Lord's Prayer carved in it. The next one is a piece of Polish pottery from my friend, Lucy, who lives in Germany. The next one has I Corinthians 13 carved in it and the last is a reproduction of the green man gargoyle from the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

So, what did I buy? More crosses. These are hung on the opposite side of the archway.

I just adore these Mexican works of art. The top one is painted ceramic... from the same place where I took the picture of all the painted pots which I posted yesterday. And the bottom one has several milagros nailed on it. It's rustic and authentic and I just love it.

You can see the frig in the background and one of Claire's many many many pieces of rainbow art. She's all about the rainbow.

Dallas Farmers' Market

Grma and Grpa visited last week. It was a bit of a crazy week, but we were delighted to have them around. In fact, they are coming back again for the Fourth of July and bringing our little nephew and neice (and their mom and dad) along! Super fun!

I had been wanting to explore the Dallas Farmers' Market and Grpa had wanted to see the big bronze long horns. So we ventured down town one day.

I loved the Farmers' Market. First, we walked through one open air building that was all furniture, wrought iron, pottery and other international items.

Big pots. Big stars.



These are vintage molds for making cones of sugar. Wouldn't they be superfantastic for storing markers, pens or paint brushes?

Donna Downey bought one recently. (She's a ***scrapbook*** artist. And I adore her artwork and blog. Check out this post about her studio make-over. See the sugar mold holding pens on the top shelf?)

More pots. More color.


And then we were on to the produce areas.

Fruit stacking is an important skill to have if you are going to be a vendor. Every thing was in a tiny tight little pryamid. Oh... the colors.

More colors.


And just so you know I didn't take pictures of just the wonderful wares... here's the family heading toward the car. Grpa has a cantelop in that sack.


I bought two little treasures. I'll tell you about them tomorrow. I was a bit overwhelmed for my first trip and didn't have a "shopping list" in my head. But, I am now formulating one and surely I'll be back.

Dallas Area Fiber Artists

What a joy to attend the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting tonight. And not just because they had brownies!

I'd heard about the group through various people. I put out a query on the quiltart list months ago and got lots of great tips. Plus, the various yahoo groups I belong to. And the whole blog-o-sphere -- I forget which bit of information or which artist is connected to which group and through whom. Isn't it wonderful? The amazing overlapping of communities and ideas?!

In fact, I can see from my site reader that I have lots of readers in the Dallas area. I only know who a few of them are. Show yourselves, Texans!

The program at tonight's meeting recognized artists who had been members for more than 20 years! Each other them shared work, both old and new, and talked about was DAFA had meant to them over the years.

Holy cow! What amazing work and stories from these gals. They include artists who have completed major commissions for oil companies, long time Bernina Fashion Show Designers, past presidents of all kinds of professional organizations, teachers, world travelers and award winners. I'm sure we barely scratched the surface. They had such positive creative energy! Each of them commented on the many wonderful techniques they had learned from workshops and other members of the group.

There was a big variety of media -- though all fiber! There was also a good mix of ages in the people there tonight, including two men!

I did get stuck with a "bag of stuff" challenge. Grumble. You know, those who wish to participate bring a bag of stuff and take home someone else's bag of stuff. Then you are supposed to come to the October meeting having made a piece of art out of the bag of stuff. If I didn't bring a bag, how come I came home with two? Because some people took it as an opportunity to get rid of a bag of junk. Oh well. All in good fun. I said I thought they were hazing me as a test before they let me become a member. I didn't even look in the bags. Yet.

Maybe they'll forget they sent me home with the bags before October. Because I certainly want to keep going to the meetings.

Thoughts

I started a new piece of art on Friday. It was delightful. Really good to get the blood pumping. This is a design which has been percolating in my mind for months and months. I was thinking I'd make it big. You know, something 50ish or maybe even 70 to 80ish inches. In the past several months, I've made only very small quilts. Hardly anything over 20 inches. Mostly safe, wonderful little 4x6 postcards. Yes, yes we've discussed the concept of the fiber post card at length. Let's leave it for now.

So after all that small stuff, I really had no idea how to begin a large piece. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to start. I decided to make a test piece. A sketch, some might call it. A trial. An experiment. And then move on to the real piece of art after I've worked out all the technical and artistic details.

So I had this going...



(That Dora plate is my circle template. Sarah has written about some wonderful professional circle templates on her blog recently. Me? I just dig through the kitchen for the right size.)

And then it sat for a day and I percolated some more.

And I thought about my fabric stash. Nothing bigger than half a yard in it. I just don't buy yardage. And I don't really want to, seeing as I have drawers of fat quarters and hand-dyed fat eighths.

And I thought about why art quilts have to be big. Certainly not to cover the bed. To enter shows? Some have largish size requirements. To sell? It seems more likely to me that the smaller stuff is more affordable and easier to find a place to hang.

And then I thought about doing a series of door, window, arch way, architecture quilts. And the blood started pumping again. But not about big quilts.

So maybe this is part of developing my own style. Finding the right size for me.

And speaking of developing my own style. I think I must swear off tote bags, aprons, pin cushions, sketch book covers and the like for the near future. Time to make art.

Cozy Corner

Here's a little corner of my new studio. Actually, it's not a corner. It's against one wall.



I curled up here and read several pages of The Time Traveler's Wife last night. All is right with the world.

That frog is sitting there because he has a big hole in his back and needs some surgery. Soon he'll make his way back to Benjamin's bed.

The two treasures matted in black were birthday gifts from Sonji. I adore them and think they look marvelous with the red love seat. The three pieces above are from my "Branch Out" series which I began in a workshop with Melody.

So, now that the studio is somewhat organized. I should be making art. Right? Keep reminding me.

In other news: I got a speeding ticket several weeks ago and have been plodding my way through an online driving school in order to avoid losing points on my license, increasing my insurance costs and paying a larger fine. It's absolutely miserable. I can think of a thousand other things I would rather do. Actually, two thousand. And then some. I have been driving within the speed limit lately, though.

One More Review from Art and Soul

In May I attended the Art and Soul Retreat and took four classes. I described them (in detail) earlier. Can you read about Lesley Riley here. She's in our blogring, so check our her blog. And you can read about the class I took from Claudine Hellmuth here. She also has a blog which she updates every single day! Then I took a class from Michael deMeng, the infamous shoe shrine class. (Also here.) He also recently started a blog. And the last class I took was from Traci Bautista. Yes, she has a blog, too. (Doesn't everyone?)

I don't know why I never got around to writing about her class. It was called creative.bliss.inspiration

She's super funky and edgy. She plays with words and pictures in wonderful ways which is why the class title is a perfect description, including the non-traditional punctuation and capitalization.

It was a technique class. We brainstormed and swapped ideas and pictures with our table mates. We did lots of impromptu painting and sketching and learned methods for creating art in new ways. Traci wrote an article last year for Cloth Paper Scissors about painting paper towels and layering them for collage.

Traci has a pretty amazing ability to recycle and reinvent her own art. She takes pictures and scans of her artwork as she creates it and then uses and manipulates those images to use in future artwork.

She says she'll just play at the photocopy shop enlarging or reducing or creating negative images of drawings. Then she'll copy them on transparencies and layer those and then copy those. Endless.

She has no limits. She'll paint on anything and incorporate any kind of fiber in her art and doesn't blink about mixing various methods and techniques. She makes and sells beautiful journals which she hopes will be inspiring "jumping off points" for those who purchase them. The pages include canvas, paper towel, fabric, graph paper, vellum, etc. And not a single page is the same size as any of the others.

Inspired by this concept, I took the pieces we created in the class and bound them together.


She also makes lovely black line drawings on bright white fabric. I asked what kind of pen she uses. (I assumed she used pigma like every other art quilter I know.) But, actually she adores a Japanese pen called the Pilot Tough Wash B Ink. (Here's the green version.) Only available in Japan or at a Japanese stationery shop if you're lucky or at Jetpens.com if they are not out of stock. Let me know if you find any. She also uses Bic Wite Out Shake 'N Squeeze pen for beautiful bright white lettering and doodling that shows up on top of almost anything.

I'm not sure I learned any really inspiring new techniques, but my eyes were definetely opened to some new ways of incorporating mixed media into my art work and to embracing a more spontaneous way of creating. Now that's good stuff! Techniques you can learn anywhere. Inspiration is tougher to find.

Traci has a new book out. It's called Collage Unleashed. I flipped through it at the retreat and I think it will be a wonderful addition to my book shelf. (In fact, I just ordered it from amazon when I discovered that the other book I've been really wanting is finally available. I had to order both to get the free shipping.)

Speaking of bookshelves. I've made great progress getting the studio in order. I'll give you a tour soon.

And speaking of books... I've been completely sucked into The Time Traveler's Wife. I had a tough time pulling myself away to blog. It's so good... but now I'm worried something bad is going to happen to the main characters. Nail biting.

Somebody Stop Me!

I'm not sure I can resist going to see The Lake House. How cheesy is that? I adore Keanu just as much as I adore Anderson. In fact, last time I blogged about them, someone commented that they are "two sides of the same hot coin." Which is absolutely true!

I'm usually not such an enormous sucker for the romantic-comedy-super-natural-weepy flicks. I can generally wait until they come out on dvd. But, there is something about this one. And the trailers. And Sandra Bullock on Letterman. And Keanu on Leno. They are all working together to suck me to the theatre.

I forgot to say that Christopher Plummer is also in The Lake House. My goodness, how can you go wrong with Captain von Trapp!?

I did some gardening today. That's very unlike me.

Do you need a laugh? Check out this video. Why do I mess with fabric, when I could be making art with diet coke, like these guys?

Do you like to dance? You must see this guy.

Have a great weekend. I'll keep you posted on my movie attendance. (It's more likely that I'll partake in Cars and just put The Lake House on my "be patient and wait for the dvd" list.)

Paper?!

Yes, we are "settling" in our new home. I think. But, I'm still not finding the big chunks of time necessary to create my very best most inspired and original art. Oh well. This too shall pass.

In the mean time, I'm the only long-distance member of a little collage group that meets back in Maine. We do atc swaps on a theme each month. So, I was able to find a bit of time to sequester myself in the studio to make a set for the first round. The theme was HOME.


magazine clippings, recycled school folder, small fake flowers, stitching

I used gel medium to glue all the pieces together. I'm still not sold on the concept of glue. But at least they didn't fall apart. Though they did curl up a lot. Yes, those little doors open to reveal some little word or picture inside.

Actually, the HOME theme was for the last round. The group has already moved onto the next theme: FRUIT. I had intended to do both themes and mail them all in time for the group's get-together this month. But when I looked at my calendar, I realized they were meeting in three days and I hadn't started the FRUIT cards. Yikes. (Not that big a deal if I didn't have to MAIL them!)

I came up with a fast, yet clever, idea. Plus, it was further exploration of the concept of "spareness" which I had been contemplating.

I picked up a bunch of paint chips at Home Depot all with fruit inspired color names. (I had to go to Home Depot anyway. Seriously!)

I cut them to size with my zig zag rotary cutter. Then I wrote a tiny phrase inspired by the color and/or the color name. Then I glued (again with the glue!) a contrasting bit of color onto the card and called it good. I think they are kind of fun.

Here's a close up.

Ah, the lines!

I think the backs look pretty cool too. I like those upc codes and my date stamp and signature -- in the green and the purple!


Then I went to the post office with the kids and sent them Express mail. Remind me to plan ahead for the next month. (Best laid plans...)

Not that I'd ever WEAR it.

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this back in April. When I registered for the Art and Soul retreat, I received a "secret item" to decorate and put on display at the retreat. The Art and Soul organizers have done displays like this for many years. Several of the pieces have been published in Somerset Studio in the past. Since this year's theme was "Paris in My Soul," the secret item was a beret.

I was still in the apartment when I received it. You remember, all I had was embroidery floss and I made good use of it!

I just kept stitching inspiring words until the hat was all filled up. It was fun. Great for tv watching.

Apparently, I did not take any pictures of all the hats on display. What was I thinking?!

But, I did take the above picture with the cutest model in the world!

Now it's hanging off the corner of my bookshelf in my studio. (More pictures of that soon!)

Asian Inspired

Remember I said I'd post more pictures from the Japanese Gardens at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens? Here are the pictures I took of the many little "temples" along the water.


in a bed of ivy...


The kids loved these guys.


Love the repetition of shape and line here.


Isn't that background luscious?


Does anyone live in that little hole?

Snappy!

Look what I whipped up last week!

Isn't that brown dotted fabric just divine?! I originally bought it to make a tote bag. And yet... here is an apron. Even better.

It has a few pockets along the bottom for stashing paint brushes, scissors, Snickers bars, and toys which may have been confiscated from children who should not be throwing such things in the house. The tiny orange ribbon trim at the top of the pockets came from Kathy in one the little goodie stashes she shared with me. (Thanks, Kathy!)

I love wearing an apron. It's good for wiping my hands on if they are all messy with glue or brownie batter. It makes me feel crafty and domestic and yet spunky and arty.

I could make many many many more of these. So fun and easy. Maybe I could find some cool red, white and blue fabrics and whip one up before the big neighborhood Fourth of July parade. A trip to the fabric store? Yes, please.

Toothy Grins

Look who I rubbed shoulders with! The Artful Quilters Blogring's own Gabrielle Swain!

She was so delightful and it's such a wonderful experience to meet someone for the first time and feel like you know them straight away. And they you. Wow! A moment of silence for the miracle of blogging.

Ok... now some more details.

Gabrielle's talk was titled "Confessions of a Former Housekeeper." She's super funny. It was one of those great talks where everyone just laughs and then oohs and awws at the quilts and then back to laughter. A good bit of wisdom thrown in for good measure.

Gabrielle is good at poking fun of herself. Like here.

Disheveled Gabrielle on the screen, proper professional Gabrielle at the right standing in front of her November quilt. This picture brought big gaffaws, because of course, we've all seen that face in our own mirrors. (Minus the red red red hair in most cases.)

Speaking of the red hair...

Check that out. It's red and gold and copper and auburn and even a bit purply. Doncha love it? High tech gadgets too. Way less beautiful than the hair or the quilts.

I neglected to take a close up of her shoes. They were rhinestone encrusted flip flops, for the record.

Gabrielle opened her talk with a story about the time she asked herself, "What am I willing to put up with?" Meaning, I think, What requirements or responsibilities am I willing to let go of, so I may create art? Gabrielle gladly let go of housekeeping and never looked back. Several slides proved her point.

What am I willing to put up with? Or not put up with?

I must say, I had a tiny bit of stress at the guild meeting. Jeff was out of town, so I hired a baby sitter for the first time since we moved to TX. The kids were fine, but I just wasn't "feelin' it" with the new sitter. There are parents out there who would say I should have never left. But I wasn't feeling DOUBT or FEAR. It was just the newness, I suppose.

After moving, it's really hard to find someone to watch your kids and someone to cut your hair. It's amazing how important those two connections can be.

Anyway, I rushed out of the meeting shortly after the talk. Next time Gabrielle and I connect I hope we'll be able to share a frappacino together. Give us a call when you are in the DFW area and you can join us!

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

My parents visited last week. They were on their way to Germany for an elderhostel trip biking riding along the Rhein. They found it was only slightly more to stop through Dallas on their way to Europe. Hooray! We had a super visit, as usual. We took a trip to the zoo and the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. (Not on the same day, of course. We don't have that kind of stamina in this heat.)

We were greeted by this wonderful frog sculpture, so we knew the place was A-OK!

Benjamin loves frogs... as you regular readers know! You can see he even has on a frog shirt (one of many).

We visited the Conservatory which was full of amazing pants, flowers, small sculptures, waterfalls and humidity. That cost an extra dollar. Otherwise most of the gardens are FREE. How very generous of the city of FW.

Then we walked through several loops and pavilions and vistas seeing all kinds of wonderful things that you will never find in my backyard. I especially liked the herb garden where we fondled all the interesting smelling geraniums. Chocolate mint?! Superfantastic.

Then we paid another very small entry fee for the Japanese Gardens which were really spectacular. Life size Zen garden. I should have taken this picture which something for scale... those rocks are probably 2 to 4 feet across. It's not a little desktop thingy like you see in trendy catalogs.


Gigantic greedy koi. Happy sweaty kids.


Stepping stones and half moon bridge in the background. Green Green Green!


Is this a great blue heron? He didn't mind us being so close. What a great place for him to hang out.


There were also many wonderful Japanese style statues. I took pictures of nearly every one which I will post separately. We have a bit of an Asian theme going on in our bathroom and I think they could make a great little grouping above the tub.

Then we proceeded on to the Rose Garden. We were all running very low on energy. We hadn't eatten enough and it was (not surprisingly) hot. We did manage to squeeze in two letterboxes before we completely self-destructed. We'll definetely go back to complete the series of four boxes.

On the way out, we ran into an older couple. At first glance I thought, "Hmmm, she's sprinking some kind of plant food on the roses." Then I picked up a few other clues and realized she was spreading ashes. It was Memorial Day and a lovely location. It seemed right. My dad, who is an Episcopal priest, chatted with them briefly and offered to say some prayers, which he did.

Then we drove home in the air conditioned car.

Blather

I like that word... blather. I also really like the word "cloister." Of course they have nothing to do with each other. This is the state of my mind at the moment. You may wish to just click away now since it's not likely I'll be posting anything interesting.

My sister just got back from a trip to Alaska. She and her husband have been planning it for a long long long time. His cousin lives there and gave them the inside scoop on doing lots of things "on the cheap." She has posted a list of the wildlife they saw and she promises pictures this week. Now, I just must decide where we'll take our next family vacation: Alaska? Africa? China? Six Flags over Texas?

They only stayed in a hotel one night... so they could watch the season finale of LOST.

I was rejected from Small Works II. They got well over 200 entries and only accepted 27. Oh well. Honestly, I don't feel dejected, but it does burn a bit to spend money to continue to enter shows and not be accepted. For that show, there was the entry fee, the cost of making color copies of the original artwork (I thought that was an innovative way to jury a show -- but of course I had some less than desirable copies, so my Kinko's card just kept clicking on additional dollars.), the cost of buying a mailing tube and the postage. All in all, it doesn't break the bank, and I KNOW it's just the cost of "doing business." But, I'm a cheapskate so I'm whining a bit.

On the other hand, the Microscosmos show at the Tims Art Gallery opened last week. All the triptychs are posted at the link above. You'll note that mine is already sold. Yippee! That's thrilling and will pay for the cost of entering the show AND the Small Works show. It all comes around, yes? Several lovely lovely pieces of art in the show. I'm a bit surprised that nearly everyone (including me) interpreted the theme so literally. I guess that tree shape is just too tempting.

No more whining, I'd be making these pieces are art anyway. It gives me great joy. Showing and selling them is an added bonus.

And guess what I'm doing tonight?! I'm going to the Dallas Quilt Guild. And guess who is the speaker tonight? Gabrielle Swain! How fun is that? Sadly, I don't have any superfantastic shoes to wear.