Creating

I had an amazing day painting with artist friends today. I've never really painted like this. I was totally channeling Kelly Rae's painting style. Check out a collaborative painting she did here. I was also inspired by her photographs of hands...





Can you tell which one is me?

I'll share my results soon.

Iraqi Bundles of Love

My friend Kristin's husband has started an amazing project that many of you have heard about. He is an Army officer serving in Iraq. The project is called Iraqi Bundles of Love (IBOL). Since he knows that quilters have lots of stuff in their stashes and are such generous people, he has asked us to pack up some supplies to be shared with local Iraqis. You can get all the info on his IBOL blog.

Apparently, he originally hoped to get 30 bundles. He has already received over 100 and has been assigned a warehouse in which to store the boxes.

I brought a stack of boxes and pre-written customs forms to the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting last night.
They were all taken home with promises of being packed and shipped by the Sept 7 deadline.

There are several pictures on Art's blog of cats helping to pack up IBOL. Here's a dog to throw in the mix. I caught him yawning. Apparently Lincoln is not so interested in boxes.I hope you'll make your way to the nearest post office and pick up one of the special APO priority mail boxes. (But don't go to the one on Colony Blvd. I cleaned them out yesterday.) Pack it up, send it off and imagine women in Iraq stitching and creating and connecting with a larger community.

Blueberries

From this...to this.

I made blue berry crisp with some of the blue berries we picked while visiting my parents in NY. It was so delicious. I used Mark Bittman's recipe from How To Cook Everything. I made it with slightly more crisp and slightly less fruit... and topped with ice cream.

So delicious -- hand picked and home made!

Wrapping Up

We've had a great summer! We've spent lots of time together around the fire -- metaphorically and literally.
We've indulged in many adventures.
We got messy and giggled a lot.

For the kids it's time to return to the fun, challenge and schedule of school. And for me... s'more time in the studio!

Braids!

Claire let me braid her hair while we were visiting my parents last week. She is usually completely uninterested in such matters.

Then she even let me take some pictures! That's Lake Ontario in the background.

Isn't she so cute?!

I won't tell her I'm posting the pictures. I would guess she might draw the line there.

Deadlines

I work best under pressure, I think. It helps keep me focused and get me to the next level when I need new creative ideas. I was thrilled to get two new deadlines last week. I've been asked to write two articles for upcoming Stampington publications about a couple of projects I sent them.

One will include this sneak peak...

Of course, I don't have any time to "wait" at all. The deadline is very soon. In fact, I already requested an extension since we've got one more trip to make before the kids go back to school.

I'll be making another small piece using these same techniques so that I will be able to take some "step-out" shots. Step-outs show specific how-to images that show progress on a particular piece. I think readers really like step-outs. I do.

The other article will be about my "scrolly story 'shrooms." I just love this project. I am very excited to share it and I would be thrilled to see someone's interpretation of my idea. Something to look forward to!

I've had the wonderful opportunity to write several magazine articles in the past couple of years. (See my "published" list on the left side bar.) It has been a great learning experience. I find it's a good fit for my skills, interests, time and energy. Plus, a little spending money!

This and That

We're enjoying a short lull in our busy summer schedule.

Claire just returned from an amazing trip with my mom and dad. They plan to take each grandchild on a big adventure -- just the three of them -- the summer they turn ten. How great is that?! Claire chose a tour in Portland, OR all about animals. They toured the zoo, behind the scenes at the aquarium, visiting an alpaca farm, toured the mounted police unit and saw how seeing-eye dogs are trained.

Grandpa snapped this cute picture while they were biking along the river.
Benjamin just competed in his first taekwondo tournament. He won a fourth place medal in sparring! Very exciting.That's Benjamin with his teacher, Mr. Anderson, who cut his hair in a mohawk to generate excitement and enthusiasm for the tournament.

We've also been playing a lot of electronic Stratego. This game is from 1982 and was on a shelf at Jeff's parent's home until it moved to a shelf at our house until Benjamin decided to install new batteries and learn to play! It's very fun and requires quite a lot of strategic planning. (Thus, the name of the game.)

Who needs a Wii when you've got "realistic battle sounds" from 1982?!

Wanna Join Me?

I'm really looking forward to taking a workshop from local mixed media artist Lisa Renner. There are still spaces open and if you're in the area, I hope you'll join me! Here's the info.

The Painterly Book with Lisa Renner
September 19 from 10 to 4
Asel Art, 2701 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas
$50 for Dallas Area Fiber Artist members
$55 for non members
Plus $45 Kit Fee
(Kit includes everything you need for the workshop, except one pad of water color paper.)

This class is designed for those who love the process of artistic book-making, while exploring the joy of working with color. In the course of this all day workshop you will make an 8 x 10 book with brightly colored covers, and crisp, blank pages just waiting to be filled with your artwork, poetry, photographs, or your heart’s desire ! The first part of class will be devoted to creating painterly, abstract renderings on watercolor paper. To achieve this lushly, layered paper, you will get down and messy with paints, dyes, gesso, rubber stamps, stencils, oil pastels, and other materials. You will learn ways to make colors “pop”, and ways to soften the tones. Several sheets of paper will be created, and your favorites will be cut down to size to form the covers to your book. The second part of class will be devoted to book construction. It will be built from ground-level up, yet simplicity is the motto here!! Signatures comprised of Bristol cover stock will be sewn into the spine using an easy stitch. If you enjoy a lively, fast-pace environment resulting in a completed project, please join us for this very creative process!!

Email me or comment below and I'll send you a registration form.

Finished!

Yesterday was very productive. I finished my 12x12 just in time to get it photographed before the sun went down for the reveal today! Passion was the theme. I chose a passion flower. It's called "Passion Flower Interpretation."
It was based on this amazing photo by my friend Connie.
Be sure to check out the 12x12 blog today for 11 other amazing quilts!

I also finished a 500+ page novel. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
When we were on vacation, I finished another book and took it to the guest services office where they had a trade library. Leave the book you finished, take one you'd like to start. So great! I'd heard a bit about this book, so it jumped off the shelf and into my suitcase. (I didn't even realize it was one of Oprah's picks for her book club.) It was really excellent. I enjoyed the experience of reading it... and I cuddled up with Lincoln though many pages. Now I've downloaded Oprah's webcast discussion with the author to my iPhone and I'm looking forward to their insights.