Category Archives: Series

Carrol Iowa, Equinox, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Glyph IV with Beads, Memory Map Quilts, Travel

Spring Break

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Hello,

I am home again from my trip to sunny Florida.  I continue to be in love with the sea grape leaves and the pelicans  that I see only there.  IMG_0685.   I now have lots of shots of both of those subjects along with lots of others.

My week was full of adventures.  Chris did a wonderful workshop on Eco Dyeing on Monday and  I got to do it too.  I came home with a beautiful silk scarf that  was dyed with oak leaves and onion skins.   I will enjoy wearing it for a long time.

We went to the Museum of Art  in St Petersburg and visited a great traveling costume show with wardrobe pieces from the Star Wars series.   IMG_0633  There were wonderful detailed concept drawings   along with the final works.   There were  lots of explanations about the sources for many of the costumes too.The Interviews from the actors who had to “live” inside the droids was also  a fascinating part of this exhibit.

I got to meet with the folks who are part of the card exchange on Wed.  and we did a little folded book project together.  This shot is of Robert and his book. IMG_0651I can’t believe we have been at this a year.   We will continue to do this little challenge.

IMG_0664Cris and I walked along the beach on day and found this egg case and bit of coral.  That resulted in a little challenge between the two of us.   ( watch for further developments)

 

Cris, Laura and I went to the Fabulous Fashions play day on Friday.   Cris worked on this   top   that she made form an antique table cloth.

Laura  made this colorful  ruffled scarf from an old blouse.IMG_0700

Sat was play day in Susan’s studio.  We all printed different stuff.   Cris worked with her Gelli Plate and printed beautiful leaves from Susan’s garden.IMG_0705   Susan did some fun altering/printing on an old baby gown  that she then hung on the fence.  I got carried away as usual and now have a group of black birds to work into with stitches and beads.   I had a good time on my adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At home  on Tues I went to  the final meeting of Social Art for this season and was  a part of the small art show of work from the women who are a part of the group.  IMG_0712This shot is of Noel explaining something about her work( in the background)  She used “Punch and Judy” to   talk about female abuse.

Yesterday the FAB group meant and Nancy had a lot to share.  This is a shot of the bottom half of Arabic Twist.  One of two works that she is doing at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Glyph IV   This work is finally completed.  I was so excited about finally finishing this pieces that I put the sleeve on the bottom and only discovered the mistake this morning when I hung it to shot it for the blog.  I  removed the sleeve and it  is pinned in the correct place now.    I will add the sleeve on the top this eve.IMG_0737I have been showing shots of the bead and button additions all along.    I started this work in July  in Cyntaia Corbin’s Class at QBL. IMG_0739  

Asters I am still working on the veins of the leaves on this project.  I am half done with that step now.

 

 

 

 

 

FrozenIMG_0723I am still struggling to decide if this work is complete.     I feel I am almost there.

Memory map-  Carroll, Iowa  I am just starting the organza add on’s  for this project.  I drew the house and street on the organza and will add paint and stitching before I stitch  them to the surface. IMG_0729

  Parts    One of my personal goals for this year is to try    some  projects that are  inspired fro m  some of the  magazines I get  and have collected.  This month the Quilting Arts had an article about  making many  little units and adding them to the surface to build a complex final work.  This is my start

Daily Practice II    I am nearing the end of my six weeks work on this project.   I want to add some buttons on this week and I hope to finish it.

IMG_0740Daily Practice III   I did  not take Daily Practice II  ( pictured above) with me on my trip- but I did take the start of then next  piece all pinned together.  I did hand work for about an hour a day   during the week and will move on to it when I  have finished Daily Practice  II.

New WorkIMG_0724   This is just the pin up for a new piece.    I am still working toward Liz’s challenge to  use some of the fabric that I have hand dyed.   This is early in the development and I am not at all sure this is how the final product will be arranged.

Cards: Travel    I always feel traveling opens one  up to new ideas and perspectives  so I am celebrating those ideas with this card.

 

Equinox    Last week the days and nights were in perfect balance for one 24 hour period- or at least the light and dark hours were the same.  That will happen again in the fall of course- but that equal  distribution of light and dark needs to be celebrated.   Most of the time our lives are anything but  an equal balance .     But  it is something to strive for.

Keep Creating

Carol

Carrol Iowa, Collage, Daily Practice, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Glyph IV with Beads, Memory Map Quilts, Radiating Joy, The Dancer

Busy Week

 

Hello,

The birds are returning!   If you look carefully at the photo and follow the stratus tree  to the top you can see the little song bird who was singing his heart out one day last week.   It sure give me hope- then it started snowing again. Carol Admac  I went to the Schweinfurth this week and was delighted to find work by several of my friends including this wall sculpture by  Carol A.   It makes me happy.   There was also a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting this week.     This piece is by Pat.  She is challenging herself to use only two pieces of fabric  to create a new series.  It’s a great idea.   Maureen  Maureen is doing wonderful dyeing work.  These are three of the works she showed us.  Marcia finished this wonderful piece too.  Her strong graphic images always blow me away.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Radiating Joy

This work is 38.5” w X 45” l.     It is one of the first works in this series that uses one big piece of commercial  fabric as the background.

IMG_0590  The many colors in the hand dyed fabric are strong enough  to stand out from the complex pattern.    The hand dyed is an Ethel fabric.

IMG_0592  The colors work for me and I do get a joyful feeling when I look at this piece.

 

Purple Asters    I just keep working on the vanes of the leaves here.

IMG_0570

 

Memory Map: Carroll     I have moved to  the painting step on this work and done a few sketches for the parts I want to add on top to create the piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FrozenIMG_0576 This work is going slowly as I have mislaid the photo that was the start.   I add one line of ice and then have to stop and look to see if it needs more…….  It is moving along slowly.

Dill     I am not at all happy with this piece.  The plants were done on wash away and applied to the felted background.  But the there is not enough contrast for the plants to stand out or the background is too busy for the frail dill plants.  I will get some feed back from my fellow artists- but it may be a work that needs to be tossed.

Glyph IV      I am done with the beading.  Now I only need to finish the vertical line quilting on this work.   It is very heavy with all the beads at this point.

IMG_0593New Work    I pulled these fabrics to start to build another quilt.   There are  lots of my hand dyed fabrics here that will get mixed with some commercial  fabrics .

 

Daily Practice II  I am nearly done with this project.IMG_0579 There are only a few more details I want to add and I am sure I will get them done this week.

New Work:  Daily Practice     For the next Daily Practice,  I wanted to challenge myself to work with orange and purple.   The scraps are from Zapped.  I did not change the shape of any of the scraps from that project.  I just had a good time shuffling them until I came up with this layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collage 12    This is the newest collage.  I did some machine stitching on this work too as I had done one another a few weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cards: Believe  IMG_0564  I am fascinated by the flight of  birds and this hawk is a  beautiful example.    I find the fact that birds can fly amazing.

 

 

The Dancer  Movement is such and important part of  life.  And dancers do movement with such grace and beauty.  They too have my admiration.

I am off to  visit with Susan and Cris in Florida next week, so there will be no posting for the 22.   I will be back on the 29th of March.

Keep Creating

Carol

Carrol Iowa, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Frozen, Glyph IV with Beads, Label Cards, Spring Forest, The Lovers

Moving Forward

Hello, The wet heavy snow this week really effected the landscape.  We got about 17 inches and it really ground things to a halt.  But by Monday the world was almost normal at least for March.   IMG_0504  I got a bit of cheer with these tulips from my friend Joyce.    The first Tuesday of the month came this week so I had meetings.  The QuEG’s meant at Sue Ellen’s.  She had a lot to share as she is working on a commission.     This shot is of the sun  set  she is working on.  All the rows are cut- but not connected yet and there is a sea to add on the bottom.     I look forward to seeing how this turns out.   IMG_0511Liz is pulling up her UFO’s and working on this long lost piece.

The Diva’s also had a lot to share.IMG_0512  Liesa is doing great things with the marbleized fabric she has created.

Sharon is busy creating now that she has  finished Graduate school .    I really like the colors she has put together here.

 

 

 

 

Cheri showed off her DNA quilt.  She stared it in the Surfaces class we were in at the Schweinfurth last fall.   She is mixing  papers in her surfaces now too.

 

 

 

 

Regina is being as productive as ever.    This is just one of four wool birds quilts that she has created this month.  She also shared her felted scarf that is very  jewel like.  IMG_0529  I always get so much inspiration and support from all  these gals.

Yesterday the FAB group meant.  Patti showed off her loaded loom. And explained how it works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Forest IMG_0558I have been beading away on my Spring Forest piece.   The colors of the beads make me feel like a season other than spring so I am going to change the name to just Forest.   It may not work so well for the Awakening show.  But I will see.

New Work The base layer is cut and pinned for this work.

.IMG_0540Most of the leaves are my own  hand dyed with a few ( the dark green ones) cut from commercial  fabrics.    I like the red brown of the vanes in the leaves  so I tried to follow that idea.  I loaded the eye of the sewing machine with a light green thread and a red thread to get this effect.  It takes about 15 to do the vanes in each leaf so it will take a while to finish this step.

Glyph IV   I keep doing the beading on this piece too.  I am more than half way down the left side of the O now.

 

 

 

 

 

Frozen   This project is  inching forward.  I think most of the rocks that are protruding through the ice are done now and I only need to concentrate of the last few ice flow patterns.  This project requires lots of looking  and thinking on my part.

IMG_0545Memory Map: Carroll    I stared a new Memory Map project.  It is the same size as the other three completed ones.   IMG_0546I spent my life from the  third grade to seventh grade in Carroll Iowa and have great memories that I will try to incorporate into this work.   This is the base layer.

Daily Practice   The hand work on this piece goes forward.   I continue to use the strait stitch as much as possible on this piece.

 

 

 

Collage X- Flower Dance   The work goes forward.

The Lovers   This is the next card.   I love to use old photographs when I can in my collage work.  They are not family ones but little jewels that I have picked up along the way.

Keep Creating

Carol

3 Witches, Collage, Glyph IV with Beads, Hand work, Indian Pipe, Indian Pipe, Label Cards, Medusa, Radial Joy, Spring Forest, Winter Apples

Spring Approaches?

 

Hello,

March in its typical approach can not seem to decide if it is ready for spring or if winter should still dominate.  I saw these Snow Drops on my walk yesterday and I did hear a Robin’s song this morning.  But there is also snow in the air and in the forecast  for this evening and tomorrow.     Mother Nature is a bit fickle.

Progress Report:  Indian Pipe   This work is 16” t X 20” w.     The background is felted and it is  based on a photo of a rock cut along a  road in Washington state.  IMG_0480  I selected the Indian Pipes as my subject from one of my mother’s slides.   The steams are made from organza that is wrapped around a pipe cleaner and the heads are satin ribbon.IMG_0481

Winter Apples This work is 27.5” t X 29.5” l.   It is based on a photo I took of a crabapple tree at Thanksgiving when we visited the Turning Stone Cession for our family dinner.    IMG_0494The crystalline snow is made up of silk with a lacy ribbon on top.   IMG_0495

Radiating Joy  I am to the quilting step with my work on this piece.  I did reflective quilting in the rainbow letters and I am doing strait line quilting in the dark areas.

 IMG_0459Frozen   I continue to move very slowly on this piece.   I am just about ready to cut the wholes in the ice where the rocks stick through.

Glyph IV I am happy with the progress on this piece as the top  of the O is now complete and I am working down the right side.

 

Spring Forest    I am done with the quilting on this pieces as well  and have moved onto the beading of the trees.  I had help selecting the beads that I am using.IMG_0469

   IMG_0465Afghan    This work is now done.  I like the colors and it is worm.

Daily PracticeIMG_0474The daily hand work is moving along.  All of the parts are at least tacked down with stitches now.    I look forward to playing with decorative   stitches on the rest of the surface.

New Work IMG_0477 I pulled greens out of the stash to begin a new piece based on an image of asters.   IMG_0489

Star Gazers   This is collage #9 and is called Star Gazers.

Card- Medusa IMG_0490  I always saw Medusa as a very tragic figure.   All that constant noise and motion around her head all the time.  Must have been tiring.

3 Witches  These three women from a clothing add made me think of  the 3 witches from Macbeth.  They seem to conjuring  trouble to me.

Keep being creative

Carol

Collage, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Glyph IV with Beads, Radial Joy, Shaman, Winter Apples, Zapped

Snow Fall

Hello,

After several warms days with warm temperatures and lots of melting we back to winter again  this morning.  Beautiful big fat flakes are falling now.    It looks like a crayon  drawing out there.   This week has been busy.   Liz and I taught a collage card workshop for Associated Artists on Sat.Workshop 2 Everyone had a good time and asked us to do it again in the furture.   FAB meant yesterday and  Nancy had three projects to share.   I think she did a great job with movement with her interpretation of  Aerobic  Twist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Zapped  This work is 35” w X 34 “ l.   I think this new form  of the word Zap works better then the old version as it is crisper and sharper.  IMG_0434 I used fabric that I hand dyed for the letters this time and I even used some in the background too.   Liz and I are doing a personal challenge to use our hand dyed fabric in our work this winter.   I am having fun doing so.IMG_0433

IMG_0425Radiating Joy  I am to the point where I am doing the zig-zag applique step on this work now.   It is backed with tear away paper so it is stable with all the turns and changes in direction I should be able to avoid bubbling and have a flat final piece .

Winter Apples All the satin apples are hand stitched appliqued now.  It took several trials before I found a way to show the crisp crystalline snow  on the fruit.   It has layer of white satin with  silver ribbon on top to get the effect I am after.  I am stitching it down by hand too as each apple  has a different type of snow cap on it.

IMG_0427Frozen  The  operation has hampered my progress on this project and others as I can not yet work for a long time at the machine.  I also need to look a lot before I add  new lines to the surface of the ice here.

New Work    This new project  is full filling two challenges.  The Associated Artists next show  theme is Rebirth.   Spring certainly is a time of new things and that is what this project is designed to do.  This piece also fits with the Liz challenge .    I designed the stencil and l printed it  at one of the open   studio weekends at the Schweinfurth a while back.  I am free motion quilting with two different colored threads in the top of my machine to  draw in the limbs of the trees here.

Daily Practice IMG_0440   A personal challenge for this project is to try to use as many variations on the strait stitch as I can on this work.  I continue to work on this project during the news every night.

IMG_0437New Daily Practice    Sometimes chance play a part in what I do.  This is and example of that  happening.  When I was cutting up the fabric for Zapped it happened to be piled on top of this piece of  purple  hand dyed.  I liked how it looked and realized I had never tried orange and purple together before.  So I decided to go with that thought for my next base  in this series.

Collage- Blue on Blue After watching my friends have a good time on Saturday at the workshop, I sat down at home and created this bit of collage myself.  It is too big to be a part of the series but I sure had fun.

IMG_0413Collage- Fading Memories  This is 8.5” X 11” and is # 7 in the collage series.   It has a little stitching in it too.

Card Sharman  This is my high priest card.

Keep Creating

Carol

Amber Empress, Collage, Frozen, Glyph IV with Beads, Hand work, Series, Winter Apples, ZAP

Operation

 

IMG_0411Hello,

I had my operation for carpel tunnel on my left hand yesterday.   It went well and because I had the right wrist done 14 years ago I felt no fear.  The world of medical has  improved sense that first one  and it all seems to be smoother.   I can already do a few things that I know took a week to do last time.    Simple things like touch index finger to thumb.     The Doctor anticipated a smaller opening this time too- but because it is all wrapped up under the soft bandage I can not see that yet.   One Hopes for the best.

Progress Report :  Glyph IV
I did a lot of beading on this project this week and I am at the intersection of the O and L at this point.   I am pleased with how it is going.

.Frozen   I have started to applique the cording down to represent theIMG_0398frozen edges of the ice on this work.   Because I want the organza to only be connected to the base were the stones stick up through the ice, it is still free floating on top.

ZAP   I layered this work and started by stitching down all the text.   I have even begun the reflective quilting around the forms.   I am unsure about what way is up, so every time I hang it between work sessions, I try a different orientation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Joy I used the pattern that I showed in last weeks blog to create the shapes for this radial design.  It is based on the word JOY.  It is easiest to decipher when you look at the fourth of the pattern on the left.

Winter Apples This new work is based on a photo that I took last winter of snow on a crab apple tree.  IMG_0402

This is the shot.  I made a paper window and focused in on a smaller section.

IMG_0401This small section is what I decided to build the new work on.   I have selected a printed fabric that goes along with the theme and I have free motion quilted down the limbs I cut in wool.   I have made about twenty Satan apples  to hand applique down on top.   I used the double fabric method  to create the apples .   After I turn all the apples  I will applique them  and add steams.  I am still thinking about how to create the snow.     IMG_0403

Daily Practice  I have started with the second of my hand work daily pieces.    The fabric shapes are all cut-aways from other projects and all of them except the orange ones are fused to the background.

Collage 6

I am continuing to do the collage work.   Perhaps I need to start to think about adding titles to these pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amber Empress  This is my newest card for Susan’s challenge.

Happy Chinese New year.    It is the year of the Dog.

Keep Creating

Carol

Collage, Diva Meetings, Double Joy, Glyph IV with Beads, Indian Pipe, Indian Pipe, JOY II, Orange Essence, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Spirit, Ths Sun

Snow days

IMG_0348  Hello

We continue to get snow here in New York.  The wind is not blowing however as the snow laden  windmill shows.   Its just the light fluffy  wet  lake effect stuff.   The snow is piling up however.  It was much nicer earlier this week and I went to the QuEGs and Diva meetings.IMG_0324   At QuEGs there were only three of us so we meant at Liz’s home and did a bit of Gelly Plate printing.      Liz says she will use some of hers to make Valentines. As a part of the season Judy Sent me a cheerful water color Valentine to celebrate too.

The Diva group  meeting   had lots of folks with lots to share.  Mary did this delightful piece of her grandson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regina  shared her new work where she used some of her hand dyed fabric. ( the orange)  I am glad she too is doing that with her stash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alice is getting ready for her show at the Women’s Museum and this is her most recent work.

IMG_0332Noel made this pillow using her fabric form her Mothers old clothing.

Progress Report: Joy II This work is 34.5” w X 39.5” t.  I am so fortunate to have a group of folks to bounce ideas off of.  I took this work to the QuEG’s meeting and they gave me some valuable suggestions.  I went home and applied them and then took the work to the Diva meeting that eve.  The gals in that group pounced it completed.   IMG_0364This close up shows where I did some of the altering.  Before I reworked this area the orange in the letters and the orange in the background where too close to the same color.  I used a colored pencil to darken the background. IMG_0366  The high contrast is  what it needed.

Double Joy   This work is 28” w X 40.5”t.    I used the cutaways from  Joy II to create this work.  I  like the vertical movement of this piece.  IMG_0367I feel the color gets a bit washed out in the full photo.IMG_0368

IMG_0356New Work I seem to be in a rework mode at the moment so I redesigned the Joy to use as a radial design for the next piece in this series.

New ZAP This word also a rework and I am playing again with.    This is a close up of the word. IMG_0352The letters are cut from some hand dyed fabric I did at a QuEGs play day a few years ago.

Glyph  IV I keep beading away on this project.  This side of the O is almost complete.

 

Indian Pipe This felted project  is at the build stage.  I am struggling along with the  integration of  the plants into the setting.   I think I have just about completed the bracken on the forest floor.   Now to work on the pipes themselves.

Frozen  This work is also proving to be a bit of a challenge at the moment.   The organza ice is on now and I need to decide where to let the stones poke through so I can build the flow patterns  around them.  I am just unsure about how to start.

 Daily Practice-Orange Essence  I have decide this daily practice work is done.  I do not know how I want to finish the series so I am setting this work aside for now .  I will begin the next one this week.

Daily Practice  This is the second work in the series, it is base before any stitching has been applied.     Again I will try to limit the number of stitches I use on this work.

IMG_0361 Scarp Happy    When I do not know what I  want to do next I keep myself in the working mood by doing a project that requires little or no thinking on my part.  I am doing that with this project as I have done many  of these scrap happys.  I pulled out the box of left over  blocks from previous  Scrap Happys and started  a new project.   I know I can always find a home for these quilts.

Collage    This is collage #5.  I am please I have kept up  this series and feel I have a routine now.   I know this   summy work is in response to the snow and cold too.   The environment really does affect my work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan challenged me to do a collage where I used the sewing machine and this project is the result.

 

 

 

Tarot- The SunIMG_0341  I did this tarot card the same day I did the  collage.

Spirit   This piece was also an avoidance project.  But I feel staying in the working spirit  helps me move forward.

Happy Valentines day and Keep Creating

Carol

Double Joy, Emperor, Glyph I, Glyph IV with Beads, Hand Bags, Hand work, Intensity, JOY II, Mystory

Winter Color

 

 

Hello,

I went off to Ithaca this morning to help take down the Threads of Change show that has been up sense Dec 1.   It was a great show and  was well received.    The quilt “Glyph I “ was in it  as well as this quilt by Anne.  “ This is what Social Change Looks Like”  and it is one of my favorites from this social change show.IMG_0299

On my return drive I was struck by the colors of winter.  BM13-snow-tree   There are  lots of blacks, grays,  whites and browns  in the winter landscape.  Many tans and gold’s as well plus  the  occasional dark green of evergreen trees.   Mother natures limited pallet was  beautifully contrasted by the intense  blue of the sky.    It was a beautiful drive.

IMG_0279Progress Report:   Handbag  This is my newest Handbag with my thanks to Regina as she provided me with the fabric.  I noticed that the old one was getting tread bare so I made this replacement.  This one is large enough to hold a tablet.

Joy II    I am doing the reflective quilting on this project now.   I have not decided if I will quilt the words yet but that will be the next decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Joy  I am to the quilting stage with this work as well, with the same questions about  this quilt as with  the letters  of Joy II.  Sometimes I just need to live with the work a while before I know what to do.

 

 

 

Collage- Destiny    I am stay true to my vow to do a collage a week.   The  browns of the season seem to be invading here as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Play  I got carried away as usual and this second smaller collage was produced this week.   I talked with Susan and she suggested that I try to keep the size format the same for all the weekly pieces so I will do that in the future.     Like most of my work I do not see the total vision at the beginning of a series.

  Wool 1 IMG_0308  This project is all felted down now.   I am not sure where it is headed, but I like this start.

Wool 2   This work however has a strong destination.   The colors suggest a forest floor to me so I am running with that idea.  The bracken is  about half way free motion stitched down.     Then I got all excited by the idea of doing Indian Pipe as the feather plant so I did a little test this week.     This is one possibleIMG_0315solution.  I zigzagged over pipe cleaners that are wrapped with the cut away organza from the Ice project with flower heads made with bits of ribbon.    I have two other possible ideas for the pipes and I will try them both before I  make the final decision as to what I want to use.

 IMG_0300Ice   I have started layering the organza on top of the stream bed.  The zigzag   appliqued cording does indeed look like the line patterns on the surface of the ice so I will move forward on this project this week too.

Glyph IV     I keep inching along on the beading step for this work.  As one can see, I am a little beyond the half way point on the right side of the O now.

IMG_0321Handwork     I continue to do my daily practice with hand work.   I intended to be done with this panel  at the end of Jan.  But I am not through yet so I will keep working until the pieces is finished.  I can alter my goal.   I am the director and I make the rules so I can change  or break them as I see fit.

Crochet   As this photo shows I think I have mastered the shell stitch with my crocket hook.  In doing this  weekly blog I also take a good look at what I am doing and I feel that I may take all the work out and start for a third time as  I think this is a bit narrow for an afghan.

Card- The Emperor  IMG_0291   In an effort to unify the Tarot challenge that this card is suppose to be a part of- it was suggested that all the folks work on the major arcanna at the same time.  That is the starting point for this card.  I do not feel to connected to the concept of Emperor so I played with the idea of how the   fist  Roman emperors came the ranks of soldiers who had good   leadership skills.

Dizzying Intensity  As I sifted through my collection of paper images that I had collected for collage I did more than one work.    I was having too much fun playing with the paper and the images and this card came out of the play.  I can’t really say it is part of the Tarot series- the only thing that links it to that idea is the size.

Mystery  Solved

This work too is only part of the series do to size.     Sometimes I just cannot help myself.     And  as to what the mystery is – that is up to the viewer……..

Keep Creating

Carol

Collage, Double Joy, Felt Work, Glyph IV with Beads, Hand work, High Priestess, JOY II, Plantine

Camouflage

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IMG_0277 Hello,

I am enjoying the sun of this January day and the rich smell of these blossoms that were a gift from Judy.      As I was looking at my grandson’s camouflage pants the other day I was wondering if the goal of was to mislead or conceal.  Here in central NY in doors in the winter the patterns  doen’t do either job- but out in the woods in the summer they must do a bit of both.   Many animals and plants use camouflage to trap and stalk their pray as well as hide from predators.   I know my grandson purchased  the pants  so he could lie in wait with his camera to take photos so I guess his goal was to conceal.     It is not a fashion statement in his case so I guess that means his major intent is  not to mislead his peers- just the animals.   A strange bit of both in the end.

Progress Report: Aces and Spaces   This work is 37.5” w X 27” t.     It is built from the cutaways  of ACE plus a few transparent fabrics.   IMG_0257I did free motion quilting in the patters of aces- mostly using the ace of spades  for my pattern as that is the one most folks think of when they picture aces  in their heads. IMG_0259I enjoyed playing with this project.

Collage 2 The Song Bird    I am staying true to my goal of trying to do a collage every week.  This is my second piece.  I was listening to a recording where there were bird calls as a part of the intro and this work came form that joyful sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ribwort Plantain   This work is 14”w X 18” l.   I used felting for the background and did the Plantain on wash away  before I applied it to the surface. The heads are made from yarn and the steams are robin.  IMG_0264 The leaves are fabric with sewn lines on top for the vain patterns.   A fabric boarder was added before binding.

  Hand work   This daily practice is moving along nicely.   IMG_0253  I am trying to limit the number of types of stitches I  use here so it holds together and one can see how different yarns look with the same stitches.

Joy II   As the shot shows I finished the building of the second base for the joy cut.  I tried several backgrounds before settling on this one and then tried several layouts too.   I finally decided that I liked the diagonal layout with the words not being read from the same direction.  This work is ready for stitching now.

Double Joy    With this project  it take a lot of trial and error before I settle on the background and placement of the parts for the work.   This time the two tops of the words are pointed toward one another.  The centers are not even pinned in at this point as I need to make a curvy cut to unite the yellow unit to the orange one.

 Glyph IV   The beads just keep being added to the work.   I am inching up the right side of the O now.

Ice The stones are all  stitched down to the stream bed now.   I plan to go back and do a bit more to anker them and start to build a water flow pattern across the surface.     IMG_0271This is the photo  I am working from.   I did a little test piece to see if I could get the line effect with my stitching  for the ice that will go on top of the rocks.  IMG_0272The best one was when I zig-zagged  and appliqued down a bit of cording.

Wool 1 I felted down some roving to begin a new work based on a part of a photo I took last fall.  I only did the hand “basting” part so the roving would stay put before I get out the machine to do the final work here.

Wool 2 IMG_0248This is a second piece of wool with the same treatment as the first.

6X6 The call came out for the next 6X6 works for the Rochester Contemporary Art Center show  and so I responded.  I have been a part of this for the last six years I think.   They are all done now and I will mail them off next week.

 

High Priestess  Card  Susan has suggested that we try to do the Major Arcana for our Tarot cards so this is the  third in the series.   I am enjoying doing these collages.

I hope everyone is warm and working at  there creative activates

Carol

Collage, Glyph IV with Beads, Glyph Series, Hand work, JOT I, JOY II, Magic, Plantine

Magic

IMG_0183Hello-

We are deep in winter now so the sight of my Christmas Cactus  blooming is  a nice bright sight.  I have had a good week.    I went to the opening of the New Members Show at the Manlius Library on Sunday.   There are six of us who are showing about six pieces apiece.     It was great fun to talk with the other artists and the public too.  I had great support from several of my friends and that added to my positive feelings.    Before the day was over, much to my delight, I sold two of my works.    Fox Tails and White Iris both have new homes now.   It is a great feeling of confirmation when a stranger likes your work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Joy I   This work is 24”w  X 23” l.   It is also a rework.  The curvy cut quilt was made in 2012 and was set to be donated to the  Helping Hounds shelter.  But I pulled it aside and added the JOY  graffiti on top instead.   This   second shot shows the word pattern in paper.  The blue was cut following this pattern then stitched down on top.   IMG_0212 I am exploring the use of my stylized lettering with this work. IMG_0214This last shot is of the “O” in the center of the word.

Glyph IV   This shot is of the lower right side of the “O” in the Owl Glyph   quilt series.  This work is number 4 as the number indicates.   I am glad to be working on the biggest letter in the grouping now.

 

 

 

 

 

New Ice   The work goes slowly forward on  this piece.  I am rough cutting out the stones now.  The upper right corner is my  test run of various fabrics for the ice overlay  part of this work.

Plantain    Selling Fox Tails got me going on doing another wash out plant piece. IMG_0189   I did the machine drawing on the wash away just as Amanda taught us in Oct.  Then I pinned the work to the Styrofoam and washed  away the “plastic”.    The   dry work is now ready to be stitched down to the felted background.

6X6   The call for six by six came this week so I pulled some pieces to work on.  It was so easy to excess them now that the studio is in order.

Collage 1    One of my resolutions when I was cleaning was that I would do a collage every week too.    This work is 8.5” X 11” a size that I think I can work with easily.     I did find someone to pass a lot of the paper stash on to so I will use making the collages as a way to sort and share the materials as the year goes forward  and I make pieces..

IMG_0191  Joy  II   This is the base for my next JOY quilt.    I pieced it and then added a bit of inner  facing to the back to stabilize it.   The same pattern is used as in JOY I .    Because I am working from the backIMG_0197the word is turned upside down for  marking the edge and then it will be  cut out.   The result will be a positive and negative from this same fabric.  The interfacing will  cut down on the distortion  when I stitch it down to the contrasting base.

 

Hand work   I am doing my daily studies of stitches on this work.   It is beginning to feel very solid to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic Card  This card represents how I feel about myself and my fellow artists.  We all are really Magicians.  In our processes of taking raw materials- with  paint, clay, pencils and fibers we work magic with them.  Just looking at the elements, one never knows   what they could and do or  become  in artistic hands .   With sparks of creativity and the magic of  our hands, we bring into the world things that without us would not exist.   That is true Magic.

Keep Creating

Carol