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Realisations

Out of the Dark closeup 1Hello,

I feel so Positive when I think about my work.  I did a solo trunk show yesterday for the North Syracuse Art Guild titled

Out the Window  16.5" X 21.5" $125.00
Out the Window
16.5″ X 21.5″
$125.00

” Your Art /My Art”.  In that lecture/ trunks show,  I compared my work to the many styles and types of work that the members use.  In doing so I really realized how much I draw from the other  art categories to get my ideas across.  I draw  directly on the fabric with pencils, crayons and markers.  I use my machine as a drawing tool too.  I  New-IrisPaint  with acrylic,water color and dye on the surface when I need to create a special effect.   I print on the surface using  silk screens, stamping and stencils to get images I want on the work.POMEGRANATEcl4  I use some weaving techniques like felting, silk papers and frapping.    I often use collage techniques to build up my surfaces with

Red Nebula  18" X 24"
Red Nebula
18″ X 24″

textures and transparencies and different already textured fabrics like velvet and satins.    I even embellish with old jewelry on occasion.   I am thankful that I get to use from all the different art areas to full fill my creative drive. I realized too that I have been using my experiences and interests to fuel my work for most of my life.   Doing a presentation like this is a good way to reflect and re evaluate oneself.

Oak Leaves 45" X 30" $ 350.00
Oak Leaves
45″ X 30″
$ 350.00

 

I now have the monster job of returning all the work back into the category packs that I store them in.     I feel so very thankful that I am working in so many ways to fulfill my creative ideas.

 

Acanthite: Foundations XXIV 18" X 23" $ 150.00
Acanthite: Foundations XXIV
18″ X 23″
$ 150.00

Progress Report: Acanthite :Foundation 24    This quilt is  went together very quickly for me.    This stone added some problems as some of the areas where a sold white.    I wanted to be sure to use velvet and now whale corduroy  on this work to show the wonderful textures they  add to the surface.  There were also lots of  cracks on the surface that added interest to this one.    -Acanthite-cl2

 

 

 

 

This shot also shows some of the chenille yarn( dark green) and some silk paper( blue- near the top).

Acanthite-cl3

 

 

 

 

 Broadcasting    I am enjoying doing the hand work on this piece.  Most of the saxaphone Broadcasting full pads are stitched down now and I am adding  beads and french knots to the surface.   I have added some reflective quilting to the surface too.    This work is going along well at the Broadcasting detailmoment with each actions leading to the next.

 

 

YellowstoneYellowstone    The ease that Broadcasting  is a great contrast with my slow process on this work.  I think I finally have the map portions the correct size and location.   I will do the paint step for that and then I will move forward.  I also realized that the piece is too pale.  Yellowstone has lots of forest and I want to project that feel too so I pulled out dark green organza ( pinned to the left) and adding that will help me go forward I hope.

 

The Blues   This work The Blues just needs time as the hand work is a slow thing.   I am playing with three of different types of stitches-  the chain stitch,  the blanket stitch and the  fly stitch.  I am varying the size of the stitches  to add interest.

 

 

 

CarmelizedCaramelized    This is a new work that is still in the shifting and  pinning stage.    I melted  the Tyvec that I painted in the fall colors last week, with the iron between sheets of parchment paper.  The melt results are so much fun because they  are uncontrollable.     Mixing them with silk paper makes me think of carmel  and melting butter.  That is were the title came from.     I am enjoying the play.

Keep Creating

Carol

More Fall

leafHello,

I could not resist this oak leaf with its rain spots this morning.  They look so like glass beads. I am so influenced by the natural elements around me that I am not even aware of it.    ThisFall tree is photo of fruit on a limb that I took yesterday  when I went for my morning walk was not on the top of my mind at 3:30 when I  painted tyveck  for an unknown  project-( I wanted to have a bit of the texture that tyveckironed tyveck creates for some use)  but  the colors came out anyway. The Diva’s did a Trunk Show at the Schweinfurth Art Center on Sunday in conjunction with their Quilts= Art= Quilts show that is currently hanging in their galleries.  Eight of the members Cheri's-2showed off her  works and talk about their personal  influences.   The presentation was well received and and there where about 45 people who attended.     There were lots of positive comments from the viewers after the talk.   Sharon Bottle Souva sold two pieces!  I tend to forget how strong and unique each of the gals in the group are until I see a group presentation like this one.   I feel so

Nancy's-workprivileged to be a part of such a strong group of supportive and creative  fiber artists.

I went to Nancy’s this week and we talked about her possible next steps for her summer quilt.Nancys-close-up This photo is of the center section.  She plans to add butterflies on the surface and to machine draw/quilt  in two trees to represent  Bret and herself .    Nancy always finds a way to take a simple idea and build on it to create a very complex work- I love it!

Wedding-quiltProgress Report:  Donna’s Wedding Quilt  I am still quilting away on this work.   At this point I am just a little beyond half way  with the center section.   I find that I can only work for about an hour on this before I begin to get  tired and must stop.  Broadcasting


Broadcasting  
I am continueing to add more instrument pads  to the surface  of this quilt.   It is starting to get the feel I want.  I am going very slowly and pinning the work up every evening after I have added more to the surface. Then I study before I make new additions.  

 

YellowstoneMemory Map- Yellowstone  I am playing with paper patterns of the objects/ parts I want to add to the surface of this project.    Sally reminded me  that one does not need nor should they try to include everything  in the work.   I am struggling with that part of the process so it too is going slowly.

 

New  Stone Work   I started a new stonenew  rock piece this week.  I am working from a black and white photograph so I am choosing the colors  that are the tones and shades like the ones in the image.   I used corduroy,  hand dyed  silk and organza in this work as well as yarns and silk paper.    I love all the textures.

 

New Work    I started this work BN13-no-nameabout a month ago.  I did not know where I was going with it at the time and I am still not sure.  But I am pushing forward none the less.  I have added some vertical units and I am doing hand stitching on the surface to add more texture.  This is a pure experimental thing.

If you have a comment please post it.

Keep Creating

Carol

Full Moon

-treesHello,

The Moon is full and I love to see how the moon light makes the branches have little sliver out lines.  The shadows are wonderful too.  I am so glad it was clear and warm last night so I  could enjoy the evening.   It is cold today however.

I did a little walking in the woods this week and enjoyed the sounds of the leaves under foot as the trees are mostly stripped now.  It was a gray day when I made this excursion, but  I still enjoyed the  sounds and this  tree bark bark.

This week there were QuEG’s and FAB meetings.     The Diva group is doing a trunk show at the SchweinfurthBN6Sally on Sunday so they did not meet.  The QuEG’s gals had lots to share.   Sally did this fun little landscape to give to a friend who let her stay on the lake this summer.  There is lots of machine    Sue-Ellenwork here as she always applies a lot of that.

Sue Ellen is busy thinking ofAngela's Monet Christmas too and creating little machine drawn mini images 6″ X 8″ in the seasonal vain.

Angela has been experimenting with her felter and she was trying with this copy to see how effective she could be with  a pre-felted  surface that  she felted into.   Looks Janes's-workgood to me.

Jane is doing her amazing wool  embroidery  as usual.    She had several pieces this time.

 

There were four of us from the QuEGs group who were in Kerr Groboski’s  Deconstructed class last week,Linda's--work so there were lots of wonderful dyed works to share too!      This shot of one of Linda’s fabrics shows how the print paste breaks down one the screen with each print.    Seeing all our BN6workshop-stuff1works together sure made me aware of how we all have our own unique color sense as well as style.   I hope we do some more of this technique because I was so happy with the color that I achieved worhshop-2in this workshop.    Now the real work begins when one uses the fabric as a start or works back into it……..    I think they will need to hang in my line of sight for a while before I know what to do.

 

 

 

Progress Report : New new-workWork     I still have not come up with a title for this work.  I have started to stitch down the key pads however.   It is  a fun and very slow process.     I will work on that this week.

 

 

Donna’s Second Wedding Dress Quilt    This is the second commission for myWedding-quilt friend Donna.   I am to the free motion quilting step now after spending over two hours crawling around on the floor pin basting it on Monday.  I wore my knee pads but the knees still hurt.     I am following the strong lines in the print  for the quilting design . This shot shows the top( green, gold white and red) with the back folded over so one can also see how the quilting pattern is coming along.

Keep Creating

Carol

More Fall Stuff

Creatie-Assistants  Hello-

Fall is still all around and painting the landscape here with color.   I love it.

When football season starts, I watch and spend my time making  my Creative Assistants.   This is the  first batch of 49 that I have completed.  I so enjoy the process and it does make the football go by faster for me.   It seems the games have lots of time when there is nothing  much going on- but commercials, so I stitch away.BO29-QBL2    I  enjoy giving them away when I go to Quilting by the Lake every summer.   ( there is a tutorial on how to construct your own Creative Assistants below)

I am taking a class called Deconstructed  Screen printing with Kerr Grabowski. It starts today and lasting for three days.  This is my pile of stuff for the class.  I am sure I will come home with lots of  new altered fabric to use.

 

Spill 17" X30" $185
Spill
17″ X30″
$185

Progress  Report: Spill  I had a good time working on this piece.   I so love texture and this one has lots of different materials that add to that.   There is the usual cotton of course, and my current  favorite – silk paper then I added iron melted plastic bags and  turquoise mylar as well as satin, and course woven silk.  I added hand stitching t in the form of french knots, button whole stitches and chain stitches to the surface as well as machine drawing too.   I  am pleased with the results.

Spill-cl3This piece BO29Spill-cl1fits very nicely in a little nook in the wall.

 

Spill-cl3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watermarked Sandstone 33.5" X 25" $305.00
Watermarked Sandstone
33.5″ X 25″
$305.00

Watermarked Sandstone- Foundations XXIII     I am finally finished with this newest  member ofwatermarked-sandstone-c BO29Watermarked-Sandstonew-the foundations series.  I really enjoyed the free motion work on this project.  I had a good time doing the painting on the surface of this piece.  Adding the iron nodes to the surface was a bit of a challenge as  I tried them in many different locations before I finally selected this layout.  Then when I was shooting the work Watermarked-cl3for this entry I discovered that I like it on a 90 degree  turn from the direction that I had been looking all the time I was working on the construction.   One always needs to be open and aware of what is in front of them.

New-workNew Work    As I was nearing the end of my work on  Spill I realized I needed a new piece to do hand work on so I looked  through my sketchbook of ideas.  I came across this old idea of using circles  and lines for a piece and though I would try it. I have a box full of old Saxaphone keypads that a friend had passed to me and I thought this would be my BO29padsopportunity to use them to express this idea.    There are so many different sizes, colors and textures here- I am sure I will have fun with this work.

I hope all   enjoy the colors of the season and the kids all dressed up for Halloween.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Quality

leaves2 Hello,

Leaves continue to be a big part of  my daily dose of nature.  But I want to talk about a Jewish Proverb I came across in my reading this week.        “The Quality of life is fuelled by our productive wealth.”   That idea has been on my mind while I have been walking for the last two days.  To begin with I really think that my life is a rich and wealthy one,  but I think even though I am productive that is not the only thing that adds meaning and value to my life.   Quality  is strongly related to context.   One can have “Quality Time” and for me that can mean just

Costumetime spent listening and interacting with a friend or child.  A big part of that quality comes with the  focus of that time- no distractions or concerns for other things.  When I was making the halloween costume for my grandson- (some video game character that I do not know anything about)- that” one on one time ” with him telling me exactly what he wanted and helping with the sewing machine work was real quality time.   I spent quality time talking with Nancy's-quiltNancy on Wed at the FAB meeting when there were only the two us and we got to telling stories about our youth to one another.  That shows a quality of trust too.  (She is making progress on her quilt and the sky with the clouds she made in silk paper on that sky is great.   ) Then there is also  quality friendships like the one I share with Nancy and a few others.   There is a degree of necessary quality in all our lives for things  like  shelter, food,  good quality air and water- without those assuredness none of the other quality things can come about.   We need those quality ingredients  to be  healthy and to fully appreciate the degrees of wealthy  excellence our lives hold.

Agate 23" X 36"   $300.00
Agate
23″ X 36″
$300.00

Progress Report:Agate  I finished this work this week.   It has been created from a big piece of silk paper  that I made with Ethel a few weeks ago.  The most difficult part of this project was deciding what side of the  silk paper to use- they were both so lovely.   I had a good time attaching the silk paper to the quilt with  many hand stitches.    This project was created with silk hankies that were hand dyed before I put the paper together.  I might not have selected these colors to use together on my own, but I sure like them and  will try to add this type of mix to my own way of thinking.BO23Agate-cl1 BO23AgateCl2

 

 

 

 BO23Agate-cl3

 

 

 

 

 

SpillSpill   This quilt is coming along nicely now.  I love all the textures on the surface of this work. This shot shows silk paper- two types the sheet form (on the far left) and the flow form(the green blue at the top) , the iron melted  mylar( the turquoise ) and iron melted plastic bag( the apple green).   The whole thing has been fun for me.

Watermarked Sandstone  watermarked-Sandstone I am still doing machine drawing on this work but I can see the end is in sight.    Again I am playing with texture- my favorite thing.   There are “nodes of iron ore” in the image and so I have created some solid rust colored circles to add to the surface of the piece.   Before I can stitch them down I need to add rust colored paint to the surface to show how the water wears away the iron too Iron-Nodulesand in so doing it stains the surrounding stone.

 

 

Yellowstone Memory Map   Mapmemories-Yellowstone  I so enjoyed creating the Sandstone Church project that I thought I would do a second memory map type quilt from my childhood.  When I was seven, my Dad was a summer ranger in Yellowstone National Park at South Gate.  I have wonderful memories of that summer and want to try to  put them into this  new project.     This is layer one and it too is ready for a paint layer  to soften and unify some of these  parts.

I hope you too are enjoying the fall color and creating fun works.

Hugs

Carol

 

 

Eliminiated

Hello,

I want to talk about being Oak-Leaveseliminated from a judged show.  I have entered three this fall and of the five quilts I entered and paid fees for, none was accepted for the  shows.  One never knows the” why “of such rejections.  Even  having been a” holder” for Scholastic art compactions and being  in the same room as the Judges- I sometimes could not understand that “Why” question.   Judges are people with tastes and biases of their own.   One time  I did hear one judge say” I never accept any art with a skelton in it.”  Sense I as a teacher, had used a skelton from the science room as part of a still life with my own students, I  felt that sure was an unfair feeling for a judge to carry.  But they are  people – not gods even though they are given lots of power.     Perhaps the  work did not go with the others selected.  Or maybe the judge did not like the design or color combinations.  The artist never knows those things.    My Father often said” It’s not so much what happens to you, as what you THINK about what happens to you that makes the difference.”   With that in mind, the whole experience becomes one of choice.   I could be angry , hurt and sad by these developments,  but I choose not be be.    I still feel my work is good and I am proud of what I do.  I

BO16Nancy-Paintingenjoy the process and that is the important part for me.  It would be nice to have someone- a judge confirm my feelings- but that is not the case at this time.   Lastly, I am  the  one who chooses to enter the competitions.    I will let time heal over the feelings and try another competition that may fit what I do a little better next time.

I spent a couple of days working with Nancy on her sky again.    She is becoming quite a good painter with a sponge.  She built up more clouds and the work has some BO16Nancy's-sky-fabricreal depth now.   I think that we are done with this step and the quilting will add even more demention to the final.  I am so proud of all the chances she takes with her work.

Asurite  Foundations XX  34" X 44"  $1100.00
Asurite Foundations XX
34″ X 44″
$1100.00

Progress Report:  Asurite Foundation XX    This quilt was finished in June, but I have not posted it because it was an entry for BO16-Asurite-cl3one of the shows I mentioned above .   One of the limitations on entry to this show was that the work was not to be shown publicly before .     This quilt was lots of fun to work on and I am quite happy with it even all these mouths later.    I added lots of metallic fabric in this work as well as many silks and satins.

BO16Asureite-cl2 I used some fancy yarns and threads in this work as well.  I find that when I pickup the actual rock that I used as inspiration- I see more possibilities  for additional pieces .   Only time will tell.

 

 

 

 

Whipshock Hill

Whipshock Hill Foundations XXI 44" X 35"
Whipshock Hill Foundations XXI
44″ X 35″

Foundations XXI    This is a second quilt that was part of the same entry mentioned above.  I finished this work in June.  It is based on a cut in the road along Route 279 nine miles west of bennington  Vermont BO16-Whishock-cl3.    In actually it is about  500 yards long and a very humbling sight. I added lots of yarns and ribbons to the surface of the quilt as there were lots of little fractures and lines of thin deposited BO16Whipshock-cl2color changes in this rock face.     There is also some silk paper in this work.

 

 

 

Alpine Lake 28" X 14" $145.00
Alpine Lake
28″ X 14″
$145.00

Alpine Lake 

This is a new technique that  I am developing that is aBo16Alpine-Lake-Cl3 very college like approach to quilting.  I am continuing to think more in the way of color for the solutions then the type of fabric I am using.  I even used an old bit of a paper quilt BO16Alpine-Lake-cl2that was the correct color and texture for the water in this work.   I used some double knit on this one  as well as silk, silk paper, organza and cotton  fabrics.    I even did a little free motion zig zag work to add more texture to the tree.   I need more practice to get that under control.

Agate    I am still adding hand work to this felted work to add texture to the surface. Agate  I may have given up doing Daily’s , but I still am doing lots of hand work.

 

 

Watermarked-sandstoneWaterMarked Sandstone   I started this  new Foundations Piece earlier this week.   This one is loosely based on an old black and white  photographic of sandstone that has watermarke erosion on it.  I know the typical colors of sandstone so I am trying to stay in that limited range with this first step.     I really love the texture and I am having fun planning ways to show it in this work.

New work  BO16-new-work This is a pure play piece.  I am not at all sure what I am doing and have no clear idea where I am going with this.  The scarps had just been in the bottom of one of my baskets and I thought they looked  good together……    Quilting, crumpling and following the directions of the work may or may not help this.   But I am willing to give it a bit of time and freedom to see what happens.     Giving myself permission to mess up is very freeing!

I like to hear feedback,  post a comment.

Keep your eyes open to the wonders of the season.

Carol

Fall Leaves

Dalias Hello,

I so enjoy fall, not just the color- and this year it it wonderful, but one of the best things is the sound of walking through the fallen leaves.   The crunch, the swish, the crackel, all those sounds and the earthy smell  always seems to bring me warm  feeling of golden days and slowing down.   A heightened feel of awareness of the wonder of the world we live in. I love it.

These beautiful flowers are a gift from my friend Noel.  They sure bring the colors and feelLinda's-Liquer of the season into my dinning room.

This was meeting week for me.  Tuesday QuEG’s  meant  at noon.   Everyone had lots to share.  This shot is of some electron microscope images that Linda thinks she may use as starting  points for  some work.  All of these are various liquors.

Liz is just home from a two week trip to Ohio to Nancy Crow’s Art-Boysbarn and a workshop in using Graffiti and Lettering.   She had a pile of altered fabrics that she has created that will  keep her busy working all winter on just this topic.  This one is called  “Art Boys”.  It sounds like she had fun. Barb's-crazy-quilting

Barb continues to work on her crazy quilts.  I really like the Victorian feel this one has.  She will have some great family remembrances when she is done and what a great way to collect and display the little bits one seems to collect from family members- like pins and such.

 

Angela is busy dying again.  I love Angela's-scarveshow she uses her abilities to get such wonderful work.   This work has several layers of dye on it.  These scarves are for the hostesses who are doing a baby shower for her grandson later this fall.  She is so wonderfully generous with her work.

Sally is back at her embroidery Sally's-berrymachine creating wonderful cards for Christmas and fun family gifts.   This strawberry is her own design and a family gift.  She always give the kids $  presented in a unique way.  This year the cash is wrapped inside the  layers of the toilet paper inside the berry.  She also went so far as to machine embroider the family’s name on the first sheet of each roll.   Too much!

SUe-Ell's-sea-horseSue Ellen and Corrine  are both  doing finish up work.   Something about fall I think, we want to tidy up a bit before the confinement of winter.  Corrine  had three wedge cut baby quilts that she was finishing.

Sue Ellen had three distinct, but traditional quilts she had finished and this wonderfully fun Sea Horse piece she created.  Each panel in the horse body is a different print and they are all connected with metallic  cord that has been zig zaged in place.

 

Cheri's-vestThen I went off to the Diva meeting.    Cheri and several others of us had spent a few days felting last month.  Using materials she produced at that time, Cheri has finished a felted vest for her grand daughter.   She used one of her  jelly roll slices to create a pin too- its on the right. What fun!

 

Marty went along with me Marty's-workto the meetings and she showed one of her wonderful  Nebula quilts.  Everyone is amazed, myself included, in all the bead work and her tiny button whole  stitching.   She told us she used over 400 beads on one of the nebula pieces.    I enjoy how she uses hand dyed fabrics too.   wonderful images.

Liesa-map Liesa is working on her Map quilt.  All the trees and buildings are in place now.   She says there will be more quilts like this one of different locations.

 

Annes-wimseyAnne had lots of work to show- four pieces I think.  She is getting ready for the Ithaca Art Trail that happens this weekend and next.  I like this little whimsical piece the most.  So much freedom and action here.

 

 

 

Noel's-workNoel had a wonderful little work that again displayed her techinque.  She makes all the blocks and then can try  out several arrangements before she puts them together.  I like this layout  myself.

Susan is getting ready to fly Susan's-paintingssouth for the winter.  She sold one of her unique little birds that she showed us at the last meeting.      Because she  wanted to commemorate that  event she did these four little paintings of the birds saying good bye.  They sure project the  happy smiling feeling that Susan always brings to every situation.

Nancy's-flowerbed

 

Then there was a FAB meeting yesterday morning.  Nancy is making great progress on her Flower Bed  quilt.  She uses big prints and strong colors so very well.  This is about one fourth of the top.   I can hardly wait to see the full effect.

Patti is doing beading.  I Patti's-beadlove this wonderfully designed small bead- it is only about one fourth inch long( that is the grid of a cutting matt it is  setting on)  This is the first for a bracelet that will have at least eight unique beads similar to this one .

 

Chrysanthemum 39" X 48" $675.00
Chrysanthemum
39″ X 48″
$675.00

Progress Report: Chrysanthemum  I am very happy with this work.  I used lots of the wonderful silk that I had pruchased from Ginny – most of the reds and purples are her fabrics- and I used the fabrics I had printed on as well.     I am  still playing with the off square cutting and piecing with this work.  It creates challenges when one is quilting and putting sections together, but I  am enjoying the process.

I had a good time with the  free motion quilting onChrysanthemum-cl2 this work as too.  I started with the center most blossom and sort of followed the shapes and forms of the flower to unite the layers of the work.  This photos shows how I extended  the quilt lines out to finish theChrysanthemum-cl3 petals were need be too.  I did total free designing of the flowers in various sizes to fill in all the spaces that remained.   I enjoyed this project, but I will admit that I will back my silks with interfacing the next time I use them so I do not get quite so much uncontrolled  movement of the seam lines.

Golden Weeds Golden-weeds  This quilt is having a second life- a sort  of face lift.   I thought it was done three years ago- and it was OK- but when I was considering work for the Man In the Moon show and I had pulled it out- I thought this just is a good background.   Then it hung on the wall for a few weeks.   While on Golden-weeds-cl2a walk, I was taken by the beauty of the Tessel weeds along the road side and  thought they were strong enough to stand on top of the old work.      First I machine drew in the heads and stems of the plants in a variegated thread.   Then I looked for a stronger unit to place on top of that work to make it appear as though some of the plants were even closer to the viewer.   I found this copper colored woven ribbon in my stash and felt it would do the job.  By adding folded satin ribbon forGolden-weeds-cl3 stems the Golden-Weeds cl1job was complete.     The work is a lot stronger now and  I just added a second label to give info about the additions  and name change on the back.

Alpine-LakeAlpine Lake    I started playing with the idea of creating a landscape of a mountain setting with a lake. It is all created on  top of buckram- so it will not wrinkle up on me – in  what I am starting to think of as my college  style of construction.  I am not gluing anything down, but building from the sky forward with the image.   I attach all the parts with machine drawing that adds texture and detail to the work.   It is a process that I am enjoying.

New Work  blue  BO9-New-work2   This is just a background- done this time on purpose- that I want to play on top of.  I have some vague ideas about where I am going, but I am still in the sketching stage.

 

New-work1New Work- wavy cuts   This top is the same as the  one above it. No plan other than to see if I could use wavy cuts in this piece.    This too is pure experiment.

I am having a good fall and enjoying walking in the leaves, keeping my eyes open for ideas and just soaking in the sun shine.

Keep your curiosity  alive.

Carol

 

Busy Two Weeks

 Fall tree Hello,

It has been a very busy two weeks for me.  I not only traveled to Ottawa for four days I took a felting workshop, spent a day with Ethel  making silk paper and a day painting sky with Nancy.     The world around here is starting to show its fall colors as well and the days have all been wonderfully comfortable.  Victoiria I spent the end of the first week doing a felting workshop.  We played at all the techniques we knew with each one of the participants demonstrating her expertise in different areas.    Victoria taught us about nano felting as she has been doing a bit of this with her niece.  All of us come with a different design approach,  so they all came out Cherri very unique.   Cherri really  liked this method of creating felt and she ended up doing at least three pieces in this style.  I was told she is making a vest for her granddaughter with some of it. One of the gals did not do wet felting but started with wool that had been felted in the washing machine and needle felted little pins with this technique.   By doing this method she had lots of control and created very fleting-with-pre-felted-detailed work.    She was making pins and added beads and manipulated the felt as she worked to create various textures in her pieces.   I really liked the way she manipulated little wisps of wool to add nice details like the soft line of green in the leaves of the red and gray green pin. BO2jelly-roll-2 BO2Jelly-roll3 BO2jelly-roll-felting1The second day we did wet felted Jelly Rolls.   Mostly we created flat disk like units – but Cherri also created some plant like forms with her green felted units.               felted-beadsAfter lunch I tried making felted beads and had a good time with that  too.    I have no goal for their use and they  may rattle around the studio for  a long time before they find a home-   But I sure enjoyed the process. One can also do three dementional felting using the dry method.     This mushroom is a greatfelted-sculpture example of that.     I did a little seasonal piece using a wool basefelted-owl and dry felted roving into the surface were I wanted the different colors to remain.   It was a fun time and I enjoyed it very much.      I can certainly add this technique to my work.

 

Then I went on my travels to Canada.   I love to travel and feel it is very invigorating.  Travel can open ones eyes to look at ordinary thing and pay attention to the every day.  I was especially taken by the wonderful    gingerbread work on this house.Canada house     I might have noticed it at home, but I probably would not have taken the time to look carefully at it or take a photo.  The fact that it would not appear in my life again if I did not act then helped to sharpen my vision. We  went to Ottawa with the intention  of visiting the museums and did that.  We  visited all three of the major ones there.  Our fiat stop was Noethwest-housethe museum of First Peoples.     It is a wonderful mix of history and the current lives of the Native Americans of  Canada.   By building these mock up of Traditional Northwest Tribal  buildings the museum presented the totem poles in their normal settings.  Inside the houses were displays of artwork again modern-workshowing historic works and contempary ones as well.     I found the whole day very exciting and I am sure I will soon create a work using this influence.

 

 

The next day we went to the National Art Gallery of Canada.  Again it was inspiring.  I have always liked the work of the Canadian seven and it was great to see the work live.

Marty and the moose. Then on Friday we visited the Museum of Natural History.  The building is beautiful although it looks like it was built in the early part of the last century with its stain glass and carved wood.     Some of the displays show this same old flavor but most are very current.  There are lots of interactive displays and each sections also had a play area for smaller children.

Nancypainting

I spent yesterday working with Nancy painting a sky for her quilt. It was a beautiful day to paint out doors.

We had a good base to work on top of from the first attempt two Nancy's-skyweeks before.    We agreed it needs one more day to get the finial effect she wants for this portion of her quilt.

 

 

Progress Report:  Harmony  

Harmony  24" X 42.5" $370.00
Harmony
24″ X 42.5″
$370.00

This work displays the Japanise Character that stands for Harmony.  That is where  I got the title.   The two orange  silks are from Japan and I felt that this was a good way to celebrate that fact.   I looked at many renditions of this character before I settled on this form.   The black of the shape is all chain stitched in embroidery thread.

 Harmony-cl-4

 

 

 

BO2Harmonycl1

 

 

 

 

Sand Stone Church

Sand Stone Church  16" X 21"  $125.00
Sand Stone Church
16″ X 21″
$125.00

I purchased Valerie Goodwin’s book “Art Quilt Maps”  in the spring even before I took my second class with her this summer.   I thought I should try to follow her instructions on how to build this type of map quilt and this project is the result.     This work is based on childhood memories of a Sand Stone Church that was in the pasture next to the one my grandparents owned.   My brother and I often played in the church Church-cl2 BO2Clroads-of-stone-church BO2Clstone-church-3and in the cemetery that was just up the hill from the old building.     The church it’s self had no roof and the local natural stand stone was curmbeling away in some places so we felt safer in the cemetery- espiceally under the big old oak that stood in the corner.  The branches were low and we could easily climb quite high in that tree.    The second close up is an areal view of the gravel rural road that ran in front of  my grandparents  house and the farm yard around the house, plus the garage and barns.

Somky-TwilightSmoky Twilight     I am enjoying using  the many tints and shades of gray I have for this work.  It is in the very early stages of assembly, but I think it is starting work.

 

 

 

 

Chrysanthemum   I am to the free motion stitching/Free-motoin-work-on-Cquilting  part of this project.    This work got away from me as far as size is concerned and grew quite a bit from my original plan, but  that does happen from time to time.    Again I am using some of Ginny’s silk in this project( the red  show here)

Enjoy the colors of fall and keep your eyes open to the possibilities for ideas all around .

Hugs

Carol