Friday Favorites

 Today I am off to the VTica to see Journey into Process!  I took this picture from their website.  It shows some of the work by Jane Davies that I will get to see.

Friday Favorites


I only have time to show one of my finds this week and I decided to feature Purple Missus.  Lynda Monk is a mixed media textile artist and she has art to die for.  And she connected me to Workshops on the Web.  Have  you heard of it?  This is from their blog:


"Workshop on the Web is a publication exclusive to the internet, featuring the very best tutors from all points of the compass, giving step-by-step details of textile techniques and ideas for using those techniques creatively. Machine embroidery, hand stitching, mixed media work from metals to the latest developments in plastics technology and beyond.

"And this is what they promise:
We promise that each issue will have at least six workshop features, an interview with a well-known embroiderer plus other articles of general interest. Also, products - not just what's new but how to use them, book reviews, news and views. Add all this together and it's far more than a magazine - more like getting a new book four times a year."

There is also a give-away involved so check it out!

Have a creative week

Friday Favorites--It is all about abstract

Elizabeth Barton has a whole post on her blog about the trend towards abstract art.  She does not need to convince me how great abstract art is.  Just check out my prints and my inspirations!  I was an abstract artist before it was popular, I am thrilled that it is popular again, and I will still be an abstract artist once it has gone out of popularity again. 

I have borrowed a quote from Elizabeth's blog but please do check out her entire post.

"So what can we as quiltmakers do with this current revival of abstraction? I think we should be loud and bold! Let's grab these ideas and run with them! Let’s show how cloth can Do it Better!! Let’s reinvent abstraction design ourselves – don’t tie yourselves to old tired predictable patterns, let’s show the painters of small abstract works (many are really tiny!) and all the other timid little abstract painters (!) how absolutely fabulous those same ideas would look Large and in Fiber with all the beautiful textures we have at our fingertips!"

Again, she is preaching to the choir with me.  So, for today's Friday Favorites, I went looking for some abstract fiber artists to feature as inspirations.  I hope you will enjoy!

Friday Favorites

Aryana B Londir describes herself as a modern abstract artist.  Her art work reminds me of that of Lisa Call although Lisa applies paint and I did not see that in Aryana's description of her work.  Aryana presents three series at her website for us to see.  My favorite series is the Compartments but my very favorite piece is Connections #5.  The fiber work appears to be traditional piecing with an emphasis on repeated pattern much like Nancy Crow's technique. The technique is closest to traditional quilting.  Her love of line is clear. She has a blog but it does not look like she posts regularly.  Here is part of Aryana's artist statement.  You might compare it to the challenge that Elizabeth suggests above.
"I work in the abstract by choice; it challenges me, and invites viewers to evoke their own personal experiences and emotions.  It is natural for me to create fiber constructions which integrate my love for line, color and composition, and allows me to compose in the larger scale I crave. I love the sensuous feel of fabric, the ease in which it is manipulated, and its ability to take color in dye and paint."

Sarah Symes, a contemporary abstract fiber artist, is the second artist I want to feature.  She has posted pictures of her fiber work on Pinterest. She has also posted the step by step process she uses to create her art. Thank you, Sarah!  Her work appears to be machine applique much in the style of Elizabeth Barton's technique. The technique is closer to collage work than traditional quilting.  Her love of color and layering is evident in her work.  Here is part of her artist statement:
"I aspire to recreate my internal experiences of places and people through my work. It represents an abstraction of real life, infused with memories and ideas evoked by the subject. I try to conjure emotion through color and manipulate composition to suggest familiar forms and landscapes."

Deidre Adams is an artist I talked about a few posts ago.  While using fiber, she is more of a mixed media artist using paint on top of her quilting.  Yep, on top as in after she quilts. I cannot tell what material she uses as a base or her sewing technique but it is clear that heavily quilting her pieces is an integral part of her style.  She takes a very painterly approach to her art quilts.  Deidre's use of color and space  reminds me a great deal of Mark Rothko's work.  Deidre does have a blog that she posts to on a regular basis.  Here is a comment about her process from her artist statement:
"Patterning and design from the base fabrics interact with the stitching and my own system of painting and mark-making to create a richly layered surface."

Lessons I learned from the artists:

1. They all have different techniques, processes, and results so I am not limited.

2. They all have an inspiration that they start with.  Sometimes I forget to do that and then I get uninspired and blocked in my work.  Duh.

3.  They all use "the formal elements of visual language, specifically line, shape, color, scale, and balance." (from Deidre's artist statement)  So, I need to understand what that means in my work.  Who said you need to know the rules before you can break them?

3.  Generally the point of abstract work is help the viewer to recall a feeling.  It is not to portray something in detail but to create a feeling in their work that resonates with the viewer.  So, focus on the feeling I get when looking at abstract art work and ask myself "What (e.g. color, composition, lines) about this picture makes me feel this way (e.g. happy, sad, content)?"  Once I get that, then I can use it in my work to create emotion.
I hope you have a creative week!

Because of the lovely print I showed at the top of the post, this post is now on Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

A Review and Friday Favorites

In the last couple of weeks I bought 2 DVDs: Soy Wax Inspirations by Susan Purney Mark and Scribble Collage with Hand-Painted Paper with Jane Davies. They were both the same price but not the same value.  I had expected lots of new information from Soy Wax Inspirations but it was pretty basic. Unless you are a real novice, I would skip this DVD. Very disappointing.  On the other hand, Scribble Collage is wonderful! Even with my background with print classes, I learned a lot!  Well worth the price since I''ll watch it repeatedly.  I really like Jane's art.  On July 5, Jane Davies has a show opening in Vermont.  I am planning to go.  I am so excited to get to see her art face to face.

Friday Favorites


Eye Candy
 Judy has been attending a workshop at Arrowmount with Elin Noble and been posting about it.  The link is to Judy's blog because there are several posts you want to see. Wish I was at Arrowmount with her!

Terry Jarrard-Diamond shows off a dark quilt named Vanitas.  It is created of stained, cut, and restructured fabric.  My kind of art!

I found a new artist that I really like.  Her name is Lisa Boardwine.  I am particularly drawn to her mixed media collage work.

Challenge Opportunity
A couple of blogs that I follow are participating in the Index Card a Day challenge (ICAD)  I was almost seduced to join until I remembered that I have limited time and too many projects already.  So, **heavy sigh** I am passing on the challenge but it is not too late for  you to join if you want.

TutorialsCarol Sloan on the Sketchbook Challenge blog shows how to make a tissue flower collage.  She uses a design from a paper napkin to make cloth paper but she doesn't stop there.  She enhances the design with drawing, painting, and stitching.  It is quite effective.

In addition to a new artist, I have also discovered a new blog that has lots of very nice tutorials.  The blog is "The Quilting Edge."  Two tutorials I really love are the wonky curves tutorial and the way to quilt spirals.  There are other tutorials.


I wish you a very creative week!
Judith

Friday Favorites

It has been a second busy week with my posting all week on the "And Then We Set It On Fire" blog on gelli plate.  All my experiments for the week are over there plus some links to a new fiber artist that I have discovered.  Here is my favorite print from this week.

I did get to watch an inspiring video this week.  It reminded me of our conversation last week about how we have better art when we create some rules or limits during the creation process.  For the life of me I could not get the video to load but here is the link: http://www.ted.com/talks/phil_hansen_embrace_the_shake.html  It is not too long.  I hope you enjoy it!

Friday Favorites

Having started my second QAYG quilt I really enjoyed Kathy Schmidt's post about her attempt. Hers is done very differently than mine and it has freed me to try some new techniques on my next scrap-buster QAYG quilt.

I did get Beth's video loaded.  She is showing off her Book of Marks from Dorothy Caldwell's workshop at the Barn.  This year Beth's theme is seed pods.

Penny Berens also attended one of Dorothy's workshop and shows off her book on her blog.  I loved looking at the two books and doing the compare/contrast thing.  You might also check out Penny's scrap recovery.  I love learning new ways to use scraps.

Events and Give-Aways
If you are in the Maine area, you might consider going to Topsham  on Sunday for the Reception for "Painted and Stitched Textile Art" and the Artist Talk by Catherine Worthington.  Or you might be more interested in weaving trigs to create buildings next week in Boothbay.

Vicki Welsh is holding a give-away for a Metal Quilt which I have signed up for. But more interesting are the quilts she has made and the tutorial she has provided for making them.

And last, going with my theme of a texture catalog, Here is a link to Ideas of Inspiration.

Friday Favorites

My last print class critique went well.  I am in love with the pieces and want to frame at least 6 of them.  They are all 22" by 30" and printed with oil-based ink on BFK Rives 250 paper. I will frame one with the money I made at the Gardiner ArtWalk.  For the rest I will have to stagger that expense over a few paychecks.    I was going to post a picture of one but my camera is dead.  Maybe tomorrow.

Friday Favorites by Category

Advertisement
Judi Hurwitt directs you to Sherrill Kahn, a mixed media artist, who has recently put out a DVD. The pictures Judi shows of Sherrill's art remind me a bit of Jane Davies's work.  Love that abstract stuff!  If you want to see more of Sherrill's work and some tutorials from her, check out her site here.  You could also check out her 10 minute video on stryofoam plate printing techniques on YouTube.

Wen Redmond gives you just a peek at how she creates substrates for her collage work. She has some mixed media classes coming up.

EyeCandy
Jane Davies shows you her art hanging in the gallery.

Tips for the Week
Kathy Loomis tells you how to turn junk into junk art in Part 1 and Part 2.

Tutorial
Sarah Whittle show you how to make an Armeanian Edging Stitch.

Friday Favorites

 It has been a great week!  It is the last week of my print class and I am in love with my latest series.  I will post pictures next week after the critique.  Tonight I will be at the Gardiner ME Art Walk.  This is my third time so maybe it will be the charm and I'll sell something.  Imagine that for me please!

So many wonderful sites that I have visited this week and so little time. Let's get started.

Friday Favorites

First and most important, a couple of give-aways.  First, Lynn Krawczyk is giving away a Soy Wax Inspirations DVD by Susan Purney Mark.  After the fabulous fabric I made with soy wax on a silk screen, do I want this DVD?  YES!  You have till Monday to leave a comment and get your chance.  Second, you have till Sunday to leave a comment on the give-away from Sue Bleiweiss.  She is giving away a free stash pack from Vicki Walsh's shop and a couple of other things.  You get to choose which stash pack you win! Sounds good!

Next,three lessons.  Nina-Marie talks about a color lesson she learned from one of my favorite artists, Elizabeth Barton. Colleen Kole tells you the ten things she learned about free motion quilting. And Lisa, shows how she turned two ugly fabrics into winning pieces.

Remember how I hate to throw away anything and it is even better if I get to repurpose it?  Kathleen Loomis shows how she turned her  husband's pants into a bag.  She was inspired by a friend who is hoping to recycle donated clothing into usable items for people in Haiti.


End your week with some eye candy at Heather's Blog.  She is quickly joining Elizabeth Barton as one of my favorite artists.  In fact, she is taking an online class with Elizabeth and here is the quilt she is working on for the class.

Friday Favorites

 What a great week!  It has been spring break at the university.  I still have to work but the campus is quiet.  I did chose to take a couple of days off.  I had planned to work hard on finishing a quilt and starting my next print seres but found myself just puttering around the house.  I have enjoyed the quiet of being home alone.  I did make a couple of books for the young women at church.  I am going to be teaching them how to zentangle on April 24th and I thought it would be nice for them to have some books to keep their zentangles in.  I only need to make 10 more.

I have also started making some 8x8 zentangles to offer for sell the for the Gardiner Art Walk that is coming up.  I will have art quilts and prints to sell but I thought something less expensive would be good.

 

 Friday Favorites

 
 I was browsing and found this great tutorial by Terry Jarrad-Diamond.  It is from 2010 so it is older and you may have seen it before.  She explains how to think backwards to be able to piece complicated designs rather than to applique or fuse the design together.  I love her designs and I prefer piecing so I was quite pleased to read her thought process as she does her stitching.

Heather is a new art quilter I have just started following.  In this post she shows how she takes a so-so quilt and turns it into something extraordinary.  Heather is like Terry in that she is a also a piece-maker.  What an inspiration it is to me to see how she reconstructed the quilt.  I have a pile of so-so quilt tops that need this attention!

Have a creative week!

Friday Favorites--results from blog hopping

Let me say that I was disappointed with the Quilting Gallery's blog hop. There were over 200 blogs to hop through, lots of opportunity to be excited, and yet ...I wasn't.

First, so many blogs seemed to be self-promoting their latest pattern, fabric design, book, etc. Really, rather than representing an artist, the blog was just an advertising arm of a business.  I was hoping to connect with some like-minded textile artists rather than to find a new source for materials. 

Second, so many required me to become a follower in order to qualify for their give-aways.  You know, if the blog shares my interest I am going to become a follower without a bribe and if the site does not share my interests then why clog my reading list with them.  Is bragging that your blog has two zillion followers (who don't read the blog)  really all that important?

Third, I was disappointed by the quilting-only focus of the blogs.  I will take ownership of this complaint since others blog hoppers may well be satisfied with the more traditional quilting focus of the majority of the blogs.   I think as I have gained experience and come closer to finding my own voice, I have become much more focused on the creation of ART rather than just making something.  I no longer follow blogs that focus only on bed quilts (no offense if that is your passion).  I like art quilts and doodling and surface design and printmaking and making books.   I want something more than the latest iteration of a traditional quilt pattern.  I want an art focus and I did not find much of that while hopping.  But then, it was a quilt blog hop so this really is my problem.

That said, I did find a couple of new blogs to follow and a few posts that, for me, were worth linking to.

Friday Favorites

I now follow Lisa's blog, Something about Nothing. She gave away a snow dye which I would love to win; it was magnificent! The previous post was about a shibori dyed scarf. The post before that was about stamping.  Yep, my kinda blog!

Karen at The Recipe Bunny upcycled a book and had a very good "recipe" with pictures for how she did it.

Jennifer at Another Jennifer made some fabulous stuffed birds--don't expect real bird looking birds.  I found her blog too late to sign up for the give-away but Jennifer says she is going to be giving away stuff for the next couple of weeks.  I'll be checking back.

Kelly at Kelly's Art has been giving away beautiful snow dyes all winter.  I think she is into her 13th week.  And she shows you some of her art quilts that have been accepted into shows.  You know, seeing them helps me to remember that entering a few shows each year is a goal I made and then forgot.  I need to spend some time not just making art but showing it!

Claire at Cspoonquilt is a woman after my own heart. She defines the difference between scraps and crumbs (fabric crumbs) and shows you a small purse she made with her crumbs.  How can you say no to something made from basically nothing?

Friday Favorites

Another couple of weeks of being sick, tired, and stressed. I am sick and tired and stressed about being sick and tired and stressed so much!   I gotta build up my immune system so that I am not the pathetic victim of every virus and stressful event! I so have better things to do!

Here is my latest doodle.  It is related to what I am producing in my print class-- lines.
Here is the beginning of my Artist Statement for this print series. 

"Art History (http://arthistory.about.com/cs/glossaries/g/l_line.htm) defines line as “a basic element of art, referring to a continuous mark, made on a surface, by a moving point."  A line can “define a space, create an outline or pattern, imply movement or texture, and allude to mass or volume” I am interested in using a simple straight line to see what I can say." 

We'll see if I have anything worth saying. 

Friday Favorites

Are you familiar with the Brooklyn Art Library? They  have many art projects including The Sketchbook Project.  I have just signed up for the 4 X 6 Exhange for the The Sunday Swap.  I will mail off some unique 4x6 inch art work to the Brooklyn Art Library and they will send me back one from someone somewhere in the world who participated. Pretty cool.  Deadline March 8.

Sujata Shah at the Root  Connection is a quilter after my own heart. She tried to throw away her scraps and just couldn't so she is making ...something...with them.  How about you?  I have more scraps in my stash than I have yardage.  I have about finished my quilt-as-you-go quilt and everything, front.back and middle, was in my scrap bins.

I have printing on my brain these day and look for it everywhere for inspiration in my own work.   Jane posted a beginning session of printing on cloth that was inspired by Jenny's day of printing on rice paper. Don't you love it when your friends share?

Friday Favorites

I am making progress!  Yeah ME! 

I got my first assignment finished for my online class with Lisa Call.  I used my self-portrait art quilt for the Art Quilts Around the World blog as a beginning point for a series about being comfortable in my skin.  Here is a link to that post.  As part of the first assignment I had to critique the work.  Lisa said I did a good job but then I have had the benefit of taking art classes in a university setting so I have some background in that type of exercise.  Anyway, that leaves me just 2 assignments behind from being sick.  Maybe I will have a snow day tomorrow and can work on them.

I have started carving my second dry point series.  I am planning to incorporate some stitching in this series to have the three different types of line--a printed one, a hand stitched one, and a machine stitched one.  I hope that I can finish the carving today so I can proof it.  Keep your fingers crossed, please.  I have also ordered 3 yards of silk organza to print on.  Doesn't that sound wonderful!  I hope it doesn't take too long to ship.  I think it is coming from India.

Friday Favorites

Win a subscription!  That totally works for me.  And besides possibly winning a subscription you get to maybe keep a tiny little postoffice open.  You just need to send a postcard to Jane Davies.

Okay, so perhaps most of my Friday Favorites have to do with Jane this week.  Jane has a new DVD out named Scribble Collage: with hand painted paper.   It looks like a great DVD for making paper backgrounds for my dry point prints and maybe print paste book covers.

What's for dinner?  You could be showing us at the International Quilt Market and Festival 2013 in Houston. Call for Entries on-line entry open March 29-May 17 so you have time to cook up your favorite foods in your favorite style of surface design and quilting.

I couldn't finish my Friday Favorites without a call out to April Martin' untitled etching that her Mom posted.  Well done, April!

Friday Favorites

Finally I am starting to feel better.  It has been a rough few weeks.  Thank you good friends who have sent me good wishes and positive energy! I have had to cancel our last two play dates but Beth and I are planning a play date this Saturday--hopefully the third time will be the charm!

Friday Favorites

I have been working on my doodles but never have I considered putting them on shoes like Jamie Fingal did on the Sketchbook Challenge.  I am wondering what else the doodles would look good on?

Terri Stegmiller has designed some new stencils and is promoting them through a stencil blog hop.  I start out with the  promotional part so that you won't be surprised or put off by it.  I am directing you to the blog hop because the eight participating artists are doing amazing things with her stencils.  This is not a one layer and done stencil job.  Oh no.  These artists have created layered stenciled fabrics with real interest.  If you hurry, you can not only read the instructions and see the results but you can enter to win one of the stencils.

Lisa Kerpoe has posted some of her experiments with a new screen printing technique on the Art Cloth Network. The technique originated from Jane Dunnewold but Lisa certainly makes it her own and shows several different ways of using it.

There are some other interesting posts that if I had the energy I would link to but I don't.  Today I finally made it not only all the way through the work day but attended my print class for the first time tonight.  Thank goodness for a wonderful husband who cooked me dinner when I got home! And now I am off to bed.

A Week of Bronchitis and Friday Favorites

It has been a rough week fighting bronchitis.  That is really too strong a term.  It has been a long week of laying in bed, laying on the couch, coughing till my sides hurt and I can't catch my breath, and being not only too sick to go to work but too sick to enjoy my time at home by creating art.  What a lousy week! But I think the steroids are kicking in and I may live.  Yeah!

Friday Favorites

Every once and a while I find an artist that I would like to be like when I am a grown up artist.  I find their work to be a primer for my creative pump.  Kate Stiassni is one such artist.  She does not seem to have a blog but darn does she do a good job at her art. She has an upcoming show in CT if you are in the vicinity.

Not that Kate is alone on the pedestal.  Connie Rose is right up there too.  Her stuff is different from Kate's but both of their styles fit into my passion wheelhouse.  Here are some examples of why: books and more books and prints and more prints. And that is just what she done so far this year.

That I am a fan of Elizabeth Barton goes without saying.  One of the reasons I love her blog is that if you read them, you gain a lot about design principles.  I love to know why something works so that I can try to recreate it.  This blog, while it tells you about a couple of upcoming classes she is teaching and that I am way too busy to take right now, also connects you to why studying art can make your art better.

With feeling better and all the inspiration from my sister artists, I am hoping to finish my art quilt for the Art Quilts Around the World blog due the end of the month, start my second week of homework for my class with Lisa Call, and attend the second session of the print class that I signed up for but was too sick to attend on day one. 

I wish you a similarly good week!

Friday Favorites

I filled up my second sketchbook of Zentangles and had to create a third.  Nothing fancy--cardboard from my Cheerios for a cover and  the paper is letterhead that my school threw away when they redesigned the school logo.  Waste not; want not.

Friday Favorites

Spoonflower is having weekly contests for designing fabric pattern.  How fun! http://www.spoonflower.com/contests/170

Beth annoucnes her intentions for 2013 and starts off with several links for information about Dorthy Caldwell. Since Dorthy is hard to find on the internet, I appreciate the links that Beth has provided.

Colleen Kole share some pictures of her workshop quilts started at Nancy Crow Barn.  I think the workshop is the same one I have taken but I don't think my pieces were as exciting as Colleen's.  I was interested to learn that Colleen has taken classes with Nancy.  I love my classes with Nancy and it is because of Colleen's great quilts that I am taking the online class with Lisa Call starting this week.  I wonder where Colleen lives? She would make a great play date partner for Beth and me.

I tried to talk my husband into a Galaxy Sumsung Note just exactly for the reason shown on Lins Arty Blobs.  I talked myself out of it at Christmas thinking that perhaps the graphic design wasn't as good as shown in the commercials or so hard to learn that I probably couldn't learn it or that I have so much stuff waiting to be played with that I didn't need another toy.  But I was wrong!  Saving my money now for my next absolutely necessary art supply.

It is a tutorial!  I love tutorials and this is a great one because it is by Terri Stegmiller. Terri shows a new way to make a stencil.  I am gonna try it!  You'll have to go and take a look if you want to find out more.  And you don't have to take my word for how fabulous it is.  Jill at the Quilt Rat thought so too and shows off her experiments with the technique.

And here is a perfect excuse to eat Ferrero Rocher Chocolates.  I know, like we need an excuse, but when you need the wrappers for your art (ART!) eating the chocolate is just a side benefit.  ***snicker***

My last Friday Favorite is from Constance Rose. She talks about cleaning your gelli plate with fabric/paper you will use later.  She also links you to the original blog tutorial on using the gelli plate.  AND, she shows you the book she has made from her wipe rags.

Friday Favorites

This week I am gearing up for my Spring Classes.  I have signed up for an online class with Lisa Call named "Working in a Series."  I have wanted to take the class for a couple of years after reading the posts of  quilters who have taken her course.  She announced there was an opening in her January class just in time for me to hint to my husband that I would love to receive it for Christmas.  Class starts this week and lasts for 10 weeks.

The second class I am taking is an advanced print class at UMA with Karen Adriene. It starts the week after next.  She is a demanding teacher.  Don't get me wrong. She is sweet and pleasant and gives great feedback but she expects you to work your butt off and I do.  I learn so much in her class!  I have already ordered lithography plates and pencils to use in class and my husband Christmas gifted me with copper plates for dry etching.  I have big plans!  Beth's gift of the One Zentangle a Day book I hope will be put to really good use as I etch and print some of my drawings.  Don't you love it when your art interests can all be rolled into one project?

Friday Favorites

A couple of weeks ago I went bloghopping for a week long give-away on 176 sites on the Quilting Gallery. They were celebrating their 5th birthday.  Didn't win anything but I did find a few blogs that were my kind of interesting.

The Textile Recycler caught my eye first because of the title.  I love to shop at Goodwill and have dreams of upscaling linen dresses with dyes and prints.  Then I came across this post on Flea Market Friday.  In the post she uses pages from old books to print, paste, dye, paint and otherwise turn into art.  How can you not love a woman like that?

I checked out Quilt Doodle Doodles. She does a lot of BOM stuff that I am not interested in but she showed how to make a really cute cupcake. The cupcake is a fabric cupcake cup with a pair of rolled up socks and a sucker on top like a cherry.  Really Really cute way of giving sock presents.  I might try it.


I learned about Inklingo.  Have you heard about it?  It seems to be a way of making pattern pices for a quilt so that your pieces are actually the size that you need.  I don't think my current quilting projects need this tool but it was nice to know about it.  On the blog Quilt Obsessions you can see how other quilters use Inklingo.

Friday Favorites

 Friday Favorites

Beth has been really busy posting tutorials on her blog and they are quite detailed and worth checking out. She even has the tutorials listed in a tab at the top of her blog.  Isn't she clever!  This particular post is not a tutorial but she does give details on how she dyed this fabulous piece of silk.

I love reading Elizabeth Barton. She seems to have the wisdom I need.  This post is titled "Eight Steps to Overcome Quilter's Panic"  Step 1 includes making tea.  I recommend Mate Chocolatte by Guayaki Yerba Mate.  I don't get a kickback; I just love the "blissful blend of yerba mate, cocoa, and spices."

And talking about wisdom I need, Leni's blog is full of art lessons.  I love her site, her art, and her lessons!  I've bookmarked it for my edification. 

I am  now off to read my new book, Design Basics by Lavid A. Lauer and Stephen Pentak and then I am going to work on my fat lady prints.

Have a good week.

Friday Favorites

This is quite a month coming up.  Lots of deadlines staring me in the face.  The SAQA Auction.  Two other SAQA shows.  Entries into a local art gallery show.  Proposals for a fiber show at the before mentioned local art gallery. And of course, more prints due in my print class.  Do  you think my boss would understand if I told him I simply don't have time for his priorities right now?  LOL

Friday Favorites
Lets just start out today with some Pure Eye Candy.  I have got to get back into mokube again!

And here is another technique that is my short list--drawing with the sewing machine.  While this article talks about still lifes, drawing with sewing machine can include lots of other subjects. The thing that holds them altogether is the drawing.  If you can draw it, than you can stitch it.

I had to laugh at this post because it reminded of the technique of the month in December on the And Then We Set It On Fire blog. The technique was melting plastic bags to make a usable material. Well, this recycle idea just accepts the plastic bags as is and turns them into art (or not, depending on your viewpoint.)

Terry Jerrard-Dimond is running a give away but that is the least important part of her post.  Her favorite fabric for dyeing is being discontinued and she would like your input about what fabric to switch to.  If you have not decided on a favorite yet, it is worth reading the responses she has received.  I cannot stress how important it is to be consistent in the fabric you use when making art  IF you want to have more control over the results of your dyeing.  Different fabrics will react differently.  If you want to be surprised, then I guess it does not matter so much.

And, as a good follow-up to Terry's post, Connie Rose posts some pictures of fabric dyeing  with thickened dyes she has done recently.  Great results!

This really has nothing to do with quilting except it is a couple of quilters who are doing it.  I won't say more. Go and read it yourself.   It will make you smile.

So, hopefully you started out with a smile at some beautiful fabric and ended with a smile at a beautiful idea.  Have a good week and I will see you next Friday!

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites
LuAnn Kessi at May your Bobbin Always Be Full has a Smilebox presentation of a day of soy wax surface design with her friends. While not a tutorial on how to do it, the before, mid-stage, and after photographs were enough to make me want to get my electric skillet out to play.  Beth, when we get together in March do you want to play with soy wax again?

Ready for some sunshine?  Tanglewood is sewing her own sun.  Here you can see the sun and here you can see the details.  I love her stitching!

The printing I am doing in my class is with a printing press.  Like I will ever have the money to have one of them of mine own. But there are other ways to apply some extra pressure and print.  Wen Redmond uses an antique iron.

Okay, this is just eye candy.  Elaine's class has great stuff but scroll down to the bottom to see the liberated strip piecing quilt by Carol.  That one is my favorite. And this post has some liberated strip piecing quilts in progress by some of Elaine's students.  I would love to take a class with Elaine!

I'm ending today with some inspiration from Ira Glass via Lynn Krawczyk. While I have not read this particular quote before I have been told to work, work, work, if I want to be the artist I can become. But I forget.  I get discouraged.  I slow down my own progress by being intimidated that I might not make a great piece of art.  And I listen to that inner critic tell me that I can't.  Diana Trout gives us all an invitation to tame our inner critics rather than wasting energy trying to quiet it.  Not a bad idea.

Just my opinion, but what I think we all need is to make art and lots of it.  The more art we make, the more capable we are of making the art we want to make, and the easier it is to teach that innner critic a lesson!  So, now I am off to create art. Come join me!

Friday Favorites

I had hoped to get my first series of prints back from Critique so that I could show them to you.  I make no claim to them being fabulous but I am pleased with how they turned out.  I am now starting on my second series of monotypes.  I am getting really excited about them.  If they turn out anywhere as good as the concept in my head, I will be over the moon!

Here is my proposal for the next series:

"I propose to make a self-portrait series exploring the concept of weight loss. The process of losing weight requires the losing of one identity and the gaining of another which may or may not make up for the sacrifices made to achieve it.   For this journey, as sacrifices are being made, the work should be a bit minimalistic as opposed to rich and luscious but still be satisfying. Therefore, the artists who will guide my technique for this series are those who do not fill the entire surface with color but use a few marks to create that oh so important full feeling.  This technique leaves an empty background like the empty spaces between those smaller portions on the dinner plate.  One such artist is Jenny Waelti-Walters in her work Catching the Sun III.  A second artist is Assumpcio Mateu in her works Arbre and Les Quatre Estacious: Primavera.  A third and favorite artist is Joy Barth."

Friday Favorites

Robert Genn Twice-Weekly Letter  I have told you before that I have subscribed to Robert Genn's twice-weekly email that is sent directly to my mailbox--no muss, no fuss.  They are always worth reading but the Valentine's Day letter was a nice present I think.  He says that 5 skills all artist should master are 1) the ability to draw, 2) colour theory (he is from Canada and spells color funny), 3) abstract understanding, 4) composition, and 5) an emotional evolution (you own voice).  Now before you get on your high horse and say you don't need to know all the "rules," both Robert and I agree. But knowing the rules and understanding them allows you to break them more successfully.  For me it is the difference between looking at something I have made and wondering what is missing and looking at it and having a set of questions I can ask to fix it.  The letters are free. The link to subscribe is at the bottom of his webpage.

Keeping to that theme of 5 skills to master, is this great post by Jane Davies at the Sketchbook Challenge. 
She finds exciting small composition  in her work and then uses those small compositions to create new larger pieces.  I think is is a lovely way to work, especially as you are learning to identify what makes a good composition.  And, talk about developing your own voice! Starting with your own good work to build on?  I think that is great!

The Modern Quilt Guild has a week of pictorial inspiration on composition. This post is the introduction but it is followed by 6 days of good information that is worth taking a look at. The other posts are easy to get to by a clever arrow near the top of the intro post. You might not always approve of the composition but it helped me understand compositional principles.

Gloria Hansen shares with her readers a "quiet" book on  classical drawing.  Gloria lists the contents from the Table of Contents and I am quite intrigued by it.  My problem is that I spend far too much buying books and not enough time reading them but there is a DVD that goes with it.  Hmmmm...that might capture my attention long enough for me to learn something.

Jacquie at Tall Grass Prairie Studio shares her locations for color play.  I took a peek at both sites.  I will need to go back to have any idea what to do at either site.

I am off to quilt.  I got my sewing machine back from the repair shop several weeks ago but haven't had the opportunity to test it out yet. Today is the day.

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites

Terry Jarrad-Dimond alerted me to an opportunity to show off a small (tee hee) portion of my art--a postcard!  The card is not due now.  But  I have filled out the intent to send a card form and emailed it in to artquiltselements@gmail.com.

Judy in the Dyes has been enjoying her tea lately.  And she has been leaving the used tea bags laying around.  On her fabric.  What a great idea!  Take a look.

The Quilt Rat is giving free onliine lessons for machine quilting.  Here are her instructions for thwarting the quilt police when starting and stopping stitching.  I wish I could say that I use this method but I don't.  But maybe someday I will care what the quilt  police say.


Memo Ignorat is a new blog that promises to be interesting if the pictures of her past endeavors is any indication.  I love the coat she made or is making.  Not sure is she is done yet.

Oh, ABSOLUTELY, you need to see Arlee's monoprints.  Check out the very bottom one. She shows the print and then the  print stitched.  Oh, she is now my goddess!  I have been trying to find examples to show my art teacher that incorporate lovely stitch and monoprints.  You can bet these pictures are gonna be shown around the art room.

Friday Favorites

I have started my new intermediate print class.  Tuesday we made our first prints and I forgot to bring my camera to show you mine.  I was going to bring the camera on Thursday but I ended up too sick to go to class. We were going to overprint with a second color.  So now I am a session behind and have no pictures to show you.

FRIDAY FAVORITES
What is a new year without a new challenge and what better than to work on free motion quilting skills.  This challenge is one I am going to pass up since I am taking an intermediate print class that I am pretty sure is gonna kick my butt but otherwise I would be right there improving my free motion quilting skills.  Mine suck.  But this is on my later list for now.

How about starting the new year helping a worthy charity?  Pig Tales and Quilts is raising funds for Ronald McDonald House. She lists a variety of ways you can help.

I am always excited to learn new stitching techniques and here is a tutorial for doing wired needlelace.  Elizabeth Braun is from England so when she says "calico" she is referring to what we in the states call muslin.  If you are interested in stitch, you might want to follow along Linda's Sixty-five Days Till 65 journey.

Sorry,  that is all I got to browse this week.  With class two nights a week, my browsing time is seriously decreased.  I'll try and do better next week.