Sarah Ann Smith & my Work

Do you remember that I created some artwork for Fiberart for Cause….4 pieces, 8×10 for Virginia Spiegel‘s last Collage Mania back in May.

Faith

Trust

Well one of the purchasers, Sarah Ann Smith, who  snagged these 2 pieces, posted about them on her blog recently. She bought them to give as a gift for her hubby. What a nice way to say to someone “thanks and love ya”.

And thank you again Sarah for liking my work enough to buy it. How way cool!

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Taking Risks

I love quotes, especially those that have a healing, retrospective or look-on-the-bright-side quality to them.

Sometime last year I came up with 5o or so of what I like to call “Life Affirmations”. I printed them out and now have them hanging on the wall in my studio. They’re just little pick-me-up sayings to either perk me up, keep me going or just make me smile at the thought. Here’s a sampling.

…laugh till it hurts…

……frolic with your inner girl…

…………QUIET the inner critic….

………………..skip to your own music…

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I’ve been so busy recently and decided last week to take a small break from art quilting. I got out a 4 x 6 canvas, gesso-ed it, picked one saying and had fun painting. I punched 2 holes in the upper corners, strung some twine and now it’s hanging in my studio.

I’m thinking I might make a few more using the ones above and add them to my esty shop. We all need a small reminder every now and then to move beyond the ordinary and do something different, even daring.

For all those of you who sometimes live in fear with your artwork and choose not to take risks (me included)….this one’s for you.You’re bound to stand out when you wear these shoes and don’t you think it’s time you (and your art) took a risk?

So go on….wear them RED shoes girl!

(thanks to Mystele for getting me started with my canvas paintings… i just love her work).

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Still Plogging Along

POP Art 2008 (16 x 18)

Would love to post some pics of work but most of the stuff I am doing right now is computer work. Uggh!

I have though started new work on a couple of things but no pics to show just yet. First there’s the Orchid Project. I have 5 pieces to make for it and I’m trying to  whittle down my selection.

I want to try some new techniques with them but it all depends on the time frame. The 2nd new work is a larger one of my off-the-cuff pieces.

I don’t know if any of you remember about 2 yrs ago I decided to work small. It gave me a chance to get work done without feeling overwhelmed by the pressure I felt to produce larger pieces (self-imposed of course). Well guess what?

“WHAT”, you say?

I now feel the need to work larger…the smaller pieces I now find are too confining…so I guess that means that my method of pushing myself worked.

I’m find that I’m now comfortable with 18 x 24 and even up to 24 x 30 format (no sizes are written in stone mind you). I’m still struggling to start but that starting time has gotten shorter.

Some of you had commented that you like the ‘word of the year” thingy (it is too a real word!) I spoke about in an earlier post and I hope some of you have found your own words to help you the rest of this year. My two words (intention and self dicipline, the harder of the two) have greatly helped me move forward.

According to Alyson Stanfield (her book above)  we should redefine our goals especially if we haven’t done so in a while. So that’s my next step. Redefine my goals for the next year.

Have you redefined your goals lately?

Do you know where you are headed with your art?

Are you flying blind? or flying straight (a few loop-de-loos not withstanding)?

Talk to me people. Take and assessment and see just where you are headed. Hopefully it’s in the right direction for you.

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Collage Mania

One of my goals this year is two-fold…to push myself to make more art quilts and put my work and my name out there….scary though it may seem at times.

To that end, last month I created a piece for the Deltas of Charlotte’s Silent Auction called “It Takes a Village“. I also knew I wanted to put a few pieces in Collage Mania this year as this is the last year it will be held.

Collage Mania 2009, a Fiberart For A Cause online fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, was founded by Virginia Speigel, an artist whose father survived colon cancer.

In trying to find a way to give more, Virginia started by raising some extra funds with a 7 postcards. That blossomed in hundreds of postcards over the last 3 years.

To date, Fiberart For A Cause has donated over $165,000 to the American Cancer Society. This year Virginia wants to raise $20,000 to top her record last year of $13,000. In order to do that she has opened it up to include not only postcard sized pieces but any collages up to 8″x10″ size.

Since I’m not a postcard type of gal, the slightly larger format worked well for me. Here are the four I donated.

Faith

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Believe

The background fabric of each collage is one of my hand dyed fabrics I screen printed and stamped. I then played with strips of fabric and paper to create each piece, then finished off with some free-motion machine quilting.

Each collage  is stamped with a word that represents the power within all of us to preserver through the worst of times, even when we feel the need to give up.

Faith…..Believe…..Release…..Trust.

Release

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Trust

This year Collage Mania will be held May 5-7th. Patrons are asked to bid on collages donated by a wonderful community of  fiber and mixed-media artists.

May 5th is Gold Donor Day where there is a minimum donation of $80.

May 5th – 7th, which is Regular Collage Mania, the minimum donation for a collage is $40.

To Donate

Cancer, at some point, touches all out lives. Please consider making a donation in honor of someone close to you who has been touched by this disease.

Bookmark the Collage Mania page and revisit the site on one of the above dates. You will be a very proud owner of a wonderful piece of art by those artist willing to give a little bit of themselves for a very worthy cause.

Each of my collages is dedicated in memory of my Aunt Cynthia, who died from cancer in 2007.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Christmas Gifts

This year one of my art groups decided we’d make something for our secret Santa gifts instead of buying something for that person. So I decided to do the same for the girls in my other art group as well.

I thought and thought and thought, and thought some more then racked my brain even more before I finally came up with the perfect gift. Can you tell I find it hard to shop for people? It’s my own fault because I feel the need to get (or make) something for that person instead of giving a generic gift that anyone can get.

So off I went to the craft store to buy my supplies like I minded doing that right?. Full disclosure here,  we picked names back in September (did I just reveal that?) but, as I obviously like a challenge and seem to work more effectively when there is a deadline in play (like the true procrastinator I am), I only decided to start making these gifts last week. They were due Monday and Tues of this week……HA!

If you knew my friend Lu’shorn you’d know anything pink with ladybugs would fly with her.

Susan’s loves anything turquoise and this one includes a small bookmark notebook in one the journal’s pockets.

And this one is for my esoteric, Bohemian-like friend, DeLane, who makes fantastic art. Loved making this art tag for her!

I read my books on technique (I do have a few and I feel NO shame in admitting it, so there!) and put my own twists on each and came up with some beautiful pieces, even if I say so myself.

The fun part is these gifts utilize my new re-discovery (?) of PAPER and I get to assuage my guilt by using some of all those wonderful fabrics I STILL have in my stash. Didn’t I tell you I’d find creative uses for them?

I have wanted to make a couple of journals just to try out different techniques and see if I really like making them. And if I did, I’d finally have something I wanted to make on a regular basis for my Etsy shop which I set up oh-so long ago. I found I’m not one for mass producing things and didn’t want to get stuck in a rut with whatever I sold on Esty.

DID I EVER HAVE FUN!

First of all I love, love, love buying the paper…..remember I said I’d drift into the scrapbooking aisle first to look at all the gorgeous papers? Now I have a legitimate reason to buy them (oh no you say…heck yeh I say!)

And what about all the new gadgets I’ll have to I may be purchasing (hubby is ready this blog now so I have to be careful) like the guillotine. Oooh la la. Every respectable bookbinder needs one of those babies!

I have now found a local source for paper and bookbinding supplies (thanks Susan) cause I like to see and touch and lollygag over what I want to purchase. I can’t tell you how it frustrates me when I can ONLY purchase something online…the waiting does me in.

So I am off and running….as soon as the hip mends that is (that’s for another posting for sure) and will be making up some more journals.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tim Holtz

Some people bar hop.

I blog hop. After I catch up on posts from my regulars, and I have some spare time, I randomly choose a blog from someone’s sidebar and I’m off and running. That’s how I discovered Tim’s blog…..Tim Holtz that is.You have to go over and see the beautiful work he is is creating.

Now I have to tell you, he isn’t a fiber artist who works with fabric, his medium of choice is paper. Apparently last year he created some bea-yu-ti-full Christmas tags and included all the steps for each technique on his blog (see link above).

And he’s doing it again this year, making gorgeous tags. Not only that but he’s giving away some of his products when you leave a comment  on his blog…..if you happen to be the winner for the day that is.

Aren’t these tags gorgeous. Wouldn’t they look great  on a gift you give this year?

I love using his products, only I didn’t know that I was using them – like Distress Ink pads ( I so see more of them in my future), Alcohol Inks and the oh-so-cool grundgeboard that Sue Bleiweiss used on one of her art journals. (when there scroll down to the 3rd item on the left).

Now I know you must be thinking…what the heck does this have to do with fiber arts? Well if you are into texture and  surface design  and you love paper like I do then his products and creative ideas will fit in well in with your work to.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Sneak Peak

I needed a jump-start (remember my last post…rest or PUSH!) and decided to join another yahoo group, Arttechniques (put your hands up if you belong to at least 5 of them).  I joined their new Fat Book technique swap and finally had a brainstorm of an idea or two to use. In this swap you only have to do one 4×4 inch sample of your particular technique. No probs right?

And the catch is you say……weeeeelllllllll (as Lucille Ball used to say to Ricky) —– you have to make one for everyone participating in the swap! That magic number ……………118……so far.

YIKES!!!

Yeh, I have to make one hundred eighteen, 4×4 inch samples of my technique. Now you understand why this is such a good jump-start for me. Obviously I need to test my mettle, right?

All kidding aside, I’m really looking forward to this. Who wouldn’t? The prize at the end is………..I get 117 of them back! And ALL will be different. My mixed-media repertoire of techniques will grow. I can’t wait to get that nice surprise in the mail next year.

The cool thing about this swap is how you choose your technique. It must incorporate a homemade, inexpensive or recycled art supply. So here is a sneak peak at the beginning of what I’ve been working on.  Bet ya can’t guess.

Okay, here’s a challenge. Tell me exactly what my technique uses and how I’m doing it and you will be in the running for surprise gift from me (no cheating, those who know what I’m doing). Let’s say we give it a week and see what the guesses are. I’m tickled about this one…hee hee.

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

What I’ve Been up To

I was telling a friend only yesterday that I have to figure out why I’m not blogging as much lately. It bugs me to no end but can’t seem to get the drive.

That’s not to say that I haven’t been doing art…oh NO!  I decided not to do any challenges or have any extraneous commitments for pieces that have hard and fast deadlines….at least not until the new year. I needed to relax a bit (took that to an extreme here I guess). Instead, what I have done is stuff that I consider “ME” stuff.

I told you already that I signed up for the Fibre-in-Form online workshop and I am loving it. In this first part I get to get messy with molding paste. It was like playing in the mud making mud pies. I got that stuff all over my hands. Who the heck needs gloves!

These first pics are the different substrates I used: muslin, canvas and artist mounted canvas (for the life of me I can’t find the piece of Timtex I played with.  If I find it I’ll post it later).

First, I gessoed the pieces to create a smooth surface then either slapped on some molding paste or pushed the paste thru a stencil. I AM LIKING THIS!!! For the first pic I pressed some sequin waste into the paste and got this cool honeycomb-like pattern; for the 2nd one I pressed a flower rubber stamp into the slathered paste (not really a good photo, sorry) and on the last,  I used an architect’s circle template on an artist canvas as the stencil.

What happens now is I get to add colour to each one but that will come in a later lesson. Although……………………I just couldn’t resist. I got carried away and painted the artist canvas…..painted a few of the circles different colours then swooshed the bright red across the surface with a squeegee. Playing for the sake of FUN. How fun!

Love all the raised areas. Molding paste, if put on thinly can be sewn on the machine so I will attempt to sew the two fabric pieces I did…….on my old Kenmore for sure. My stitch reg Bernina will not see this mess…..just in case.

Now I am working on some pieces with embossed wallpaper and couched threads. Because I am working small, no larger than 8x 10 for now, these new textural techniques I’m trying are fairly easy to get done. Last chapter in this lesson has us working with Tyvek. Yum!

See ya next time “in the Hayloft”,

Textured Surfaces Workshop

examples above from fiber-in-form website

I signed up for the very, very  cool online workshop, Textured Surfaces, offered by Carol McFee and Lynda Monk of Fibre-in-Form.

I have been wanting to experiment with using other media in my work but, you know how it is, every excuse in the book comes to the forefront instead of just getting stuck into it. So thru this wkshp I get to use molding paste, gesso, tyvek, scrim, canvas, any manner of paints, inks and dyes and…..have some well deseerved fun while doing it.

I got into this cause a friend emailed the Fiber-in-Form link to to me (a few days before the start of class I might add) and I just couldn’t get the darned class out of my head. It’s just what I needed to push me a little further in my art.

I’ll take pictures as I progress and hopefully you’ll get to see most of my efforts. I am sooooooo excited!

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

My Quilt Got In!

I am pleased (tickled bubblegum-pink to tell you the truth) to announce that my quilt “Mother Love” got into the challenge exhibition organized by Fiberarts Connection of Southern California.

The theme “My World in Black and White” had participants stripping down to the nitty gritty and ONLY using black and white fabs  to complete our pieces (greys and silver could pop in there as well).

Of course, I cannot post a photo of it but….

…I GOT IN!! Yippeeeeeee!!!

And more good news…

…….my quilt got Judge’s Choice award. How fantastic is that?????

I am on cloud 9 (pardon me if I float for a little while) as this is the first time that I have ever sent any of my pieces to be juried.

What an honor!

See ya next time, “In the Hayloft”,