3 of Swords

I finished the quilt, except for the sleeve, I will be stitching that on over the next day or so while I am at the PAQA sponsored Alyson Stanfield artist marketing retreat in Wisconsin.

Before hand stitching, the red painted batting was machine stitched with two threads threaded through the needle to get a bolder weight line from fluorescent colored threads. After I put the backing fabric on and the machine quilting was done, I used embroidery floss, with all 6 strands, to make big bold stitches around the machine stitching on the batting.

To create the stitched graphic line drawing of the 3 of swords, I drew the line art in Adobe Illustrator and printed it out using the tiling option in the print dialog box on 12 sheets of paper. I taped the papers together into one large image and then traced the image onto tracing paper with a sharpie. I pinned the tracing paper in place on the quilt and stitched with a straight stitch over the lines to transfer the design. After tearing away the paper, I used satin stitch "to draw" the bold black lines onto the quilt.

See you thursday...

Free shipping on Blurb books

Blurb is having a special for the next couple weeks on free shipping when you order blurb books by March 22.

USD $ promo code: WESHIP
GBP £ promo code: WESHIP2
EUR € promo code: WESHIP3

There are many self published books being made on Blurb by artists these days. Here's a few:

Painted Threads, mixed media textile art
by Judy Coates Perez
The first half of the book is a collection of images of my art quilts with corresponding artist statements and the second half is mixed media textile work combining paper, fabric, paint, metal and stitching.

BIRDWATCHING a metal clay adventure
Vickie Hallmark compiles a themed set of her mixed-media art jewelry, hand-formed from metal clay and glass. Images and descriptions of silver and bronze jewelry, accented with gemstones, enamel and hand-painted glass, all feature bird images original to the artist. The high resolution photographs alternate with famous bird-themed quotations.

Copper On, Copper Off an electroforming adventure
Based on her popular on-line tutorial, Vickie Hallmark presents an authoritative manual for copper electroforming onto glass beads. Topics covered include theory, equipment, design, and operation, as well as troubleshooting and sources. Illustrated with dozens of one-of-a-kind electroformed lampwork beads, including her signature carved copper encasements.

Wild at the Edges: Inspiration from a Creative Life
By Virginia A. Spiegel
"Wild at the Edges" is woven from the intertwined threads of writing, photography, adventuring, and making art. "I share my inspiration and influences as well as what’s beautiful and significant in my creative life."



art. stitch. life. works 2006-2009
By Kelli Nina Perkins
"I decided that it would be nice to have a compendium of the last few years' worth of artwork at a glance, so I knocked together a 194 page book filled with art. This represents at least my favorite, if certainly not all my work"

Frustrating Friday

Still struggling with shoulders some today from sitting at the easel and computer......
An offer we made on a house was not accepted and I had to paint over hours of painting.....ooohhh....and I was on the phone with Jerry's trying to resolve an defective order issue for a long time.

My motto this week was "Thou shalt not Whine"......I am not observing it very well today.

Off to First Night Fredericksburg to attend openings for two artist friends.....I will have wine instead of whine, right?

More fabulous artist interviews!

My good friend Jane La Fazio just interviewed my other good friend Kelli Perkins author of Stitch Alchemy. They are both mixed media gals who love combining paper, paint, thread and fabric, check out their inspiring interview!

And then when you are done there be sure to pop over to Kelli's blog to read her interview with Jane.

Another mixed media artist interview is with Tracie Lyn Huskamp. This interview is by fellow mixed media artist Diana Trout. These two artists work more with book formats, using paper and paint and incorporating fabric as more of a decorative element.

On the Easel,,,,

detail of "Ki Goes Up" (working title...)

Artist Interviews

Textile artists Melanie Testa and Lyric Kinard have joined forces this month to interview each other, review each others books and then create a piece of art for a blog give away. Click here for Melly's wonderful interview with Lyric, then be sure to head over to Lyrics blog to read another great  interview with Melly.

At the Easel

"Black Swan"
7" x 5", oil on panel
$250, framed

The last week I have been taken out by a pinched nerve in my shoulder. I feel like I have so much work to do and with such a painful, time consuming incident, I have to say I got a bit depressed. It seems for me this is going to be an issue related to my work, so I have to find ways to do whatever I can to keep flare ups at bay. Laying on an ice pack for days on end is rather frustrating, but I did think about those who deal with chronic pain without much relief and wondered how they manage whether it is because no one has found an answer to their pain or they live in a place without medical care. Within a few days of a visiting my chiropractor I was 100%. That day was today and this painting is finally done thanks to Dr Mannino.....

I just read that Artomatic is probably going to be pushed back to the fall. Gives me more time to paint.......