Tsunami day 3

Kelly, author of Stitch Alchemy, is riding the wave with her tutorial on spoon poetry, don't you love those colors, Kelly is the queen of color!

along with Tracie Lynn who also has a video tutorial making a beautiful nature inspired gift card with a painted fabric butterfly and miscellaneous scraps from around the house.

The wave is beginning to crest, so be sure to come back tomorrow to see who's next in the wave.

Physical Therapy and on the easel...

Last week was my first visit to a physical therapist. After a three hour assessment, I went home with a stretching routine and a bit more peace and education over a long-standing neck and shoulder issue. Along with daily stretches, a few changes need to be made, namely, I must go back to a desktop and learn proper typing. I type with four fingers and have to look. For now, there will be twice weekly sessions of PT.

Balancing my time between new home and new studio is falling into place. Even as I type (with four fingers..) I am sitting on my deck looking out over the woods that leads down to the river. There is wildlife abounding. My kind of living. Our neighborhood red-shouldered hawk has begun the afternoon announcements like clockwork.

I have several proposals on the docket, so plenty of paperwork to do over the next few weeks. Tomorrow morning, I am meeting for coffee with an artist and president of a local co-op gallery.
Katie is coming down from Lorton Sunday night for a dinner and a look at a few galleries

Currently on the easel.....




"Carolina Chickadee"
oil on panel
5" x 7"
$250 framed

The Tsunami continues day 2

Lyric has a great Turorial transforming shoes with painting.

And Alisa transforms a tank top with bright colorful painted flowers.

The wave continues to crest so stay tuned there's more to come tomorrow...

Tutorial Tsunami

Catch the wave this week as several mixed media and art quilt bloggers do a tutorial hop.

Today starts with Melly Testa making a dye printed cloth to headband

Jane LaFazio with a needle felting tutorial

and Diana Trout with a sumi smoosh mixed media tutorial

Tomorrow (Thursday) the wave will hit Lyric Kinard and Alisa Burke, friday you will have to check back and see who's next!

Sneak Peak

Here's a little detail shot of a project I have been working on. Sorry, I can't say more about it now, but hopefully you will get to see the whole thing in a few months.

Hand Eye Magazine article on divorce

A couple months ago Dawn Goldsmith owner of the blog Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles asked me to share with her my experiences working through grief with my textile art for an article she was writing for Hand Eye magazine titled "Healing with thread and fabric". She also interviewed my good friend Kathy York and fellow textile artist Katharine Brainard.

As artists, I feel like we are so lucky to have the extra therapeutic tools of our artwork to process our experiences to help us get through difficult times. I am also extremely grateful to have such a wonderful support system of loving friends; thanks for being there.

My 3 of Swords quilt featured in the article, will be part of the traveling exhibit Beneath the Surface which opens at the International Quilt Festival, Long Beach, July 23-25.

A Date with Matisse

Yesterday, Frieda Anderson, Laura Wasilowski, BJ Parady and I met with several other SAQA members from Appleton, Wisconsin and Bloomington, IL to see the Matisse exhibit at the Art Institute, here in downtown Chicago. What a fantastic exhibit, it really makes me want to paint on canvas and then maybe throw it under the needle and add a few stitches, but first I must finish another project I am working on. Sorry I can't reveal it to you right now.

After the exhibit we grabbed some lunch, chatted and discussed business, always keeping in mind we are professionals.  Frieda and I also discussed our plans for the Mexican Riviera cruise in February, Woo hoo we are gonna have fun! Then we had an informal regional SAQA meeting.