"Birds" at FCCA.....

Here is a slide show preview of "Birds" opening at Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts: June 26th - July 31st.
And here is the page and a link to the press release for the show.
We hang this Sunday.

Day 1 in St. Paul, what a week!

Last Tuesday, I drove 400 miles from Chicago, IL to St Paul, MN, the longest road trip I have driven by the way, to teach 4 classes at the Minnesota Quilters Show and Conference. It was a wonderful show put on by an all volunteer committee, very impressive!

Nina, my daughter and class assistant, painting fabric and then her coffee cup.

My first class on wednesday was Painting Fabric for Whole Cloth Quilts. I always enjoy teaching this class so much, it's probably one of the most information packed classes, squeezing as much info as I possibly can into 6 hours. This was my smallest class of the week with 11 students, the rest of the week's classes were full with close to 25 students.

All week my classes were held in a huge room with plenty of space for students to work.

There were a lot of wonderful paintings, the class created freezer paper masks, textured backgrounds, gradated colors, worked with glazing paint to create more contrast and intensity with color and painted fine lines and details. I always provide images for my students to work with, so they don't have to stress about being creative while they learn new skills.

It's so fun to see the different ways people paint the images, while they practice the different techniques.

Nina's painted fabric that she worked on in class.

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Bird show and Artscape

The "Birds" show page is up on the FCCA website.

I have been varnishing paintings and staining frame wood. Most of the paintings are framed and ready. We hang on the 26th, so the work will be open to the public from then on. The reception is the following Friday, July 1st at 6 p.m.





I was on "Artscape with Bill Harris" last week. I will have the show online as soon as it is available, so stayed tuned.

Hitting the road to St. Paul

I have been busy for the last week, packing supplies for teaching 4 classes at the Minnesota Quilters Show and Conference this week. I have never been to Minnesota before so I am looking forward to seeing a little more of the midwest. Now add to this pile 2 more suitcases for clothes for me and Nina and then I am also dropping my son off at the airport for a trip to the east coast on the way, so we also have to fit him and another suitcase in the car, good thing he packs light, lol.

The tall stack of boxes is all metal kits for my class Heavy Metal Play Day. Each student is getting an awesome metal tool kit courtesy of Walnut Hollow with aluminum and copper metal sheets to work with. I am also teaching this class in Long Beach at International Quilt Festival next month so if you havent signed up, you should, you get a about $40 of free supplies with this class! It's a total deal!

I took my first full weekend off in a long time to go to the Chicago Blues Fest, what a blast, 6 stages playing awesome blues music and it's FREE! Here's a video from 2 years ago of a couple of my favorite musicians at the Blues Fest, enjoy!



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Update....Bird show.....

I took a hiatus for several weeks as you may have noticed. I appreciate transparency and I am sure I have mentioned my struggle with depression in the past. My old friend came for a long visit recently, so I spent some time "wandering in the woods" so to speak. I feel I have found the way out finally.

The bird show at FCCA opens on June 26th, so there is much to do between now and then to get ready to hang. I will have three to four large paintings and 18 or do 5" x 7" paintings in the show. The reception will be held Friday July 1st at 6 p.m.



A new painting for New Mythology.

ATC's for MIU

The other day Pokey posted photos of ATC's (artist trading cards) on Facebook, that she made for MIU (Make It University).  I love her fly ATC and would love to make a trade with her for one, so I made a bunch for the Trading Post wall in Long Beach at International Quilt Festival.

Leslie Jenisen, Me, Pokey and Jamie Fingal

My ATC's were made from left over portions of my Black and Bloom quilt that will be hanging in the special exhibit Between the Spaces.

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Have you always wanted to paint but don't know where to start?

Oh Deer, Look What's Become of Me!   detail

In August I am teaching one of my favorite classes Painting Imagery for Art Quilts at the Create Retreat in Lisle, Illinois, just outside Chicago.

I love to teach this class not only because I love to paint, but also because I love seeing peoples amazement when they are able to do things they never thought they could. People are hesitant to try painting, because they have this misguided notion that certain people have an "artistic gift" that they themselves do not possess, so they don't even try.

Learn to use freezer paper masks and painting backgrounds

Well I am here to tell you that is baloney, painting is a skill, consisting of various techniques that with practice you can perfect, the more you practice the more natural it will become. The reason some people are so good at painting is because they do it a lot and you need to keep in mind it's never too late to start.

Learn to paint smooth gradations

Painting on fabric is unlike painting on canvas though, with canvas the paint sits on the surface and you can push it around and manipulate it. On fabric the paint sinks in and stays, so there are different techniques you need to learn to cover large areas smoothly, avoiding blotchiness and keep the paint from bleeding.

Learn what tools and techniques to use to control the paint more effectively.

The consistency of the paint is one of the first things we talk about in class, it is such a simple thing that can make the act of painting so frustrating for people. Too thick and the paint is hard to spread on the surface evenly, too thin and it bleeds in places you don't want it to go.

Learn to paint smooth gradations, work with transparent glazes and paint fine details.

Besides learning different painting techniques for creating gradations, glazing paint to create more visual depth and painting smooth lines, you'll also learn about different types of paint, how each affects the hand of the fabric, increasing value contrast in your work to create more dynamic imagery, basting a painted surface for quilting and non traditional binding methods.

This is an information packed class geared to help you feel more confident working with paint on your next textile project.

I would love to see you at Create this August, last year was a blast.