Fiberart For A Cause

A cause that has become increasingly close to my heart has been organized to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Some of you already know that one of our own, Melly Testa, is fighting breast cancer. Today, I found out that a third relative was recently diagnosed with cancer. This disease seems to be hitting more and more people. There are some marvelous artists who are contributing work for the cause. Please check out the link and see if you can help.

One Cause, One Wednesday, One Hundred Collages One Cause – The Fight Against Cancer. One Wednesday – February 16, 2011. One Hundred Collages – Created for this event by an all-star team of artists: Natalya Aikens, Pamela Allen, Laura Ann Beehler, Liz Berg, Pokey Bolton, Laura Cater-Woods, Jette Clover, Jane Davila, Jane Dunnewold, Jamie Fingal, Gloria Hansen, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Jeanelle McCall, Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Stiehl Osborn, BJ Parady, Judy Perez, Wen Redmond, Cynthia St. Charles, Virginia A. Spiegel The goal – Raise $8,000 for the American Cancer Society in just one day. More details and a preview of artwork: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/ONEFundraiserPreview.html Fiberart For A Cause has already donated over $205,000 to the American Cancer Society through the generosity of fiber artists and their patrons.

Until next time. . . .

Learning New Things

I finished the pages for the Visual Journaling Workshop today. Last week, I showed you week 2. Here are week 3 and week 4.

As I mentioned last week, the pages are also my interpretation of "Highly Prized" for the Sketchbook Challenge. While I am not terribly satisfied with the piece, working on it did give me more experience with watercolor paper, gesso, charcoal pencil, oil pastels, watercolor brush pens, gel pen, ephemera, what Pam Carriker calls "re-usables," and recycling art. It also taught me something about my process and what I do and do not enjoy.

I hope that this exercise will help me to move forward with work in my journals/sketchbooks. It has given me a bit more confidence to attempt new things in that direction. I hope that it might inspire some of you to try new things.

Until next time, may you experience peace and all good.

Making Art

We are into week three of the Visual Journaling workshop with Pam Carriker. Pam is having us recycle our artwork. I am making slow progress, but combining it with the Sketchbook Challenge. The theme for January in that is Highly Prized. I started with a colored pencil sketch I had made of my children dressed up for Halloween when they were little. I copied the drawing (which I had to go over with my pencils first, as it was too light), glued it to 140# watercolor paper, and got part of the way through her instructions for week two. So far, I have used gesso, charcoal pencil, oil pastels, and watercolor brush pens. It is forcing me to be more mindful of techniques and the order in which I use the different media. Here is a look at the current status of the piece.

This is proving to be a great way to stretch myself out of my comfort zone and try new (to me) techniques.

While I am at it, I have to share a link to information about an exhibit my daughter is having: Urban Abstractions. As I have mentioned before, she is an artist in her own right. After you've checked on the exhibit, take a look around her website. She works in a variety of media and has some beautiful pieces.

I hope that you are enjoying new things, stretching out of your comfort zone, and living life to the fullest. Until next time, may you experience peace and all good.

Best Laid Plans

As often happens, our best laid plans get sidetracked or changed in ways we don't expect. I have been working on my sketchbook, but not as often as I'd hoped. In addition, I'm learning lots of new things about the Internet and programs like Flickr, some have surprised and frustrated me. However, I am trying to roll with it and count it as a learning experience.

One very pleasant experience that came out of my setting up the blog and letting friends and relatives know is that a relative send me pictures of a quilt my Grandmother Barbara made. It appears to be from the 1930's and may have been a kit, but it was a welcome surprise. In addition, of course, I get to share them with you.

Note the embroidered kitty faces at the centers of the flowers.

The quilt has been used by eight babies, and my relative tells me it is "almost 70 years old." It amazes me how well it has weathered the use and the years.

May you have pleasant surprises in your life and experience peace and all good.

New Year - New Experiences

Happy New Year to everyone!

For me, today marks the beginning of the Sketchbook Challenge and an online Visual Journaling Workshop with Pam Carriker. Ideas are percolating and bubbling over! I expect it will be a fun learning experience and provide me with lots of new material for my artwork. I hope that your new year provides many happy new experiences and lots of joy!

I invite you to:

Treasure the Little Things!

Until next time, may you experience peace and all good.

Plans for a New Year

The new year is almost upon us. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year will bring a number of changes. One significant change is that, in July, I will be "retiring" from my current day job. It is my plan to expand my artistic pursuits and build The Butterfly Bush business. I also plan to do more social justice work and writing, again. All quite exciting and scary. I am reminded of dreams I used to have about stepping off tall buildings, with the accompanying fear, only to find I could fly. I hope you will continue to check in with me to see my progress, as well as give me feedback on it.


The babies and their parents saw the quilts (still in process) at our family Christmas celebration. So, I feel I can share them, now. Mykaela was quite interested in the bright colors of hers, and Kaden was content to be with Mama and take everything in. Obviously, there is still a little work to be done on each of them, but they will get them in time to make them "dragging around blankets."

Mykaela's quilt

Kaden's quilt

Now, too, I will be able to move on to other creative pursuits. I will be spending this week (blessed holiday break time from the day job) in my studio, experimenting with techniques, and getting organized for the new year. On January 1, I will begin participating in the Sketchbook Challenge. (The button for it is on the right.) It looks like a lot of fun, with some super artists leading the way. Check them out.

• Jill Berry
• Sue Bleiweiss
• Laura Cater-Woods
• Jane Davies
• Jamie Fingal
• Judi Hurwitt
• Leslie Tucker Jenison
• Lyric Kinard
• Jane LaFazio
• Kelli Perkins
• Carol Sloan
• Carla Sonheim
• Susan Sorrell
• Melanie Testa
• Diana Trout
• Violette

It seems like the perfect way to charge up the creative juices and explore new techniques. I hope you will check it out and join in.

Finally, I plan to post more often. Unfortunately, the silence of the last few weeks was unavoidable, but I am planning to post once a week in the new year.

Until next time, may you experience peace and all good.

Anticipation

It has been a strange couple of weeks. Our Thanksgiving celebration ended up being on the Saturday after the holiday, which threw off my Christmas preparations. (I refuse to do "Black Friday" shopping.) I've missed every art and craft show I usually go to at this time of year. Since I normally get much of my Christmas shopping done at them, and hope to help the artists who show at them a little, that saddens me. However, I did have time with my children and grandchildren, have almost finished the binding on my granddaughter's quilt, and enjoyed the birthday celebration.

I also had a delightful experience the day before Thanksgiving. My current day job is in a location that is on the migration path of sandhill cranes. I was fortunate to get some pictures of cranes riding a thermal. Even at that distance, you can hear them calling as if they are right next to you. Considering that, however, they must be awfully loud! Fortunately, their call is like a trill and very melodic.

This is a picture of a large part of the flock.

 

What surprised me, however, was how wonderfully close I was able to zoom in on them after I uploaded the pictures to my computer.

I have been following Melanie Testa's blog, and was reminded of this shot when I saw her post, "I Listen" http://www.melanietesta.com/mtype/archives/2010/11/i-listen.html. Inspiration is piling up around me, so that I am anxiously awaiting free time in my studio to play. It will come soon.

Right now, my world is covered in snow. A storm system came in last night, depositing enough to cover everything in a thick powder and line the branches of the trees. The squirrels have left their tracks through the yard, and little boys are trying to make money shoveling. I've been taking advantage of the desire to stay in the warmth of a cozy house, working on a few presents, and trying to catch up on my "To Do" list.

I hope that you are enjoying a cozy home, happy anticipation of time with friends and/or family, and time to relax. Until next time, may you experience peace and all good.