Send a little art in a card.

I spent the last 3 days making 45 art quilt cards.

Now I have to finish embellishing them with beads.

Put a label on the back, sign them and

slip them in their clear bags.

10 of them go to Lala's in Lafayette, Indiana.

The rest are for a quilt design symposium I

am going to at the end of May.

I hope they will appeal to other artist.

Easter is at my house so I need to

step away from the machine and work on the house.

In a weak moment I ordered 50 strawberry plants

I need to get them in the ground.

What was I thinking the birds will probably eat them all.

Have a great day and a blessed Easter week.



First of the Holiday Shows

 Monday Andy  my grandson and I set up

my display for the Holiday Show at the

Carneige for Friday and Saturday.

I feature small art quilts made from

my photographs printed on fabric

than thread painted and either framed,

matted or made into greeting cards.

Today I will get back into the studio

to prepare for my first week end

show in the studio the 19th of November.

 If you live in the area the Holiday Show is

Friday the 11th 6 - 9 pm

and Saturday the 12th 8:30 a.m.- 3 p.m.

at the Lillian Fendig Gallery

301 N Van Rensselaer Street,

Rensselaer, Indiana

219-866-5278

A great mix of fine art, baked goods, photography.

Summer at Cedar Ridge

                               Yesterday I made salsa. Today I made 7 vases.
                                My next 4 weeks are going to be busy.
                                I was asked to make the centerpieces
                                for the Bravo Arts Brunch on October 12.
                                I said yes before I calculated how long it
                                would take to make 35 vases and flower bouquets.
                                I cut some flowers to dry today too.
                                The Goldstrum rudebecia will dry and stay yellow
                                 Annabelle hydrangeas  a nice mellow green.
                                 Add to this  a rusty grass, saliva and lavender for
                                 nice fall dried bouquets. You may not hear from
                                 me every day but I will try. Everyone out east
                                 keep safe and day.

Ending & beginning of another show.

Hoosier Roads & Rivers opens at the Well Cultural Center

June 24th 2011.

Abbie, Carol and I will install the show Monday.

Jasper County Art League members  will showcase their art.

The art quilt above shows the Kankakee & Iroquois Rivers

It will be part of a grouping with

 4 smaller ones that will continue the river.

That is today's  project. 

 My hand dyes threads arrived in the mail from Artfabrik.

Now I can add the hand work to the larger river quilt

I have been working on. It needs the grasses and leaves.



 I love the ducks I added. Makes it more believable.

 Andrew My 21 year old grandson helped me.
Thank goodness for the muscles.
Take down my solo show at the Wells Center last night.
The winter scene was the only one not sold of my
art quilts. I sold 10 pieces.  I think I have found my niche.
A couple from New Mexico bought 2 pieces.
Both were I think  two of my best.
I think the hand dyed threads from Laura  Wasilowski
makes them unique and special.
Thanks Laura. I always  order at the last minute
and she comes through.

New art quilt

My  work of the past 3 days finally finished.
Batiks quilted, painted, hand embroidered, free hand machine embroidery.
Stretch over a canvas and ready for my solo show in May.
Below are some close ups to show detail.

 I love how the hand dyed threads from Artfabrik added to the quilt.
Laura's Burnt marshmallow color way is my favorite.
I found an empty spool and rolled it around.
Dropped the feed days and it sewed beautifully.

 Sweet french knots add character.

Started another  one yesterday afternoon.
This one will be oak trees in the fall.

Studio remake done.

One advantage of waking up at 4 am.

You can get something done.

Since I will have a house guest for 2 to 3 months

I moved all my sewing and mixed media into an open area.

And out of the guest bedroom

I even like the new location better.

Better views to watch spring unfold.

My grandson got home from the hospital last night.

He will need 3 months recovery time.

Good thing his mother is a 25 year nurse with experience.

Falling asleep at the wheel going 45mph and meeting a tree.

Does do some damage but it will heal.

Now I can concentrate on creating again.

 A good place to clean up my mess each day.

      A cleared cutting table/paint station.

My sewing area greatly condensed.

The view is great out the windows.

I will enjoy creating in this space.

   The mixed media area with everything at hand.

 A nice U shape area to work in.

I love these carts from Sam's.
They are perfect for a mobile supply carrier.
Holds my brushes, paints and mediums.

Now to get to work and get lost in the journey of making art.

Leaf Collages

Finally got some studio time.

I need 15 collages for my solo show in May.

Created 5 yesterday.

Trees are my thing.

 I press and dry leaves from my woods.
Than I coat them with acrylic or alcohol ink.
This way the stay bright forever.
I can also have purple and teal leaves.
Fun to try for an unexpected touch to the collage.

 Last week I made papers out of tissue and newspaper.
I learned this technique at
the Midwest Collage Society fall retreat.
Lay a piece of newspaper down put a sheet
of tissue over. Mix half & half of water &gel medium.
Coat the paper with this mixture. Let day for a few hours.
Stain paper  with mix of half water & half liquid acrylics.
Let dry and stamp if desired.

I found some old books at the local library
 book sale for 30 cents each.
they make great collage material too.
Especially to add words.

 I made 64 clay tiles from 2 types of clay.
Friday I will work with the student intern
at the collage to test Cone 6 glazes.
We will work  on coming up with 10 basic glazes to use.
I am glad I took chemistry in High school.
Helps me to understand chemical reaction.
Glad to be  productive again.

The family goes to town.

Last winter we went to West Lafayette to do the gallery walk in January.

It was 10 degrees but sunny  and no wind.

In the old downtown there is this sculpture by

Linda Van Kolk.

It is fascinating to look close to see all the parts.

What you can do with a welder
and lots of old machinery parts from the farm.
           

Nine inches and counting.

Working on my homework for class on Friday.

Made a double batch of brownies.

What  is the best remedy for stress.

Chocolate. Howling winds and snow call for chocolate.

 

 We have to make a bowl,
 a tall form and a tile with the sprigs on it.
Sprigs are forms to fill with clay
to adorn a pottery piece.
Just have to make a vase yet.
Raw clay looks so drab.

 

  Just had to throw some color in.
June in the garden.
Tiger Lilies and Hydrangeas.

 This hydrangea bush is 5 foot across.
Covered with blooms every June.
We sit outside and this is our view in the summer.
Soon it will be spring.

The storm should be over by Wednesday supper.
Just have to get through the lake effect Wednesday afternoon.
My sister lives 1 miles from Lake Michigan.
She will get twice the snow we get.

Fabric & Birds are my weakness.

I found MORE fabric and it has birds on it.

I am doomed.

Alexander Henry June Bug fabric is too cool.

 Now I just have to think of some way to use it.
Paint a bedroom Robins egg blue.
Make pillows of the large prints.
Use the small prints as an edge on curtains.

 
Yesterday I took a piece of my snow dyed fabric
and made a cover for my class notebook.
 I stitch a swirl design on the front.

I made pockets in the front and back

to hold my wallet and supplies.

                                    
The back one holds the dental tools I talked the dentist out of.
No cavities-that was good news. We all love the dentist. Right.

Working towards May.

This is those rejects with a new coat paint.

I decided to attached 4 together on the back and treat it as one canvas.

 The new and improved version called Shadows of Fall # 1.
I take photographs of tree skeleton's during fall and winter
they make a perfect reference for my paintings.

The last 4 I made into 2 canvas panels to make  # 2 and # 3 of this series.
I really like the details on the last one. Check back later to see whats new.
Friday is a day off of painting  and a day on of texture & surface on clay.
Back to school at 67 years young. At class I forget the age difference
and have a blast. Young people are really interesting to say the least.

Art Quilt from Paint Rag

When I paint with Acrylics on canvas I use a technique of removing paint and building up layers.
I use old cotton bed sheets I save.
This  20X20 piece of cotton bed sheet had the best colors.
I looked at it all last summer thinking of what I saw.
In September I sat down at the sewing machine
and free hand added lines of threads
to bring out the landscape in my mind.
Tree's, a pond and sky emerged from the rag.
I  highlighted  with Derwent color pencils.
A pastoral setting emerged from the cotton.
This was the first piece sold in our Art League's fall  Art Show.
An artist  bought the cloth painting for a Christmas gift for a relative.

My first quilt

This was my first attempt at quilting. My grand daughter Liz asked for a quilt for her wedding gift. She picked out the colors and  wanted a large square motif. I thought simple just make 12 inch square and sew them together. Well is wasn't simple but it was fun.  Three weeks later it was done. I learned a lot making that quilt. First of all not to be so ambitious but she is very happy with it. It suits her artistic nature. She is studying art education in Fort Wayne.