My work has been shipped off in four boxes to the Galesburg Civic Art Center in Galesburg, Illinois. Galesburg is in the northwestern part of the state...right near Iowa for of you in the midwest...
My two woman show, my work and that of a local potter, will be on display, with an opening reception on Friday, May 22 from 6 - 8 pm. If you are in the area, please go and take some pictures for me! I would love to see how everything shows!
somebody, please, go see my show.....
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
So very busy
It seems like time is just flying and I have really been busy working on a number of things, some have worked out and some are frustrating.
I have finished the second commission piece for the Juvenile Justice Center.
I have realized that I much prefer painting fabric than dyeing fabric.
I sure can't figure out why that upper part came out blue and underlined...anyway, here are four pieces of fabric I have recently painted. I just love the way I am able to control the colors and work in multiple layers, especially the ability to add white.
I have been spending a lot of time thinking about where I want to go with this and have decided that I want to do some more minimalist work like my red squares which I had done previously. I really like that type of work and have been thinking about it for some time...I know it doesn't appeal to a lot of quilters because there is not a lot of quilting, etc. But I sure enjoy it and I will have to see where it leads me.I am now in mourning...my gallery representation in Scottsdale has closed. Hard times for them. I am so sad because my work has been fairly well received in that area. Now I have to really get going on finding more gallery representation.
So the next couple of days will be getting my slide list together and creating a new CD of work to send off to the multitude of galleries I have been making a note of....can't keep putting it off.
With all my thinking I have also been considering what success means to me...I am not sure that I have come up with a pin point statement but I know that being able to make the art I want to make teaching sometimes but not too much, spending time in my studio, and selling my work are what I am currently doing and that sounds about just right.
Two years ago I was going through all sorts of angst because I knew there were so many more things that I should be doing to develop my goals and reach them. I just found that by entering as many shows as I had been that I felt I was always trying to keep up with deadlines and getting those forms filled out and work shipped off. Now I have slowed down on that for the past two years but know I need to do more in order to sell my work. Any body want to buty some art?
I have become very comfortable with my own creative process and recognize the down times are not negative times but time to regroup and fill the brain back up. I find so many things are inspirational and get me jazzed. But sometimes I just need to stick with one thing for a while and see where it will go.
I like to teach in other parts of the country. I don't like flying any more. It has become so uncomfortable and unpleasant even though I smile at all the TSA people, chat with others in line, keep my elbows in in my narrow seat, do nothing about the man next to me who spreads his legs out and takes up some of my leg room, pay too much for food at the airport and it now takes me a day to recoup after a cross country flight. I wonder if I can upgrade to business when I fly to Switzerland and France? Not just for me but for my husband also.
I am feeling my age...but that is mostly because I am carrying around way too much weight and haven't been able to make the commitment to do something about it. Compared to losing weight, stopping smoking was easy. I just stopped but with food you can't stop eating. And I really like the way food tastes...what a major mind trip.
See what happens when I am away from the blog for too long?
I will be pulling the pieces for the Galesburg show this week and shipping those off. The first two weekends of June I have open studios at my studio in Oakland, and then I have to get the last commission done for the Arts Commission by the first part of June. Right now I have been completely frustrated as I try to create the postcards for the open studios so I can get them sent out to people.
oh well, such is life. I did clean two toilets yesterday! And I had a wonderful Mother's day with my daughter and her family. My husband brought me a nioce vase of very fragrant roses from our yard and they sit on my desk and remind me of the beauty and wonderful smells that are so nice. My daughter and family came over and helped fix my sprinkler system, helped week my front yard which is all flower bed and then helped me get the rest of the 48 4" pots of new plants planted...I had started the evening before but it sure kills my knees. Then to their house later for lobster on the barbeque along with roasted potatoes and fresh asparagras. When a treat!
OPEN STUDIO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
JUNE 6 AND 7 AND 13 AND 14
11:00 AM UNTIL 6:00 PM
REFRESHMENTS SERVED
ART FOR SALE
COME ON DOWN
4401 SAN LEANDRO ST. STUDIO 27
OAKLAND CA
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Better Art by Design in Florida in Sept.
Better Art by Design Retreat
Liz Berg & Mary McBride
September 14 – 18, 2009
September is time to go back to school so join Liz Berg and Mary McBride in New Smyrna Beach, Florida for a wonderful retreat in the woods where class work becomes child’s play. Members may stay in the motel type rooms on campus at Atlantic Center for the Arts or drive in daily. But even if you don’t want to take a class, you can still join us for meals and use separate studio space for your own projects.
The multi-day class has been created to give quilters the confidence to design and compose artistic art quilts. It is also appropriate for those who are already creating art quilts and want to improve their skills in design and composition.
The elements and principles of design are discussed at length. There are a number of small, fast exercises which are geared to help the student understand the individual elements and the principles which combine them into successful art. When finished, students have learned about harmony and unity in design, contrast, rhythm, repetition, gradation, balance and dominance in order to use the elements of design to create a good piece of art.
Students received frequent group critiques by the instructor so everyone learns from other’s work.
Two and a half days are spent on the exercises. The remainder of the time is spent in developing ideas into small quilts which may be finished during class time, depending upon the students’ methods of work. The instructor is available to frequently interact with the students during their design and creation process.
Fees
Private room and bath, all meals, studio space and instruction: $800
All meals, studio space and instruction: $600
Private room and bath, all meals, studio space: $700
Studio and meals only: $400
Cottage with queen sized bed, add $825.
Facts
Students who are staying on campus may arrive on Sunday, September 13 and depart on Saturday, September 19.
Bedding and towels supplied. Small refrigerator in each room.
Personal Chef Sue Flynn will prepare all meals. She can adapt menus to special diets.
Arrive and depart from Daytona Beach, Orlando or Orlando/Sanford airports.
Deposit due now: $100 non-refundable, balance due August 15. If cancellation due to weather or small attendance, full amount will be refunded. If attendee cancels after August 15, and spot cannot be filled, a portion will be retained to pay instructor fees.
www.marymcbridearts.homestead.com – MrsGorgon@gmail.com
www.lizbergquilts.com - LizBerg@sbcglobal.net
To register by credit card, go online to www.AtlanticCenterForTheArts.org and go to the DONATION button. State that the $100 is for Liz Berg Class. You may also mail a check to Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1414 Art Center Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. Make sure to denote it for Liz Berg Class. Then just email Mary McBride at MrsGorgon@gmail.com with the receipt or check number, and your contact information.
McBride runs Focus for Fiber retreats at Atlantic Center for the Arts each spring with great success and has decided to expand the experience so others can attend programs with her.
Berg has taught this class for several years and the work the students have produced has been exciting. Students from classes, both on line and in person have made the following comments about Berg’s class:
“I just wanted you to know how VERY useful and inspiring I found your class. The exercises were rich with possibility and, at the same time, very easy to tackle. I will continue to collect images as you showed us how to (with the little view-finder, or ones of different sizes, etc.), and I am eager at this very minute to play with some
small abstract quilts made from images I collected yesterday. Both activities really brought home the principals and elements, made them stick in the mind, and helped me to articulate intellectual knowledge with practical application.
“You are a superior instructor, with great content and a warm, irreverent, accepting, and very amusing style. Thank you, again, for an absolutely swell day of learning!”
“By the way a side-effect is I'm picking up confidence and working more playfully than I would usually do - also what I'm producing is unlike my usual stuff, which is interesting...”
Liz Berg & Mary McBride
September 14 – 18, 2009
September is time to go back to school so join Liz Berg and Mary McBride in New Smyrna Beach, Florida for a wonderful retreat in the woods where class work becomes child’s play. Members may stay in the motel type rooms on campus at Atlantic Center for the Arts or drive in daily. But even if you don’t want to take a class, you can still join us for meals and use separate studio space for your own projects.
The multi-day class has been created to give quilters the confidence to design and compose artistic art quilts. It is also appropriate for those who are already creating art quilts and want to improve their skills in design and composition.
The elements and principles of design are discussed at length. There are a number of small, fast exercises which are geared to help the student understand the individual elements and the principles which combine them into successful art. When finished, students have learned about harmony and unity in design, contrast, rhythm, repetition, gradation, balance and dominance in order to use the elements of design to create a good piece of art.
Students received frequent group critiques by the instructor so everyone learns from other’s work.
Two and a half days are spent on the exercises. The remainder of the time is spent in developing ideas into small quilts which may be finished during class time, depending upon the students’ methods of work. The instructor is available to frequently interact with the students during their design and creation process.
Fees
Private room and bath, all meals, studio space and instruction: $800
All meals, studio space and instruction: $600
Private room and bath, all meals, studio space: $700
Studio and meals only: $400
Cottage with queen sized bed, add $825.
Facts
Students who are staying on campus may arrive on Sunday, September 13 and depart on Saturday, September 19.
Bedding and towels supplied. Small refrigerator in each room.
Personal Chef Sue Flynn will prepare all meals. She can adapt menus to special diets.
Arrive and depart from Daytona Beach, Orlando or Orlando/Sanford airports.
Deposit due now: $100 non-refundable, balance due August 15. If cancellation due to weather or small attendance, full amount will be refunded. If attendee cancels after August 15, and spot cannot be filled, a portion will be retained to pay instructor fees.
www.marymcbridearts.homestead.com – MrsGorgon@gmail.com
www.lizbergquilts.com - LizBerg@sbcglobal.net
To register by credit card, go online to www.AtlanticCenterForTheArts.org and go to the DONATION button. State that the $100 is for Liz Berg Class. You may also mail a check to Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1414 Art Center Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. Make sure to denote it for Liz Berg Class. Then just email Mary McBride at MrsGorgon@gmail.com with the receipt or check number, and your contact information.
McBride runs Focus for Fiber retreats at Atlantic Center for the Arts each spring with great success and has decided to expand the experience so others can attend programs with her.
Berg has taught this class for several years and the work the students have produced has been exciting. Students from classes, both on line and in person have made the following comments about Berg’s class:
“I just wanted you to know how VERY useful and inspiring I found your class. The exercises were rich with possibility and, at the same time, very easy to tackle. I will continue to collect images as you showed us how to (with the little view-finder, or ones of different sizes, etc.), and I am eager at this very minute to play with some
small abstract quilts made from images I collected yesterday. Both activities really brought home the principals and elements, made them stick in the mind, and helped me to articulate intellectual knowledge with practical application.
“You are a superior instructor, with great content and a warm, irreverent, accepting, and very amusing style. Thank you, again, for an absolutely swell day of learning!”
“By the way a side-effect is I'm picking up confidence and working more playfully than I would usually do - also what I'm producing is unlike my usual stuff, which is interesting...”
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