Better Art by Design Class in Person

My poor students. They have been working so hard for the past three days and finally things slow down a little bit so they can begin doing some bigger pieces of work more or less on their own with guidance as they desire. It has been a busy three days with lots of little exercises to do, ideas to learn and colors to try out. We are absolutely enjoying our stay at the Greenville Arms Inn in Greenville, New York. During the summer they have painting workshops and during the cooler spring, fall and winter they have fiber workshops since we are in doors. A great place to study.


Above are Susan and Suzanne working hard on one of their exercises. In the next picture you see Susan, Suzanne and Susan all working together, hard on their color exercises on Tuesday. They were still smiling then.



Above are Shirley on the left and Alison on the right. In the next picture is Moira from Australia on the left and Sheila on the right.

Above is Melinda, working away with her glue stick. The next picture shows Melinda and Mary hard at work with their color exercises.


Alice is trying to find the just right color.


these images are of 8 x 10 exercises done on Wednesday afternoon and evening. They have not been quilted yet, although the one on the right has been started.


More images of 8 x 10 exercises.. some appear larger because I had to take them by themselves so the images are larger but the work isn't.


And some more...


and some more....

And some more....


And the last two of these 8 x 10s.

Each student did two 8 x 10's yesterday afternoon. It was really a lot of fun to see what everyone did. There are some big growth spurts for some of the students. One student has only been quilting for a year and is off and ready to fly. What fun for a teacher!

They have all be filling up their sketchbooks with notes and their many exercises along with the class lessons. I will get some pictures of those to show you.

I am so proud of these ten women who have committed to working very hard and being open to change. What a delightful group of women to work with! They all have a great sense of humor and put up with me very well!

A Day Exploring

What a fun day this has been. I got a great night's sleep and caught up and woke up rested and ready to go. The weather is wonderful...in the low 60's, with a nice brisk snap to the air. One of my students, Sheila from Ottawa, arrived yesterday and we met at breakfast and decided to go exploring for the day. First we headed to Hudson to stop by the quilt store to pick up a couple of things and then wandered some around town which is delightful and interesting. Then, since we are not far from Woodstock...off we went to Woodstock.

Aging hippies live there along with lots of normal people. Lots of tourists there. Of course, the concert did not happen in town but out at a farmer's field out of town. I gained some credit when I was speaking to someone who had been here "when" when I explained that during that time I was at Cal Berkeley during the free speech movement. Can't be at both places at once!

We had lunch in town and then decided to head back to the Greenville Arms. Well, the road we thought we were on disappeared and all we had was a map without a lot of detail. The countryside has a lot of detail, including many little roads that were not on our map. We ended up going up and down the Catskills and in circles. Finally, we saw a man out working in his yard and pulled over to ask for help.

TGhe nice man, around 60+ years came over to the care to help up. He was right at the passenger window so I had a really good look at the longest, straightest chest hair that I have ever seen. It was much longer that the hear on my head! And white! I had a hard time listening to his directiolns between my unreal interest in his chest hair and the one inch long hair standing out on the top of his nose. Fortunately, Sheila listened carefully and we found out way back in time to change before our evening wine time and dinner.

There were still a lot of leaves on teh trees...many yellow ones and the red maples were everywhere. It was so much fun looking around and seeing a different kind of countryside. I took pictures but then my battery became worn down. I will download those tomorrow and then post some. What a fun day!

My students are all here except for the one day student so we did an orientation tonight and tomorrow we get started on our class! I am really looking forward to this and I think the students are also! (at least that is what they have said!)

On the Road

I am now at the Greenville Arms in Greenville, New York.

I have come to teach my Better Art by Design class in person for five days. What a treat for me! After an all day trip by plane, I arrived at this beautiful inn and got settled in, went for a short walk and went to sleep for 10 hours. I just have not been sleeping very well for the past week and this was the perfect place to get caught up. I am going out today with one of my students who is from Canada and we will look around before our big welcoming dinner tonight.

A week ago, in a moment of weakness, I allowed myself to agree to a short deadline for an article for Quilting Arts magazine. It has to do with a new line of paints and how they work for textile artists. Well, when Pokey said yes, she asked for the finished work to be to her by Nov 10...of course I could do that! Well, the past week has just been spent creating the fabric in order to create the work! I have found that I really work best if I have a challenge and deadline...at least most of the time. But at the same time I have been getting ready for this class and will be gone a week.

Not to worry, I do intend to do a lot of the work in the studio in the evenings, which should be lots of fun. The studio here is very nice and will work well.

So, I am off to take pictures which I will post later! Stay tuned!

My Web Site

I have spent hours today and on a couple of other days resizing images and then today uploading those images and getting all the information on to my website. Then came the time to actually check the website and find all of the errors and go back and fix them.

I know why I don't do detail work...

So, come on by and check out the new work in the Abstracts Gallery and the Small Works Gallery!

Great Fun and Great News

Well, I got to my studio yesterday and finished the cleaning up and then was able to sit down for about fifteen minutes until I got a call that the group was only a few minutes away so I went outside to flag them down. This is the view from my door...BART travels parallel to my studio...when it is heading toward the left it is coming from a station so it isn't very noisy. When it is coming the other way, it is really so loud you can't hear someone talking to you when you are on the street. I am in an old industrial neighborhood.The group from PIQF arrived and were able to park right in front of my studio. I had been outside sweeping the sidewalk before they got there as the street is so filthy from the cars, trucks, and BART, etc. I didn't get any pictures of the bus or the people as I was a little too busy.

So, they all came in to my studio via the first studio and then back to mine...the entry way is to the left of the window in the back...you are looking toward the front of my studio at my design wall. The table is one I use for sorting fabric, etc. Beneath are boxes of decorator fabric samples and I put out three boxes for the ladies to help themselves to...they had a a great time cutting out fabric and some took the books home...I have so much I just wanted to get them out of there!
This is from the same vantage point only looking toward the right side of my studio...you can see George int he background and get an idea of the windows that I have in this place...the light is wonderful but in the summer it gets hot. I have just realized that a lot of the windows have the caulking coming out so maybe if I recaulk some of them the wind won't come in so easily! That's what I get for cheap rent! You also see my big table on the right which had a lot of my 8 x 10 color blocks on them.
So, turning around from where I was standing, I am now looking toward the back section.

Going in to the back area, you see my metal shelving unit with dyes, etc and my paper table. This is where I am now doing my collages which is very nice to have as before I have been working on a little 3' table which is completely covered so I really only work on about 1 square foot of cleared space!For decoration I have put up three of my collages which I dutifully put on mat board so they would look better.
And now we are just past my paper table and are looking at the big bookcase which is only slightly filled at this point. It is holding a few of my books that I use for collaging and I will be moving more down there along with other stuff.

You can see the table at the end which was put up for this and has some of my smaller works on it for show.
And then coming back around you can see my feeble attempt at further decorating by putting some of my many type blocks out right in front of two bins full of silk screens from my themorfax.
And here we are right back in the main area with all my paints and surface design stuff right handy for the big table.

Poke Bolton is never going to want my studio in her Studios Magazine! It sure doesn't look anything like Jane Davila's really nice and neat studio with her hand made furniture that she built...no exposed 4x4's for her!

This past week, along with cleaning and arranging the studio, I have been busy doing more color blocks. Each of these is 8 x 10 and I am really happy with them. The black and orange pieces use left over pieces from my Life Circles series but with turquoise added to them which I think is really cool.
When I got home last night I was checking my email and found a letter from the Arts Commission. I am one of several artists who are receiving commissions but the details are not available yet. I should get that information as to how many pieces they want and what type within a couple of weeks. And then there is a board meeting to attend so I can bring some examples to show them. Oh, I needed this to pay my rent! Happy days!

The Studio, Almost There

Last weekend my husband, son-in-law, David, and Spider Man helped create the shelving unit.

Then, during the week my husband came back and finished it up. This is a very primitive unit but is 24" deep and 16' long. They have been created to hold bins of fabric.

This area is the new part that I have just acquired. It is 20 feet deep and ten feet across. Below you can see one of the tables I have put just across from the shelves. There is also a six foot bookcase along the same wall back in the back.
To the right of the table, which I am using for paper arts and am currently working on altering a book, is the industrial strength shelving unit that I have moved around and it holds bins of dyes, paints, all the stuff I use with them and assorted silkscreening stuff. The book case in the back holds books for ephemera, old type sets, some art books that have worked their way down to the studio, and assorted other stuff but it is only 1/3 filled at this point. Against the back end of this space is some stacked lumber, etc that I need to get out of there so I can hang art work on the wall.

Below is back to the main part of the studio with California Dreaming 3 hanging on the design wall and a table in front piled high with batiks that are already fused. They are there because I am currently working on more of the Color Blocks.
Below is a color block that I was working on today but when I got everything fused and hung up to look at for a while, I have decided that I am not happy with it but may be able to salvage part of it by cropping.
This is just the start of the piece. I work standing up, either at the design wall for big things or on my 4x8' table that is counter height. This is a great table and I have made a 2x4 ironing board that sits on the end of the table or can be taken off to get it out of the way for painting fabrics. I also have a large cutting mat that covers half of the table.

What you don't see is where George sits in his table. As you can also see, the place is not very exciting and I have to get it "decorated" with my work in the next two days so the space is presentable for the tour coming on Friday from PIQF.

I did take a little time off this weekend to care for the grandsons for a little bit while their parents went shopping. Ashton is becoming my drum player...we play my drum together. He is the only one allowed to use a stick on the drum as he can't strike it strong enough to make a problem but he also can't hit it hard enough with his hand to make a good sound.
He is very serious about what he is doing and will play with me for half an hour. Sometimes he stands at the drum but he only reaches three inches over the top but he will flail away at it.

Tomorrow I meet with the Alameda County Arts Commission to discuss my proposal for art work for the Juvenile Justice Center. I got through the first round and there are 22 artists going in for presentations during the next three days for the Juvenile Center and then another 11 are going in for another project. Two weeks ago I took in my written proposal and tomorrow I will take in work to show. Then I have to wait several weeks to see if I can any commissions. In my category, mid-career artist, they have commissions up to $8000 but all the work must be smaller than 50 inches so I have presented several plans. Wish me well!

Time in the Studio

I have been spending a lot of time in my studio, which has grown. Unfortunately, it hasn't been to get art quilts made!

Previously I had a space that was almost square and another woman was renting an area just past mine which was about 10 x 20'. Not really much room but she was a painter and stored most of her work there. There was a large cabinet about 18 x 4' within which paintings could be stored as in vertical racks. Our land lady asked her to move out due to some difficulties with her and she was supposed to be out Sept 15. Well, since I was going to be gone in Texas for part of that time and she wanted to do a last open studio and sale before she left, the exit date was moved to Oct 1. She didn't get out, completely, until late Oct 4.

So, since that time I have been really busy working in that space to get things organized. My dear husband and my son-in-law have taken that big storage thing down and are remaking it so that I will have three shelving units that are 24" deep and 18' long. So while they were working on Sunday, I was busy doing other things there...like sorting through stuff.

Monday I went back in to really work on sorting things and getting the bins straightened out. I have now moved a big heavy shelving unit which had my paints on it to another wall, added a table to work on, and have made two trips to Wal Mart which is just down the street from my studio in order to lug in more storage bins of assorted sizes. Things are getting much more organized and after I did a lot of work yesterday, I sat down at my table and was working on an altered book that I am doing for some friends about their two trips to Paris. It is a lot of fun and I will be posting pictures of it and my studio.

Tomorrow, DH and SIL will go down and finish the last of the wooden shelving unit for me. My DH builds things to last...or rather, he tends to overbuild. I have learned through the 39 years that we have been married to just get out of his way when he decides he will build something for me.

Once that is done, I can finish getting things organized. Then, I need to decorate it!

All of this is in preparation for the PIQF tour coming to visit my studio on Oct 15! I do hope to get some work going so they won't see an empty studio!

What isn't going to Quilt National

This year I had the audacity to enter two things into Quilt National...couldn't show them before but since they have said Thanks, but no thanks, I can share them with you!

Below is a large Color Blocks piece aptly titled: Color Blocks 40 (you can tell how many I have done by the numbers...)

This was done with commercial fabrics so I had questions about their interest since they tend to like hand dyed, hand painted, etc.



And then, this one, called California Dreaming 3, Central Valley.

This piece is the third of a series I am doing about different parts of California. I really liked it and it is really big but I guess it just wasn't good enough...or, better yet, there were a lot more that were far better than this.Oh well, off they go as entries to other shows...you get accepted in some and you get rejected in far more! The way of the artist!

Shut Down and Books to Sell

After my last post, Blogger bot decided that I was a spam blog...even tho I have read everything the blog information page sent me to, I still don't understand it. I had to respond and ask them to check my blog out to verify that indeed, I am a real person!

Two and a half days later, they have let me back on my blog.

Yesterday, Rachel, my high school assistant, helped me take down a whole bunch of books that I want to get rid of. She then typed up the list, which, double spaced, is 6 pages long.

Now I am trying to figure out the best way to do this...that is...sell them...

So I think what I will do is to ask people who are interested to contact me via email and I will send them the list to review. They can then chose what they want, and if I still have it, I will send a bill via Pay Pal. Lots of people on the quiltart list gave me various ideas but since I have a lot of books, I thought maybe this would be the best way. I just have to go through the list and then add on a sale price for the books. Then I will be able to figure out postage per person.

I had thought about putting about 15 up on the blog at a time but then wondered if someone would like to get another one several groups later and that it would cost more to mail several times...so, if you want a list, let me know.

I am in the process of doing my proposal for the Juvenile Justice Center which has to be turned in Tuesday afternoon. This is to let them know what and how much art I can do and what my pricing it. Then, in a couple of weeks I go for the oral interview with the selection board. I hope, I hope, I hope!!!

And, I am waiting to hear if I get in to Quilt National...next week they should send out the notifications.

I do have two of my Life Circles going to PIQF and one going to Chandler for Art Quilts III. Guess I should put some sleeves on them. Oh yeah, and I need to mount some more of my smaller works to go off to Scottsdale...

So what do I do? Sit in a slump playing Spider Solitare. Oh well, the past couple of days I have been really busy doing clean up in my studio so I guess I can sit a spell.

Trying to get back into the swing of things

I've been home now since September 16 and I still feel very much out of the loop.

After returning home during the morning from San Antonio, we dropped my dad off and then went home. I was pooped.

I spent 8 days with my father, all day and all night. There was one day during which he went on a tour and was gone for 8 hours, but other than that we were together the entire time.

The hardest part was his smoking. It's also hard to sleep in the same room with someone who gets up several times during the night (I do, too, but I get up, go to the potty and jump right back into bed and back to sleep) and stays up for a while, having a cigarette, etc. I worry about him falling asleep with a lit cigarette so I don't go back to sleep until he does. Oh well, it was only for a week.

Then on Wednesday I picked Dad up bright and early for a doctor's appointment. That killed the morning. But I couldn't get into things when I got home as my daughter had called that morning to see if we could babysit as the babysitter's baby had a fever. My dh went over for the first shift and then I went over after I dropped off my dad.

Caring for a baby isn't too bad except when they crawl they go really fast and get into the bathroom and play in the toilet bowl water which hadn't been flushed by big brother. Then it is wash up time, then snack time, then nap time, then play time, then eat time, then play time, then nap time, (for me too) and then bottle time and then more play time until finally the parents come home...I limped home dead beat and that was with only one grandson.

The next day it was a full day of babysitting the baby, Ashton, and then on Friday it was a full day of both boys but at our house. Our house is not baby proof and Ashton's favorite thing is to head to the bookcase with early American pottery pitchers. He loves them but so do I so I have to swoop him up before there is major trouble. Jacob spent a lot of time watching the demolition of the old house next to us (which is still going on).

And then my on line class, Better Art by Design, started so I got that uploaded and set up.

While I was in Texas I met several cousins on my father's side that we had never met before. It was really great and we spent a lot of time talking family stuff. I have been involved in genealogy for thirty years and used to do all my research via mail, carbon copies, hopes and prayers. Now the internet makes it so much easier to connect with people and information but also to add information that is not well founded. I like to have the documentation to back it up.

Since I had been working on the Smith side of the family, I spent time on the weekend scanning about 400 family pictures and putting them into the right family files. I can't tell you how many more hundreds I have to do as this was just a small drop in the bucket.

My DH has been working to get the last of his "have-to-have" stuff out of three metal sheds in the back back part of our lot as we swapped that part of the lot with the next door neighbors in exchange for part of their property which is in front and right next to our garage. We are having the plans drawn up for a garage which will house our motorhome and upstairs in the storage area, which will be about 20' x 40" I will eventually be able to have my studio all organized...some day.

Meanwhile, I am still not getting any art done. I did go down to my studio, which is also in a somewhat chaotic mess as the artist who has a 10-20' space in the back of my space is moving out. She has been there and selling stuff while I was gone and is trying to get moved out by the first of the month. Then I take over that space.

And, then, I have to get my studio all cleaned up and respectable as it is on the PIQF tour which will include about 10 Japanese women who are visiting for the show.

Got to get myself into gear. I have been thinking about a series on houses created in a similar way that I have been doing the Color Blocks. I have also been thinking and drawing ideas for three dimensional work...something I would like to do more off...oh well, get my self-discipline back, get rid of distractions and get to work!

I'm in San Antonio

Well, my dad and I arrived in San Antonio on Tuesday night so that we could be here for the evacuation of hurricane Ike...not really but that seems to be what is happening. We can here so my dad could attend a ship's reunion and he needs me in order to travel. Also, because this is our home town we could see lots of family.

On Wed. we went out to the cemetery to check my mom's spot and be sure the spot is still there for my dad (not really but it sounds good) It was hard to watch my dad at my mom's head stone as he has missed her greatly for the past 8 years, as have I but then he saw her all the time.

We've been seeing family all around town and have connected with a cousin we couldn't find, the daughter of one of dad's uncles...so we have found a whole new section of living relatives! What fun!
I have been doing genealogy for over 30 years and with the advent of the computer it is so much easier to do and much faster. But one really has to be careful of what one accepts as truth as so many people don't do their own research but rely on something someone else wrote down. I like to have all those sources in my hand!

Tomorrow he takes off on a bus trip for the day and I get to wander around San Antonio by myself to take pictures. We are down on the south side of town and just south of us things get pretty run down but that means there are some great pictures to take!

Well, my on line class, Better Art by Design, starts on Friday, Sept 19.
Sign up with the link on the right hand side bar of this blog.

See ya!

New Work and the Rejected Journal Quilt

So, first we have the rejected journal quilt...it was created as the San Francisco Bay Area was sweltering under high heat and a large amount of smoke in the air from fires both north and south of us. A double whammy. All I could think of was HOT!

I have finally given you an image to look at...

And now, the gratuitous images of the grandsons:
Ashton in our new stroller to take him out for walks...Doug brought it back from a Montana yard sale

And of course we have to have a picture of the two boys, Ashton and Jacob...Jacob has his power drill (without the bit) shinning in his face...it becomes many different things for him.

This piece is tentatively called Pathways and was done on Labor Day...I need to face it or bind it...not sure which. This isn't very big...about 30 x 24 or so
And here is a detail. It is all made from batiks but dark ones.
The same day I did this one which is a going back to my underwater world. Not sure what to call it yet. The black background is not quilted at all. It's only somewhere around 24 x 24"
Best of all...I have a new assistant! Rachel is a junior in high school and is now working for me for five hours a week. Yesterday she went through returned postcards and corrected addresses and deleted names that we don't have good addresses for and also got entered several mailing lists that needed to be added. That felt so good!

Today she went sorting through a bunch of my ephemera so I could be a little more organized. It also got rid of a box. I scanned 400 photos today of non-family for use with my collages. That got three big envelops down to one small box...at some point I will put ephemera packages up for sale.

I have decided it is time to get rid of a bunch of traditional quilting books that I haven't look at for years so will be posting those before long.

And, my Better Art by Design Class starts up on line on Sept 19! There is still room available! Sign up via the side bar.

A Tremendous Labor Day

This morning I got down to the studio around 9am. The weather was nice and never did get too hot to work. When I get to the studio I usually take a little time to just get acclimated...read the newspaper, pick up some stuff, read an art book for a little while...just a nice quiet place...and of course, put on the music.

I love Nita Leland...her art is wonderful and her books are great. I read and reread them frequently.

Nita has put out "The New Creative Artist" which was redone from her original book, The Creative Artist. She has great things to say about getting into the flow of working. So I was reading some of her stuff and I realized that I wanted to revisit my Coral Sea series and work on sea anemones again. I was also thinking a lot about my streamers series and how much fun it was to work on. So, out came the batiks which were already pre-fused and I just started cutting out streamer type thingies that now look like underwater grass. But it is all on a background of deep black and the batiks are browns to purples and I used one that has some yellow in it. Got that cut out and fused.

And then I decided it was time to work on something that I had sketched a long time ago in my sketchbook and had been in the back of my mind for a long time. When that happens, you just have to do it.

Well, it became a heavily quilted piece with lots of close vertical lines, some columns of circles, and then three columns of batiks in purples and browns stacked like teetering rocks. Was that ever fun! Went to work on George and got the balance rocks piece all quilted, blocked and cut square. Then I quilted the other little piece, got it blocked and cut square and both have come home with me to do the binding on them.

I also got my piece for Quilt National all done and photographed so now I can do the digital work on that and get the entry sent it.

The juices are flowing.

Nita's book is also my bible when it comes to understanding the creative process. She helps to remind me that not all creative time is spent doing the actual creating but there is much "mind" time to spend...thinking about ideas, working them out, brainstorming, writing, etc. A good book to have.

What a Night!

Monday night I went to San Francisco with Dianne Smith who has organized the Running Fence recycled art collection. She had been in Scottsdale not too long ago and had gone into a gallery called Art Space. She talked for a while with one of the owners, Shirley Crane, bought a scarf and then started talking to her about the art work with the running fence. Shirley was very interested.

Dianne, in talking with Shirley, indicated that Liz Berg was one of the participating artists. Shirley said, well, Liz Berg is one of our artists!

What fun! Two people who sell my work meet each other!

So, Shirley was coming to San Francisco for a medical appointment, arrived Monday early evening, and we met her at her hotel and went out for dinner. Just before dinner, however, Dianne showed her a bunch of the work she had brought and I also showed Shirley my new work. She took three medium sized Color Blocks with her and then told me how many other pieces she wanted. What fun!

So, Tuesday I was busy packing up art work for Art Space in Scottsdale and got a whole bunch of stuff shipped off. I still need to get some rings sewn on the back for hanging on some of the pieces. Then those will go off also.

Let me tell you how much fun it is to sit with two women who sell your art work and say all sorts of great things about your work!

I have received enough validation to last at least 2 weeks....in reality, far longer!

Now back to work!

Art Decisions

I go through periodic times when I am not sure just where I want my art to go. I spend a lot of time looking at other artist's work, all of whom are so much better than me, that I begin to feel inadequate. However, the other part of me reminds myself that they are not necessarily better but are different. My work is different. But I reach a point in time with my work that I am ready to move on and explore some different ways of doing things.

This happened a number of times last year as I had put so much time and energy into my Life Circles pieces that I couldn't figure out what could come after that. So most of the year I didn't get a whole lot done (although I easily forget that I got California Dreams 2 done and California Dreams 3 started which go finished this year).

It wasn't until I went down to be artist in residence at Asilomar for the Empty Spools seminars that I got myself going again. I packed up prefused batiks and thus started Color Blocks. Well, now I have done almost 40 from anywhere from 4x6 to 50x50". I have framed a lot of them and now need to seek out gallery space for them. But they feel easy. They are fun but I am not feeling a depth in them that I would like.

So I am finding myself searching for a new meaning, a new challenge, some new ideas. I have come up with the ideas for California Dreaming 4 Foothills which I should be started as soon as I get some more images taken to create more silk screens. But I want something more.

I want something that is just the essence of what ever it is. I love simplicity. I love to keep people wondering. I love to have depth in my work. I love for it to grab you from a distance and bring you in.

But in what direction am I going to go?

I spend time doing some jotting down of ideas, reading books which offer to help, etc. I brainstorm ideas when I come up with a thought and write it all down. I am still searching.

I got really excited about the possibility of the commission but it is three weeks and the project has been put on hold so now I have to wait until Monday when I can call them again to see where we are. But that hasn't stopped me with the idea that I had and I have pieced together a section that is the beginning and am ready to start adding more....but I want to know I've got a commission!

Such is life. I still make art of some sort of other but I am looking for that challenge, the what if, the where will it go, kind of thing. Bear with me!

New Classes!

I have just listed two new classes for on line students!

Better Art by Design will begin on Sept. 19, 2008 and will go for six weeks. Cost will be $225. You can sign up by clicking the link on the right (sign up for classes) or go to the website and read the full description.

Also, for those who have already taken Better Art by Design and are gluttons for punishment, Advanced Design will be offered for 5 lessons started January9. Lessons will be two weeks apart. Again, sign up via the link to the right or go to the website.

Color Blocks 31 and other stuff

Color Blocks 31

This piece is 10 x 8" and is unmounted. It is square although the image in the above picture is not! $125

Other news: My journal quilt, California Fire did not get accepted in to the show for Houston. Ah well, so it goes. You win some and you lose some.

I need to get images made of my work...so much to haul off to the photographer but so necessary.

Today we received word that a young rising star named Lauren died this past week. My husband coached her in soccer for about 4 years. Lauren had gone on to college, then medical school and just took her boards for anesthesiology and had passed. She died at the age of 30. This young woman was such a bright star, I can only envision a dying star burst....her spirit will stay alive in all those who knew her.

Little by little it gets done

Late yesterday I received notification that I was not moved into the second round for the public arts program to create art for a new sobering center. But! five minutes later I got the message that I was moving on to the second round for the Juvenile Justice Center. This means orientation meeting, and getting my ideas down on paper...I will know more when the paperwork comes next week.

And, procrastinator that I am, I finally got my quilt sent off to Breaking Traditions. I also included a couple of fabric postcards for Lynn to use as incentives. Well, that's out of the way, now I just have to get my image in to SAQA for the auction! Ah, tomorrow....

And, I also got my reservations made to go to New York in November! I will be teaching at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops starting Nov. 2 and ending the 8th. What a fun trip that will be! I hope I don't need heavy duty clothing as this California girl just doesn't have much!

I also got a call today from the Galesburg Art Center asking if I could move my show date from October, 2009 to May,2009. That actually works better for me since I will be having a show at PIQF in October, 2009. Then I don't have to worry about running all around to get everything ready!

Now, if this cold would just go away! I must say, I sure am getting my doses of vitamin C! Today I just went out my back door and picked five fresh, juicy, sweet oranges and stood over the kitchen sink while I wolfed them down...oh, but life is rough!

Oh My goodness how time flies!

Well, am I ever behind...I really haven't dropped off the edge of the earth but have again been slowed down by another cold. I saw the doctor on Monday just to be sure it hadn't moved in to my lungs and his diagnosis was that I have a cold and should be better in 5-7 days (since about 3 days had already passed) and you know what? Today I am beginning to feel better. Still coughing a lot but feeling better!

So much has been happening, I think....my head has been a little groggy.

I went down to Long Beach for the Quilt Festival with Carol and Robin and we drove down 101 which is sure much prettier that I5 which goes straight through the middle of the state and is all about feed lots, farms and ranches and not very interesting. Had a delightful drive and stayed at a Marriott Extended Stay which was nice as they had full breakfasts, and we had a kitchenette, a living room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I ended up sleeping on the hide-a-bed which worked out just fine. We spent three days at the show. I was working each day, doing a two hour stint at the demonstration area for Quilting Arts. I just set myself up and talked to lots of people and showed them how I make my color blocks. I had taken a lot of precut 8x10 pieces of timtex and prefused fabrics and cut out and ironed away. Saw several people from the Art quilt list and got to connect some names and faces. Also saw a couple of past students from the Heart in Hand retreat in Cambria from earlier this year and met one of my on-line students...what fun!

I also got to chat with Larkin Van Horn whose table I would take each time she finished her stint. Jamie Fingal did time with me at her own table and Alisa Burke was also there. Beryl Taylor was there, too as well as Ruth Rae. What a great group of people!

Spoke briefly with Pokey about a couple of ideas for future articles which I will need to flesh out and get to her.

Barbara, from the magazine, took really good care of me while I was there and got my iron and everything else I needed! What a great group of people!

Came home an had an interested email from an advertising company which is interested in having a piece made for a book they are producing for an energy company. Responded and discussed ideas. But right now there are some things going on politically in the region where the company will be working so the advertising company is laying low for a couple of weeks. Ideas are flowing all over for a quilt which will be a background for graphics and text for the article. I really hope this comes through as it is exciting.

While I was in Long Beach, I created 9 of my color blocks so got them finished when I came home. Spent yesterday trying to get all of these silly things figured out...some have sold, some already have numbers and a bunch don't and some even have some pictures I have taken of them so tried to sort them out as to which image went with which number...got thoroughly confused (of course it was because I was coughing so much and peeing in my pants too much to stay focused!) so now I have to go through all the pieces and see what I don't have photographed. Then, on to the website.

Gloria Hansen and Derry have fixed my website and moved it to their server so I won't have outages any more. They have also given me a page for mixed media so now I have to get work up for that.

And, got my submission in for consideration to do work for the San Francisco Libraries with their Public Art program. Am still waiting to hear if I made the first round with Alameda County and their public art program. Those are so time consuming to take care of but I love the idea of doing public art!

My studio will be part of a tour for people going on the bus trip when they attend PIQF...right now it just says two well known artists but I know who we are!

Also, Jane Davila and Elin Waterston have put together another book and I have created a number of pieces that will be in the book, as well as work by a number of other great artists. We are doing a swap so we even get some art work out of this. It was really fun to do. I am not quite sure when the book will be out but their last book was really great!

Gotta go take pictures of new work. I did get a piece finished to enter in Quilt National...haven't done that in years!

I've Been Working So Hard

Down at the studio....everyday day almost except I didn't go on Sunday. But today seems to have been the most productive, or at least it felt that way.

I realized that I have get a journal quilt done...oppssss....I know what I am going to do and have been thinking about it so I think I will do it tomorrow. Saturday I finished up the quilting on California Dreams III which turns out to be 57" x 84" or something or other. Now I have to decided on what fabric I want to use for a binding on this piece. Finished the quilting today on my new Color Blocks that is 48 x 36 and got started on the background of another Color Blocks of the same size. Also got Ashton's baby quilt worked on...did the animals and palm trees and fused them all down...now to find a backing for it and then I can put it together and do the satin stitching around the animals, grass, trees, etc. Then machine quilt it and get it bound with satin blanket binding. I also had found a chicken quilt top I had made four or five years ago while traveling around in our RV so got it put together with the backing and batting and it is ready to quilt.

So, now I need to cut timtex to size for 8 x 10 to take to Long Beach to work on color blocks while I am doing open studios there. I will be showing my working methods on Friday 12:40-2:40; Saturday 2-4; and Sunday 12.40-2:40. This will be a lot of fun but I have to drag my sewing machine down with me. Oh well...that, my tim tex and batiks and away I go! More little color blocks coming up!

Tomorrow I need to make my journal quilt...out comes the upholstery material, the lutradur and what ever else I can think of. But I will get that done.

Then if there is time I will put together Ashton's quilt so I can sew on it. I will also cut out the binding for California Dreams and who knows what else....maybe I can even quilt on the chicken quilt!

So much fun!

Come by and say hi and just chat with me in Long Beach! This, too, will be lots of fun!

Spending Other People's Money

Thursday was such a delightful day! We met again at the Alameda County Arts Commission to pick out the pieces of art work we thought we would work well for the space which was getting them. Three of the members of our committee were from the department that was getting the work. There was one other artist and then a member from the Arts Commission Board, who happens to be the chair of the art department at California State University East Bay. It was fun meeting him.

We walked in to the room which had lots and lots of art work. It was not all for us to look at as another agency was buying $60,000 worth, another agency had some money also, and, we found out our budget had been increased by $1000 so we now had $3500 to spend on art.

We saw all of the pieces that had registered highly on our voting from three weeks ago. What an interesting process. First we viewing them all, kept notes for ourselves (basically voting on them), had lunch and then started deciding which pieces we actually wanted to consider and which we absolutely did not want. That got the pile of 120 pieces down and we eventually settled on five pieces of art from three different artists. I tried mightily to get them to chose two woven pieces which were just stunning. But, the pieces that were chosen were all abstract and very different. The three guys from the agency took the opinions of the other artist and myself and carefully considered what we had to say. We were there to give voice to an artistic sense of worth, not just if we liked something, so issues of color, complexity of design, and composition were more important to us.

We ended up spending $3900 (we pleaded for an extra $400 to allow us to buy one very special abstract piece). What fun that was!

Now I know exactly what will be happening when the two calls for works are reviewed which I responded to. One is for commissions for a Sobering Center to do several pieces (there is a lot of money there) and the arts commission reserves a certain amount for emerging artists (which I was two years ago when they bought 4 pieces of my work), mid-career (which is what I am now) and I've forgotten what they called the last category. That work would be the most expensive and they would probably pick up only a couple of pieces from that last group.

Some More New Work

I have spent the past three days at my studio. What a wonderful place to be! I am able to sit down and reach Alyson's book, think about it, write some notes, do some machine quilting, and work on my Color Blocks. I have started one that is much larger but I am not going to show it until maybe after it is done...if it really turns out then maybe I will enter it in a show.

Anyway, Color Blocks 23:


color Blocks 24:

Color Blocks 25:
Each of these is about 24 x 17"

I have really appreciated all the support from people on my blog about my anon. editor. She did make some good suggestions but it was a short conversation on my part for my blog which I sent to the Quilt Art list and the SAQA yahoo group...not an article for publication in a magazine or professional journal so I wasn't too worried about it.

Besides, I have other things to do. I am also finally getting a baby quilt made for my second grandson, Ashton, who is now 7 months old. I decided I had better before he was too grown up for it!

Tomorrow I am back down at the studio to do some more machine quilting with George, work on the new Color Block and work on Ashton's quilt.

Commercial Break!

I will be teaching at the Hudson River Valley Inn in New York starting Nov 2, 2008. We start with a wine reception on Sunday evening and then have five full days of learning about composition and color and working on individual projects. We still have some space so contact Kim either through the web above or by phoning 1-888-665-0044 to reserve your space at this beautiful, elegant historic country in New York where the food is absolutely awesome!

On Being a Professional Artist-- I Stand Corrected

I came home today and found a copy of my blog about being a professional artist copied and with corrections to my grammar and the content of my sentences. How nice!

I thought, even though the corrections were appropriate, that there was no personal note enclosed, no return address, no signature...just something sent to me at home anonymously. My only thought is that it must have been someone from the SAQA list who felt that my writing was not professional (as professional in the title was circled) and felt it necessary to show me that I was not writing in a professional manner. I figure it must have been someone from SAQA as that group has access to my mailing address. The only clue I have is a post mark of Mamasota, Florida.

I have never claimed to be a complete, all- the -way -there, professional. I would not have minded the corrections at all if that someone had been nice enough to include their name and a note.

Doing the Work

I have just gotten a fun little article done for Fibre and Stitch magazine for the next issue. It is about making your own rubber stamps so I had fun making more and stamping fabric.

My goodness, my last entry has sparked a lot of commentary. I was chastised for not posting the piece directly on the lists (primarily the SAQA list) rather than sending people to my blog to read it. I just felt it was a little long for the list. Oh well.

The responses have been really interesting. There were feelings that I gave short shrift to "artists" but the purpose of the entire thing was to alert some people to the fact that becoming a professional artist, one who is making art their business, takes a lot of time, not just making the art but in doing the marketing. This fact seemed to get lost with a lot of people.

At not time did I intend to suggest that one way is better than the other. Only that in order to become a business, it takes a lot of time and energy.

There were a couple of comments about family members who had their own business and how much dedication and time it took. That is what I am talking about. Anytime you are self-employed, it is all on you.

I also didn't say that I was able to do all of the things I listed all of the time, either! I flake out, I space out, I play too much solitaire when I can't think straight, I am certainly not the picture of a professional artist.

However, I am working at getting more organized in the business sense and getting my responses in to calls for proposals for shows. I have also submitted portfolios for two calls for commissions from the Alameda County Public Arts program and am searching through other calls for those that are appropriate.

I have really enjoyed the thoughtful responses to my comments! Thank you all!

Now, back to critiquing my class work and getting some facings sewn down.

The Professional Artist versus The Artist

I have been thinking alot about my role as a professional artist versus just being an artist. Whether one is an artist or not is brought up on the QuiltArt list regularly. It seems many people get the "professional artist" mixed up with "the artist" parts. Let me explain from my point of view.

An artist is one who creates art. The artist may or may not sell and/or show their work.

A professional artist is one who creates art and is making it a business...meaning constantly seeking out show opportunities, sales opportunities and other ways to make money from their creative endeavors.

Well, let me tell you, there is a really big difference between the two of them!

An artist may decide to just wait for the muse to strike and then create at that time. An artist might decide to not create art for a while although they usually keep something going somewhere. An artist does not spend many hours on the computer seeking show opportunities.

A professional artist keeps a complete catalog of their work, which includes images, descriptions and information about shows and awards involving each piece of work. The professional keeps up a current artist statement. The resume is keep up to date. Calls for shows, galleries, museums are all searched twice weekly and considered for appropriateness. Shows are entered on a regular basis. Packets are sent out regularly to different galleries and museums which include a digital submission of images, a list of those images including pricing, size, etc., a cover letter, that up to date resume and anything else that might be appropriate.

A professional spends a lot of time (probably more that half of a workweek) doing the business part of being an artist. Maintaining accounts, banking, writing notes, contacting different places to arrange for teaching, writing lessons, writing articles, keeping bills straight, shipping and mailing, getting postcards and business cards printed, getting images taken, resizing images multiple times to fit various requirement (why can't everyone use the same size and resolution?), etc. etc., etc.

A professional artist does not work a 40 hour work week but more like 60 hours per week which factors in time to create, time to reflect, time to contemplate, time to renew, time to view others' work, time to read professional magazines....ugh...maybe that workweek is more like 80 hours per week...I do take Sundays off...well, sort of.

Want to become a professional artist? Be prepared to create even when you don't feel like it, doing the business even when you don't feel like, meeting deadlines, fusing with little details, hauling stuff around, cleaning the studio, going to the studio even when you are tired, teaching even when you are really sick, and making nice to people you don't really like.

Want more information about how to do it? Read Alyson Stanfield's new book "I'd rather be in the studio". Her book is filled with lists of things you need to do! Don't just think about it...do it!

Three More

I have just been amazed at the positive comments made on yesterday's post about the work shown. It is so great because this is a very new style of work for me. After teaching my first on line class called Better Art By Design and spending so much time discussing the elements and principles of design and critiquing a lot of work, I just decided I wanted to go back to basics and work in the abstract with shapes and focusing on design principles. It has been so much fun and I am very happy others are enjoying the work.

And this is Color Blocks 19 which is 26.5 x 20":




Here is Color Blocks 21 which is 25.5 x 20":



And here is Color Blocks 22 which is 26.5 x 20.5":

So now I just have to get my images ready for my website and load them up there! What fun!?

Again, many thanks to all of you for such nice comments! You all made my day today!

Some New Work

I thought I would share three of my bigger Color Blocks pieces. I have just finished two more today but didn't get them photographed yet.


so, this is Color Blocks 20 and is 29 x 38 ":Color Blocks 18 which is 26 x 19":
Color Blocks 17 which is 28 x 21":
I am having so much fun with these! The ideas and colors just keep rolling right along.

Not much else happening...I have been spending way too much time on the business end of things and not enough on the creation end. Oh well, that is the way it goes. Being ill for so long has really put me behind. I have to update my catalogue and my website....more computer time!