the Lost Blogger

During Open Studios, I hurt my back between the weekends. This then turned in to sciatica which put me into the recliner for two weeks, including sleeping. I managed to get about 5 hours or sleep a night so was not doing very well.

I was getting better and then I decided it was time to pull some weeds in the front yard. Wrong thing to do. The back acted up again. Another week in the recliner. Not fun.

Mt Shasta

We took out the RV and headed off to join our daughter and her family at Siskiyou Lake near Mt.Shasta in northern California. They had been camping in their tent trailer for a week when we joined them.

Ashton with a very dirty face

I spent a lot of time on the couch which was fine because I got to listen to music while everyone else was out watching the parade, fishing, etc. I enjoyed the down time and did a lot of observation of the light on the manzanita outside the motorhome. I even did some sketching.

Jacob with his dad and hisfish

The Sacramento River in the mountains
Another view

I am finally back in the studio and doing some different work. It feels good to be there.

George and I rekindle our love affair

I started dong some doodling on plain which fabric after finishing several other pieces. It has turned in to a roots series.

Roots
Roots detail
New untitledwork
Another new piece untitled

Well, I have more to share but it is time to go to bed. I promise I will put up more images tomorrow.

Open Studios are over for the year

Last week I put together a 40 x 40 inch quilt so I would have something to do during this past weekend of open studios.

It is made with dyed fabrics and the red actually goes from a blue red to an orange red. I just liked this configuration of fabrics. Wed. I started sewing the circles using a variegated thread which goes from red to orange and made circles forever! Then, yesterday, when I came in for open studios I sat down and quilted the rest of the day, stopping when people came in. By doing the quilting it gave people a chance to see how it all works and also the noise of the machine brought them in from Donna's studio. But most importantly, I had it all done with really intensive quilting by the end of the day and time just flew by yesterday.

The upper image shows the circles being done. The bottom image shows how I quilted around two of the round pieces.
I also used two different blue threads, one that went from dark blue to a light blue and one that went from a medium blue to a dark blue. I mapped out areas and did a lot of tight stitching.

It's a little hard to see in these snap shots but I am quite happy with it.

It has been a good two weekends. My only problem happened when I came home Wed. from the studio and decided to continue being industrious and pulled weeds. That wasn't the only thing I pulled...my lower back started to really hurt. That night I tried to sleep in two different beds and ended up on the recliner where I still continue to sleep. During open studios this weekend I have had a bag on ice down the back of my pants...thank goodness it never leaked! Now the pain has moved into my right leg. I can not lie down and I can barely walk. And I have a very busy week coming up!

Tomorrow after lunch with some friends, it is down to the studio to paint the rest of the fabric for the county commission. Then I need to pack up all the art work that I had down there and bring it home. I think, altogether, I sold seven items during the two weeks. Not too bad.

People have been very generous and have been purchasing my art work during my sale for the trip to Uganda. I still have to figure out how much I have made but it is about 2/3 of the money I need...it covers the airfare plus some of the other expenses. This is such a big help!

This week we sign papers for refinancing our house and taking some money out so we can actually start a building project that we have been talking about for four years. We will be adding a second garage to the house which will hold another car and our motorhome. Upstairs will be a studio that will be about 45' long by 15' wide. I have the plans and have been placing little squares everywhere but I won't get excited until we actually break ground and I can see it happening.

I will keep the studio in the main part of the house as there is no way I can fit everything in to the new studio. However, I will have a commercial kitchen sink and a large table and area for dyeing fabrics! WOW! It will also have an outside entryway so if I want to participate in open studios from my area here at home, I can do so without having people go through the house.

Friday I start my shots for Uganda. And there are meetings three nights this week with church and my father has a doctor's appoint and I have a dentist appointment. Nothing like a busy week. And I really need to make headway on this last quilt so I can do the paper work and deliver them next week and put in an invoice for the remaining money. I also need to start shipping quilts out to people who have bought them.

Whew...I am tired already but that is probably because I have sort of slept in the recliner for three nights and have spent two whole days at the studio talking to people. Since I work alone, it seems to take a lot out of me to be social all day! Oh well, that is how it goes!

Trip to Uganda

I am very excited to announce that I will be traveling with four teenaged young women, our priest and one of the mothers on a trip of a lifetime to visit an AIDS orphanage that we help support in Uganda.

Sunrise House takes in children whose parents are no longer able to care for them as they have died or are very ill. Our Church, All Saints Episcopal church in San Leandro, CA has been providing a monthly payment to help pay for uniforms for school, etc. The Lions club also provides a great deal of support.

The young women going on this trip decided that they wanted to do more hands on work with Sunrise House rather than just raising money, and also collecting shoes to be sent there. They have been planning this trip for almost a year and time is getting closer. Our priest just recently asked if I could go with them as he feels I can give the kids, ours and theirs, support in creating some art projects that both groups of kids can enjoy.

It will cost me about $3500 for all of my expenses.

I have decided to do a sale of art work to help me get there...20% off and you can make the payment to All Saints Episcopal Church and have a write off for IRS to boot.

Just let me know if you are interested in anything and we can take it from there. We leave the first week of August and will return two weeks later.

Any help is very m uch appreciated.

First Full Day of Open Studios

I am having a wonderful time talking to everyone who has come my way. Several friends of Donna's, my studio mate, have been very generous in their complements to me about my art. What is really nice is that these are people who go and look at art alot. In addition I have met several more people from the building...lots of younger people with assorted holes in their heads, fun hair colors and a great deal of interest in art. They are all fun to talk to and I have enjoyed my day even though it has been slow sometimes. But, I have gotten several pieces sewn onto their painted canvav, have gotten several sleeves sewn on to quilts and gotten them hung up and talked a bunch.

The image above shows the length of my studio from near the front. Just to the left of where I took the picture, George resides handsomely and awes everyone who sees him.


This is what my work table looks like right now with art work on it. You can see the end of the table in the rear which is the point from which I took the first picture. This table is 4 x 8' and stands at waist height so I use it all the time for layout, cutting and ironing. It is wonderful and I can't live without it.

Here you can see the table head on and just catch a glimpse of George sitting to the left of the table.
Further down the studio, right next to the big table are two of my shelving units that hold all sorts of paint and supplies, soy wax, tools, and stamping thingies. The table is holding art work.

From that table on the left front you can see down to the very back of my studio which used to be occupied by someone else who is fortunately left so I get all the space. On the right are shelving units my husband and son-in-law made with wood that was there, it will not fall down as it is made with 4 x 4" lumber. It holds bins of fabric of all types but I still have a lot at home in my studio there. In the very back you can see some rolls of white fabric and black fabric. I moved my chair to the back next to my bookcase and got a cheapo floor lamp and assembled it so I can plop myself down, take a break and read and/or look at books. All I need now is a footstool but I think one of the bins will fit that purpose just right.

On the right wall you can see my table where I do some painting and also my collages.

Coming back toward the front from that table is a shelving unit with fabric paints, sponges, plastic knives for digging out paint (sounds almost like an operating room, especially since I have several boxes of examination gloves sitting on top!), various grouting tools for monoprinting, assorted texture tools, my Createx paints, my printing paints, my dyes and auxiliries, and stuff. You can also see the food table sitting in front of a sort of closet space that I put a sheet curtain over to help cover up some of the junk, like plastic garbage bags, pieces of batting, etc.
And, coming back toward the front on the righ tis my design wall which is 8 x 8", some collages and my little bulletin board. I forgot to take pictures of the fourth wall and George and my thread drawers in all their splendor so I guess I will have to do that tomorrow.

We have had a slow but steady stream of people coming through. I am finally getting people who have come as a result of receiving my post card announcing open studios so I know that some people have responded!

See ya all tomorrow!

Reception

Tonight my studio mate and I had a reception in our studios. I had not been able to get invitations out for this night although I did get postcards out for the two week ends of Open Studios.

So, I hung on to the kimono tails of Donna Fenstermaker, a painter and print maker. She had a number of her collectors come and also a number of other artists who are friends. One of her collectors bought three of my pieces, each small, but together they made enough to cover my food expenses for the next two weeks. One more sale such as this and I will have my other expenses covered.

If was fun, and I really enjoyed meeting a number of different artists. They were fascinated with my work and gave me some very supportive comments. It is very different hanging out with the art world rather than the quilt world...I am not sure how to describe the differences but I need to think about this.

First thing in the morning I need to put a sleeve on one of the small pieces I sold. I have quite a few collages and my "In the Woods" series has received a lot of compliments. Also my California Dreaming is hanging up and it seems to wow people...they also enjoy learning about the processes I go through to create my work. And they are not there to learn how to do it for themselves but to appreciate the art work.

Tomorrow I promise I will have pictures. My studio is so nice and orderly, spacious and clean. On Monday I need to start doing some work so two of the tables need to be cleared off, the design wall turned back into a design wall and not a gallery wall and get cracking on painting some fabric for my final commission piece.

Long time

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Three weeks ago I was busy providing child care for my two grandsons, along with my husband...and then the following week the babysitter's son was sick so this went into the second week. And then I was very behind in just about everything and all this past week I have been really busy creating Pentecost paraments for church. I dyed yards and yards of silk into multicolored red fabric...it is really not pink but the way the flash took the picture makes it look like that. Our professional photographer took a really nice picture with available lighting and it looks great, it also shows our priest with the stole on and the veil that goes with it. I was pleased with it although there were a few problems that I need to corrent but since it is up for only one day, it can wait!

I got tons of work shipped off to Galesburg and they sent me pictures of the opening and my work looks very nice hung in the gallery. You can go here to see the pictures on their website.

And then I have been working hard trying to get postcards done for Open Studios which are this weekend and next. Nothing has been easy for me lately...it always seems to be that way when time is tight!

I spent a lot of time doing hand stitching on the long banners for Pentecost. That time was used for reflection on a number of things, some of which were about the Holy Spirit, which Pentecost is all about, but other thoughts were about my art. I have been working with collage type work for almost a year, both with commercial fabric and also with my silk screened fabric. The "In the Woods" series has been very busy and I am feeling the need for simplicity. So my thoughts are returning to things like my red boxes and other relatively simple work, just working with design elements, especially lines.

I have one last piece to finish for the Alameda County Arts Commission and after open studios this weekend I should be able to start painting the fabric for the piece, another landscape. Once that is done I can do the paper work, turn in the work and submit an invoice! Whee...I have enjoyed this and have not felt rushed but I have had so many deadlines lately that I am looking forward to getting rid of another one.

I had an ephipany...I used to tell people I had retired but now I realized I never did retire, I just changed careers. I am now working on a career that I really want to have and am working toward making it successful, but I am still trying to decide just what success will look like. I do know that I would like to get my work in several more galleries that sell my work periodically so I can just keep doing the work and shipping it off to them.

The hardest part about this career is the business side of it. I know well the many things I need to do to market my art but just seem to run out of energy. One thing I must do is to be more consistent with this blog and say something interesting so people will want to come by! And especially show art work!

I watch younger artists doing all the right things and I applaude them for their hard work. I do put in a lot of hours on my work and the business side. I have found, tho' that sometimes doing the public art seems to take so much time...going to meetings, filling out paperwork, etc but it is a good thing to get the art work out and about.

So, rev up the engines and get going!

Galesburg Civic Art Center

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.....

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

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...”

East Bay Heritage Quilters

This past Saturday I taught beginning design to a great group of women from East Bay Heritage Quilters, a group from the Berkeley area in the San Francisco Bay Area. What a great group of people, ready to work hard...I had them moaning for relief!...well, not really but they were wonderful about doing all the exercises I gave them in a very limited period of time. We spent the last hour of the day with me doing critiques on the last three exercises that they had done. What a great time and so many told me that the class had been so helpful to them...

I went back on Monday and taught a day on color. Some people were a little reluctant to donate their fabric strips to the pile. Everyone layed their strips out in the color ways and when everyone was finished getting them on to the table, I walked over and mixed them all up. I had four groups at tables so would have them work together for some of the exercises, and then alone for some. Their first task was to come up with the primaries and secondaries in pure hues...a little difficult but they got it done. A great lesson in relativity!

Had dinner that evening with the program co-chairs and then off to the meeting where I did my presentation. I had been able to get a slide presentation done in short order on my new Mac using Keynote which was so much easier than doing it previously on Power Point. Oh,how happy I am to be back to Mac!

The entire group was very generous with their compliments! I felt like I was on the top of the world...very tired but very happy.

Back down to earth yesterday taking my dad out for pre-op appointments for his cataract surgery next week. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get down to the studio for a while! I want to do some more painting as I figure out where I want to do next with my work...all this is a way to procrastinate about pulling together the things I want to ship to Galesburg for my show which is in only three weeks! Yikes! Can't procrastinate too long!

New Work

I got out my tubes of acrylic paints and started playing on a couple of canvases. It was fun to work with paint again, not painting fabric but working toward a finished piece.
I did this because I have been working really hard getting other pieces finished...quilts...for the county commission and for my show in May.

this is another painting...still thinking about these

So I have been quilting and finishing off three larger "In the Woods" series.
And another one
and another one
Before I left for Florida I did this silk piece:
Tuesday I had an appointment with the Alameda Arts Commission to show them the first finished piece on the commission. They really liked it. I also took the next piece in that I had just started and had only gotten the applique stitched down.
I have finished the quilting, squared it up, and am ready to put a facing on it.

I have also been really busy with my on line class and will be teaching this Saturday and the next Monday with the East Bay Heritage Quilters in Albany, CA. I will be doing a lecture at their guild meeting on Monday night...it is open to anyone and is in the evening.

Quilting with Aliens

While I was in Florida, I met a delightful young woman who was fairly new to quilting and wanted to get in to doing art quilting. She came to New Smyrna Beach that Saturday to take my one day Better Art by Design class. She was there for the weekend and several of us went out together a couple of times. Lisa-Marie Sanders was an absolute delight.

But, more interestingly, she has written a little book about "Quilting with Aliens", those who are quilters who speak a different language. Her entry into the quilting world was through her mother-in-law who has become her best friend. This is a delightful book and, since its price is very reasonable, I suggest you order one for yourself and enjoy some good laughs at our quilting world. And then order a couple more so that you have them on hand to give away to another quilter for their birthday or use as a hostess gift.

You can order this book through her website www.quiltingwithaliens.com You can also read an excerpt from the book at the website.

Enjoy this treat!

Collage Mania is Coming

It's getting closer! Collage mania will soon be here! When the preview opens, I peruse the wonderful art work and pick out all the pieces I would like. Usually it ends up being about 10 pieces or so...this year may be harder as there are so many great ones in the group!

Then, I create a draft email and list all the pieces I want. Last year immediately upon the time to submit bids, I sent mine in and was able to get three of the ones I had asked for and was offered the opportunity to take another artist's work that I had wanted but not the piece I had first wanted so I really made out with four new pieces of art! Oops....I just told you my secret. I had been away from home teaching and I did not want to miss out on this opportunity.

So you don't get left out you can get all the information.


Collage Mania 2009
Collage Mania opens Tuesday May 5, 2009 with 383 collages donated by 161
artists. Preview of all the collages begins April 29.

100% of the proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society through
Fiberart For A Cause. For all the details on how Collage Mania works and
how you can purchase an original, one-of-a-kind collage:

http://www.virginia spiegel.com/ CollageMania2009 .html


I have ten pieces donated which I have shown previously but will dig up again to show them to you so you can keep your eyes out for them!

Support the American Cancer Society through Collage Mania.

Florida some more and current news

Before I return to Florida and then discuss some new work, I wanted to show you a picture of our feeders in our back yard. In the late fall flocks of gold finches come swarming in on their migration. They come down from the Sierra and have already started going green from their breeding bright yellow. We have a lot who hang out with us as I put out a lot of Niger thistle see for them which is their all time favorite food. Usually, as their plumage starts to turn bright yellow, they migrate on so we seldom see them in their resplendent colors. Here you see them just before I left for Florida just turning yellow.


When I returned home, I found that almost all the finches had flown off. We have two pair that seem to be hanging around. And we finally get to see the male in all his glory along with his mate.


I spent an entire day at the wildlife refuge at Merritt Island while I was in Florida. Following are a few of the pictures I took while there...I am not sure what kind of bird this is, I haven't had time to look it up yet...just one of many
and of course, a snowy egret
and an egret
an alligator I almost didn't see in the dark pond where I was about ten feet away...got two pictures and then backed up quickly!

and palmetto bark which will probably end up in some art about Florida...like in the woods Florida!
trees which help make up the woods
This is my dye studio at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. I am on a side porch of the painting studio. Behind the building to the left are two more tables which everyone used for mixing dyes, discharging, etc. By being on the side I could stay out of everyone's way. You see the table will layers of plastic...I would put a piece of plastic down, lay down a soda ash soaked piece of cotton or silk, add the concentrated dyes, cover with another piece of plastic and repeat the process until I have about 10-12 yards of fabric being dyed.
I was working on dyeing some fabric to use in my commission pieces for the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center, one of which needs to be finished shortly after I return home. You can see the sketch that was given the ok to do for a piece that is 36" x50" along with a pile of some of the fabrics. I dyed cotton, silk habotai, charmuse, and silk chiffon. Beautiful colors! Deep, rich, intense.

And here is the final pile of fabrics ready to be packed up into my suitcase for the trip home. My suitcase only weighed 16 pounds over the limit, both coming and going. I had figured that using up the dye and auxiliary chemicals would have reduced the weight...but I guess I found more things to put in there. In hindsight, it would have been better to ship all my stuff the ACA and just carry on a bag of my clothing since Delta now charges for just checking one bag...I would have saved me a ton on money...now I know better!

This is the image in the sketchbook, the proceeding page has images of two other pieces that are part of the commission.

Once I got home it was time to get to work. This piece uses dyed fabrics I did in Florida plus some painted fabrics. This is before quilting. It is now quilted, trimmed, has a facing which I am half way done hand sewing.
I also did a couple of drapes for my church so the two weeks before Easter have been really busy. My Better Art by Design class started up a week ago so I spent today doing critiques of work from the first lesson. Several of this class's students are from other countries, three from Switzerland...I don't think there will be anyone for me to teach when I finally get there next year!

I am also finishing up three larger pieces from In the Woods for my show in May in Galesburg. They have a show right now, a juried art show called Galex and one of my pieces was accepted and is the only fiber piece in the show.

Florida continued

We have had such wonderful weather here. Not too hot although today was warmer than previously.

I promised you pictures so here are a few. You can see the two tables that I do my staging on and then I move outside to another table. I have sheets of plastic which I lay down and then put a piece of soda ash soaked fabric, do my thing to it, cover it with a sheet of plastic and the do another piece of fabric.

I have been screening some of the fabrics and will take some pictures of them and show you tomorrow. I am really enjoying myself although, since I am so used to working by myself, I find I am getting more tired with all the people around. I guess I must seem unsocial.

I have gotten just about all the fabric done for my Alameda County commissions and am now playing around with different things Just enjoying myself. Tonight I will rinse out a batch of fabric and then take it to the washing machine for a good wash.

Food has been outstanding. Last night we had pork loin, fresh pineapple casserole, and a wonderful rice and black bean dish. Chef Sue has said I can have the recipes if I email her...now I just have to remember to email.

I have included some pictures of the high windows in the painting studio where I have been working. Out on the porch is it quiet and people walking on the boardwalk can see me but since I have my ear phones on I really don't notice them.

Cookies each day after lunch, wonderful breakfasts and great lunches but the best of all are the dinners.

In Florida

Well, here I am in Florida. I left home at 4:30 am on Friday and arrived at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida Friday early evening. After I got settle in in my little room I went out for dinner and had great scallops and shrimp and then headed back to sleep. On Saturaday I got myself located, met up with someone new, Patrica, went out to breakfast at Mom's and spent the remainder of the day in Valerie Goodwin's class on map making. What a fascinating thing to do and it has put in perspective for me my love of maps which comes from traveling all around and using maps to get around. I didn't bring the supplies necessary to make one during the class but took in all the information.. All of us who were here on Saturday went over for a wonderful dinner at Peggy's house.

On Sunday I did a full day of teaching to twenty students the one day rush class on design. So far we don't have enough students signed up for the color class for next Sunday, if we get more sign ups then we will have the class. I do hope so as it is a good class.

People have been arriving during the weekend. Pamela Allen and Rosemary Claus-Gray have arrived as well as Jacque Davis who is helping to provide some supplies for me to work with my dyeing.

Finally we were able to get set up in the studio and I went right to work. I have gotten ten pieces dye painted and tomorrow I will wash them out to see if I used enough dye to make it worth my while. I have silk screens and will be screening, etc. The nice thing about dyeing is that if it doesn't come out right the first time I can do it again.

We are in a fascinating area. I haven't had much time to go looking around...Saturday I had to make a quick trip to Wal Mart and the grocercy store as no meals were being served over the weekend. I have had a nice time getting together with various people to go out for dinner and am making sure I get seafood every night,

Tonight Chef Sue was here and fixed a delicious dinner for us...that is, after the oven caught fire!

The server has been down here so I haven't been able to get on the internet. Will start taking pictures tomorrow. The "woods" here are very different...palmetto trees, scrub oak and some sort of pine tree. What a combination! I can sit at my desk in my room and look right outside at the woods and watch the lizards running around. They flash their necks as it is mating season, jump from branch to branch and chase each other around. Some are a beautiful green and some are grey...sorry, don't know what kind they are.

So, I promise some pictures tomorrow!

ON LINE CLASS COMING UP

The Better Art by Design class for beginners will be coming up again, starting on April 6 and lasts for six weeks.

Sign up now either via this blog on the side bar or at my website:  www.lizbergartquilts.com

Update

It is so hard for me to realize that it has been two weeks since I have been here. Life and art just seem to get in the way.

Well, I do have a few excuses!

This past week we have had babysitting duties for Ashton on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. My husband and I split the day up which worked out pretty well. We will also take care of both boys on Monday, all of this due to the babysitting being on vacation. But it does give us nice time with the boys and I have really enjoyed having alone time with Ashton. When Jacob was a baby I spent a lot of time with him as my daughter developed gall bladder problems and then pancreatitis after he was born so I was really helping out. She had also had an emergency C section to recovery took a little while. Plus, Jacob was born with cataracts and needed to have eye surgery at 4 weeks. Ashton and his birth and mother's recovery was no problem so I didn't seem to be over there as much, unless I was giving Jacob one-on-one time.

But, as I look at this now, it really wasn't that much time so where did my time go?

A week ago I was busy painting and printing fabrics. Then it has gotten cold so it is harder for me to be at the studio. I did put together three larger quilts which I am in the process of quilting on George but again, it has been cold down there. When my toes are cold and my nose begins to drip, I know I will sit in the car when I leave with the heater running full blast. Please understand that I know cold is relative...a day of 56 degrees really isn't cold if you live in the northeast or the central states but here in the bay area it is cold. And my studio at 60 degrees is fine if I am moving around a lot but working with cold water isn't so much fun either. We did have several days of nice weather in the mid 60's which was very nice.

Oh yeah, another time taker...I just bought a MacBookPro on Monday so have spent most of my free time getting used to it, searching for genealogy software, corresponding with different people about it, downloading software, etc. Besides, everything looks so nice on this beautiful glass screen and the keys are backlit which will make it nice to use while I am watching TV (I have already tried it!) so I guess that is where my time has gone.

But, I finally got an ok for the designs for the commission for Alameda County. I have to have one done in April so they can see my progress...will be dyeing fabric for them when I go to Floriday on Friday.

I have also been busy reading a number of really good books. I finished Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet Streets, the new Masie Dobbs mystery, The Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and one other book about France during WWII. It is interesting that Hotel is writting about WWII set in Seattle, The Literary society is written about WWII in Guernsey, UK, the Masie Dobbs takes place in England after WWI and as Hitler is rattling his sabres. All very well written and very good stories.

Oh yeah, and I have been reading professional books as well: How to Grow as an Artist; Finding Your Visual Voice; and another one about making authentic art. Haven't gotten through them yet but pick them up and read for a while and so it goes. Finding your Visual Voice has a lot of exercises in them to do. There is also information from different artists with their thoughts on how they do their work, etc. Lots of great tips and advice such as "painting what fascinates you". Now, that isn't terribly deep or profound, but we do have to take time out sometimes to remember it. It is especially good for me as I like to go off on tangents for a while and do whole series until I am not interested any more. The book also discusses sources of inspiration, different creative processes, and how work has changed over time.

So, now I am getting under the gun. I have a tutoring time this afternoon at Apple and I have a list of questions for them now that I have been using this for the past week, fabric and dyes and stuff to get together for a trip to Florida, fabric to paint, three quilts to finish quilting, three new quilts to get started on (after I come home with the fabric to do them) and more work to photograph and get ready for my May show in Illinois.

I had a piece selected for the Galex show at the Galesburg Civic Art Center in Galesburg, Il. That show has opened this coming week. You can see the work at their website. It is an art show, not a quilt or fiber show. It is also where I will have my solo show in May which is also listed on their events page.

In April I will be doing two workshops and a lecture with the East Bay Heritage Quilters in Berkeley. The lecture is actually in Albany. They have opened the meeting so visitors can come for free this time so if you are in the area on April 27 at 7pm and would like to attend, just go to their website to get all the information. You can also check to see if the classes are available also...of course, this is in California.

On Friday I fly out to Florida to go to Focus on Fiber at the Atlantic Center for the Arts at New Smyrna Beach. I will be with a number of of fiber people including a group of rug hookers. Lots of stuff going on and I will stay there at the Harrison House. What fun! My friends, Pamela Allen, Rosemary Claus-Gray and many other great people will be there. Valerie Goodwin will also be there and will teach a class on Saturday and I will teach a class on Sunday and then another one the following Saturday.

And out of this has come an invitation to teach for a week long retreat at the Atlantic Center for the Arts inb New Smyrna Beach which will be Sept 21-25. It will be a week long class on Better Art By Design. If you are interested, contact Mary McBride at mrsgorgon@gmail.com. It will be so much fun!

Thank you, LoieJ

LoieJ wrote the following comment and I thought I would respond:

"I love your work posted here. Also the ones in QA. I don't know enough about "analyzing art" to say exactly why it appeals to  me so much, because I often don't like collage type art. There is something both soothing and contrasting about the elements. Is there something that makes collage work universally? Or is that just a personal thing:"

Thank you LoieJ, for taking the time to drop a note! I am glad you like my work, it has been a lot of fun for me.

The series, In the Woods, came about becausr I frequently take a lot of pictures of trees, especially their tops. When I spent a week up at our cabin without any art to work on, I spent a lot of time just looking at branches and the leaves still hanging on, the pine and fir threes and just the calmness of it all.

When I came home I began this series, first creating screens for printing and then painting fabric. Once I had a bunch of fabric together, I added fusing and then cut out fabric working on 5 x 7 pieces. It is easy for me to work in that size as since the fabric has a lot of texture to it, I don't need big pieces.  Just a few well placed elements seem to make it work.

But the series itself seems calming to me, as you mention.  Al the images are trees and branches and the colors all relate to the earth and woods, and granite which we have a little of but a lot more up at a higher elevation. So, I think that is why is comes together...I really haven't given it much thought before.

The pieces in Quilting Arts were so different as the patterns created were pretty  busy.  Working on these, I found that I needed to follow the same rules of traditional quilting by varying the size of the patterns, the textures, etc. And not too much or it gets overwhelming.

I notice a difference between the new "in the woods" pieces which I thought were going to be a continuation of my California Dreams series but they have become something different. I am using all fabric that has been screened in the woods series whereas with the California Dreams series there is a lot of just dyed fabric with screening over different pieces.

Thank you for asking about this as it has made me stop to think about it.

If you google collage you will find numerous different artists and numerous different ways of doing it. Some I find very appealing and some not so...but this is what makes art so interesting, there is something for everyone.

I think, that in creating art quilts, I have been using a collage method for some time. Certainly using pre-fused fabric lends itself to this. It is also fun to play with. I can work intuitively and try different things while I work.  And the mind is always asking "what if?"

I would just like to make one comment on working intuitively.  I feel that one reaches that point or capability when the knowledge about composition has really seeped in.  Some people seem to absorb it from the air, others need to study it.  I do find that taking the time to write about work that you like and why you like it helps us all to sharpen those skills.