Uganda, continued

We did a lot of work at Sunrise House, and learned a lot also. We bought all of the tools and equipment that we used and left all with Sunrise. Sunrise takes in mostly secondary children who are orphaned due to AIDS and most have some family around so they can spend the holidays with them but the families are unable to completely care for them.
One of the rooms was burned in October and we were able to completely clean it, sand the walls down, hire a carpenter to pull out the burned ceiling and replace the ceiling. Then it was repainted. Below are a few of the Sunrise boys working on the cleaning.

Everywhere we went there were children who came out to greet us and would just hang around. These are some of the children from the neighborhood.
In the picture below, our girls and girls from Sunrise were busy painting. At times there were so many people in the room to paint that it was difficult for our girls to adjust to the idea that the efficiency was not what mattered but working together as a group was. People are always helping each other here.
The last two days of our trip were spent at Queen Elizabeth National Park. We went on a boat tour to see the water and animals and also went by this small fishing village. They are getting the boats ready to take out. Two men will go out in each boat int he afternoon, sleep on the boat and start fishing the next morning.
The picture below is not an uncommon sight.
Small trucks, large trucks, laden down with produce to take to market with lots of people piled on top. I was always surprised that people didn't fall off but then the traffic doesn't move very fast either.

We accomplished a lot at Sunrise House. We met James, the manager, whom we had only been in touch with by phone and email. We learned that the long gaps between emails were due to the fact that he had to go in to town to use an internet cafe to get his email and to respond. And he would only go every three days or so. When we left, we left extra money and he was able to purchase a mobile modem and buy air time so he could use his computer where ever he was.
We took craft supplies, three lap top computers, soccer balls and a host of other things. We purchased the materials to finish the front the front of the building, which had remained only partially done. We left enough paint to paint the remainder of the rooms. We feed the orphanage lunch three times while we were there. We met the kids and made personal relationships with them. We met the staff and became friends with them. We saw with our own eyes what was needed and discussed various ways to work to sustainability.

I started both an art project and a sewing project. We purchased fabric to make small patch work table toppers or placemats which they can sell at the local African crafts stores in town. We brought back lots of paper beaded necklaces to sell here and send the money back. I left the kids with a lot of my personal art supplies so they could continue with their painting and I brought back lots of the pictures they did so I could use them to make cards to sell.

But most of all, I brought back visions of the future for a very poor country that is struggling to pull itself into the modern age with little infrastructure outside of the big cities. I also left with a lot of very personal experiences that will stay with me for ever. More on all of this later.

Reflecting back

I spent time on the airplane today reflecting back on my past two weeks. I had tried to write in my journal regularly, had done a lot of writing on the computer, but it seems that it just didn't happen the way I thought it should.

So, today I starting putting down my observations on various subjects such as education, infrastructure such as water, power, waste management, etc and have pages going on with my thoughts. I plan to print out some of my pictures to illustrate what I am talking about.

But, for now, I am going to start sharing pictures from the trip.

This is a picture which includes Fr. Rob, Rachelle, Briana, Alicia, and Laura, in front of the hotel where we stayed for the first two nights in Kampala. Kampala is the capital of Uganda and is the largest city there. It teems with life, smells, noises, sights, and textures.


Taxis operate in a different way from what we are used to in Uganda. These vans are everywhere and are licensed to seat 14 although we had 21 in ours one day. To see one filled with people and goods that they are transporting hanging out the back end is quite a site. The taxis dart in and out. The driver is on the right side since they drive on the left. Just behind the front passenger seat is the person who rounds up fares. People check to see which taxi is going where and if where they want to go is on the way, they negotiate their price and hop on. They actually become mini buses and are a very reasonable way of getting around.

Much cheaper transportation is on a boda boda, or motocycle. These small engine machines have a cushion on the back and will take one passenger and sometimes two to where ever they want to go. They are also used for transporting goods, like something you might have ordered. I have seen them with women sitting neatly on the back with their legs on one side, nicely dressed, keeping balanced, while the boda boda winds its way through tight traffic.

I saw some traffic lights but it didn't seem like anyone paid attention to them. Roundabouts are far more hazzardous in Uganda than in England. People just cram on in. Large buses, taxis, private cars, boda bodas, bicycles which are similarly for hire, and people on foot. Pedestrians absolutely do not have the right of way.

The taxis maneauer in and out of the traffic, with the driver watching one side while his fare taker watches the other side. Many times people, bus, taxi and boda boda all come within a couple of inches of each other. At first this was really frightening but as we left we realized it was just the way it was. Only sometimes did we shut our eyes to what we thought might be a terrible accident which didn't happen.

On the drive to Fort Portal from Kampala, we stopped at this outdoor market. Under the tent are lots of people roasting things like bananas, chicken on sticks, goat on sticks, etc. The bus (another form of transportation) will pull up and the sellers run to the bus with their baskets of wares including bottled water, drinks and the roasted food. People lean out of the bus windows to buy what they want.

Sunrise House now has a guest house and we were the first to use it. We purchased the beds, linens, some kitchen supplies, etc to help get things together for use....especially so we could sleep there.
This is a picture looking out from the front yard through the garden and across the way to the hill which has homes and more small farms.

The house is surrounded by banana trees. We had banana at least three different ways every day. My husband had bananas here at home waiting for me but I am passing on them for a little while. When the banana stalk is harvested, the leaves and trunk are cut down, chopped up, and left in the field to return to the ground. New sprouts come up and continue growing.

Shops abound in Fort Portal. Many of the shops are very small, all open on to the street and business will flow in to the street also.

We were the talk of the neighborhood...everyone would watch the white people coming and going, but most of all the children. They would initially creep around the house to look at us and we would wave and they became bolder. We became good friends with many of the neighbor hood children through the use of my art supplies and paper. They would draw for an hour on the front porch.

Sometimes the children would call out "amerika" "amerika" to try to get the girls to come outside. We also had a small soccer ball which was used a lot at the house.

The girls received lessons in the proper way to wash clothes. They washed, and rinsed, and through they were done until Grace, the 20 year old who was cooking for us, told them they needed to do it again...two times in all for the clothes to get clean. Clothes would be layed over a line or placed on the grass or on bushes to dry.

So much is done with manual labor. No washing machines.

The kitchen has an electric stove and a stainless steel sink with small drain area and no other furniture. Grace would squat down to mix things in the pots on the floor. There was a small pantry that had a bottom cupboard only and that is where we kept the food and dishes.

We had cereal such as corn flakes and rice krispies for breakfast and Grace would go to the store each day to buy food for our dinner. She ate with us and would explain what she had made. We ate traditional Ugandan food. We could have, however, used a few cuts of meat that had more meat than bone on them but did just fine.

Amsterdam again

Well, my thoughts about keeping this going the entire time went up into nothing as we have not had internet access while in Africa. I did briefly at the hotel in Kampala but not since we left there.

Right now I am at the Amsterdam Airport waiting for our flight back to SFO. It is a non stop flight lasting about 11.5 hours, after taking 13 hours to get from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Entebe for the airport. We had a three hour wait in the airport which was extremely hot and humid. Now we are sitting in Amsterdam again waiting after finishing a nine hour flight. We have a five hour lay over and arrive home on Saturday Afternoon...right now I have no idea what day it is...

I have taken about 1600 photos, have many notes, lots of things I will never take for granted again, and tons of emotions, impressions, thoughts, etc to process. On Sunday afternoon I am going to Asilomar to spend a week with a group of quilting ladies and will catch up on so much.

I will be sharing regularily to get everthing caught up...there is so very much to share.

See you all tomorrow, many pictures to come!

Fort Portal

A long adventure yesterday as we left Kampala, drove in our 14 seat bu (which was a taxi) crammed full of nine people plus a driver and many pounds of luggage. We ad to make the one hour drive back to the airport to retrieve two bags, one that didn't make the connection and one that got left behind.

Then waiting at the airport for another hour and then back to Kampala and finally on the way to Fort Portal. It was a beautiful drive up into the mountains, passing many interesting things.

I am on a computer at the internet cafe at the hostle we are staying at. The connection is very slow and I am having trouble with the touch on the keyboard so it is taking me a long time to type a I have to make a lot of connections.

There is so much to share but my time is very short so I just wanted everyone to know we arrived at Fort Portal safe and sound and after breakfast we will be going to Sunrise House.

Will write later and hopefully load some pictures.

More than Half the way around the world

Doug had to at the church by 5:20am and I was surprised to see people already standing in the parking lot but they were not the people who were going on the trip. We had a wonderful contingent from the church there to send us off and pray with us before we left. We also had three members from the San Leandro Lions Club there to send us off. A couple of the girls had done a presentation at the Lions Club and they generously donated $250 toward our trip. They had made contact with the Lions Club in Kampala and also Fort Portal where we will end up.

My goodness, what a difference there is. Fascinating, unusual, interesting, confusing differences.

Of course, spending about 28 hours in travel made the first impression a little different.

We spent that long waiting at SFO, traveling to MPLS, waiting briefly there, flying to Amsterdam, waiting there for six hours and then flying almost nine hours to Entebe in Uganda.

Our seats tended to be in the very back of the plane which meant that it took us a while to get on and get settled but took us even longer to deplane because everyone in front of us left first. And when we arrived at the airport in Entebe, we waited in line in the hot, humid airport to go through immigration and then we had to deal with only one lost piece of luggage but that took an hour. A mini van had been arranged to pick us up and take us to Kampala, the capitol city of Uganda which was about an hour ride. However, before we got out of the airport, we were met by a wonderful group of people from the Lions Club in Kampala. It was a very warm, welcoming feeling to arrive in another country and been welcomed in such a wonderful manner. The Ugandans hug and kiss both sides of the cheek followed by handshakes. Big smiles everywhere even though we were absolutely beyond exhausted. We had made arrangements for a hotel and driver but the Lions had made arrangements for us at another hotel. So we ended up paying for one night at the hotel we didn't stay in and the driver gave us a ride to the hotel we are staying in.

We left the airport at about 11pm Uganda time, after spending three hours in the airport and then it took an hour to get to the hotel. Our luggage willed up the entire "trunk" space in the rear with more around us inside. I st in the second row so it was hard to see much besides what was right in front of us. So many motorbikes which are also used as taxis and will carry up to two people in addition to the driver. They don't go very fast but they do dip in and out between other vehicles. Additionally we were driving on the right hand side of the road so we have to be sure to look the other way before we step into the street. But more about that later. Lots of people out, even though it was late at night. It was also much cooler. We passed a lot of clubs with lots of loud music and people. Because it was dark I was only able to see what was right in front of me but I knew we weren't in Kansas anymore...

We all climbed into our beds and I was fast asleep but we were to meet for breakfast at 9am the next morning which left barely 7.5 hours for sleeping. I felt better this morning but still somewhat groggy and filled with jet lag. I was sure someone had told us the water at the hotel was safe to drink so I had a glass of water and brushed my teeth both before going to bed and upon rising. Then I found out it really wasn't safe. So uncomfortable abdominal feelings, probably due to the complete confusion of time and food my body had gone it to, immediately became a bacterial infection in my mind...oh no, I didn't want to be the first person in our group to start taking cipro...Fortunately, eating a very light breakfast and a light lunch helped and a 2.5 hour nap really made the difference.

Fr. Rob made arrangements for a tour guide to show us around on a walking tour. We didn't get going until almost noon and by then it was very hot and humid. We started out from the hotel and the first thing I noticed was all the traffic which had been quieter the night before. We took off at a very fast pace and then turned down a narrow alley way which had vendors in little shops along the way. The walkway was dirt and some steps here and there and rocks sticking out. I was having problems walking on the uneven surface. Then we rounded the corner on to the main street and were hit full face with Kampala! Loud horns honking, people shouting from taxis looking for business, people stepping in front of you offering their wares, people everywhere, diesel exhaust fumes galore, taxi vans everywhere filled with people, lots of cars and then even more scooter taxis dashing in and out of the traffic. We went first to exchange US dollars for Ugandan schillings...3 $100 bills turns into a big stack (618,000 worth) of smaller schilling notes! A big Stack!.d I am not used to looking at a bill to determine if it is 1000 or 10000 so I am somewhat slow. Armed guards were at all the exchange places..armed with rifles, not handguns. Very different but it was fascinating as people were exhanging money into all sorts of currency from all over.

And then the heat hit us. We also noticed big differences in smells, from different body odors, different food smells, different air smells, etc. At one time group went to the open market and there was a big dumpster filled with rotting fruit pieces and skins of the fruit which made a strong smell. I had to give up the walk because the heat was just too much and my knees and hips were really starting to hurt. Fr. Rob graciously sat with me and then we began a slow walk back to the hotel while the four girls and Anne went on.
Fr Rob and I really took it slowing with frequent rests. This was actually a good thing as we sat on the stump at the sidewalk and would just watch things happening.

One big thing that was happening is that people would really look at us...we are quite easy to tell apart from the Europeans and the Caucasians who live in Uganda. We were the strangers, we were white and a very black country. Some of the girls felt very uncomfortable about this but are getting used to it. What they are not used to is how many people have reached out to touch them and we are not quite sure what this is about. I really enjoyed watching women walk down the street with their beautiful clothes made from batik fabric. Probably one in three women were traditional clothing. I looked at a number of traditional dresses in the area but wasn't really feeling up to shopping at all. I will take another look, if not here, then in Kampala. Fr Rob and I found at St Paul book store run by nuns and we went shopping for some time. I found a green stole which had a Ugandan shield on it along with a cross so purchased it for him.

He and I had a leisurely lunch, because everything here is leisurely, on the terrace of the hotel, getting fogged out by exhaust fumes. After lunch I dropped quickly off to sleep for two and a half wonderful hours and woke up feeling so much better, including my intentional tract!..I I am sure you are happy to know that!

The girls come up to my room to work on their journals, painting, gluing things in etc. I have shown them the fine art of ephemera gathering and they are taking to it like good collectors. While in Amsterdam, I bought a newspaper in Dutch and we have taken out lots of pictures of airplanes from the magazines in the seat backs of all our flights. I have shown them how to look in magazines, not for articles but work text that is meaningful to them. They are working hard on these journals and are really happy they made them. This of course, made me feel great as they were not quite sure whey they were making them before we left. They are not firmly entrenched in an art journal habit!

We have spent a lot of time talking with the girls about their feelings and what they see and what they experience. One of the girls had only been as far east as Arizona so this is a very big change for her. No one had ever been in a culture like this.

It is exciting to be here. I feel so blessed to have been able to come, even though I am not able to physically keep up with everyone, it is working out just fine.

Tomorrow we head off to Fort Portal and Sunrise house. Sunrise House is turned Irene's sister's house in to a bed and breakfast and we will be the first to use it...of course, we have bought sheets for it and will see what else they need.

All I can say it that this is absolutely wonderful. Uncomfortable sometimes, but wonderful. We are looking eagerly to getting out of all the hustle and bustle of a big city and getting into a small town and more rural areas.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support so many people have given me through purchase of my work to make this trip happen for me, donations toward the orphange, and the prayers of so many people while we are gone.

As it is now after midnight I haven't uploaded any images but hope to soon.

to Disneyland and back

I am so glad I got to spend some time in the studio last week because I have spent the last five days with my grandsons and their parents and my husband on a long drive to Long Beach and then to California adventure and then Disneyland. And, of course, the long drive back.

Today I had a completely adult day, spending it with Marjorie De Quincy and Marion Coleman at the quarterly SAQA meeting in Petaluma. I haven't been able to go for some time so it was really nice to see people I haven't seen in a long time.

Best of all, I saw Cathy Ortelle who suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and is finally able to life her left arm up to her shoulder and to even touch her head with her left hand. This is just wonderful because Cathy is a die hard quilter with a long arm machine and just a fe months ago she got a quilt on her long arm and quilted it. I have mentored Cathy for several years and really appreciate the gains she has made as a quiltmaker but most of all her ongoing recovery.

I was also able to see Karen Flamme who had an aneurysm several months ago and is now on the rapid road to recovery.

Keep Miriam Nathan-Roberts in your prayers; she is again fighting cancer.

I finished the day with a nice Thai dinner with other great friends, Robin Niderost and Carol Suto. Carol had three pieces accepted in to a recent show of small works and received a Juror's Choice award for one of her pieces. Way to go!


I have started my typhoid vaccine, I have gotten a new day pack, we have our plans for the trip and tomorrow I start packing.

Saturday at 5:30 am we leave from the church to go to SFO and on our way to Uganda.

This is getting exciting now!

We have all made journals which are just beautiful and I will start putting things in now, like the map, itinerary, etc

It's a reality I am still finding hard to believe! I am going to Africa! I have been ready Lisa Call's blog and she is in South Africa now.

Roots continued

I am having a fascinating time with the idea of roots. Our roots, the families and background we come from, our birthing roots, our historical roots, our familiar roots, our cultural roots, the roots of trees and plants, the roots we set down, the root of it all, all these things have been dwelling in my mind as I work on more roots pieces.

Yesterday I work on this piece which is a cross section of something...not sure what but is related in some way to roots.



I finished it this morning and worked on this second roots piece. I am finding the quilting time so meditative and quieting. I listen to my music of the day, allow my mind to wander on thoughts of roots and my own personal roots and George and I just hum along.



Then, this is the second of the commissions but is not finished in this image. I will have professional images at some point.

I also finished another journal today. There is such a feeling of completion when I make these books. I fondle the paper, I take joy in the stitching of the signatures, and I love creating the canvas covers. Perhaps I will have an image of the new one tomorrow.

almost as promised

This is one of the commissions for the county. Doing public art over a nine month period of time is a very interested project. The process to get hired takes a lot of time. And the, I had to submit drawings of the three pieces I was going to do.

I tend to work very spontaneously, with the image of what I want to do in my head. Once I commit it to paper, it feels done. So doing something that I have drawn five months before isn't as much fun.

But the county was happy so I am happy and I delivered as promised.


Another picture from Lake Siskiyou...the little blues. What a beautiful color...they were at the lake getting little tastes of water. Fascinating to watch.

this is the stitched and then painted tree which is becoming a part of my roots series...very interesting subject to contemplate.


and then, this is a detail of it.

After stitching, then painting, then painting some more, and then some more, I took a pen with black ink and started doing some more stuff to the bushes and grasses and then created leaves for the tree. don't know if it is done yet


and finally, one of the sunsets at Lake Siskiyou

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...”