I'm so excited!
I didn't get a photo of her like I should have, but I gave away the piece in the previous entry. (It's full title is "Prayer Resurrection--Chapman Resurrection." ) I've spent all week on a work trip in Chapman to help the schools recover from a tornado (I blog about it here). For 5 days, I was keeping open to finding "the right" person to share this with. And on Saturday, I found her! The Middle School music teacher was delighted with it, and said she'd have guard it from the interim art teacher who will be coming for a semester. (I told her I'd happily make the art teacher something, too.)
I had no idea how good it felt to give away your art to someone who loves it. ;)
Off to vacation. Door County, WI, here we are!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Prayer Resurrection
I'm calling this "Prayer Resurrection."
It's the follow-up to the unraveled prayer quilt. It's made from a stack of 10 Bull's Eye quilt squares. The first panel is the symetry of a quilt piece. The second panel is made from stripping and re-stripping the other 9 quilt squares. And the third panel is made from tiny tiny pieces of the scraps from those quilt squares.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
It's the follow-up to the unraveled prayer quilt. It's made from a stack of 10 Bull's Eye quilt squares. The first panel is the symetry of a quilt piece. The second panel is made from stripping and re-stripping the other 9 quilt squares. And the third panel is made from tiny tiny pieces of the scraps from those quilt squares.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Unravelled Prayers
Remember the prayer quilts I was making for my friends who made it through the Chapman Tornado?
I decided I should wash them before sending, just to make sure they'll take actual use.
Here's the result:
Sometimes our prayers unravel.
So the rest of my squares are sitting in a pile. If anyone needs them for a purely decorative quilt, let me know!
I decided I should wash them before sending, just to make sure they'll take actual use.
Here's the result:
Sometimes our prayers unravel.
So the rest of my squares are sitting in a pile. If anyone needs them for a purely decorative quilt, let me know!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
SpirARTuality: Poetry
This month's SpirARTuality was a stretch for the fiber artists in our group. I invited one of our members to help us write poetry. The rest of us didn't think we could do it, but were all delighted by the results.
Penny passed out 5 poems for us to look at as she read them. We were to mine them for words we might like to use. We circled a bunch of words, then made a list of the words and phrases that stuck out for us:
She then gave us a theme (childhood memories) and we were to write down some words that came to us when we thought of that. When we noticed a word that wanted more written about it, we did. I ended up with lots of rhyming words, although I was hoping to use illiteration instead of rhyme.
After we'd come to a stopping point on our lists and blurbs, we then were invited to make it into a writing. Maybe prose, maybe a list, maybe a poem:
Mine was a poem entitled, "Camp Wood"--the church camp I went to each summer for a week from the time I was in 7th grade through about 24 years old.
Camp Wood
ever stood
feels good
wish I would
Mystery Pod
Hutch Hall plod
not a fraud
close to God
Cross on the hill
grist for the mill
getting your fill
take a pill
Time flies
hug guys
teary eyes
deep sighs
hard goodbys...
And because writing on a page just doesn't excite me much, I had to write mine onto a strawberry box:
What a freeing exercise we all had--We were thrilled with ourselves! Who knew we had that in us?
Penny passed out 5 poems for us to look at as she read them. We were to mine them for words we might like to use. We circled a bunch of words, then made a list of the words and phrases that stuck out for us:
She then gave us a theme (childhood memories) and we were to write down some words that came to us when we thought of that. When we noticed a word that wanted more written about it, we did. I ended up with lots of rhyming words, although I was hoping to use illiteration instead of rhyme.
After we'd come to a stopping point on our lists and blurbs, we then were invited to make it into a writing. Maybe prose, maybe a list, maybe a poem:
Mine was a poem entitled, "Camp Wood"--the church camp I went to each summer for a week from the time I was in 7th grade through about 24 years old.
Camp Wood
ever stood
feels good
wish I would
Mystery Pod
Hutch Hall plod
not a fraud
close to God
Cross on the hill
grist for the mill
getting your fill
take a pill
Time flies
hug guys
teary eyes
deep sighs
hard goodbys...
And because writing on a page just doesn't excite me much, I had to write mine onto a strawberry box:
What a freeing exercise we all had--We were thrilled with ourselves! Who knew we had that in us?
Monday, June 23, 2008
QSDS 2008 Intro
I was really looking forward to Susan Shie's self-portrait class at QSDS this year. I wanted to take her 5-day class, but by the time I enrolled it was "closed." We found out when we gathered that it had been canceled for lack of enrollment rather than closed. So I'll try to enroll earlier next year.
Here's the bags of stuff I brought to class:
And here's my bag of finished (or almost finished) products:
I thought the scariest part of the class would be coming up with things to write on my quilt--but that turned out not to be very difficult at all after we did a quiet 10-minute writing exercise in our notebooks.
The next scariest part I thought would be my lack of drawing skills. But that turned out not to be very intimidating, either. I even developed my own style of drawing standing bodies that I like, and sitting bodies with frog legs, and I like both of them.
But the actual scariest part was this:
Susan was very strict about us using respirators, even though in the scheme of things our paints weren't all that toxic.
I had asthma as a kid and still have lingering panic issues when my breathing is at all inhibited. It was a big step that I kept this thing on even though it was extra-hard to breath in while wearing it.
But I had trusty Avogadro with me. I made him when I was in Junior High. I went through a phase of making weird stuffed animals (about 25 years before my time--it seems like everyone is doing that now days!). He's half mole (hence the name), half cockroach. He's always been just a stuffed animal, but I realized he'd make a great pincushion.
For more on the class, keep reading!
Here's the bags of stuff I brought to class:
And here's my bag of finished (or almost finished) products:
I thought the scariest part of the class would be coming up with things to write on my quilt--but that turned out not to be very difficult at all after we did a quiet 10-minute writing exercise in our notebooks.
The next scariest part I thought would be my lack of drawing skills. But that turned out not to be very intimidating, either. I even developed my own style of drawing standing bodies that I like, and sitting bodies with frog legs, and I like both of them.
But the actual scariest part was this:
Susan was very strict about us using respirators, even though in the scheme of things our paints weren't all that toxic.
I had asthma as a kid and still have lingering panic issues when my breathing is at all inhibited. It was a big step that I kept this thing on even though it was extra-hard to breath in while wearing it.
But I had trusty Avogadro with me. I made him when I was in Junior High. I went through a phase of making weird stuffed animals (about 25 years before my time--it seems like everyone is doing that now days!). He's half mole (hence the name), half cockroach. He's always been just a stuffed animal, but I realized he'd make a great pincushion.
For more on the class, keep reading!
QSDS 2008 Day 1
In the 2-day class, Susan Shie taught us her technique using the theme of self-portraits. The steps are pretty simple: 1) Draw on Fabric with Rub a Dub, 2) Paint, 3) write words all over 4) self-bind using backing fabric and quilt with crazy grids.
My first piece was to be about my self-image vs. how others see me. I had a great idea in my head which did not make it into my project. It was fun anyway.
Here's my drawing, with the self-image me on the left and the other's view on the right. Susan had mentioned Chakras, so I ended up adding them to my piece as a unifying element:
And here is the (upside-down) painted how-others-see-me:
And the right-side up self-image (which is totally NOT how I see myself. I think at this point, this looks like it is done by someone with a whooollllee lot of issues!!):
And then here is the piece after it's dried and I've written on it.
I almost scrapped the piece after painting and seeing CrazyMe. But I'm glad I stuck it out. I kinda like it here:
And I like it even better as a 2 inch by 3 inch piece as seen here rather than the full size 2 ft by 3 ft!
Off to sandwich, self-bind, and quilt. Oh, I wish I had a walking foot!
My first piece was to be about my self-image vs. how others see me. I had a great idea in my head which did not make it into my project. It was fun anyway.
Here's my drawing, with the self-image me on the left and the other's view on the right. Susan had mentioned Chakras, so I ended up adding them to my piece as a unifying element:
And here is the (upside-down) painted how-others-see-me:
And the right-side up self-image (which is totally NOT how I see myself. I think at this point, this looks like it is done by someone with a whooollllee lot of issues!!):
And then here is the piece after it's dried and I've written on it.
I almost scrapped the piece after painting and seeing CrazyMe. But I'm glad I stuck it out. I kinda like it here:
And I like it even better as a 2 inch by 3 inch piece as seen here rather than the full size 2 ft by 3 ft!
Off to sandwich, self-bind, and quilt. Oh, I wish I had a walking foot!
QSDS 2008 Wrap-Up
When I thought the Chakra piece was looking pretty ick, I drew out another self-portrait that would be a motivational piece, encouraging me to do all the things I need to do to be healthy and strong. Top left is time for exercise. Top right is eat healthy. Bottom right is quiet/prayer time and Bottom left is creativity.
I drew myself standing on a pedestal, but after painting it green I thought it looked like an upside-down trash can. I was sad. Until I came up with the imagery that this piece is about not treating myself as "trash" so I'm standing on an upended trash can. ;)
My colors were still much more vibrant than I wished. I wanted to imitate Susan Shie's more gentle, subtle coloring. So I also drew a couple of pieces just to practice my painting.
The first one is a note I leave for my boys if I leave the house before they wake up. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, they are very sad. Since they can't write, it's a pictogram of Mommy Loves Charlie and Luke. I normally add a treat for each of them.
I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out, and will add glitzed-up clothes pins to it so I can attach the treats when needed:
Here is what I got done in our 2-day class. The bottom left is a "Back at (clock)" sign, which I made for our kitchen. Occasionally one of us will leave and not leave a note. I hoped this would help. Until someone walked up and mentioned it, I didn't even realize it's the same wording stores use! Maybe I'm not all that innovative after all... ;)
Once again, I was dubbed Most Prolific in the Class. It's not something I strive for, but because I have so little studio time at home, I really like to crank through as much as I can on those rare moments I've got focused time.
I drew myself standing on a pedestal, but after painting it green I thought it looked like an upside-down trash can. I was sad. Until I came up with the imagery that this piece is about not treating myself as "trash" so I'm standing on an upended trash can. ;)
My colors were still much more vibrant than I wished. I wanted to imitate Susan Shie's more gentle, subtle coloring. So I also drew a couple of pieces just to practice my painting.
The first one is a note I leave for my boys if I leave the house before they wake up. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, they are very sad. Since they can't write, it's a pictogram of Mommy Loves Charlie and Luke. I normally add a treat for each of them.
I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out, and will add glitzed-up clothes pins to it so I can attach the treats when needed:
Here is what I got done in our 2-day class. The bottom left is a "Back at (clock)" sign, which I made for our kitchen. Occasionally one of us will leave and not leave a note. I hoped this would help. Until someone walked up and mentioned it, I didn't even realize it's the same wording stores use! Maybe I'm not all that innovative after all... ;)
Once again, I was dubbed Most Prolific in the Class. It's not something I strive for, but because I have so little studio time at home, I really like to crank through as much as I can on those rare moments I've got focused time.
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