Lookey, lookey! Its me and Kristin!

I wouldn't have thunk it some years ago when I "met" Kristin online at her art blog while she was living in Germany that I would be standing outside of Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, Kentucky after sharing a meal with her and her family yesterday !  New Social Media is continuing the legacy of Old Social Media, the stoop, the telephone, the answering machine, 35mm cameras, snail mail, etc.  Kristin tapped me on my shoulder like we see each other every week when she first arrived and the conversation with her, and her husband and children went the say way...like we were picking up from where we left off the last time we shared a meal..  I like that...no, actually I love that about people...I even found myself trying to sell them on Louisville.  AND she placed icing on the cake at getting KARODA without me explaining how I arrived at it!!!!  I kinda suspected we would be a members of the same tribe but when she got that, we're now sitting on the same tribal bench.

I came home yesterday and caught up with Kristin's travels across the country on her blog...check it out, its fun reading.  Peter and I have often thought about doing such a thing when he retires...I like the idea of doing this when one's children are at the age that such a trip will impact their memories for a life time and hopefully shape their ideas and behaviors in a positive way.  

My time at the studio has been off due to Peter having a medical emergency but we have finally gotten some routine and balance so I'll be back but my hours will be sporadic.

On Tuesday...

Missing more than 2 consecutive days from my studio results in discombobulation when I return.  So this week hasn't been as productive as I envisioned it would be last week.  I've finished the top for the Oliver Lewis quilt and am working on a 2nd quilt top (also of O. Lewis) that will be done in Dye-na-flow paint.  I applied No-flow to the cotton top today and hung it to dry.  No-flow prevents the Dye-na-flow paint from wicking on the cloth.

I pulled from my pile of unfinished pieces to audition threads for this piece.  The size is about 24" x 36".  I thought it was going to be easy peasy tight straight lines but after a closer look I'm thinking not....

the bottom is cut off.

This is wipe up paper towels collaged and laminated to white cotton.

auditioning threads

Auditioning threads

Auditioning threads

  To consider some wonky geometric thread lines I doodled and played around with color...

 Tomorrow is a health advisory due to heat and high ozone...Other than going to the eye doctor with Peter, I'll be at home tinkering with digital images.

Natural Highs!

My last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of creative juices starting with the SAQA Trunk Show...it was also 2nd Saturday Demo Day at Mellwood and Janet Bailey Burch snapped these of me when I was talking about my work...

I believe Nysha snapped some photos too and when he shares them I'll give you a heads up. Nysha started us off by leading a discussion around design principles and how the SAQA samples met the principles and then he had us curate "an exhibit" by selecting 8 from the 30 quilts.  Which lead to discussion on various criteria to use when curating and the many ways to "art".  The group was small which allowed for intensity in discussion and although it would have been nice if more were in attendance, it was the perfect group!

Instead of scattering for lunch we all gathered at the Mellwood Cafe and continued our discussions.  After lunch, Joann Weiss, Mary Nehring, and CJ Pressma shared our work and the day ended with 3 new people becoming SAQA members.

I rode high for days afterwards until I had to switch gears to take advantage of a booth opportunity at Brown-Forman Distilleries which is headquartered here.  Last Thursday their LGBT committee held their first ever annual Pride Festival for their employees...it was a 2.5 hour event held in their courtyard.  It was a blending of a cookout, service organizations, artists, and samplings (love Chambord with Sprite! yummy!)  It was  good PR for Mellwood as a majority of the artists were Mellwoodians.  Two of the local stations covered the event on the evening news...here is a link to one of them...WAVE3.

Unfortunately these 2 handsome men could not be sampled (did I just type that?! you bet I did!) but Elmer Lucille (who retired from B-F in '96 and was one of the participating artist) did manage this photo.  I had to steady myself for all the wrong reasons ;) before I snapped this shot.

I'm taking the next few days to be lazy...will not be back into the studio until Tuesday or Wednesday...peace yall!