The beginning of a love affair

This tramp (wipe up cloth) dressed up very well...so well, that I swooned as I pulled it from the dryer and my heart did a little pitter patter while I pressed it ever so lovingly...

Do you see this as a background piece or a finished piece?  I see as finished.  There is not one thing on this I want to cover up!  It could be printed on paper, on a sheer or raw silk, quilted or not...maybe some small beads...but this is just lovely.  It has the ethereal look that I can't get with intent (and I keep trying).

Okay, I've got to go, my granddaughter is bringing me cookie cutters which means she has gotten into something and Papa is asleep.

cya

Let's get this party started!

Are you ready for the week ahead?!  I am!  Just can't wait to return to the studio to rock the quilting needle and thimble!  Last week was such an inspiration...Kyra Hicks' booklet (see post directly below) on self publishing revved me up along with receiving Seth Apter's The Pulse of Mixed Media.  The questions he explores with other artists are fresh and entertaining...the kind of questions I'm enjoying answering for myself.  Apter has a blog but I've not yet spent time reading it yet...I'm waiting until I complete the book.


Also, my first arrival of solids came from Pink Chalk Studios Solid Club.

I think one of the oranges will go behind the 19" boat (see a couple of posts down).  Here is how I sketched out a composition for it.

Nothing complicated about it.  In fact I wrestled with the simplicity of it.  I might possibly use multiple values  of orange for the sun.  I also considered doing a laminated quilt and placing the boat on top which would rev up the layers of meaning.  My other thought is to write on the fabric in the background and the sun and then attempt to machine quilt in writing another layer.   But I'm not sweating it too much since this will be a shape I'll continue to work with and will make other opportunities to explore and making this particularly boat was a break from hand quilting.  I liked it enough to want to save it.  The projected size is 40"x40".  

Lets self-publish our own quilt/art catalogs! We can do this!

I just finished reading How To Self-Publish Your Own Quilt Catalog by Kyra E. Hicks at 3something AM and popped right up to write this review!  Every quilter should know Kyra E. Hicks!  What I mean is if you're a quilter and you come online, you should know Kyra.  She has had an internet presence for at least 20 years which is how I "met" her 20 years ago when Prodigy was the hot commodity in a quilter's forum, (this continues to amaze me in a good way).  In addition to being a quilter, she is also a quilt researcher and journalist.  This book and accompanying blog is her recent adventure and offering to quilters!

This very affordable 24-page workbook, Kyra reminds us the importance of documenting what we do for the sake of prosperity and historical purposes along with walking us through the options (Blurb, Lulu, CreateSpace) and steps for print-on-demand to create catalogs of our quilts/art.  Catalogs that can be shared with family/friends/galleries/collectors in addition to being a stream of revenue.

It is written so straight-forward, personal, and plain, that now I'm adding this as a personal monthly goal (gulp, did I just type this aloud?!).  It really feels like something I can handle.  And it is quite timely since a few weeks ago I made the decision to reclaim my D40x from Ade, my youngest son, and signed up for Karen Walrond's monthly sessions to give some focus in learning the camera.  It is a necessity for me to learn to photograph my own work beyond just posting here or on Facebook.  (This month's goal is to play with aperture and snap shots of what we're grateful for).

Kyra's book is available in paperback and as an e-book, but I suggest the paperback to make it easier to use the workbook pages. Or if you're a dedicated e-reader, the books are so inexpensive you can buy both.

Okay, it is after 4 now, and I'm planning to be in the studio before 9.  Today is demo-day at Mellwood and I'll be hand-quilting the "abandoned" piece and on a 2 other "boats" pieces.  Peace and sweet dreaming...

Studio Happenings

After a couple of hours of hand quilting my eyes require a break and my mind needs something that is not controlled as hand quilting.  I just had to let go with...

walnut ink and dye-na-flow

I fused the back with misty fuse...

and was digging the lacy pattern it made.

I fused it to a black piece of fabric to give it more body and cut it out.

it is 19" wide.  Before I left I pulled some background fabrics to audition on  Thursday.

Then from the big boat of humanity, I jumped to writing on fabric.

This pen was so much more vibrant than the Jacquard fabric marker. This pen was purchased from Borders many, many years ago and it is not labeled so when its gone, its gone.

then I used various inks to color over the writing after cutting out the small boats of humanity, followed by fusing them to this orange cloth.

I'm trusting the process that it all will come together.  How did your day go?

Talk to the Hand

back side

The working size is about 4'x3' and for someone who hasn't hand quilted a piece of any substantial size in a long while, I'm not doing too bad.  I'm using a size 11 quilting needle and can only rock 2 stitches at a time but it seems to be going faster than I recall me being able to do before.  This piece will not be densely quilted so I'm not freaking out over the time it will take.  I did go with the subdued thread colours but I can also see some machine stitches in a metallic in some spots being a highlight and compliment to the hand work.  

Auditioning Threads

When I left the studio today I resolved to use the subdued threads to allow the image to get all the attention but looking at the photo now, I'm having second thoughts.  Trying to be true to what I think this quilt needs, I'm going to hand quilt it.

I layered another piece today that is ready for some couching and machine quilting.  It is a landscape piece that has paper lamination.

As I've been pulling unfinished pieces together I'm thinking how unrelated my work appears one from the other.  Yet they all feel like my work...like pieces of me.  Even though I always intend to work straight through on a series, it hasn't happened like that.  I tend to work in circular rhythms, moving from one unrelated piece to another, eventually moving back around to a series.  What patterns of creativity have you noticed about yourself?

Power in the Chitlin' Circuit

Yes, yes, yes...thank you Lord (stomping feet, head bowed, right hand held high, left hand over heart)...yesterday I was feeling the power, (I GOT THE POWER...hearing the voice in that song that I can't name...anybody???).  I held up to a long day at the Chitlin' Circuit, my studio, and made what felt like progress.

Untitled at this time but finished.

added the color...since this is of an boarded up storefront church, I'm thinking hand quilting, but I might succumb to machine quilting.

another toilet paper insert fabric...my intent was to go with subdued colours...then i changed my mind.

One last thing and then I gotta go...but Enchanted Arts Studio has this hanging outside their door...it is a work in progress.  It took me by surprise when I saw it.

Looking forward to seeing what comes next...paper maiche, clay, fabric...all of the above

Expectations and Gratitude

Not much went as expected this weekend...University of Louisville lost to University of Kentucky.  I didn't make it to Trolley Hop or to the studio yesterday and today.  

The upside of what wasn't expected was meeting my great-nephew, the newest edition to our family, yesterday and my sisters and great-niece converging at my mother's for the basketball game.  None of who live in Louisville.  

Today I've been lazy, napping and snacking, reading and computering most of the day.  As part of finding gratitude everyday through the lense of my camera and using aperture setting, this is today's offerings:

dandelion from Carter

Sucession: September & October 2003, Juanita Yeager that hangs above the couch.

Its obvious I have a lot to learn about aperture...but I have a whole month.

 

 

...And Still I Rise

Update

How good it feels to write a new blog post!!!!  How good it feels that Spring is here!!!!  

Louisville is #3 in the nation for the worse pollen count.  It wrecked a little bit of havoc on my lungs in spite of the emotional uplift the warmer temps gave me.  I just kept yo-yoing with chest crud until I had a brief 4 day stay in the hospital.  In between feeling good/feeling bad I kept plugging along on the boats...

Happy to report the hand embroidery is done and it is ready for quilting...but here is my plan...to continue on to the next quilt(s) and then sometime in mid summer go hog wild, (bat crazy, mad cow) with quilting all the tops.  This year's goal is all about production (don't get too excited...I work slow even when I'm fast).  My goal was to have the "boats" completed by the end of Feb. and it didn't happen until mid-March.  

You may recall me mentioning that my sewing construction studio is in storage due to my mother moving into senior housing.  For months I considered renting a 2nd Mellwood studio to set it up once the storage contract ends.  I turned over the idea of sharing a 2nd space, subleasing, etc.  It was my anxiety talking over not having my design board, fabrics, sewing desk that holds my main machine, etc. accessible.  I spent the first part of this week clearing the studio to make room for at least my sewing desk and to begin the next quilt with the attitude of "making do equals can do". Peter and Ade will haul through the storage unit and pull it out and deliver it this weekend.

Yesterday I actually sat down to begin the preliminary studies for the next piece.  Two of the three studies I finished...one is a thread sketch, this one using tsukineko inks.

The next one will be raw edge applique.  While doing them, the question in the back of my mind is "how can I make the imagery more abstract and still capture the event?".  It  will be a Kentucky Derby quilt.

Blog Love

I don't remember how I stumbled into Karen Walrond's blog and website, Chookooloonks.  I think maybe her book, The Beauty of Different, kept coming up on Amazon's recommendations.  She offers an on-line magazine workshop that offers gratitude prompts with photography prompts called Gratitude 2012.  Karen is an award winning, jet setting photography whose blog exudes kindness, humor, and beauty.  I enrolled in the workshop yesterday.  It is 5 dollars a month and 40% of the fee she donates to Kiva.  

Also, yesterday I discovered the website (thanks to Pinterest) and blog of fiber artist Diane Melms.  I've always wanted to improve my photo-documentation by showing the process involved in completing a piece from start to finish.  I think I'm too wordy to be as succinct as Diane or as succinct and poignant as blogger Judy Martin, another blogger I enjoy reading.  

Wrap-up

Time for a change.  I've been with Typepad now since I first began blogging back in '04.  This is a fee based blog and I'm at the lowest level.  In order for me to customize I would have to jump up to the next fee level and that ain't happening.  Blogspot offers customization and it is free.  My hold-up is anticipating the learning curve (the headache) of moving content.  This will be a goal for April.

Tonight is F.A.T. Trolley Hop.  I will not be having Open Studios but will be around with Carter, my 3 y.o. grandson and Anaya my 2 y.o. granddaughter for a few hours (at least this is the plan) visiting the other studios and galleries at Mellwood.  

 

Mildred Howard discussing Abode: Sanctuary for the Familia(r)

 

Deborah Stanley, Mellwood Artist Interview

Joyful Celebration (top) and A New World (bottom) Artist holds image copyright on all images in this post.

What I do:  I work primarily with polymer clay.  I’ve dabbled in other mediums such as photography and acrylics, but when I was introduced to polymer clay, I fell in love with it.  I’ve always been fascinated by marbled colors and how colors stimulate the senses and take you on a mental journey to anywhere you want to go.  I love working with my hands and manipulating color swirls and patterns.  It is a passion of mine to explore the limitless and innovative ways to express myself through this type of abstract art.  I currently create 2 and 3 dimensional pieces, as well as original designs for necklaces and earrings.  Since discovering polymer clay, I have used glass, ceramics and wood as my “canvas” and let the viewer’s mind wander wherever the swirls of color take them.  However, I have recently developed an interest in working more recognizable figures and objects into my designs with the purpose of expressing my personal views on issues such as freely expressing joy and hope for racial harmony through my newest works “Joyful Celebration” and “A New World”.

Artistic Expressions, Deborah's Mellwood Gallery

Why I do it:  Like most artists, I have a need to find ways to express myself.  I have found that making extra money with my art is great, but pales in comparison with the satisfaction and “therapy” that I receive from the creative process itself.  My art has been a great refuge for me when my mind seems overwhelmed with stresses that I have no control over.  You can’t put a value on a means of expression and healing that art provides to me.

 What upcoming changes do you anticipate for Artistic Expressions?

Artistic Expressions (A-173) is moving into The Kore Gallery (A-117), which is a more visible and accessible location, as part of a joint venture with three other artists. (both are located at Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center)

Deborah w/ her work inside The Kore Gallery

a bud vase by the artist

How do you define success for yourself as an artist?

By continually growing and finding new and more innovative ways to express myself through art.  Basically, if I continue to grow and am happy with my art, then that is success to me.

What suggestions do you offer for making Mellwood an even more attractive place for artists to work?

Create better signs to direct patrons to the studios.  Many artists feel hidden, especially on Trolley Hops and during big events.  Promote the diversity and number of artists that are at Mellwood.

 

polymer clay necklace

 

Artistic Expressions on Etsy

Artistic Expressions at Shutterfly