A Favorite Vignette

I have a lot of favorites but today this is one of them.

I love to combine art that compliments other pieces. 

The two fused glass pieces were purchased over 10 years ago at an art fair. I have used them in many different places in our home.

The red vase was purchased from a medical fund raiser for an artist. I fell in love with it. 

I made Glory Aura after I had these pieces. I loved it and was lamenting I had no place to hang it in our house. When I measured this space it was perfect and worked so well with the other art.

The impact of using all these together was greater than using one or two alone.

My Approach To My Work- Rerun

Thinking about who I am and what I do as an artist I have some basic “tools” I use as I create no matter what medium I am using.

My current show “Ice Tapestries And Shibori Quilts” pushed me to think about how I work. Questions and comments by visitors to the show also help me clarify my creativity approach.

Color is one of my most important tools. Color can mean so many things and  the way colors work together and play off of each other is evident in my work.

I prefer to pair design down to their simplest form for the greatest visual impact.

Along the way I try to find the most efficient way to construct my work. I also strive to find the easiest way to bring my vision to completion. Often as I am working on something a lightning bolt hits giving me a better way for my next step.

Although I have chosen imperfection as my word for several years, it is something I have a hard time doing. I do use it as my excuse when things don’t work perfectly.
I work in series, although sometimes it is not as evident in my finished work that the varied pieces were part of the same series.

Play is another part of my creativity. I do not attempt to recreate something I’ve already done.

My work comes from deep inside me and cannot be forced. Creating is as necessary to me as breathing.

I march to my own drummer and do not follow the latest pop craze in the art arena.

Lunch And Show & Tell ART With Girlfriends

It is always so much fun to get together for lunch and show and tell with my talented friends.

Beth has challenged herself to do a project with 5 different ideas. I really wish you could see this in person as there are so many special ways she has used her materials and the way she has created the picture. She has experimented with so many different techniques and materials and this shows how she has mastered them.

The elephant used a batik method.

Robbie has been taking a color and design class on line from a lady in the UK. They work with paper. The class sounds excellent and a lot of fun. This is one of her pieces.

This was an exercise where they learn to use tints, tones, shades, etc.

They are doing layering of paints and dyes. They also are using finishes on them.
Another part of the class is learning to design, cut up and make your own compositions.
The class is a year long and from what I have seen of Robbie's work and what she has told us, I would consider it a master class.
Unfortunately this was our last get together as Robbie and her DH will not be returning to Florida next season. I treasure getting to know her and spend time together. We still will have email, Facebook and our blogs.

My Art In Situ

New furniture means new art.

Boundary Waters  and great lamp surrounded with memories from a wonderful life.
I always appreciate it when I receive photos of my art in it's surroundings.

Gina's Creations

I was so in awe of her work I took a lot of pictures and I want to share a few more today.

This group of 3 jars with different surface designs make such a tasteful combination.

A very creative piece

Crazy patchwork fills in the cutouts on these wall plaques.

These are both decorative and functional.

Wonderful composition with lacing and design

An assortment of her creations in her clay studio.

Each time I look at the picture I took and remember the other things I saw in their lovely home I continue to be amazed and fortunate to have such a talented friend.

A Visit With My Friend Gina

Gina now lives a short drive from me so I visited her and her husband Ken today in their new lovely home they designed and had built.

What a wonderful setting for their home.

I also had the pleasure of meeting her husband Ken. He joined us for a delicious lunch she prepared.

She is a very accomplished artist in both clay and fiber. She also combines clay and fiber in a very masterful way.

Their home is very tastefully decorated with her work.

What a gorgeous tray to store her bananas on.

I was in awe of her art and how she displayed it all over their home and even outside.

This is just a small sampling of what I saw.

I LOVE Art….

Today I am featuring the work of Jeanelle McCall.
The title is  “Little Flowers for the Table”.
She said there are so many personal meanings in it for her. 
Jeanelle is doing a unique style of painting as she uses her fingers. It is nothing like the finger paining we did as children.
I fell in love with this when she posted it online and was able to acquire it. I love it.  It has such a feeling of place, people and peace.
This photo includes the work of 5 different artists. They all work so well together, yet they have such different styles.

New ART In The “Parlor”

Like all the rest of my house the “parlor” is very eclectic. You can see a sampling of the variety of styles and ages of furniture. I felt it needed more green so Greg and Nicholas hung Imagine, one of my Ice Tapestries for me.
I added more green last year with two dark green Scandinavian chairs and ottomans.
Although this is the most formal living area in our house the grandchildren have always gravitated to this room since they were very young. Now that they are older they use it to study, play with their game devices and make music.

This is the quilt that previously hung in that spot. The photo was taken before I moved some furniture into this room from another room.
My home is a gallery and all the pieces I hang are for sale.

Everyone Will Want To Read This And See The Photos

I have been posting all of my completed Ice Tapestries that were not included in my show Florida Ice in Ocala, Florida that closed April 26th.
When curators are selecting the quilts for a show they look for a group that will make a cohesive exciting show. They certainly did a great job for this show.
But with this in mind, often some of the very best work can’t be included.
It may be too large for the space, may not work well with the other pieces that are selected or may be colors of which there is already too much.


I have been sharing the ones that weren’t in the show for the last several days.
In case you missed some or all of them I am including the links to each post here for your viewing pleasure.

http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2018/05/more-ice-tapestries-for-your-viewing.html
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2018/05/and-more-ice-tapestries-for-your.html
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2018/05/sharing-even-more-ice-tapestries.html
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2018/05/ice-tapestries-last-and-some-of-very.html



All you have to do to see them is click on each link, or click on the top or bottom link and then scroll up or down. I hope this makes your day even better than it already is!

My Talented Friends

I already shared the work Beth Sherman and Robbie Porter Payne did with my Dye Dogs.
In addition to sharing those we each shared what we had been working on.

Beth has done a lot of research and work recently with bleeding tissue paper. She used it on fabric and other surfaces. Some of these pieces were ones she did previously and now layered the color on from the bleeding tissue.  I was very impressed with all the different ways she used it.

This is a quilt Robbie made a while ago. I believe it was for a nature challenge. I was impressed how tasteful if was with so many different stitches and embellishments. It worked because it had a limited color scheme, yet many values of each color.
It’s great to have such wonderful girlfriends who enjoy the same things I do and continue to add to their repertoire.

Such Great Friends

Since I knew my cowls looked better on a person I had them each model one and took a picture. They loved them and I loved how they looked on each of them.
Robbie and Beth were here for a visit…first Beth showed us some of her latest work and I am so mad at myself for not getting any photos of the wonderful work she has been doing. But I have a secret I will share in time.
We were able to have lunch on the lanai. Quiche, fruit salad, and croissants. Dessert was cookies from Betty’s Cakes.
After lunch Robbie shared some of her wonderful work.
Robbie stenciled the back ground fabric. She used metal, Untrasuede and a lot of watch parts in this piece.

This was a challenge for a group Robbie is in. The theme was “In the style of Andy Warhol”.

I think the theme of this was Medieval? I grew up on fairy tales and I was at least 12 before I realized unicorns weren’t real.

The quilting design on this piece is the same design she used on our cooperative quilt. It is all done by hand.
If you would like to see more of Robbie’s work her blog is:
http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/
Lastly I shared what I have been up to with my Olympic quilts and dyes.
They also enjoyed looking at so many of the unique items in my house and hearing stories about them.
It was a beautiful day made even better with the company of friends.

Record Clock

This is my new clock from ReVisions Gallery in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It is made entirely of old records or discs.
The artist is Deborah Dickenson.

My Artistic Heritage

I decided to see if I could find any photos of my maternal grandpa August G Wolff online this morning. I post often with pictures from the paternal ancestors.
I didn’t find any photos of him but I did find this photo of a house he designed in 1922. It is in the South Layton Boulevard Historic District. The address is 1959 S Layton Blvd. I t is a Milwaukee address. The original cost of the house was $5500 which I would think was a lot in 1922 shortly after the end of WW1.
I am impressed with the design and all the details of the house. I see more details each time I look like it. That is also a trait of a great quilt!
The historic name is:

FRANK J. SURGES HOUSE It was added to the historic records in 1996. I found this information on another site about the homes built on Layton Boulevard: The city's construction boom after World War I stimulated house building on Layton Boulevard, and between 1918 and 1928 some 107 buildings were erected with 32 of these constructed in 1921 and 19 in 1922 He lived with our family off and on when I was growing up but I wasn’t familiar with his work for the most part. One thing I do remember is that he drew his plans for his buildings on a stiff linen. When he was done with them he gave them to my mother and she washed out the stiffness in her Bendix front loading washing machine that she bought when I was born and made handkerchiefs with them.

My Art, My Passion, My Life

I have been very fortunate to have my art recognized as it has been recently and in the past.

I have always been too busy creating my art, living my life, teaching, running a business or two and being involved with family, NOT necessarily in that order, to seek recognition.

From the first time I was aware of fabric and fibers my life has been centered around using them in one way or another. I still can remember the texture and exact color of Navy blue of my Uncle Charlie’s Navy uniform and also the texture of his starched hat.
I have had so many people who have helped me share my work over the years, whether it was in publications, shows, or awards.

I won’t even attempt to name names as there are just TOO many people who have helped me and believed in me. But I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to my mother who encouraged me and sent me to camps and classes where I could exercise my love of fibers and crafts.

Without the students who pushed me for more, MORE, MORE over the years I don’t believe I would have done all the research and development to satisfy them. It allowed me to develop and create work, even long after I gave up teaching. Sally Fry took classes from me for over 30 years and never repeated the same class twice.

I have not written all of this so you can tell me I am great, wonderful, talented, etc. It is more of an affirmation of what my ART means to me.
I am not done yet, not my a long shot.
I am fortunate I now have the time to create my ART as the major passion in my life .
As I just heard on a show I am watching and I hope this is true:
YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!

My Way

 And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain

It’s Magic

I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway

Iris Spring

But more, much more than this
I did it my way

Garden Party

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention

Glory Aura

I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

Good Vibrations

To think I did all that
And may I say - not in a shy way

Mystic

Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

Chasing Rainbows 1,3,4,5

 

I planned each special work
Each careful step along the byway

Ice On Fire

And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Sacred Spirits

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew

Chasing Rainbows 7

But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out

Perfect Harmony

I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

Karma

  It’s time to shed a tear or two….
But I’ll be back and so will you…

I DID IT MY WAY!

For what is a woman, what has she got
If not herself, then she has naught
To say the things she truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

YES IT WAS MY WAY
  P.S. This is the longest blog post I have ever done but it deserved it so I could include some of your favorites and mine from the show.