Closed Doors vs Open Ones

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted since December!
I have been crazy busy, purging my studio and home, writing two articles for publication later this year and resting.
All of which are very important, including resting when you know that you need it.

I have a post up on the "8 That Create" blog today.

I'll copy it below for your viewing pleasure.

I'll do my best to post again real soon...



Closed Doors vs Open Ones


I don't know about all of you but after I have a big push to reach deadlines, I have to take a break.

Literally I have nothing to offer.

I  just completed two articles for the same publication (with only two weeks to write them both) (my own schedule blocked me into that corner) and I am so very wrung out.
I feel like I couldn't come up with one bit of inspiration at the moment.

But I still crave the daily creative activity that I am used to.

What is a girl to do?

I read for a couple of days or at least until my vision was blurred.
Then I watched a couple of good movies followed by a couple of really bad ones.

But I couldn't sit still much longer and not do something.
What I really wanted to do was draw or work in my art journal.

I don't know if you can really call one of the handmade books that I write/draw/collage in an "art journal" but I guess that's the best description at the moment.
Sometimes it feels like an "art" journal but other times it feels more like a regular journal.

It's a huge book that I made in a workshop that I took a few years ago.

I certainly learned my lesson there about making Big Books.

I prefer the smaller ones that I can complete easily or the "theme" book that I can carry on trips with me.

I have a "Colorado" book that I work in while I am visiting friends and teaching there.

I also have a "Charleston" book that I carry when my husband and I venture to The Holy City.
I used a printed copy of a rich beautiful painting by Robert Henri called "The Green Fan (Girl of Toledo, Spain)" that is owned by Gibbs Art Museum in Charleston, SC

One of my favorite paintings.
She stands 41 inches tall
and commands any room that she is in.

My Charleston Book (aka Book of the Holy City).
"The Green Fan (Girl of Toledo, Spain)"
Robert Henri

Having a book like that makes it really simple to decide what to carry with me when I travel.

But back to the Big Book.

She is almost six inches thick, holds a lot of pages and even more words and drawings.
Lots of room for random mark making.
I turn to her pages when I have that desire to draw (or write) and have no idea or concern for the outcome.

I opened her up yesterday morning, grabbed a couple of pens and set to work (while watching one of those bad movies).

Here's a sampling of the pages that I marked up.

A colorful owl that started out as a curved doodle.

I had stitched a doily/sun shape into my page
before I stitched the signature into my book.
Yesterday I journaled deep, dark secrets on the page.

Ah, more secrets.
I'd have to kill you if you read them.

Ideas for simple, yet engaging journal doodles.

You can see the progression in this page.
I love adding the tiny details to finish the doodle drawings up.
I'll go back in later and add journaling.

I also add in single pages with ideas for thermofax screens.

More blurring to make you wonder why I have
so many deep dark secrets.
Most of it is aimless pondering of a bored woman.
Like this one -
"We never consider death before it considers us"
What?
"Dead men do tell tales albeit quietly".
I am a fountain (a deep one) of thoughts.

So you can see that I have an expanse of fertile ground on which to practice my trade.
In other words- I have a big ass book that I draw and write in.

The Muse may be out at the moment but at least I left the door open for her.

Do you find that you close the door completely or do you leave the door open for ideas to flow back in?

You gotta leave room for the entry of creative ideas.
You also need to spend time with these ideas every day.
If you keep showing up and opening that door, they will show show up as well.

Providing Space For Possibility

(this is a simultaneous post on the "8 That Create" blog)

I've been thinking a lot about that lately, providing space for possibility.

Carol here, opening a discussion on how we can open up a space for possibility.

I am smack dab in the middle of a huge purge and reorganization of my home.

It started out innocently enough with me wanting to clean out my studio.
It was cluttered, packed with useless ("I might need that one day") items that are easily accessible.

Why keep all of these things in my studio when I can pick them up locally for a few coins when I need them?
I understand that I need some of them  in front of me for inspiration but I was/am sick to death of a packed, cluttered work space!
When I am in the middle of a project (or two), my work table is always cluttered - but with purpose.
And that type of clutter is easily dealt with after a project is completed.

It's the ever present clutter that haunts me.

I truly believe that it inhibits creativity and restricts inner vision.

In short, it cripples my ability to bring concrete form to my creative voice.

With all of that in mind, I began the arduous task of picking through decades of "precious" items.
Some of them were easy enough to part with. They no longer fit my idea of suitable art supplies (to me anyway), my color preferences changed or I was no longer interested in completing that particular project.

But what I did notice was that the longer I worked at cleaning out my space, the easier it got to toss the items to the "throw away" or "donate" pile.
And, when that happened, I felt that a weight had been lifted off of me. I could really feel my spirits lifting.

I believe that I was opening up space for something new, something fresh in my life.

I didn't want to allow the past, in the form of clutter, to hamper future possibilities.

The action of purging the studio fueled a passion to do the same thing throughout my home.

At the end of the day, the pain that I feel is an odd comfort.
It tells me that I am doing a good thing, that I am putting in the important work it takes to create not only a physical space that invites creativity and inspiration but I am also creating that same space within myself.

I did not plan on this being a New Year's resolution. It just happened to be this time of the year.

If I was one to make resolutions, I'd resolve to continue to simplify my life, my home and attitude.
For they have become much too cluttered.

I hope that you all continue to invite inspiration into your life.
A good place to start is to create a space for it - open yourself up to possibility.

Published!

I just found out that at least one of my pieces for the "8 That Create" group show in New York (back in the fall)  is in the latest "Quilting Arts" magazine!

I completed 5 different pieces of art for the show and loved all of them.
I know that the paper dress is in the article on creating 3D pieces of artwork.
I really wanted to make a larger 3D piece but just ran out of time...so I made a teeny tiny dress out of a sheet of handmade collage paper. I used pieces of an 1878 women's magazine about fashion.
There were drawings of the latest Paris fashions, the hats, the shoes - everything that a well dressed woman should desire.
I thought that they looked uncomfortable and cumbersome.
I suppose that I would have been a renegade back then too!
Here are some photos of the dress.
I placed it in a vintage looking shadowbox that gave the dress more of an antique look.
I used lace that my grandmother had wound around an old piece of newspaper. She always saved every little snippet of lace, ribbon and fabric for later use.
(so that's where I got that habit from!)

This is vintage lace from my grandmother's extensive stash.
She was a doll doctor as well as a quilter and maker of many other things.
I have most of the materials that she used to make doll clothes.
Lucky me, right?

I loved using the original articles from the journal.

The drawings were so interesting.

Do not fail to send for that Portfolio of Fashions, ladies!

I also used vintage netting (tulle) on the dress. I was originally going
to have a tulle skirt but didn't like the bulk that it gave the dress.
I had already sewn it on the dress so I just crunched it up
and created a belt for the dress.

"Quarterly Journal Dress"
The dress is apx. 10 inches long and 9' wide (the width of the sleeves as
they appear in the photo). I love the shadowbox frame.
It really allows the dress to be the star of the show.

I actually created another dress just like this one - the only difference is that I fused the scans of the paper onto tissue paper and then fused them to very light weight scrim.
Yes!
Tissue paper!
It is so soft and feels so dainty.

The tissue paper is so thin that you can see through the dress.
Hmmmm...I guess that I need to make a slip too...

This is an original piece of vintage pattern.
I used the original instead of scanning it and printing it out.

Who besides me can't help but looking up doll dresses?

I am planning on teaching this class at "Artistic Artifacts" in Alexandria Virginia this year.
I love teaching at Judy Gula's shop - tons of room to stretch out, lots of good shopping opportunities and I just love Judy and the shop staff.
I'll post the dates on my schedule as soon as I get my butt in gear and give them a date - I mean as soon as the dates are firmed up.
If you'd like to be notified of the date, please sign up for my newsletter (the one that I promise to send out this year). Or keep an eye on the blog.
This is the first piece of art that I have had published in Quilting Arts magazine...the first of many. I have several articles just waiting to be sent in for potential publishing.
Don't forget to buy your copy of "In Stitches" volume 9 to see my article there as well!

December Already?!

Really, is it already December??
November was a blur of activity for me.
It seemed that I had just got back from New York (to open the "8 That Create" group show) and it was time to fly to Colorado for a couple of fun happenings.

Oh wait - I forgot the week that I spent in Charleston between the two events...

Okay so I got back from New York,  unpacked my things, did laundry and repacked to travel to Charleston SC - where the weather was much different than upstate NY (thank goodness).

My husband and I spent several days riding our bikes around the city, visiting favorite restaurants,  wandering around at semi-secret coastal estates and visiting our favorite galleries (look at this place - Robert Lange Studios) (there is a reason that it was voted Charleston's Favorite Gallery several years in a row!).
I love the gallery director Carrie.
Every time we go there, she walks around with us, talking about each artist and their work. This makes each piece so much more meaningful - knowing the stories behind each one.
I love all the artists there.
I would love to have my art work hanging in that studio one day.
I'd love a solo show there (that's for you, Universe).

We went to Botany Bay (Edisto Island wildlife preserve).
If you're ever close to this place, you should take the time to go there.
Take your camera too.
It's a visual feast for sure.

It is a beautiful section of land that is being preserved for future generations by the state of South Carolina.
It is truly spectacular.

Stay tuned for more November adventure stories soon.

Autumn News

Wow, what a month or two!
I've created seven new pieces of art (five for a show, two for me), traveled to three different states to either open art shows, teach or visit family (not to mention eating a bunch of pumpkin foods).
Now I am home again, ready to rest a day or two (while I plan the next trip).

I made my first trip to upstate NY this month.
Love, love, love it up there!
The lakes, the trails, the trees and the animals-I love it all.
The people are so friendly, especially the folks that my friends and I stayed with (thank you Claire and Richard!).
I suppose my opinion might change during the snow season, hmmm?
I am tired after days of travel but it is a pleasant "job well done" type of tired.

While I have been away from home, I had projects "cooking" for me.
A fairly new obsession, I mean a technique that is new to me, is eco dyeing.
Dyeing with natural items- plant material or woody tree materials.
I love unrolling my little bundles and seeing what serendipitous surprises await me!
Here is the one that I unrolled this morning after a week or two of cooking.
It's silk fabric with goldenrod rolled into it, dipped into old tea leaves (tied up with cotton string).

I love the subtle variations in the color.
I can see yellow areas from the goldenrod, the beautiful tans of the tea leaves as well as a pale salmon-ish color from somewhere.
I also love the lines from the shibori type resist of the pearl cotton thread.
Like the wandering lines of lives that intersect along the way, much like "The Family Circle" comic depicted.
Much the way that I am in art making - so easily distracted by this or that - yet always returning to what moves me or enables me to impart the message that I am charged with.
I have many small bundles just waiting their turn at the miraculous unveiling, not to mention a few jars full of colored liquid and chopped vegetation.

But for now, I am content to unpack slowly, move about my comfy home with a thankful heart.
I'm just happy to be among my own treasures for a week or two before embarking on yet another adventure.
I hope that your heart is happy - filled to the brim with thankful thoughts as well as love for your fellow man (and woman!).

Seasonal Attire

This post is also available on the "8 That Create" blog.
Check out the artwork, creative ramblings and activities of myself and seven other artists!

I am using the fashion of nature as my inspiration for the Old Forge show pieces.
I often work in my sketchbook before hitting a canvas or anything else with ideas. I find this helps me to focus, flesh out good ideas and scrap bad ones (hopefully).
The last piece that I want to share was started in just this fashion.

I went into it with vague idea of what I wanted to do or the idea that I wanted to share in my art making.
I use a large sketchbook (8 1/2" x 11") to work on most of my canvas art. It allows a little more room to move things around on while I am auditioning ideas.
I gathered my supplies - leaves, jute, molding paste, absorbent grounds, acrylic mediums for adhesives, acrylic & watercolor paint and gesso.
Then set to work.
Some of my inspiration came from this book  about people that use nature as fashion accessories -

Hans Silvester is a very talented photographer that has amassed a huge body of work that includes (in my humble opinion) some of the best tribal photos any where.
I already had the idea of working with nature as my fashion icon. When I started doing research on "the fashion of nature" this is one of the books that was recommended to me by our friend Mr. Google.
I was immediately hooked after I saw a tiny sampling of the photos.

(I've included a link to the book on Amazon but I do not receive any compensation from the sale of it)

After completing a small piece of art in my sketchbook, I went to a 20" x 24" stretched canvas to tell one of nature's fashion stories there.
There are many many layers on this canvas. I kept adding collage items, covering them up, painting, scraping pastes & mediums, adding more paint, natural items and then a piece of driftwood.

"Seasonal Attire"
20" x 24"

I liked the sketchbook page so much that I framed it too.
It is, after all, a completed piece of artwork.
Don't be afraid to share the artwork that is in your sketchbook!
You have to learn to let the light of all your work shine...put it out there in the world.
You created it from a deep well of creativity. You have to bring it out in order to make room for more.

"Seasonal Attire:A Study"
18" x 22"

Both of these pieces were difficult to photograph at home. One is lighter (white/sand/tan/sienna colors) and the other is in the black (multi-layered) shadowbox frame.
I hate to read this and really hate to write this but...the photos really do not do the pieces justice.
They are better enjoyed in person.

So - there you have it.
Stories, details and ingredients to the five pieces that I created for the upcoming show in Old Forge, New York.
I can't wait to go there, see the show, teach a class and spend time with my friends Liz Kettle and Jane Davila.
Check out the workshop offerings that we have and join us on October 12 for the opening!

Quarterly Journal Dress

This post is also visible at the "8 That Create" blog.


I love create collages out of vintage papers.
I usually add paint and molding paste on top of them, almost covering them up...but I still love to add them for texture and the occasional peek of text.
After completing one of my larger pieces for the Old Forge show, I decided to make a sculptural type collage.
Seeing three "dresses" in the show, I decided that, even though my slant on the fashion theme was nature's fashion, I would create a dress.
A tiny dress.
Out of paper and vintage lace.

I actually made two dresses (I was having too much fun to stop!) when it was all said and done but will only send one of them.
For the first one, I used pages from a women's magazine ("Demorest's Monthly Magazine" 1878), vintage sheet music, dress pattern pieces, antique book pages and a few scraps of handmade paper.
I glued these torn pieces of paper onto a scrim type fabric with an acrylic medium.
(let that dry of course)
I used a doll dress pattern that my grandmother used (when I was a young lass) to make doll clothes out of.
It is veryyyy old...
And then I stitched the paper dress up on my sewing machine.
I added a sash at the waist with vintage netting as well as antique lace around the sleeves and bottom.

Framing was going to be a problem since it is a 3D piece.
I decided on a deep shadowbox frame. This worked great but was a bear to photograph.
Here's a shot out of the frame.

I'll add a couple of detail shots so you can see the fashion references on the dress.
I had a lot of fun making this tiny dress (overall length is about 7 inches)

The Nature of Fashion

This will also be posted on the "8 That Create" blog.
Check out the other blog posts there!



Like everyone else in the group, I've been working on the upcoming show in New York.

I chose to incorporate a bit of natures' fashion into my pieces.
I've been working off of the knowledge that nature, just like fashion, dresses herself according to the season.
Her fashionable colors change as well as the way that she clothes herself.

I spend a lot of time observing the fashion show that Mother Nature organizes.
I try to take my creative cues from this show.

Season to season, the colors change.
The emotion changes.
She sheds her autumn foliage for the monochromatic palette of winter.

The fashion of nature sheds light on the nature of fashion.
Meaning that fashion changes with the same cycle as nature.

I created this piece from natural elements - sticks, stones and leaves.
The stitched background is made from real leaves that have been pressed and allowed to disintegrate into tissue paper before laminating them to tea bags and scrim.

You can see the leaf above - it has disintegrated
into the tissue paper that I pressed the leaves on.

I used leaves that I gathered from my home garden
as well as vegetation from the forest near my home.

You might find an herb or two in my fabric...

Petals from garden flowers, especially gardenias and lilies.

You can see the layer of tea bags and scrim on this sample.
I laminated all of it together with acrylic soft gel and matt medium.

I also dipped a couple of the central collage elements into beeswax.

The beeswax makes the tea bag very transparent.

I love the smell!

"Nature's Fashion"

This is a 12" x 12" piece mounted on 1.5" stretcher bars.
Each person in the group of 8 will create a panel the same size.
They will be hung in a grid - like a nine patch - with our signage in the center.

I have created two other pieces of wall art plus a book.

Last April, I helped a friend of mine vend at the Virginia Beach "Art & Soul" retreat.
She had all sorts of vintage items to sell (!) and I was one of the helpers in charge of putting these things out on display (can you believe that she left me there with all that cool stuff?!) (my husband couldn't).
I unpacked a pair of little girls espadrilles.
I immediately saw the potential for a book in this pair of shoes.
Some of the group used women's shoes to create a piece of artwork out of.
I chose to use this well loved pair of shoes for one of my projects.
Here's what I came up with.

"The Sole Book"

"Sole Book"
front view

I spent a lot of time painting, staining, crackling and waxing each page
before adding them to the book

I love the crackle pages.
They look like an old sole (or soul, for that matter).

I used a glaze of acrylic paint to bring out the crackles on painted paper