Catch Up

I can't believe that it is August 20, 2013.
Sometimes I feel as if I am Rip Van Winkle, waking up to find myself in a new world.
Or at least a new month!

Is it just me or does time really begin to move faster the older that we get?

So - here we are, almost a month since the last post.
Well almost 3 weeks but who is counting (obviously I am).

What have I been doing?
I traveled out to see my friend Liz Kettle in Colorado.
Taught a book making class at my friend Deb Prewitt's shop (Blue Twig Studio) (which was great btw).
I stayed with Liz for a week so we could visit.
She worked my butt off while I was there!
We were getting her (and studio mate Cass Mullane) studio ready for a photo shoot.
I took more realistic photos of the space AFTER the photographer left while we were all working and playing on various projects.

This is the corner that houses most of Cass' supplies.
I love the layout of all of the different work spaces.

This is the beautiful hand dyed fabric/paper shelving on
Liz' side.

I love the way that Liz and Cass set their work spaces up.
They can work independently yet share the space
and be close enough to talk while they work!
The wall behind Liz is a design wall. It currently has a
new series by Cass on it.

This wall has a selection of black and white (with a touch of red).
The very messy (yet happy) table in the fore ground
is loaded with paint and paper. A small group of us got together
and played for several hours. It was wonderful!

All the thread, paper, paint, fabric and base supplies that anyone
could possibly want or need are housed in this corner!

Look at Liz, hard at work on a creative project.
I love that they have their work hanging on the walls all
around them.

Cass is sitting at the machine working but can hop up and do
anything that she needs to at the work space beside her.

Here's a portion of the mess that we made while playing.

It's so inspiring to me to spend time with like minded women.
Sharing ideas & dreams, laughing and talking along with a little whining, um, I mean working through to creative solutions.
It was one way of refilling our well.
We must spend time with our creative sisters in order to nourish ourselves!

During my absence on the blog, I also went trout fishing!
My husband and I drove up to a local fish hatchery (above Walhalla SC) and fished along the east fork of the Chatooga River.
I caught my first (second, third and fourth) trout!
I really enjoyed it, getting out in the forest and river was wonderful.
I'll spare you the photos of that though.
My husband grilled the fish that very evening and it was the best that I've ever had.
But man, I was exhausted by the time we got home! The water level was up from all of the rain that we've had and it really required some muscle walking around in the river.
I think that the bike riding muscles helped on that part.


What else have I done?
Hmmm...
I have been working on a felted Kindle cover that I started in Colorado.
My color palette is a blue-greenish color. Maybe a sea green, sea foam or something close to that, plus a splash of red orange.

I had bought a small piece of ribbon from Deb at Blue Twig Studio that coordinated
perfectly with the colors of the felted cover. I felt that I just had to incorporate it into the cover somehow.

Sometimes I pin things in place while I am deciding if I want to add them.
I am auditioning them before I commit to their placement.

I don't have any photos of the phase that the cover went through while I was doing a lot of the stitching.
I tried several ideas for the spine, finally settling on one that I think I like.

Now I am not too sure but I think it would be too much work to un-do it.
Sigh...
But it looks okay the way it is.
I guess.

Here are a few shots of it.
I am not quite finished with it as I still have a little more stitching to do.
Well, here - you will see what I mean.

I love the meandering red orange stitching on the back of it.
It really leads your eye around the entire piece (even if it is a cover and not quite a "piece of art work").

I added two layers of ribbon on the spine.
The bottom one is one of those ribbons that has open sections on it.
I didn't like the open sections on the edges - they are just open.
I mean, they are not closed in at all. So I stitched the edges, closing the gap.
I felt that it finished it in a better way. 

I think that I need to do something around the stem of the leaf.
I think it needs a darker outline.

I'm still stitching the veins in the leaf. I have them
drawn out with a white marker. I do like the background stitching
on the leaf - lots of little circles in diff colors.

I stitched one section of a base fabric (a silk scarf) in a satin stitch.
I love the sheen of the thread. The way that the light catches it is beautiful.
I also love being able to find small sections of the piece that are so interesting
on their own. It makes the viewer look for more of these!

I still have to finish the stitching (I think I have already said that, right?) but also need to address the edges of the entire cover.
Hmmm...I will have to think about that a bit more.

Here are a few shots of the cover wrapped around the Kindle.
I wanted to be able to see how the spine embellishment would work (and show you too).

Back view. I like the way that the red orange ribbon wraps around the front and back.

Front.
I definitely need to add something
to define the stem outline a little more.

I love French Knots.
Love. Love. Love.

It's a little crooked but you get the idea.
The ribbon was exactly the right size!

So, what do you think?

What would you do for the edging (or binding) of the cover?
I was thinking about twisting a few pieces of thread or yarn/fiber together and stitch them to the edges.
I guess that I could do a satin stitch around the edges...
or a blanket stitch...

I have a couple of scrap pieces from the original base that I will probably use to try a couple of ideas out on.

Leave me a comment or email me with your ideas!
I love getting comments. It makes me feel like I am writing to actual people instead of myself (even though I am an actual person too).
I see the numbers on the analytics so I know that there are people stopping by but I still love to read your comments and get your emails!

I'll leave with a photo of my studio mate.

I need to trim the hair on the bottom of his paws.
It grows so fast.

sleepy boy

Adventures in Colorado

After staying up in the Rocky Mountains for several days, I went home with Liz (Kettle) for a few days.
We spent some time in her studio (looking for stuff, finding it, then losing it again) working (read playing).
I worked on a small machine felted piece that I had started at the Art Summit, adding hand stitching and a few beads. (I am still working on that today) (and still enjoying it).

I taught a book making class at Deb Prewitt's shop (The Blue Twig Studio) in Colorado Springs.
The class was full and everyone was excited about making their own handmade book.
It was a two day affair - we made the collages for the cover and painted some on the pages the first day.
The second day, we stitched the signatures in and (if there was any time left) worked inside the book with Thermofax screens, acrylic paint, stencils and such.
We did have a couple of over-achievers (ahem Kathy and Linda) that made TWO books while they were in the class! Those ladies were smokin'!
I was so busy working my way around the room teaching that I did not take photos but I will direct you to this post on Deb's blog. She has a photo of all the books over there on her blog (thank you Deb!).

I love teaching in Colorado!
Everyone is so friendly, laid-back and eager to learn new things.
Thank you guys!



Liz, her husband Bruce and I went to the "Paint Mines Interpretive Park" about an hour or so from their house.
The Paint Mines are in Calhan Colorado.
We did a good bit of hiking and got to see some of the most beautiful natural sights that I have ever seen.
This is a quote from the brochure that we picked up at the site
"The Paint Mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the different layers of clay. When the outcrops erode, a hard capstone allows columns of clay to be preserved beneath them, creating fantastic spires called hoodoos. Selenite (gypsum) contributes to the color and white quartzitic crystals dazzle the eye."
I used a small point and shoot camera so the photos do not do the site justice - actually I think that these are sights that one must see in person to fully appreciate.
No camera can capture the beauty or the majesty of this sight.

You can see how small our shadows are.
These outcrops are huge!

I would suggest, that if you do go there, you look in the little brown metal post (right as you begin to walk on the path from the parking lot) for a map.
It will save you walking a mile or so if you just want to see the Paint Mines.
just sayin'...

Colorado Part Two

Back to Deb Prewitt's home studio classroom.
Her shop is the "Blue Twig Studio" and man oh man, does she have some really cool things in there!

This week, Deb is the vendor at the Las Vegas "Art & Soul".
I'd love to be there with all of those crazy ladies (and guys) having fun and creating so many great projects.

The second class at Deb's was "Painted Papers" (which could actually be called "Background Painting", "Art Journal Pages" "Abstract Painting" "Decorated Pages" or any combo of those).
It's a fun, fast paced day of painting, screen printing, tips and tricks to add color, texture and movement to papers (or fabric) that you might want to use for something else.
The ladies had so much fun!
Ruth Chandler used a piece of "MultiPurpose Cloth" to paint on. You can do the very same things to this cloth that you can do on paper.

I stayed with my buddy Liz for a couple of days (I was slave labor kitchen help to her) (lol).
She did feed me (very well), let me sleep there for free (except the slave labor), drove me around, and let me launder my clothing...

Oh, and she took me to the Denver Art Museum.
Where we had arranged to met Jill Berry and spend the day with her.

The "Yves Saint Laurent The Retrospective" exhibit was there.
I thought it would be interesting, even though I am not a real fashion person (unless you count Birks, jeans and tee shirts as fashionable) (except I did wear a skirt and really cute sandals that day!).

Was I ever shocked when I got there.

The exhibit was awesome!

There was a lot of history included, tons of beautifully dressed manikins, luscious headdresses, yummy textiles, lots of audios to listen to as well as several videos to watch.
It was one of the best Art Museum exhibits that I've ever seen.
We could not photograph inside of the exhibit and I left my sketchbook at Liz's house (arrghhh!) but I do have a couple of things that I am doing in my Colorado Sketchbook I can show you later.

If you are close to Denver, you should take the time to visit the exhibit - it is well worth it.

Liz, Jill and I had a fantastic visit.
I wished at that moment that I lived there in Colorado...but then again, they could just move to SC, right?

Feet Firmly on the Ground

Home again, home again.

I spent days (um weeks, months) preparing for the three classes that I was teaching in Colorado.
Two of the classes I taught at Deb Prewitt's shop "Blue Twig Studio" were ones that I had taught before so that made it a little easier.

One of the best parts of my trip was getting to spend some real, honest to goodness quality time with my friend Liz Kettle.

She (and her husband) graciously invited me to stay at their home in Monument, where I stayed the last two years on my treks there. I think that I've been there enough now that they step right over me, put the broom (or dish cloth as the case may be) in my hand. Even the cats (and Duke) treat me like "one of the gang" while I'm there. Which is fine with me!

I love feeling at home, at ease with people.
I love becoming a part of their lives.

I arrived in Denver on Saturday, June 2.
Liz picked me up at the airport after the plane circled from DIA to Montana for an extra hour or so.
There was a huge storm right at the airport with wind gusts up to 60 mph.
It was just beautiful from my view point with the wispy clouds.
You Harry Potter fans will understand when I say it looked like a bunch of dementors flying in to the airport. Liz assured me it wasn't that at all - just rain that wasn't hitting the ground.
My story was much more interesting and scary though...imagine being stuck in the airplane with all those people...
dementors surrounding us...

Well. You get the idea.
My imagination gets away from me on occasion, doesn't it?

Back to the real story.
I loved that this plane had the tracking screen in front of my seat.
I could draw the landscape view from the plane and look on the screen to see which state we were flying over at that particular time.
And it was fun (though a little discerning) to watch the little plane (on the screen) go from DIA to Montana, not once but twice while waiting for the airport to open back up.

Sunday we went to Deb's shop "Blue Twig Studio" (and her home) in Colorado Springs.
What an awesome teaching space!
Surrounded by all kinds of art goodies (oh no!).

We did the "Whimsical Mark Making" class first, with a studio full of brave, brave women.
By the time the day was over, these ladies were drawing and painting all kinds of cool art journal images/pages.

They even drew each other.

I had met most of the women at "Textile Evolution", the mixed media fiber retreat that Liz created.
It was more like hanging out with good friends that I hadn't seen in a while.
Lots of laughing and teasing each other...a lot of smiling, support and edification (and don't we all need more of that?).
I like the Word Origin & History section of the dictionary that describes the word "edification" as "building up of the soul".
Isn't that what a group of supportive women do for each other?

Building up of your soul.


Really think about that for a minute.
Is that what you do for your family and friends?
Or do you tear them down, rip them to shreds with your words and/or your actions?

I wasn't planning on writing the last paragraph but it came out anyway so I'll leave it.
Writing tends to be that way, eh?
The words that want to be uttered find a way out.
As writers, we have to let them.

I'll pick up here on the next post.
And I'll leave you with a couple of photos of Deb's home studio.