"Birds of a Feather"

I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer. It's hot and humid here in the upper corner of SC.
You can usually find me inside, far from the maddening humidity.
Playing with pen and paper, moving paint around or beading on some tiny birds that are hanging around in my studio.

This little fellow is just peeking out of my window.

This one looks kinda like a sea horse with the crocheted tail feathers!

Look at all of the beading fun on this little bird!

I love the tiny scrap of tulle that I used on the wings.
Lots of seed beads put to good use here.

Nothing like showing off a little bead embroidery, is there?

Here's a full view of the mobile with another one in the  background.

I am so excited to be one of the artists teaching at Art and Soul next year!
I'll be teaching one class in Virginia Beach in April.
The class, "Birds of a Feather", is a mixture of surface design (we paint our own fabric with Thermofax screen printing), a tiny bit of machine stitching, creating the stuffed birds (stuffed with a secret ingredient!), several different beading techniques, constructing a mobile and crocheting the wings (if you choose to use that type of wings).
Maybe that is too much for one class...maybe I will crochet the wings and bring them for everyone to pick from.
The photos above are of one of the first mobiles that I made.
Here is another -

The last one is particularly difficult to photograph...But you'll get the idea by this shot -

I'm working on (yet) another one and I think that I will weave bones and other found items into it.
Won't that be fun?!

So - you can register for next years Art & Soul now.
My class will have a kit so you won't have many items to bring at all.
I promise that it will be fun and filled with interesting techniques! You'll get a thermofax screen for the bird pattern and get to use my huge stash of screens for painting your base fabric.

I'm off to do some beading.
What about you?

Studio Table

I'm looking over the items on my studio table today...
and noticed that I keep a couple of things on it that I have artwork planned for -
I just can't seem to get to it.
When I have the time - I have no energy.
When I have the energy, I have no time...
Do any of you ever find this to be your problem as well?

Here's one -
Look at the right of the walnut shell.
It's a tiny vial (measures about an inch tall)
that's full of even smaller bones.
I retrieved them from an owl pellet
that a friend of mine from South Dakota (hey Judy!) sent me.
I love that little vial of bones.

And here is another favorite thing of mine.
Sand from "My beloved river".
Stored in a cup found at that same river - back when the drought was so bad around here
and Indian artifacts could be found in abundance.

So - there are a couple of photos of favorite things on my studio table.

What are your favorite things?