Something About Nothing

My laptop has a few minor issues. It is still usable but a couple keys are worn off and it needs a new logic board because there is a speaker stuck in the headphone jack. Anyway, I decided to investigate a new one, or perhaps get an iPad or maybe a desktop, who knows. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. When I went in to the Apple store I was fortunate to meet Anna, an Apple associate, who also turns out to be a printmaker! We hit it off immediately and she understood my needs to create, blog and then share on social media. I explained how I loved my five year old MacBook Pro, it just had a couple small problems. After some chatting I decided to buy an iPad Pro and I am loving it, I especially like the program: Procreate. It took a little time to adjust to drawing on the slick screen but I think I am starting to get the hang of it, I was having trouble drawing a straight line and so my friend told me to increase the "Streamline" settings on the pen I was using,

The Utah Surface Design Group is a diverse group of artists.   I am always inspired by the work presented during our show and tell nights.  This purse was so heavy but absolutely gorgeous.  This is a piece that had been woven about 80 years ago.  I wish I could remember the collection it came from.  Lovely designs added to these jeans.  Fun dyed fabrics!  Toni is explaining how she folded the fabric.  This globe was created using washers and a ball.  Kathryn always makes the cutest critters. Mimi has spend a lot of time stitching on this beautiful art quilt. She wasn't sure if it was done yet.  We were meeting in Sally's beautiful yard. I love this poppy she created! Sadly, this was one of those nights where I forgot to pull out my camera at the beginning and missed some lovely work!  

Every July my quilt guild has a dye party. For some members it is the only time they get to dye, and even though others dye often, it is always fun to dye as a group.  More colors, lots of great ideas shared, and just fun to be together. Betty Jo (back left) has let us use her lovely yard for the last ten years. Not everyone dyes fabrics during the party.  Some sit and stitch, or just visit, and some bring wonderful show and tell projects like this one made by Ruth.  Anne and I mixed the dyes in a very heavy concentrate. We have two junior members in the guild and this is one of their favorite nights too. Betty Jo has property in the back which she rents out for grazing.   This year it was these beautiful miniature ponies.  The group likes to do ice dyeing so I set up a "station" which allows them to dye without the powders flying. They place their bucket or bag in the box, then don a mask and glasses before applying the dye powder to the ice

Ordered a free sample of Gomuban Relief Printing Plates from McClain's Printmaking Supplies. Gomuban is a synthetic rubber plate used in Japanese classrooms. It can be carved on either side but is a very thin plate. It works well with a press, however, since I don't own a press, I printed my images by hand, and just tested it with an ink pad. It was amazingly easy to carve with my Speedball Linoleum cutter. I was able to get a very fine line, which made me very happy! I think I will order this again!

Here is my friend Anneliese .  She taught a very fun class on Hand Lettering.  Here are my attempts. Her methods made it easy. I still need to practice a lot.