Something About Nothing

Between Thanksgiving, setting up for Christmas and getting a cold, I have not been very productive with my drawing. I have been doing a lot of hand stitching but don't want to share it yet in case I can find a show to enter it in.  I did manage to finish up this mandala I started a week ago.  I like the variations in color. Mister came to visit me this week, and he was kind enough to pose for some photos.   He loves going in the yard.

FYI: In an attempt to catch up the blog with the last year AND stay up to date, I'll be attempting two short posts a week. One that will show what I am currently working on, and one that will be back dated. Hope it doesn't confuse anyone too much (myself included!) A few years ago I took a class from Victoria Findlay Wolfe called Thunderstruck . One of my bucket list quilts was to make a star quilt, so of course I jumped on the chance to take this class at Craft Napa. Victoria taught how to piece Y-seams, and she made them so easy! I only finished a fourth of the quilt at Craft Napa . After putting it aside for months, I finally finished the piecing. The best part was that Victoria's instructions were so easy to follow that finishing the piecing was a breeze. I then set to hand quilting it with 12 weight thread from Wonderfil . This took a lot longer than it should as it kept getting put aside. I found it in a pile during quarantine and determined to finish it! Some of the...

Where do mixed media artists go in Houston? Well, the Texas Art Asylum of course! Libby is so excited!!! The Texas Art Asylum is an amazing reuse center filled with all kinds of great stuff!  So many beads!!!! We didn't stick together long, as there was much to explore.  I had this Barbie Fashion Face when I was a girl!  I loved doing her hair and makeup.  I didn't have a clue what I was doing but it was fun none the less.  In front of where Libby is standing were drawers filled with architectural drawings. I was very tempted by these. We stayed long enough that I needed to visit the bathroom. I was delighted to find this display awaiting me there! They have two beautiful kitties to keep you company while you shop.   We all came out with a bag of wonderful treasures. For me those treasures included some interesting keys, some metal sticks I want to use for Shibori, lots of zippers, a number o...

It's here!   The article I wrote for Quilting Arts Magazine has been published and my copy is here! It is moments like these when I am listed alongside artists I admire, that I feel humbled. There are so many talented people out there (just check social media!).  How did I get here? How did I get lucky enough to be a part of this publication? Luck might be a part of it, but It has also been a lot of work too.  Work I have enjoyed immensely. I am grateful to be a part of this fiber community.   Keiko is now famous with her photo featured in my studio article. She is a big part of my studio! I'm not sure which editor wrote the article about my studio but I really like what she wrote. I sent in answers to some questions and then she made it all sound fabulous.   I am also excited to share my process of creating a repeating pattern stamp. I look forward to seeing what designs people create. And out of the entire magazine t...

Keiko and I have been working hard. . .  . . . And sometimes hardly working. . .  . . .because when it's winter, sometimes you just need to stop and watch some Paul Hollywood .  The icicles keep getting longer. . .  . . .and longer.  Pretty soon they might be growing from the ground up!  Brrrr  But seriously, I am working, I just can't show you what it is yet!  I have an article coming up in  Quilting Arts magazine on creating carved stamp repeats. I'm looking forward to the warmth as well as the article being done. The worst part of this article is that they want a photo of me and my studio. That meant I had to CLEAN UP the studio, AND take a shower. Just kidding, I do shower regularly, sometimes. But seriously, I'm not a fan of taking photos of myself. First off, my face does not like make up anymore. My eyes tear up whenever anything gets near them.  It's okay to have a bar...

I used the iPad Pro to create a drawing of Keiko,  add some doodles, and experiment with color a little bit. I also used a drawing to create a stamp of Keiko.

I have a dream of creating some larger carved stamps which look more like a carved linoleum or wood block, and after creating this photo of my cat using the Prisma app, I thought it was a great image to try out a more print looking stamp. I really have no idea what I am doing and so I made a lot of random marks to lighten up the background on the left hand side.  I wasn't happy with it.  It looked too organized. So. . .I took a deep breath and carved more away! And after a few more little bits here and there I decided to call it good. This is giving me courage to try more prints like this!

I absolutely love this photo of my Keiko.  I use it on Facebook whenever I am wishing someone a happy birthday.  I created my wonky Keiko stamp using this photo as my model and so I had to make her some party gear!  I started with the hat and bow: But realized something was missing - a party blower! This might need to be my birthday wish on Facebook in 2017.