Something About Nothing

 May has felt like a slow month art wise.  I feel like I've done absolutely nothing, but I guess I have done stuff. Call it play, experimenting, practice, whatever. Trying out new stencils in my sketchbook. Playing with someone's TikTok tutorial. Wish I could remember who it was. Coloring for hours while talking to customer service trying to figure out what happened to the website I manage for the Utah Surface Design Group. Turned out we were hacked. Malware. Sigh. I'm now spending hours rebuilding the site. utahsurfacedesigngroup.com Had to start from scratch. Fortunately I found the pre-built theme I'd used before so it wasn't as much work as it could have been. And yes, I did have a backup, but that's a whole other story. It's looking almost back to normal! I just need to upload the gallery photos. My evenings are being spent in front of the TV working on blocks for the Social Justice Sewing Academy. This is one of 12 blocks I have. I bought myself a new ...

At our May meeting, the president of the Utah Surface Design Group taught us how to make these awesome Pine Needle Baskets. They are so adorable, and surprisingly easy too.

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!  

This months meeting at the Utah Surface Design Group was wonderful!  We had three demonstrations, each one just as wonderful as the last.  I got wrapped up in the first demonstration and forgot to pull out my camera until it was over.  I hate when I do that! Sally taught us how to make glue gun stencils and masks to use with painting and mono-printing.  These are a few glue gun stencils I made in the past, but I plan to make more especially because of three great tips Sally gave: 1.  Use a glue gun with a very small tip to get lovely fine lines.  The one she recommended is from Ad Tech  and can be used cool or hot.  It can also be used without the cord for about 5 minutes! 2. Once you draw out your design place a piece of parchment paper or a teflon craft sheet over the top of the creation to flatten the design.  A flat image is much easier to use as a mask! 3. Little blobs or circles of glue can be painted with nail polish and then glu...

My friend, Dana Ryan Perez, invited me over for a book making play date.  Dana was an environmental scientist (before it was cool) and is now a talented book maker and mixed media artist. Dana and I in front of her son's fabulous painting. Her studio was beautiful!  Lots of skylights for wonderful lighting but I was more focused on the scene below. Her father was a printer and the printing drawer on the wall was his. Dana has been making these adorable little Washi tape covered books.   The measurements on the mat give you an idea of how small they are.  The book in the middle was created with little pockets to store feather treasures in. Dana said she finds herself collecting them from the park and golf course where she jogs in the mornings.   Isn't this adorable!!! The books at the bottom of this photo were created by Dana in preparation for a class she and another friend, Toni, taught to the Utah Surface Design Group w...