Something About Nothing

 I like throwing in pages from some atlas' I have laying around.  They don't have any special meaning. I just like maps. Was trying to see what I could do with some washi tape, a polka dot piece of paper, and a black marker. The black out poem and heart illustration belong with the next page of the book. The map is actually the opposite side of the page below.  Went a bit more in depth here. Right side is the atlas with a few of my additions. Left side is my imaginary map. A continuation of the atlas. A bit more color added to add more depth to the land masses, as well as a big ol' splash of water in the upper right hand corner. I like drawing sea creatures coming out of the water. I like this page. And speaking of sea creatures. . . . . .these two sperm whales made their way to the inside cover. They are enjoying a meal of something delicious. Like the inside cover whales, many of my drawings come about from the drips that duplicated themselves within the pages. After dr...

It's no secret that I like Map art so when Mixed media artist, Jill K. Berry , put out her second call to create a map of our personal vision of 2015 I joined!  This year I decided to play with the idea of a city map.  I had the idea of a round-about with my family as the center and everything else I do coming out from there.  My first sketch reminded me of a spider's web.  It wasn't what I wanted.  After a few weeks of mental processing I decided to play with another idea putting little circles in the center for each family member and making buildings along each road. Nope, something wasn't right. More processing time needed.  I wondered if I didn't like it because I hadn't added color yet.  I then remembered some stencils I made some time ago and thought they might be perfect to make a colorful page. I cut a couple circle masks, pulled out my square stencils, my Inktense blocks and a paintbrush and went to work. I put the circle m...

First of all I want to congratulate Upstate Lisa on her win this month for The Printed Fabric Bee Giveaway!  I am very excited to be able to share these fabrics with her!  (Look for the email I sent you Lisa!) It seems there are a number of Hive members who also need a big congratulations today!   I was reading my latest copy of Quilting Arts Magazine and found this great article about Seed Stitching written by Jane Davila, one of our newer hive members.  Lots of great ideas in the article and some quotes and eye candy from fellow hive members Gerrie Congdon and Deborah Boschert too! Hive member, Leslie Jenison and her cohort in quilt crimes, Jamie Fingal, have an article highlighting their wonderful curated exhibits "What's for Dinner?" And last but certainly not least is The Last Word column by former Hive member, Lesley Riley.  Lesley's column was just what I needed to hear right now.  If you haven't seen the latest issue...

I have been fascinated with maps for years and when I discovered map art I was hooked!  With my month as Queen Bee, I decided to see what the hives take would be on the topic of Old World Maps.  It has been a big challenge for everyone and I love what they have created!  A few of the members are still working on theirs and they will be added as they become available. If you would like a chance at winning a 6x6" square of all 11 pieces then leave a comment below or on The Printed Fabric Bee blog .   Comments will close on January 15th and a winner announced on the 16th! And then go stop by the other members blogs to see how they created their pieces. Lynda Heines Deborah Boschert Carol R. Eaton Jackie Lams Gerrie Congdon Lynn Krawczyk Julie Booth Leslie Jenison Judy Gula Jane Davila Susan Purney Mark

I've been a bit scatter brained as of late. "What?  Only lately?" True, I am a scatter brain most of the time but more so lately. Family Stuff mostly. It happens. Throws off my game. But I am trying to reorganize and get busy. I decided it was time to go through some fabrics and destash.  Too much clutter makes me crazier than usual.  I've listed some fabrics in my Etsy store .  I'm going to make some scrap bags too and list them there as well.  I have a lot of fabrics that I just won't use anymore because I am printing and dyeing my own now.  I know there is someone out there who will have a good use for them! And while I am trying hard to organize and get rid of things I have several books that are calling my name!  Life stresses sometimes call for some retail therapy. My friend, Lynn Krawczyk , has written this book that is getting rave reviews! My friend, Lesley Riley , has this book coming out soon!   I lov...

I mentioned Jill Berry's call to artfully map out 2014 a few weeks ago and now it's time for the big reveal!  I played with various ideas and finally decided that I wanted to do a topographic map because I have been fascinated by topographical maps since my days in my high school geology class - in case you aren't familiar, topographically maps show contour lines to show relief.  Here is a topo map of the Escalante River in Utah. You can see the river in blue. The brown lines are the contour lines showing the mountains and valleys.  The numbers on the lines show the altitude that line represents.  Areas where the lines are close together represent a very steep area and if the lines are on top of each other it's a cliff! I decided that I would represent my 2014 as a journey along mountains and valleys such as these: I started the year with enthusiasm: I didn't put the experiences in any order just examples of experiences I believe I will have this ye...

 Jill K. Berry, wrote a book called Personal Geographies: Mixed-Media Map-Making .  I read her book when it first came out in 2011 and have been wanting to make an arty map ever since.  Sometimes new things intimidate me and so they have to float about in my head for a long time before I make them.  I am a literal and linear thinker with a lot of things and just thinking about making an arty map has been stretching my brain in all kinds of unusual and interesting yoga poses!   Recently  Jill issued a challenge to draw a Map of 2014 for a blog hop she is hosting in January - here is how she describes what she would like everyone to do: "This project is about making a  map of the future, in particular the year 2014.  You can approach this in many ways, and here are some simple guidelines to get you started. Pick a subject or focus Goals Travels Relationship(s) Career Health Personal Journey And on and on… Pick a medium ...