Bullocks Oriole

I saw this bird out my window today. A rare sight, so I ran to my bird book. He was so bright and beautiful!

Hibiscus

Here's part of my work from lesson two of the Personal Symbols online class that I'm taking from Susan Sorrel. It's only 4x6" and the base is lutradur. I've got 3 more to do.

Norwegians bearing gifts!

Husb's relatives from Norway are visiting for a week.

Quilting Arts Magazine

I'm very proud to be in the June issue of Quilting Arts magazine! It's been a goal of mine. Check out my paper quilt on page 62, the article I wrote on pages 24-26, my letter to the editor on page 9 and a short bio on page 13!

like a coloring book!

I couldn't resist coloring in my doodle! Color pencils work so well in my moleskine sketchbook.

Online class.

I'm taking my very first online class. It's called "Personal Symbols" and it's presented by Joggles. This is part of the homework, to do upteen thumbnail doodles of things based on nature or outside. I'm spending way to much time on it, but I am enjoying the process and discovering all kinds of new ways to add personal symbols to my own work.

For Melissa

A friend's gallery is moving, and Helen suggested we all do a small postcard painting of something we bought in her shop. Then Helen is going to compile all of them (9 images) into a book as a gift for Melissa. Such a thoughtful gift!
This is a 20" tall metal sculpture, made in Haiti from recycled oil tins, one of the many things I bought at Shiva Gallery.

Husb

My husb sketches too. This was our campsite at San Elijo. That would be the pacific ocean behind him.

rejected........

(be sure and view this in the larger size. click on the pic, and then click again for size)

I created this assemblage/mixed media piece for a juried exhibition at California Center for the Arts Escondido...and it was rejected (!). The theme of the exhibition was 'cultural fusion' and I think this piece was perfect --but of course I'm not the juror...It's made of items sew into vinyl ,and found items, and they are all attached to a rusty metal screen. I can't wait to see what the juror selected. It's about 24" x 18"

Camping near the beach

Husb and I camped for two nights (a record!) at San Elijo in Solana Beach. We walked the beach at a very low tide, and collected these treasures.

camping

The weather was overcast, but we still enjoyed our time walking the beach, hanging out at our campsite, reading and drawing.

Old Town SketchCrawl

San Diego SketchCrawl in Old Town today.

Will paint for Wine........

I was a demonstrating artist at a fundraiser for A.R.T.S. last night. It was a successful event with a silent and live auction and over 300 people and wonderful food, wine and rum! And for such a good cause.

La Jolla

The final day of Lori's pen & ink drawing class at the Athenaeum.

Bird Song

Here's my example of the first week's project in the Art Quilt class I teach at Oceanside Museum of Art. Birds were the theme.

fruitstickers and ....

I started doing these little doodles because of the Flickr group called 'orangepaper and fruit stickers.' I save up all the stickers, and then, while watching tv, I color the page. Mindless fun.

New sketch bag

Love my new bag.

Saturday morning

Protea, sweetpeas and a lovely wire bird from Nakisha's etsy shop.

Anais Nin

I really believe in this quote by Anais Nin.
"Life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage."

In my life, I've been an international flight attendant (in the 70s), a guest on a game show "Hollywood Squares" in 1988 and jumped from an airplane tandem skydiving from 12,000 feet in 1992.---Courageous, in my world. But now, my courageous acts are smaller, but equally meaningful to me. I teach a workshop I've never taught before, I speak in front of a large crowd, star in a DVD teaching my art quilt techniques, submit my art to magazines, and most of all, I try to say 'YES' to challenges and opportunities that interest me.

I spoke too soon

Buddy's vet wrapped him up again and he's less than thrilled.

first grader

I taught a delightful 1st Grade class at a small private school in Solana Beach yesterday. They were a talented group of kids, and we did Klimt's 'tree of life' and here's one of the girl's work.

Buddy in a cone --by Janey in Florida

Janey, my wonderful friend who I only know through the internet and she lives in florida, drew this of Buddy. Don't ya love it? Good news, Buddy is cone-free as of last night! I think his little paw is healing well, and he is sooo much happier without the collar and the bandage!

California Quail

Poor Buddy

Buddy had an ingrown toenail and it required surgery. Poor little guy, he's miserable. He got to wear this collar for TEN DAYS! Until he gets the stitches out, see his right paw all bandaged up...I feel so bad for him.

Quail

Okay, I'm not happy with this, and I've kept on stitching to try and save it. I used the blue striped mattress ticking (when was the last time you saw a mattress covered in this fabric?100 years?) because I wanted to 'match' the bushtit...It's not working. I'm going to put this away, and start another quail.

Buddy UnderCover

I know, another kitty pic. I just can't help myself.

Buddy and BeBop

Buddy and BeBop watching for lizards and birds!

One-hour tree

I drew this in one hour in Lori's pen and ink class. A huge, very old tree in front of LaJolla Contemporary Museum of Art. For once, I don't think I'm going to add color...

bushtit on cloth

So, I'm clearly into birds this week! Here's my bushtit drawing on cloth. I used Melanie Testa's technique of drawing onto tracing paper, pinning the paper to fabric (and batting and backing) and, with my sewing machine, stitching on the lines. (I don't know how to free motion quilt, so this is with my feed dogs up and regular sewing foot.) Then I filled in some of the shapes with layers of tulle, also a Melly technique. It's not finished, I'll keep you posted.