A look back at my Tree of Life series

Tree of Life Oaxaca (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

A number of years ago (like maybe 10-14) I created a series of Tree of Life paintings. Still one of my favorite themes. They were all done watercolor paper, painted with watercolor and embellished with collage, charms and stitching.

Below, is a needlepoint kit designed from my Tree of Life Oaxaca. Pretty cool huh? She worked hard to replicate it as best she could, down to the size and embellishments. 

Oaxaca (30x22") a needlepoint created and stitched
by Cassandra Prescott (Sundance Designs) with my permission

Here's the rest of the series......

Tree of Life (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

Tree of Life Heart in Hand (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

Tree of Life Marigold (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

Tree of Life Guadalupe (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

Tree of Life (private commission) (30x22") by Jane LaFazio

a new DVD in the can...so to speak

Quilting Arts TV host, Susan Brubaker Knapp and me on the set of QA TV

I was thrilled to be asked back for my 4th time to film some episodes for Quilting Arts TV. They also asked me to create and film my 3rd DVD.

(aside: Pokey Bolton, founder of Quilting Arts and now creating her own Crafting a Life company, and Interweave and now F&W Media have done sooooo much for my career! I can't thank them enough for their faith in me.)

I filmed a TV segment on my Poke Berry Series, and one on felt milagros and a short one on how to felt soap. The TV episodes air on Public TV and once they are released, you can buy the DVD set or download.

Vivika Hansen DeNegre, Quilting Arts magazine Editor and me

Vivika and I have been online friends for years, and this was our first in person meeting. She is the best!!

On the table in the green room! "MY" magazine cover and my DVD

A quick break in filming my Intro to Wet Felting DVD.
Vivika helps with directorial guidance!

My upcoming DVD with the working title "Intro to Wet Felting" will be about hour long. It took nearly 3 hours to film. It's hard work to remember everything (no cue cards) and to smile and to look competent!

Another episode with Susan for Quilting Art TV. (where is that camera lens anyway?)

dinner at the end of day one.

back row:Cecile Whatman, Pat Pauly, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Kristine Lundblad (Asst Editor, Quilting Arts magazine) front row: Desiree Habicht, me, Vivika Hansen DeNegre were all on set, so we had a lovely dinner out together. So great to relax and get to know each other after a hard day filming.

my reward for 2 days of filming! chips and wine.

All and all an experience that I will cherish. I'm also quite glad to have it behind me. 
The DVD will be out in a few months, and probably the QA TV series 1600 soon after that. I'll keep you posted.

Update from Cleveland

On the set, filming a new DVD!

I just got home from filming a new instructional DVD. It will be an introduction to Wet Felting, with creative ideas to take the piece of felt to the next level of an art quilt. The DVD/download should be for sale in a few months. I'll keep you posted, of course!

The DVD was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio, just like my last two, "Art Journaling to Art" and "Layered and Fused Applique: from fabric scraps to recycled circles."

More details and photos to come!

A visit to Tucson Arizona

from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio (5x7 inches) in my JaneVille Etsy shop now.

A little sketching and watercolor with a fellow Sketchbook Skool student at the Tucson Botanical Garden.

This was my first ever trip to Tucson, Arizona.

A photo posted by Jane LaFazio (@janelafazio) on Mar 10, 2015 at 4:22pm PDT

I taught a  2 day workshop for PaperWorks (Text and Textiles) and did a talk for their membership. 

In progress ~ text on textiles~ by Jane LaFazio

It's funny. I selected these lovely indigo fabrics (above) to teach the workshop. The colors and this nearly finished work remind of of Japan. During the workshop, Mabel Dean, one of my students, gave me a lovely piece of antique linen from a kimono. Perfect additon to this piece.

But I look at it now and think, why could I haven't done it in the spring desert colors of Tucson! Well, in part, because I'd never seen the landscape of Tucson before. 

Now, I may have to do a Arizona version!

Stamp design

from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

design and carve a stamp ~ Jane LaFazio

first print ~ Jane LaFazio

a repeating border! by Jane LaFazio

I love designing and carving my own stamps! I'll be teaching this technique a few times and places this year: 

Oceanside Museum of Art  (California)

Art Unraveled (Phoenix, AZ)

Madeline Island School of the Arts (Wisconsin)

Danny Gregory

Art Before Breakfast by Danny Gregory

Danny Gregory. Danny is my mentor and my friend. I've been lucky to know him since around 2005. I started reading his blog. I met him in 2006 (pictured below).

Danny and our sketchcrawl in Los Angeles, 2006

He asked me to be in his book, An Illustrated Life, in 2007. 

An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory

My husband and I saw Danny in New York City, the last time we were there.

New York City, September 2013. Danny, me and Don, my husband

Then, in January 2014, he came to my house in San Diego, to film me for Sketchbook Skool ~ beginnings.

Danny Gregory sitting in my living room, January 2014,
to film me for Sketchbook Skool ~ Beginnings semester.

Danny's written lots of books, and he's got a new one out called "Art Before Breakfast." I promise you, it will make you grab a sketchbook immediately! Get the book. 

And while you're at it, might as well order my Danny favorites of "An Illustrated Life" and "Everyday Matters" too.

Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory

Cut paper

Paper Cutting ~ in progress by Jane LaFazio

I've been taking a class from Bhavna Mehta. She's an artist whose art form is cut paper. A design, paper and an x-acto knife. I'm really enjoying it and can't wait to use it in my own work. Stay tuned!

my first paper cutting ~ by Jane LaFazio

My process. In Technicolor.

work in progress ~ by Jane LaFazio

work in progress ~ by Jane LaFazio

work in progress ~ by Jane LaFazio

work in progress ~ by Jane LaFazio

My process, as seen above. Cut it up! Stitch the heck out of it! Sew it back together.

Technicolor Pictograph (13x13 inches) by Jane LaFazio

Technicolor Pictograph (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Technicolor Pictograph (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Technicolor Pictograph (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Technicolor Pictograph (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Technicolor Pictograph (detail) by Jane LaFazio

I might as well tell you. I'm heading to Cleveland, Ohio later this month to film an instructional DVD for F&W Media (Interweave aka Quilting Arts) tentatively titled "Intro to Wet Felting." I'll be showing you how to do all of this on the DVD!

The American Southwest is always an inspiration for me.

Red Rock Petroglyphs (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Red Rock Petroglyphs (14x13 inches) by Jane LaFazio

Sedona, Canyon de Chelly, Santa Fe, Taos.

Arizona and New Mexico. The beautiful and dramatic Southwest. The colors of those landscapes stay with me. They are so evocative of the history, the heritage, and the deep and rich Native American culture. 

I've been working with the warm colors of red, orange and yellow (oh, I mean carmine, bittersweet, and goldenrod) for quite awhile now. 

My intuitive stitching often leads me to simple circles and sometimes primitive marks.

And that all takes me to the Southwest!

Red Rock Petroglyphs (detail) by Jane LaFazio

Red Rock Petroglyphs (detail) by Jane LaFazio

The photos below, are a work in progress. And what do you know, the same color scheme!

Unnamed and inprogress by Jane LaFazio

I'll show you this when I've put it all together. 

Unnamed and inprogress by Jane LaFazio

Hemingway made me do it.

Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields (detail)  by Jane LaFazio

It's because of Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway. Well, his house. His house in Key West, Florida. 

A hundred years ago (I always say that when I don't want to say really how many years ago it was....it was the 1970s) I visited Hemingways House in Key West, Florida. It was fascinating. But what stayed in my memory was that he had another home. One in Cuba. From that moment, I wanted to visit Hemingway's home in Cuba.

Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields (12.5 x 8.5 inches)  by Jane LaFazio

Fast forward to late 2011. A local art association was sponsoring a tour to Cuba! I had to go! I mean, we couldn't really afford it, but it was one of those 'gotta do it' decisions. I love to travel and so does my husband. So we went to Cuba in January 2012. 

Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields (detail)  by Jane LaFazio

It was a fabulous and fascinating trip! We loved it. (I covered the trip here on my blog and then created a book of my photos of Cuba here.) The very last day of our trip, I visited Hemingway's house in Cuba. So cool. Very cool.

Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields (detail)  by Jane LaFazio

So that's how I came to create this piece, Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields, because as I working on this, with the browns and bits of red and pink, it reminded me of our visit to a tobacco farm...in Cuba.

Dreaming Cuba Tobacco Fields (detail)  by Jane LaFazio

This piece and some of my other Dreaming Series are in my JaneVille Etsy shop now.