Utah: dinner at dottie becks

 Dinner under huge maple trees  at Dottie Becks in Eden Utah, Salmon marinated in maple syrup among other yummies. And shopping too!

Utah: friday morning walk on the canal

 And we fit in a morning walk too. The rest of the photos from the weekend are here. I'm going back next year to teach "Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style" in July 2011.  

a different sort of bird

 I wouldn't say this is my best work, but the process was fun and a learning experience. I was inspired by Alma Stoller's fun tutorial using magazine pages and then Lyric Kinard's post on Citrasolv, which I'd been meaning to try--so I combined the two! First I used citrasolv on a bunch of National Geographic pages (yes, quite messy and they all sort of look like acid rain) and then I free-motioned one on top of a bunch of old magazine pages...then I doodled on it, and added one of my hand carved stamps. So, like I said, this isn't such a winner, but I have more stitched/citrasolve concoctions ready to play on!
I'm off to Utah to teach a retreat, returning briefly next week. See you then! Meanwhile, I'll post on Facebook.

mexican tile mexican time

 Five inch square watercolor. I have quite a few Mexican tiles, and they are really fun and easy to draw and paint. And they would make good subject matter for a beginner.

Beneath the Surface exhibition

My quilt, "Above the Bog" is in this book and the entire exhibition will be at the Long Beach and Houston Quilt Festivals, 2010. You can order it here or wait and get it in Long Beach

Here's my page in the book, there are about 30 artists and their quilts in the book.

It's summer time!

 $3 flip flops, ribbon from my ribbon stash, an hour or two in front of the TV. Priceless. Made these last night, wore them to yoga this morning. They're happy shoes.

another felt box

 I guess one felt box just wasn't enough......I made another from the piece of felt I made up in Idyllwild this past week. You can see other views of this one here and here.
Tracie Lyn Huskamp is giving away a copy of my DVD on her blog...

under the influence

 It seems like I have more on my 'to do' list than ever. Yet, I've fallen under the influence of Alisa Burke and Diana Trout! I, who have always done a 'clean' watercolor journal, have started (gasp) a MESSY JOURNAL! Now I'll have a cache for some of my pure 'creative play' in my new journal. I'll keep you posted.

mexican tile

 I'm preparing for a workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico next year...It's easy to get in the mood, I love Mexican folk art and have a lot of it in my home.

Idyllwild inn, California

 Not much time to draw while I was teaching in Idllywild, but I did draw this in our hotel room.

NeedleFelting

 I told you I was in the new eMagazine, In Stitches, and here's my page. (Glad I got a manicure) The image on the left is a video of me machnine needlefelting, and the image on the right is a slide show, not here, but if you purchase and download it.
When I showed you the machine needlefelting tutorial on my blog, many asked if it could be done without a machine. I still don't know, but Suzanne Morgan has written a tutorial combining needle felting by hand and wet-felting. You can see her tutorial here. I khow I want to try it.

Idyllwild: felt on a rock

 I just returned from a lovely couple of days in Idyllwild, where I taught a one day wet felting workshop. You can see all the pics here. 

Idyllwild: felting making

 The Idyllwild campus is really beautiful, and I think we got the best classroom!

Idyllwild: felting makin

 I had 9 students, and they all did fabulous work! I hope to teach again next summer at Idyllwild Summer Arts.......

Art Quilt: what is it?

 (Pictured: Rainbow Series: Apricot Tangerine)
I'm a member and regional co-rep for Studio Art Quilts Associates, an international group of 2500 artists. Here's what they say about the meaning of art quilt:
"SAQA defines an art quilt as a contemporary artwork exploring and expressing aesthetic concerns common to the whole range of visual arts: painting, printmaking, photography, graphic desing, assemblage, and sculpture, which retains, through materials or techniques, a clear relationship to the folk art quilt from which it descends."
Interesting, huh? No mention of 3 layers, or stitching or materials/process at all. hmmm.

and the winner of the "Quiltlets" workshop in Long Beach is......

Wendee!! Email me and we'll make the plans! See you on July 22 from 9-noon for my "Quiltlets: Very small quilts for short attention spans" workshop at the Long Beach Quilt Festival.

Published!

 Have you seen this yet? It's Quilting Arts brand new E-magazine "In Stitches." It's downloadable, with videos and slide shows embedded AND an interview of yours truly showing my machine needlefelting. Remember when I was in Sedona, and Mary Fisher's incredible studio--we filmed the interveiw then. Oh yea, and Melly's in it too, show her amazing free motion machine stitching.

chubby quail

 Just added this Chubby Quail to my JaneVille Etsy Shop!

Teaching at CREATE

 I know, it looks like I'm obsessed with birds. Really,  I can do other imagery. Really. These are examples of what I'll be teaching in Collage 101 on Saturday 8/28 at the mixed media retreat CREATE in Chicago. I'm also teaching Fused Sheer Collage on Friday 8/27,  and a 3 hour 'Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style" on Sunday.

What, you don't have a felt box for your buttons??

 I crack myself up sometimes. Yes, this is a box made from this piece of felt (that I made using the wet felting technique.) Need to know how to do this? of course you do! Sign up for my Wet-Felting workshop in Idyllwild July 6! You can see more view of this adorable (if I do say so myself) box here and here