My Landscape...My inner landscape

"My Landscape" measures 9x5" and was started in Houston, at the Quilt Festival, when I demoed by needlefelted for a short workshop. I began needlefelting as a way of creating an original surface to hand stitch on. (I just added this to my JaneVille Etsy shop)


here's a close up of my stitching, and below the piece before it was hand stitched.

Wet Felting Workshop in San Diego

I'm teaching wet felting in San Diego! Feb 5th & 6th, 9:00 a.m. to noon both days. 

Cost: $100, plus materials fee of $35 per student. We make an 18" square piece of felt on Saturday, and make it into something on Sunday. Register by calling Visions Art Museum, 619-546-4872 or emailing Beth Smith. (pictured is a detail shot of my quilt 'Zen Eucalyptus' currently on exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art.) You an see images of some of my wet felted pieces here.

classroom volunteering

I volunteer every wednesday at Conway School, in Mindy Crum's class. Mindy is the best 3rd grade teacher ever, and I help the kids, with their reading.
Well, Mindy soon discovered I was an artist, and could I please help the kids make a Christmas gift project. She handed me directions to make an ornament from papier mache...that involved 2 balloons for each kid....that would  be blowing up 50 balloons! not to mention liquid starch and strips of newspaper. My dear husb said he'd help, and what a time we had!  

Great group of kids!  (Husb on the left, me center, and Mindy on the right)

Lunch and a challenge

Lucky me. The fabulous Alisa Burke lives in San Diego too! So this week, we met in NTC Liberty Station, for a walk, talk, lunch and challenge!
  
 Of course, Alisa had to take photos, one of the many things she does so well.


After lunch, we exchanged materials and agreed on a challenge. We'd each make something from the bundle and blog about it.


Here's the denim from old jeans (with a little hand stitching) and recycled sari ribbon I contributed, along with some of Alisa's fabulous painted fabrics.

 I've started my little project, and will blog and post a tutorial about it next week!

it's in the details

Close ups of "4 Seasons" a 9x9" monoprint on cloth

You're invited!

And you're invited! The reception takes place Saturday, November 20 at The Ink Spot in downtown San Diego. The Ink Spot, Art Center Lofts, 710 13th Street, Studio 210, San Diego, CA 92101.

Red Rocks

Just added this to my JaneVille Etsy shop.

Rusty Circles as Inspiration

It started simply enough. I did this continuous line drawing in late September. Then later, I printed it on a teabag and glued it to some fabric and now...it's the inspiration for a whole series.

Yesterday, I went back to the scene of the crime, and took photos of more rusty circles to inform my as yet unamed series.. stay tuned.

 

Nostalgia ~ a work in progress

When I read a book, and find something I want to remember or go back to, I turn down the corner of the page. It seems I have turnd nearly ever page corner in Cas Holmes new book "The Found Object in Textile Art." I really really like this book and her approach to art. Cas combines paper and cloth with mark making, stitching, and layering in a creative and serendipitous manner that I simply love. As she writes in her book "It is the materials that inform the process, because they often have a connection to a give place or a particular time."
I spent a little time in my studio yesterday, channeling Cas Holmes.









I monoprinted the cloth, last year, in Melly Testa's workshop.

I drew this last night

I couldn't help myself, I drew this with a ballpoint pen last night, then watercolor and stitched it this morning.

An unforgetable adventure.

Oh my. Husb and I spent the night in a fort last night, in a museum.


The amazing artist (words can't express...) Wes Bruce.
Wes created and built the installation "The Secrets Surrounding the Mysterious Life & Psychology of Ms. Augustine Greane" © 2010 Wes Bruce. The exhibition runs through Dec 31, in Escondido, California. you gotta see it.  

The evening started with an intimate, amazing, heartful, original concert by Meaghan Maples, Bryan Bangerter and Joel West and  Kelly Bennett.


We all sat close together, feeling the music and the honesty of the talented group of singer songwriters.

Then, a fabulous dinner in the museum. The meal began with the best spareribs I've ever eaten, then salmon in foil with artichokes, asparagus and potatoes, and finished with somemores of homemade graham crackers, marshmallows and warm chocolate.


The installation  fills a very large room in the museum. This picture is only a small part of the fort.


We slept in the fort, in sleeping bags, along with about 25 of our now closest friends.


Andrew (in the white t-shirt) wrote some original stories and read them aloud during the concert and shown here, at breakfast. An incredibly gifted writer. (Wes sits next to him, to the left.)


A wonderous miraculous adventure never to be forgotten.

I want to be Wes Bruce when I grow up.

The Mundo Lindo kids and I visited Wes Bruce's magical and precious installation at California Center for the Arts, Escondido. You can see the creative shoe box creations the kids made, after seeing the exhibition.


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One of the rooms, in the 'fort' installation is the poetry room. Very inspiring to me. Reminds me of the Japanese wish trees.

Two of Wes Bruce's favorite quotes:

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because stop playing."
"The world will never lack for wonders, only wonder."

feet...

Jane's footwear.


Buddy feet.

sock monkey, 1 in a series of ???

So, I'm thinking it would be fun to do a series of my mini sock monkey in variety of yoga poses...stay tuned.

Houston Quilt Festival!

Oh my. Houston International Quilt Festival. A jam-packed 4 days!

Visited my quilt, Above the Bog, at the gorgeous "Beneath the Surface" Exhibition.


Then, teaching at Make It University to 25 students!


Judy Coates Perez took this photo of me.


I'd needlefelted small pieces for everyone in the class, demo-ed how to do it, then they hand-embroidered on the piece. Here's some lovely student work:


Here's Suzanne Morgan, who supplies  kits for needlefelting and helped me out in my workshop. (She's holding a piece I did from one of her kits.)


Later on Friday, I demo-ed "Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style" at open studios.

Just had to draw and paint my new little friend from Home a la mode


Saturday, I taught Rubbings with Paintstiks to 25 people and here's a one of my students and their work. Thanks Cedar Canyon Textiles for the wonderful paintstiks!
  Me teaching the paintstik workshop

Ran into some pals, like Jane Davila


And Tracie Lyn Huskamp. Can't wait to get a hold of Tracie's new fabric line!


And of course, hangin' with that wonderful gang of Quilting Arts friends!
l to r: Leslie Tucker Jenison, Melanie Testa, me, Helen Gregory, Pokey Bolton, Lindsay Murray, Judy Coates Perez and Jamie Fingal.