After the Thaw

Cloth painted with acrylics and altered with alcohol...free motion quilted...hand embroidery...attached cheesecloth....I love these colors! Only thing left to do is to bind it.

Bright with a capital B

I like doing hearts and what better time of year to use this imagery? I'm happy with how bright this piece turned out. It still needs some more stitching (but not too much) and some hand stitched accents (but not too many) - if you click on the photo to enlarge it you will see the machine and hand stitching already added.

It reminds me of spring and rebirth. Maybe I'll call it 'After the Thaw'!

I'm going to gift this to a great internet friend who helped edit the article that will be published in that national magazine (April/May issue I was told). Melanie's help was invaluable and greatly appreciated. I'd link to her blog but she hasn't one (yet) but wait until she does have one and you see her art work! Fantastic!

Moon Dance

Last night there was a full moon and the stars were brilliant. It was the 3 C's - cold, crisp and clear....beautiful...

Cloth with matte gelled tissue paper, painted and altered with alcohol, free motion quilting, hand embroidered accents.

Intertwined Hearts

There is a smallish art & workshop gallery near me http://wallkillriverschool.com/Page_1.html that carries my work in the handmade gallery portion of their storefront. They have asked me if I'm interested in conducting a workshop. Of course I am but on what? Since I want to try to keep the word quilt out of it (you know, so people don't think this is a course in how to do Log Cabin blocks) I wonder if I should develop something that combines collage elements. Maybe how to use water soluable stabilizer to make 'fabric' and then how to embellish it? Such as the piece above.....

This piece is offered in my Etsy store.

Organic

Sometimes I think my art work crawled up out of the earth and found its way into my studio. I so much admire bright art that is vibrant and dancing with color. I wouldn't characterize my work as drab but it is definitely organic both in its palette and sensibility. To quote Popeye, "I ams what I ams and that's all I ams".

The first piece is painted cloth with tissue paper matte gelled onto it. It will be enhanced with hand stitching and - probably - other embellishments.

The second piece is cloth made from water soluable stablizer that is being further textured with hand stitching and dyed cheesecloth.

Blue U & Eve

I received this lovely lady in the mail yesterday. It was an appreciation gift from Virginia Spiegel thanking me for submitting an art piece for the Collage Mania II she is hosting to benefit the American Cancer Society. Sometimes I am a Blue U! I love this ATC. Virginia textured the finished over the piece - in real life it adds great dimension and depth that isn't captured very well in this photo. To check out more about the American Society benefit auctions please click on the link below:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

This is a 4x6" piece I finished last night. I call it Eve and it features hand dyed fabrics and hand applique. I think I'm going to offer this on Etsy.

Nobel Awarded Pete Seeger?

Apparently there is A Movement gathering signatures seeking a Nobel Peace Prize for Pete Seeger. This is a man who has quietly gone about his business of influencing both our culture and environment. How powerful are songs? Is there anyone that doesn't hear Pete's "Turn, Turn, Turn", "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Hammer" and not feel the emotions of both the civil rights campaigns and anti-war sentiments of the 1960's in America? Is there anyone who hears these songs and doesn't start to feel even the tiniest spark of a bond with fellow humans? How many people know that in 1969 Pete and fellow activists sailed the Sloop Clearwater up and down the Eastern Seaboard raising money and consciousness about pollution and our environment? This was the beginning of the clean water movement that, besides being instrumental in cleaning up Seeger's beloved Hudson River, has sparked awareness of pollution in every city and town across America.

Click on this link to learn more about Pete and this movement. Even if a Nobel Prize isn't in his future Pete Seeger is certainly a man who deserves recognition and honor for the impact he has had on society - both nationally and internationally.

http://www.nobelprize4pete.org/