a little quilt with a quote from Marc Chagall " great art picks up where natures ends"  

I belong to a sub group of MEOW machine embroiderers of Oregon and Washington. This group, called "multi-media cats", spent time creating altered bras. This is my version, that I confess to not being very interested in doing. It is a quote from Pablo Picasso " I begin with an idea then it becomes something else."  

weekend of creation

the text is from 1 timothy ...the jacket has multiple layers of dye, paint, various methods of photo transfer, inkjet print outs, and free motion quilting  

What do we create? 

mother's day art

I am not a big fan of mother's day as it feels imposed on me both as a daughter and a mother.....I go along though....I have a wonderful Mom who inspires my art...I have 4 wonderful kids who admire my art...today I heard from or saw 3 of them ...not sure where or how the oldest is ...he is 25 and has always caused the most worry...he has a genius IQ but that has not helped him make good life choices so far....my 23 year old called to say he loves me and that is rare for him to actually say...we attended brunch at a restaurant where my 21 year old daughter had been hired to play her harp ...and my youngest son 18 roused himself from a short nights sleep ( prom was last night ) to eat with us, he has joined the marines and will leave us soon for that adventure so all time with him is more precious now...we should treat all those we love as if they will leave us soon really...anyway I am uploading pictures of a jacket that I created as a requirement for a sermon at the end of a 3 year lay ministry training program ...I really struuggled with the assigned text but eventually it was made clear...we don't just create babies......

here is a close up of the embellishment at the closure 

here is a close up of the painting 

I made this vest a couple of months ago after " surface designing " this satin fabric left over from flower girl dressmaking for my nephews wedding....I like it in theory ...in reality I feel like an ottoman with it on...jeez  

this is a piece in progress tentatively titled " looking at the stars through the window of my soul " or something...not sure if it is done? 

for those of you who asked..this little quilt is about 12" X 23" and says " art is a lie that helps us realize the truth " Pablo Picaso  

hand dyed and painted satin with a quote from Pablo Picasso made for my Mom for Mother's day 

and the quote i used 

here is a closer view of the birds 

I cut this stencil of a bird last week. It is based on a bird in a family tapestry that was woven in the early 1800's. I thought I might send this to the challenge in somerset studio magazine? 

I made this little purse today for my friend Stacie at work. She likes these machines!!!!!!!!!! I found a sweater at goodwill and felted. Then the magic of google imaging and wonder under. Pretty cute ?  

symbology

Lately for the sunday school opening ( my Mom and I do this together ) we have been exploring some of the symbology used in christian art. Last sunday we did colors. Traditional colors arere
white - pure and complete used at easter and christmas
red- a power color used at pentecost reformation and holy cross sundays
green- the most common color, new growth, used during the season of pentecost or "ordinary times " and also during the season of epiphany
purple- a penitential or preparatory color used during advent and lent
black- for mourning used on ash wednesday through good friday

some more contempory color choices include scarlett, sky blue, and gold.

We looked at shapes a couple of sundays ago, and then numbers. We have monograms to go then we will almost be done with this year. My favorite year was the year we learned the hebrew alphabet. I made vests with each letter and the kids took turns "being" the letter for the day. Of course they remember the alphabet better now than I do!!!

this small quilt ( 12" X 12" ) is in honor of my paternal grandmother....she loved these colors and lace and jewelry...this jewelry and some of the fabric is hers 

jacket photo

This jacket was created for a fund raiser for the Salem Art Association . The theme was " table talk" I made 3 jackets for me, my Mom, and my sister, they were all different, this is one of them. I hand dyed a table cloth of my grandmother's then applied various fabric and lace bits and photo transfers. I painted using stencils and stamps, then lined it with left over fabric from some flower girl dresses I made for my nephews wedding.

detail of the back 

detail of left front 

back of jacket 

wearable art jacket " table talk " 

Christianna's wedding dress top. 

not quilting

I have been working on my nieces wedding dress. I'll post a picture...I am not very interested in working on traditional clothing anymore...I used to do so much sewing for my kids...I find it so boring now....but this is for love so I am putting aside creativity and just doing it! I am unhappy with the hooks and eyes that took so long to sew on ...I think I will take them off and try again. Her wedding is in Las Vegas, I have never been there and have no particular desire to go.There will be 7 of us going and we cannot afford to fly so it will be a cozy 17 hour ride each way.

tap tap and eft

I thought I had seen this technique before and unearthed the book yesterday. The book is no grain diet by dr mercola and he includes instructions that are the same as susan wrights. Only his are so that one can stick to a diet.

tap tap

I have been away, busy with classes, family, and work. The best class was given by
Susan Wright. She gave an interesting talk about the use of tapping on certain points of the body to re-order energy pathways and "fix" problems of the human existance. I am reading more about this and will write more later.

Also at the monthy meeting of the MEOW group I learned how a thermofax machine worked and had a screen made for me to use...cool.

There is a new pope and this is so interesting that ....it is so interesting....hm.

catching up

my computer has been on extended sick leave ...not sure what the problem was.....but we seem to be online and functional again

the back of "she dances" 

the front of "she dances" 

I did it!!!

I figured out how put the logo for artful quilters web ring and I feel like a genius!!

looking east on my way to work in feb 2004 I saw the most amazing full moon hanging low in the sky above the coast range...i could immediately "see" the image in layers of sheers and velvet with a few beads....I liked the small quilt except for the " placemat " size that I seem to want to create...... so to fix that I cut it up and repieced and now it is " fractured february landscape "

this is my space to create...as I loose kids to adulthood i gain creative space....doesn't seem too long ago that i had my sewing table permanently set up in a corner of my living room...i needed to be were the action was..but now i can go downstairs into a designated room...leave messes out ...the only kid left you can see "jack" sitting in the middle of it all drives me crazy getting cat hair all over things...in a way i wish my kids were still kids and in a way i don't..i have been thinking of sonji's post about rewriting ones life and that is where i am at