Inspiration All Around

Well, I've missed my first day in writing the blog. Anna is feeling better and I have been busy. The artwork has been put on hold. What is this exciting picture all about? It is the bottom of a table with chairs that we have. I was sitting in a chair across the room, looking at the table and chairs and thought the lines at the bottom were very nice. Some possible inspiration for art.

Framing

I love to create art. I love to look at art. I also like to buy art. When I buy something, I usually prefer to buy it unframed. I like to do my own framing because:
1) I often don't like how someone else framed a piece
2) I like one mat and a simple frame
3) I think if I do it myself, it won't be as expensive.
4) I do have an old mat cutter that still works fine.

That said, however, it takes me a while to find the time to frame pieces. So this weekend, I have finally spent some time getting many pieces ready- cutting mats and assembling frames. Some pieces I have had for several years, some I have just purchased. I had some frames already. Some frames I ordered; some are on back order so you will only see a matted piece in the pictures. Most of them don't have glass yet.

In this picture, in the upper left corner is an art quilt I just purchased from Melody Johnson. Top right is a painting that my daughter, Anna, did last summer. I think it is great! Bottom left is a collage by M. Otero. Bottom right is a collage by Karen Stiehl Osborn.



In this picture at top left are the Fortune Cats that Anna drew (see earlier post for a close-up). It is another one of my favorites of hers. (Aren't they all my favorite since I'm her mother?). Top right is the only one that is not an original. It is a reproduction of a collage by Barbara Olsen. Bottom left is a monoprint by Barbara Marcus-McKenna (or is it McKenna-Marcus?). Bottom right is a print by Wynn Udall.



This last picture has a monotype on the left by Martha Klein and a mosaic collage on the right. I'm sorry I forgot the artist just now.

Now, when I have these all completed, I'll just to have to find where to hang them. I do already have some things on the wall. But I'm sure I will have plenty of room for these as well. As you can see, it is quite an assortment. I also have three more small pieces to get ready that are not in these pictures. I seem to be partial to limited edition prints and monotypes, as well as collages and, of course, art quilts (most of those don't necessarily need a frame).

Spring Blocks #4 & #5

Are you tired of these spring blocks yet? I guess I'm not. The top one is #4 and is postcard size. The second one is #5 and is about 8-1/2" square.

The way I work is messy. As I finish one piece, the leftover scraps are lying around. Then, I just pick some up and start playing with them again. (I've had time to do this as Anna has been sick). It is easy to do as they are ready to be fused and I use Peltex instead of batting. I'm having fun with these but am just about out of the scraps. I will either have to get more ready or move on to something else. I think these could be flipped around in different directions as well.

In Anticipation of Spring

This is a ball of yarn with wonderful colors. Hopefully, someday it will work itself into some artwork.



This is a picture of a tulip I took last year.

Work in Progress

This is a piece I've been working on. The top is complete and now I am working on the quilting which will add more lines.

And the update for results of Spring Blocks #1 was that most people preferred either the red strip on the left or right side. I made it with the intent that the red strip would be on the right but I think it is fine any direction one prefers.

Spring Blocks #3

Another directional dilemna. This is just a single piece. Which way do you like it? Small orange strip on left, top, right, bottom?

I received a comment on the postcard I posted that it reminded the person of someone being flipped off. This thought had never occurred to me until I read this post (sometimes I can be naive). So to revisit, I have flipped the image upside down and hopefully, this won't give the same impression.


We have not had much snow here this winter (I don't see why the rest of the country couldn't share), but this morning we woke up to this. Not much and it was already 36 degrees and not bound to stay long. But it was a nice pretty surprise.

New Work

This is another postcard I made. I call it Spring Blocks #2. Number one is the piece in the previous post below. The meandering dots are french knots.

New Work

I just finished this piece. It is different for me as I don't usually use pastel colors. But I had these fabrics from some hand dyed fabric I did. It is only one piece with four different views. My question to you is which direction do you like it best? with the red strip on the left, right, top or bottom?



Fused cotton fabrics with machine stitching on peltex. 10" x 10"

Happy Chinese New Year

Kung Hay Fat Choy! or something like that. This is a picture that my daughter, Anna (she's 9-3/4 years old), drew about a year ago. They are fortune cats. I just love the picture and plan to frame it and hang it up. (Some of you know how slow I am about getting artwork framed and up on the wall!). I hope you enjoy some good chinese food today.

More Winter Colors

Thanks to those of you who have read my blog and left comments and advice. I will continually work on updating this and putting more links and other stuff on as I figure it out. Please let me know if these images are loading slowly. Here are some more winter photos.

Winter Colors

Spring seems just around the corner in our area. But here are some winter colors (other than white which is what many people our experiencing). These are plants around my house. I'm sure this one is not a good sign for the leaves but I thought the color and patterning was beautiful.

My New Blog!

I've finally started a blog. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to use it and how to make it mine.
Just to start out I will try to post a picture. It is above. This is a fabric postcard I made called Blue & Green #2.