Finished, reworked and a new beginning

The Finished:

after a lot of picking out and fussing this piece, titled "Couch Puppy" is finished

and the changing didn't stop right up until I stitched the facing on, deciding at the last moment to cut about 4 inches off the bottom edge, leaving a lot less "floor" on the piece and dropping the focal point of the piece (the face) a bit

I learned a lot doing this piece -- when I started it I had a very basic pencil sketch - but I had great influence and feedback from a fellow artist Barbara Yates Beasley who not only inspired me, but actually helped me figure out the how too!

the artist's group I belong to has been talking about what influences our work and the idea that there is nothing new out there, we are all "stealing" ideas from each other (last month's homework for that group was to read a book titled "Steal Like an Artist") --- this month we were supposed to do a piece of work and talk about how it was influenced, and by whom --- guess my home work is done!

in addition to that, this piece fits perfectly in the series I'm working on -- originally I had titled it "Slice of Life", but I've changed the title to "Through My Eyes" as it is more easily understood

I have two more pieces for that series that are ready to be quilted -- I'll be working on those soon

The Reworked:

I made this bracelet last year for a beading challenge

originally it had a magnetic clasp that was worked into the end so it looked like the sea horses had little crowns on their heads, which looked cool, but made it so that the bracelet would only fit a specific sized wrist

earlier in the month I though I had this piece sold, only to have to refund the money because it was too small

I decided, when the piece came back, to see if I could rework it and make it more flexible for sizing

so all of the edging came off and was reworked with this beaded toggle clasp

hoping that will fix the problem and make it more "sale-able"

The New Beginning:

for over 25 years, the Hoffman fabric company has sponsored a challenge -- they release a specific fabric and you are required to use that fabric on the front of the piece in some way, but aside from that you can do just about whatever you want

I've been entering a piece in this challenge every year since 2010 

the fabric for this year is pictured there in the little colored picture

ever since I first saw it, I've been thinking about Fiestas -- it just makes me think about the amazing twirling swirls of the long full skirts the dancers wear at those dances

those little drawings there are the beginnings of my design work for this piece

this should be interesting -- these projects always are -- no doubt lots of ups and downs in the next couple of months as I work through this getting it to whatever it will eventually be