another finished piece

Postcard from Russia

my piece for the Hoffman Challenge is complete

this is the second piece I've done that involves part of the design running off the edges of the piece -- just a little thinking outside the box

amidst all of the ongoing unpacking and arranging -- and re-arranging -- I'm working on other projects

doing the ArtWalk Longmont show earlier in the month got me excited to do some bead work again, so I went and got supplies to make some more of the "tribute to Gees Bend quilts" pieces -- this one is getting close to being done

progress is being made on the quilt I'm making for my daughter -- it's nice to be able to spread it out and figure out how much wider and how much longer it needs to be!

Christmas knitting continues -- yesterday I made a visit to my local yarn shop (happy to find one here in my new town!) -- I needed to get the proper tools for the next project I will be casting on

you never know when you move stuff what the causalities will be

the last time we moved one of the side pieces of glass in this cabinet got broken

this time the glass all survived, but the taping that held the three pieces of glass in the front together just fell out - taking a lot of the gold leaving down the center with it

I spent several days with gold paint pens (Sharpie makes several widths of tips in these now), redoing all the gold and then reapplied tape

good as new!  ready to put all those collectibles back into the cabinet

the demo part of the remodel is done!

this contractor believes in reusing materials that can be, so there are sheets of drywall and a stack of 2x4s waiting for the next step

moving right along!

lost in transistion

I did pretty well making sure that items that I knew I would need right away were in boxes that were clearly marked.  For the most part we've been able to do whatever work needed to be done without having to go and buy a lot of duplicate tools or materials.

Except for this

Early on I borrowed my daughter's for a week or so, but it soon became apparent that I needed to get one that I could continue to use until the studio is ready -- there are just too many things I do to make art that require this tool!

This piece, for example, is now in the finishing stage -- yesterday I cut the edges and started putting on the facings

That activity requires some "aggressive pressing" to make sure the edges are firmly turned under and there are no "ugly edges"

The replacement iron is working adequately -- it will probably continue to live in the laundry room when studio is finished -- who knows, I might actually iron a piece of clothing -- but don't hold your breath waiting for that!

This has been a busy week

I have hired a contractor to turn this unfinished space into my studio

 

In order to do that, these walls must all come down.  They were put in by a previous occupant without permits and the workmanship is awful, so the decision was made to just rip it all out and start over

The most positive thing about this space is that the rough in for the plumbing is already here which makes the plumbing part of this project much easier!

There will be a bathroom and a room that I will use as an office at this end and all of the rest of the space will be open to be used as studio space for the DH and I

Time to hang out the sign that says "Watch This Space" -- let the demolition begin!!!

Accepted

this piece took me a long time to make

here is the artist statement that I wrote about it for submitting to Sacred Threads:

"Much of my work comes out of pictures seen in my mind in that time between being fully asleep and fully awake.

In May of 2013 a close friend whom had been like an aunt to my daughter had been told there was nothing more that could be done for her ovarian cancer.

This piece represents the picture that I awoke with in my mind on the morning of her passing.

The creation of this piece has given me time to remember and honor her memory and to work through my own grief of loosing her."

having finished this piece just before the deadline early in March and just prior to the big move, I had moved on to thinking about other things

so it took me by surprise that the letter telling me that this piece had been accepted for that exhibit came almost exactly 2 years after the phone call I got telling me the doctors had done everything they could for her

sometimes the timing of things just stuns you

I'm glad this piece of art will get to travel to the East Coast -- I hope it is well received