End of the month update

well, once again the time has gotten away from me --- guess there's no fighting it!

that said, here's a look at what I've been up to for the past 20 days

this piece is finally finished -- the fun part (ie the embroidery on the front) has been finished for a while, but I've finally done the finishing work on it -- yeah!

I am working on the quilting of this commissioned piece now -- as of yesterday, I'm about 1/3 finished with that, so it is moving right along

the fusing on this piece is done, and it has been put together and is ready for quilting

this small piece (12"x12") is on the design wall right now -- I plan to donate this to the annual SAQA auction, so it has a June 1 deadline -- need to step it up and get this finished soon!

I think the garden is just about ready for the quilting

there are a few things that I want to do with InkTense pencils to add some details on it, but for the most part, I'm happy with it now --- no small thanks to my critique group that helped me figure out what it was about it that just wasn't working!

since I am done with the hand work on the garden, I have started on what will be the next stitched piece

this is made up from parts of four different photos, but the point of inspiration for it is the barn

I took the photo of this barn, which has been sitting in a field a couple of miles from my house for years, slowly falling apart

not long ago, it was announced that the city has given permission for it to be torn down, so it was photograph it now or loose it forever

I think I'm going to like this piece!

and I plan to use this photo for the basis of the next fused piece

this working in two different methods allows me to continue doing both small and large pieces

this is Mr Cute following in his gramma's footsteps!

last weekend his rocket ship was part of the District Art Exhibit --- I'm thrilled that he is as excited by art (and music) as he is about sports

and of course no post is complete without a photo of The Artist's Supervisor - aka Mr Benson

he thinks he's having to work awful hard, but he's trying to keep at least one eye on the artist at work!

March was a VERY busy month.....

sometimes I marvel that "once upon a time", back when I first started blogging, I posted almost EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!

in my defense, back then I was not cranking out much art!

that said, here's what I've been up to since the last posting out here

the commission piece is moving right along (this picture is actually from about a week ago, and there is a lot more that is finished since then)

my customer is very pleased with the whole look of this piece, and I've been pleased that the process I decided to use to create it has gone well too

this piece is all finished now

I really like the colors and the reflective look of the water -- it's been added to the list of pieces that are available to enter in shows

thanks to a friend that was visiting in Tubac, AZ, I have a photo of my two pieces that were part of the "Shock of the New West" show in the Tubac Gallery -- these were the only pieces of fiber art that were included in this exhibit -- pretty cool!

  I have been notified that this piece has been accepted to a show titled "Portraying Pets and People" that will be held in the 311 Gallery in Raleigh, NC, during the month of May

meantime, work in the studio continues on other projects as well

these two pieces will soon be "welded" together for the final piece --- I have found that it is easier to do the details of the figures on parchment first where I can "fiddle" with the colors then fuse them together then do the background and at the end the figures get added as one big piece on top

this piece is in the pattern drawing stage, and it will be a 12x12 piece that I plan to donate to the SAQA auction

and then there is this

working title is "Storm at Sea"

in my master class this year we are doing some collage work (we are to bring 4 collages to class every month -- made on a 4x6 inch card)

this was one of my collage pieces last month, and it created a lot of discussion during class, including the instructor suggesting it would make a striking fiber piece, and that no one else she is aware of is using this surreal approach in fiber work

yup, I'm thinking about boldly going where I have not gone before


and under the category "burying the lead", the biggest event during the past month was my acceptance as a Juried Artist Member (JAM) with the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA)

I have had this set as a goal for a number of years, but over the last year and a half I have work continuously to create both a body of work and a resume of acceptance in shows that would allow me to apply for this

it still feels a little, well - surreal!

and now there will be no resting on one's laurels -- it's important to set the next goal (I'm working on that) and continue to Just Do The Work!!!!!

which means I'll continue to wear out my Artist's Supervisor on a regular basis

ONWARD!!