Thursday, November 29, 2007

Last Traces of Autumn

The trees are almost completely bare now, and the leaves are starting to lose their gorgeous autumn colors. Soon the cold winter air will finish them off, and snow will cover the ground until spring. Winter seems to be taking her time arriving this year --- which is just fine with me.

Update on our new bathroom.....
The drywall is up, mudded and primed for painting. The storage cabinet is starting to take shape, and slowly but surely, a bathroom is emerging. The contractor hopes to put another coat of primer on everything tomorrow, plus finish sealing the floor. Then I will have the weekend project of painting the walls and installing the flooring. By this time next week, we might be DONE!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Zeke

My son and I seem to have started our own tradition of shopping together on Black Friday --- and commencing this shopping at an extremely early hour. This year we left the house at 4:30am in order to procure the best deals on computer equipment. One of the items that he bought was a new photo printer, and today he hooked it up and started experimenting with it. Of course we needed a photo for the test print, and who better to pose for us than Zeke!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday --- a day for remembering and appreciating and giving thanks for everything wonderful in my life. I have truly been blessed to live a life that is amazing to me. I get up every morning excited at the possibilities, and today I give thanks that I have been given such a life.

Family and friends will be gathering here for a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings . Traditional, yes, but enjoyable just the same. I hope all of you reading this have a wonderful day with your families and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Postcards

I seem to be spending more and more time playing with Zeke, overseeing the addition of our new bathroom, and painting the interior of our house --- and less and less time in the studio. Yesterday I decided to work on remedying that situation. I have several approaching deadlines, so I really need to work on those pieces, but instead, I started creating postcards --- maybe I needed a warm-up exercise. The photo above is one on the layouts. It doesn't have any stitching or embellishing yet, but this will be the base layer.

On another note, the bathroom addition is progressing fairly well. We picked out flooring, wall paint and the vanity light on Sunday. Yesterday the contractor got the drywall hung and the first coat of mud on it. It is starting to look like a bathroom!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Fiberart For A Cause

Fiberart For A Cause was founded in 2005 by artist Virginia A. Spiegel in honor of her Dad, a colon cancer survivor, and in support of her sister, chairperson of the Forest Lake, MN Relay For Life. Fiber artists and patrons from around the world have joined together to raise over $135,000 to date for the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. in 2007 Fiberart For A Cause was the #2 Nationwide Fundraiser for the ACS Relay For Life.

V
irginia asked me if I would create a new design for FFAC merchandise using an image of a piece of my artwork. I chose the piece “Every Moment”, because I felt that the sentiment in it was very appropriate. In April 2006, my son (an only child) was in a horrible motor vehicle accident. He was in an automobile that rolled 3 times on its way down an embankment. Seeing him in the emergency room and later in the intensive care unit was a nightmare. Luckily he has healed with no permanent injuries, but it was very scary for a while. “Every Moment” is a celebration of his recovery and the gift of life. It's about appreciating every moment that we are given, celebrating life and living every moment to the fullest.

The image above is available on shirts, mouse pads, coffee mugs, note cards and tote bags --- with 100% of the profits going to the American Cancer Society. To support this fundraiser and donate to cancer research, please click here. Thanks!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Autumn Collages

Usually, my process for new work begins with a rough draft of an artist statement. Re-reading it as I work keeps me focused throughout the creation of the piece. The second step is to pull out and audition different raw materials --- cloth, paper, etc.

This morning I am working on a new series of collages inspired by this quote from Albert Camus:
"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

The photo above shows the fabrics, prints and photographs that I am using as the backgrounds for these pieces. Once the backgrounds are finished and dry, I plan to add leaf prints. After that, who knows.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

On The Needles

I don't get much, if any, knitting done in the spring and summer --- I'd much rather be outside gardening or dyeing and painting cloth and yarns. But now that the weather has turned chilly, I've gotten out my yarns and needles. First project.... knit some hats for the hospital's NICU. I got a call that they are running low on hats, so these are the two that I've made this weekend.

Update on Zeke --- he is up to 4 pounds now and very, very playful. He is quickly assuming his place as "Prince of the House", and all who enter are succumbing to his charms. In the photo is his new toy --- a doughnut-shaped rawhide chew toy. This is a much better alternative than fingers and toes, which are his chew toys of choice.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

2008 Form Not Function

In today's mail was my acceptance letter from the Form Not Function jury committee. "Urban Warfare #1", pictured above, was juried in. The exhibition will be held January 11 - March 8, 2008 at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, IN. The opening reception will be January 11th from 6-8pm.

On the bathroom project --- we have plumbing! The plumbers were here all day yesterday, jackhammering out concrete and running drain pipes and water pipes. The extra good news is that, besides the new bathroom, they added plumbing for a new utility sink for rinsing out screens, etc. I am psyched!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Fixtures and Flooring and Paint, Oh My!

Yesterday was the start of our newest addition --- a downstairs bathroom in a section of my paint studio. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of negotiating with a contractor and making all of the decisions on fixtures, flooring, paint, etc. I am looking forward to its completion, but wow, what a lot of decisions before the work even starts!

Here's the "before" photo, after I moved all of my paints, print table, etc.
And here is the progress after Day 1: