Happy Birthday to ME!!

Pictured left is "After Matisse"

I am SO excited! Today is my birthday (I'm not generally coy about it but...well...it's a pretty big number) AND I received the "fat" email from the Whistler House Museum of Art in Lowell, MA (www.whistlerhouse.org).

Two of my pieces were juried into "From Fine Art to Fiber: Reinterpreting the Masters" exhibit August 4 thru Sept 4. The Artists Reception is Saturday, August 14 (2-4 if you'd care to pop by and say "hi"). I will make every effort to be there I can tell you!

The second photo is "Tide Pooling-After Audubon"

Dusk (unless you can suggest something better)

This just goes to show you the benefits of being a specialist on stash building. Some might characterize it as hoarding...but it's not. I share my stash and I use my stash. It's just that it takes a lot of building.

Case in point: Dusk {okay, I'm not in love with the title but it will do until someone suggests a better}. It is roughly 19" x 22". The background is a piece that I dispersed some time ago and have been hoping that it would inspire something. The larger gold piece and the silver piece are small bits from silk kimono. Then there's the totally commercial piece. I have painted the birds using acrylic textile paint and a Japanese katagami stencil that I purchased on my last trip. I also added five small, smooth stones from the shore.

I like the whole thing...largely because it satisfied the "picture in my head".

Any suggestions? Always welcomed.

Now that I'm looking at it on blogger I'm thinking about continuing the hand circle stitching over the whole and "under" the birds and trees. Whatcha think?

Sisters In Cloth Extravaganza! 2010

Sisters in Cloth annually hosts what we have named Extravaganza. Every year Sister extraordinaire Yvette Howard hosts the event which includes vendors, lunch, demonstrations, show and tell and lots and lots of fun.

This year Betty Warner (bettywarnerquilts.com) offered to lead demonstrations on several surface design techniques. You had to be there to believe how hard it was for this seasoned teacher to keep us all in line...it was hysterical! At least she was laughing as

much as we were. She's pictured here with Class Angel Vivika DeNegre (vdenegrequilts.blogspot.com) at the left.

We had a wonderful day browsing the vendors, eating lunch, Betty's demo and an incredible Show and Tell. This is one of the many pieces guest Judy Ross brought that showed off her wonderful free-motion quilting.

I've just finished the post on the Sisters blog (www.sistersincloth.blogspot.com). I urge you to go there...it's much more complete with all the vendors names and websites. As a tease I'll tell you that Laura Wasilowski always sends the BEST hand dyed fabrics (artfabrik.com).

I Mighta Over-thunk This

Fiberactions May Challenge: Convergence

I've titled my contribution "Gondwana Revisited".

This challenge required long contemplation on my part. I thought of and discarded several ideas. Finally, reaching back to the dark recesses I landed on "convergence boundaries". As I recall this describes the actions of the earth's tectonic plates in moving and shaping the earth.

Gondwana was a proto-continent that ultimately became Africa, South America, and Australia (and North America, Antarctica, Arabia and part of India). It's the first three that interest me as these all have indigenous ratites: ostriches, rheas and emus.

This piece began life as individual blocks of African, Australian (with emus), New Zealand (with kiwi) and South American textiles. They were cut apart several times with insertions of thin bars of color, ultimately separated by the oceans.

This is such a convoluted, complicated artist statement about such a little piece...it's not "Guernica" after all. But by the time that occurred to me I was too far down the pike to abandon it and produce a substitute for today's deadline. That's the problem with long contemplations.

How happy am I?!!

This is my self portrait and the image I usually use when I post on blog-o-sphere.

Then there's an earlier iteration.

Now that I have the opportunity to serve as the SAQA/CT Co-Representative (with our fearless leader Kate Themal http://www.katethemel.com), I'm told that a real portrait is appropriate. I'd estimate that 75% of our CT membership would know me on sight. Just in case there is someone out there who would like to put a face with a name, here's the real deal.

I'm delighted to be in the position to work with Kate to promote art quilting in general and SAQA specifically in our little but, oh, so productive state. I look forward to meeting all of the CT members. You can always contact me via email, dwrite@mac.com.

Looking forward to our next Regional Meeting!

Thread City, (CT) USA

Willimantic's name apparently comes from an Algonquin word for swift running water. That swift running water ran cotton thread mills from the 1800's until 1985 when the American Thread Company picked up and shifted to North Carolina. This frog atop a spool is one of a pair at the entrance of the bridge over the river, greeting visitors to the town.

The town is also home of Eastern CT State University, where Ruth Anne Olson (www.fiberartbyruthanne.blogspot.com) and I went to view the current exhibit at its Akus Gallery, Chahar Ghesmat: Iranian Women Create. It was thought provoking work from four Iranian women curated by Elizabeth Peterson, Director of the gallery.

Whilst on campus Elizabeth recommended we visit the library where a huge weaving of Helena Hernmarck is hanging. "Open Door Open Book" was a public commission installed in 1998 and is, indeed, imposing!

Finding out that in a previous life I had given presentations on Australian Aboriginal Art, Elizabeth suggested we walk over to the Student Center too. There we were surprised to see an enormous contemporary art painting by Salt Water Murris. "Quandamooka Dreaming" is a celebration of life in the Moreton Bay area.

The day was full of unexpected, wonderful art. Serendipity, indeed!