Monday, August 30, 2010

Open Studios, Day 2

As promised, here are some shots of Cinde's beaded jewelry, and one of some projects she is currently working on:


The project on the left above is a bracelet Cinde is creating on a loom; on the right is a petrified sand dollar she is beading to create a cabachon. She is very talented, and her work was very popular this weekend! All in all, I think this year's Open Studios tour was a great success! I haven't spoken to a lot of the artists yet, but our Coalition president called this morning to say he has heard from several, and the attendance this year was phenomenal! Thanks to all who attended and supported our efforts!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Open Studios, Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of this year's Open Studios tour, and considering that we were at my friend Cinde's house about 5 1/2 miles east of town, we got a pretty good turnout, and some good sales as well! Cinde has a lovely home, and it made a perfect setting to display our work. Here are some shots:
Cinde has a loft above the living room with wonderful railing, just right for displaying my art quilts!

Her spacious living room gave me plenty of room to set up my clothing racks...


She has a great little nook with french doors and a window that let in just the right amount of light for my wall art collection.
I didn't get any shots of Cinde's wonderful beaded jewelry yesterday, so I'll be sure to get some today. She was working on a loom-beaded bracelet yesterday, and a beaded cabachon for a friend... can't wait to see how they turn out!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Shrekkie

I'm a sucker for cats... have been all my life! At one time I had 7 in the house... had to scale back a bit! Right now we have 2 boys... Bubba and Double, and they do a good job of keeping the mouse population down. But we also have a vagrant - a sweetie left behind by neighbors a few years ago who moved down to Phoenix and left this little guy in the care of some other neighbors. Apparently, either they dropped the ball or he decided to go it alone. At any rate, I would see him from time to time crossing the property, and you could tell he was used to people because he would talk to me when he passed by. But I noticed awhile back that he was looking skinny and not in very good shape, so I finally gave in and started putting kibble next to the water dish on the deck I keep filled for my cats and the birds. Shrekkie and I have been making friends recently! He lets me pet him and seems quite happy to see me when I come out on the deck to visit, and he is looking much healthier now that he is getting regular meals! Now I just need to figure out what to do to protect his food source this winter when it snows... anyway, I got a picture of him through the window this morning:

This is not my best effort picture-wise, but will have to do until I can get another chance!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Plant Growth


I got a couple of pix of my gardening efforts this morning... first is my window garden:



On the left is a Tea Rose I bought in May... almost lost it the first month! I forget that potted plants sometimes need more water than those we plant in the ground! Once I started watering it almost daily, it came back and has bloomed a couple of times since!

In the middle is a container with Rock Rose seeds... I'm experimenting to see if I can get them to germinate. If not, a friend with tons of them has offered to let me try transplanting one to my yard. On the right is a vagrant plant that sprouted at the base of a Rhododendron I bought and put in the yard, again in May... don't know what it is other than a vine, and probably a squash vine. Another one is still out in the yard sprouting flowers, but no squash.

Below is a shot of two Nasturtiums I planted in the yard this summer... at first, I had the pot facing East, but it was too hot and the plants weren't doing well. So I decided to move them to the West side of the house, giving them morning shade. Then along came the Monsoons and kept them watered nicely... much better!
I really love the brilliant colors of the flowers, and I also like the shape of the leaves. I have had Nasturtiums before, but they always seemed to get leggy and weren't too attractive. I think I have solved the problem here by planting in a pot, and now that I know I can grow them here I will keep them in mind for color spots in the future. I will admit that this is the best year yet colorwise in my yard! I have been focused so much on planting trees that I haven't done much with flowers before. This year, I have Marigolds, Pansies, Geraniums, the Nasturtiums, Snap Dragons, Shasta Daisies, and of course our wild Brown-eyed Susans, Coreopsis ( I know that isn't spelled correctly, but can't find it in the dictionary!), Mexican Hat and Mallow... now if only I could get more Bearded Iris to grow for Spring! Maybe I'll splurge this fall and buy bunches!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New Caftan


I really love making these! First I dye the fabric, then I do the few steps needed to turn it into a caftan... easy-peasy! For this one, I thought for awhile about how I wanted to dye it, and once I had the colors and pattern in mind, it just came together. I love this pattern, and even though the colors aren't ones I usually use, I do love how they blended together! I used Dharma's Burgundy, Maroon, Charcoal, Better Black and New Black. I applied the dyes with a squeeze bottle, batched for an hour, then added my soda ash solution and batched for another hour. The fabric is cotton gauze crinkle cloth, which I love working with! It has a nice texture, is very easy to manipulate, and is comfortable to wear. I just posted this to my shop, and hope to get one or two more made up before Open Studios at the end of the month.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Sold!

Last night was the opening reception for Prelude Exhibit, the preview of our annual Open Studios tour. As usual, we had a great turnout, in spite of our rainy weather. My friend Cinde, who is a new member of the Artists' Coalition, and I had a nice dinner then attended the reception. We strolled around the exhibit, marvelling at all the beautiful work on display. After completing the circuit, we began to go around again... you can never really take it all in with just one look, right? Well, by the time we started around the second time, I discovered that someone was purchasing my entry, 'Autumn Leaves at Sunset', which I finished last fall just in time for an exhibit I had at a local restaurant. I was thrilled! This is the first Art/Landscape quilt I have sold that wasn't a comission piece! Here I am with the piece before it was purchased:

And below is Cinde, with her lovely beaded necklace, which also sold:
Here is a closeup of the necklace, which is truly beautiful:

Needless to say, we were both very happy campers when we discovered our entries had been purchased, and we are really looking forward to Open Studios, which is August 28-29.

Here are a few more shots of some of the beautiful work on display at Prelude:
Chris Norlin's Stained Glass


Photography, Pottery and Painting
Joan Scott's Quilt
Keith Huling's amazing oil painting

If you happen to be in the Flagstaff area between now and September 11th, do try to stop by and view the exhibit. It is at the Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 Fort Valley Road. It is well worth the trip!