Saturday, December 21, 2013

Honing my skills, Holiday wishes

Now that my shows are done for the year, I promised myself I would work to learn some new skills, in this case, learning how to make bowls in different shapes.  I have been doing round bowls with sloped walls for over a year now, and wanted to branch out and try some new shapes.  Yesterday, I put the finishing touches on an oval bowl:


 The 3 shots above were taken before I added a small embellishment, shown below.  But they give a good idea of the color and fabric patterns.
The bowl measures 10 1/4" long, 7 3/4" wide and is 4 1/8" high.  I am sure I will be making more of these in different sizes.
I also finished a crocheted shawl in homespun yarn:
This yarn is a soft homespun in a variegated Seafoam green that is just yummy!

And finally, I got around to dyeing a tank top I started sometime last summer - I painted a heart shape on with soy wax to resist the dye, and ended up using Burgundy and Maroon in a scrunch dye:
Little by little I am finishing up projects and trying new techniques, in preparation for next year's shows.  I hope to spend a little time in the next week or so, planning what I hope to tackle and accomplish in 2014, as well as reviewing what all I have done this year.  That's what I hope to post about next.  Meanwhile, I hope you all have a Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day or Kwanzaa season, and a very Happy New Year! 

Friday, December 6, 2013

ACF Gallery

I just saw this picture on FB... it is the Artists' Coalition of Flagstaff Gallery, and they are ready for First Friday Art Walk!  They are featuring gift items for $25 and under as well as a beautiful selection of items from our members...

I am very pleased to have my Shabby Chic Scarves on sale there (see right side of picture) as well as some affordable gift items.  This is a fun gallery, and we have a very wide selection of many mediums available... if you happen to be in the Flagstaff area, I encourage you to stop by!  The gallery is at 111 E Aspen Ave., just east of San Francisco St. north of Rte 66.  

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Early Winter and projects

Well, it's here, folks!  Winter has come to the North Country with sub-freezing temps, arctic winds and the promise of more snow in the forecast!  I just started the first fire of the season:
Then I braved the elements again to get this shot of the icicles hanging from the front of the patio room;

Earlier, I went out and checked the thermometer on the front of the garage, and it was about 24 degrees at about 10:30am!  Brrrr.... however, a quick check of the greenhouse thermometer showed a toasty 65... think I'll be spending a little more time out there to warm up!
On the creative front, I am experimenting with a few new coiled bowl shapes:

The one above has a trim along the top of beads... they don't show well in the photo, but they catch the light nicely.
This one is wider at the bottom than I usually make them, with sides that are gently sloped.  I curved the top row inward slightly to make it look more rounded.  I am spending time right now learning some new techniques to make different shapes... hopefully I will find it easy to adapt, because I really want to expand my offerings in this area to include some new looks.
Lastly, I got a baggie of fabric in the mail yesterday from Deb Lacativa, a fellow fiber artist and dyer:





I pressed them this morning and sorted into colorways, although most of the first batch I put together because they are hand dyed damasks.  Deb uses a lot of these in her hand-stitched fiber art creations, and I have been intrigued by them for awhile now.  I don't yet know what I will be doing with these gems, but I'm hoping to come up with a special project to use them on.  I'll be sure to post results here, so keep a look out!  Okay, back to work I go, Heigh-ho, heigh-ho!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Scarves in ACF Gallery

They're up!  My brand new mini-boutique area is hung in the Artists' Coalition Gallery on Aspen in Flagstaff!

I have been a busy bee, and finished 20 scarves for the display, just in time for First Friday Art Walk this Friday, Dec. 6th.  I have some nice gift items available there as well, for under $25, as will a number of our members, so it's a great place to go for affordable holiday gift shopping!  
Meanwhile, I'm heading back to the scarf works... need to start cranking out the next batch!  See ya...