2021 Comes to a close...

 And what a year it has been!  My friend Cinde and I became contributing artists at Sedona Artist Market

Which led to a return for me to creating Spirit Dolls

And lots of tie-dye as well as some bowls

All in all, Sedona has been a great place to sell, and Cinde and I have enjoyed our monthly trips down to restock our booths, hike when the weather permitted, and enjoy a nice lunch together!

At Arts Connection, I stepped down early this year as co-manager and focused on keeping my booth there stocked with tie-dye, bowls, and recently some freeform weavings:

This year, we were able to resume our annual Flagstaff Open Studios tour, and although we were not sure if people would be ready to come out in gatherings due to the pandemic, we were pleasantly surprised to have a good turnout, and good sales!

On the personal front, we did have a couple of health scares - in October, Bruce had a couple of "mini strokes" which landed him in the hospital, with a myriad of follow up doctor appointments and tests.  They finally determined he has atrial fibrillation, and have modified some medications to fight blood clots.  And he has lost about 20 pounds, which is all good.  He also had to have emergency hernia surgery a few weeks back, but has healed nicely from that.  He just celebrated his 79th birthday, and we're hoping the coming year will find him in better health!

One bit of very good news - our Son Joe returned stateside after a year long deployment in Kuwait, and he and his wife Dawn will be moving from PA to TX soon, and will be coming for a visit after the first of the year.  It will be awesome to see them, and good to know they are located closer to us so maybe we can see them more often!

So as the year comes to a close, my thoughts are focused on what I want to do in 2022... right now, my creative juices are low, and I'm taking it easy, just concentrating on what I need to do, but also giving thought to what new directions I want to take creatively.  I recently bought a couple of books that I hope will get me started:

I'm always looking for hand stitching projects I can work on, especially when I work shifts at Arts Connection which is pretty much every Monday now.  And the clay book will be helpful as I strive to learn how to make my own clay faces for my Spirit Dolls.  I have another book coming soon:

I saw this in a blog post as I was admiring the blog author's freeform crochet vessels... right up my alley!  

So that's the plan so far for 2022... meanwhile, I want to wish you all a  Happy Holiday season, and a New Year of Peace, Good Health and Dreams fulfilled!

Card weaving & more

I have wanted to make woven wall hangings since I first saw some back in the 70's... some dreams never die, they just take awhile to come true!  I recently came across a book, "Weaving Off-Loom" written in 1973, which is a great resource for weaving techniques using non-traditional methods, and I have begun the process of learning.  I completed one hanging, and I'm working on or thinking about several more.  Here is the first:

 

I love these because they incorporate various materials, not all fiber.  I have deadwood, beads, dyed scrim, wool roving and a variety of yarns in this piece.  There was no formal plan for how this would turn out, only inspiration from some of the photos in the book.  I made a "loom" from a piece of foam board, strung the warp using crochet floss, and just started playing... great fun, and the results convinced me I will be doing more of these!
On another topic, I have made several "Thread bowls" using scraps of sewing thread, embroidery floss, and other fiber or yarn scraps.  I was recently invited to enter one of my bowls in an upcoming exhibit at High Country Conference Center here in Flagstaff, and I had just finished a large bowl, so it will be in the exhibit:

This one measures 10 3/4" by 3 1/4"... the largest one I have made so far.  I have plans to make something a little different soon... more of a sculpture item than a bowl shape.  Love using up these thread scraps!

Coming up soon is the 21st Annual Flagstaff Open Studios Tour, August 25-26, with the Prelude Exhibit opening at Arts Connection Gallery at Flagstaff Mall on Saturday, August 4.  So I am busy preparing for both events, and look forward to another fun August!

Enjoy the rest of summer, and stay tuned... will post more soon.