Welcome to Autumn!

I love all the seasons, but have a special place in my heart for Autumn.  Some of my favorite early memories are of me helping my mom decorate for Halloween, and loving the autumn leaves as they turned glorious yellows, oranges and reds before falling from the trees.  Over the years, autumn leaves have been a recurring theme in my work, and this year is no different.  recently, I custom dyed an Autumn Leaves batik shirt for a dear friend:

And as I have done in past years, I decorated a couple of my coiled fabric bowls with fabric autumn leaves:

I actually made up a number of leaves before making the bowl and lid above, so I have lots left over for other projects!

Several years ago, I did a couple of Autumn Leaves batik art quilts, and still have one hanging in my office:

I made a few coiled bowls that I plastered and painted, with Autumn leaves themes:

And a few years back, I made some framed Autumn Leaves pieces:

Now I'm looking at ideas on pinterest for other ways to use autumn leaves in my work... obsessed?  Maybe!  But they have been a strong influence on my work for many years now, and will probably continue to crop up in my art.  Can't beat Nature for inspiration!

My class on bowl making

Yesterday, I taught my class on how to make a coiled fabric bowl, to 9 students!  That's a record number for one of my classes, but it worked out well.  All were anxious to learn how to make the bowls, and by the end of the day, each student had made a bowl to take home with them, and they were enthusiastic about making more!  Here are some photos I took during class:

Students working diligently on their bowls

Barbara working on the last few rows

Carla and Jeanna making great progress

Sue and Marla, with their colorful creations

Karen's bright, cheerful bowl, almost done

Karen with her finished bowl

Sharon, focused on her project

Sherry, with her colorful bowl

I was so pleased that all of the students seemed to have a fun, productive day, and hope they will continue creating more bowls.  My next class - Lids, Handles & Embellishments - is scheduled for next month, open only to students who have taken my basic bowl class, and there are at least 2 from this class who plan to sign up.  I will post pictures of that class afterword.  Happy bowl-making, ladies!

Summer's end

This year's Flagstaff Open Studios Tour was a smashing success!  We had record breaking crowds, good sales, and a fun weekend with 8 artists at our location:

Here are some shots of my booth layout:

By the end of the show, I was pretty worn out, what with breaking down, then bringing my wares back into the gallery the next day to set up.  But all that effort was worth it, and I'm looking forward to brisk sales in the coming months leading up to the holidays.

Meanwhile, I decided it was time to re-open my online shop on Artfire - see the tab above.  I have pulled my Easy Breezy rayon dresses from the gallery, and have them listed in the Artfire shop, and will add more items over time. 

 This way I have two outlets to offer my work, one local and one available to shoppers all over the U.S.  That should keep me busy!  Be sure to check out the shop, and tell your friends!