CREATE

I know it has been a long time since I posted....sometimes life gets in the way of blogging....but that being said, I have been continuing to work in the studio. After much thought, I have started to redefine where I want to invest my creative time and talents. I have taken many classes for all kinds of techniques and projects. I have invested time and money in all sorts of crafts and finally have come full circle to what I really love.......(drum roll please!!!!!!).......fabric arts. Is this a big surprise to anyone who knows me well???? I think not. Anyway, that being said, I have put aside several things that fall outside of the fabric art realm and now am focusing on where I want my art and cloth to mix.

What I want to share today is one of the wonderful classes that I took at CREATE the mixed media art retreat I attended in Chicago at the end of August. Magical Metal Altars was taught by Judy Perez Coates.  We painted on fabric and then cut and embossed aluminum sheets to make the "altar" shape. Then we sewed....yes, with a sewing machine.....the metal to fabric.

While my painting leaves me wondering if I should return to kindergarten art class, I found the metal work really exciting.

I started by tracing a pattern that Judy had provided but quickly found that my experience with Zentangles lead me to create the rest of the embossing on my own.

I am eager to try other projects that will incorporate metal and fabric together. I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday.

FEBRUARY'S BEAD JOURNAL PROJECT

I finally finished my February Bead Journal Project. It was a challenge to me because it seemed to monochromatic for my taste. I realized that I needed to try to make it interesting rather than starting over and I sure didn't want to invest any more money into beads!!!! The nice thing about working on quilt squares that won't be finished until the end is that I can add/edit the pieces later if they don't "fit" - color wise and interest wise. Now on to March.

GREEN THERAPY

Until last week, we had not seen the ground since Dec 27th. The snow pack in the backyard is still about 12 inches thick in places. Wanda and I were in desperate need of green therapy. So Wanda planned a mystery trip to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. It was very windy and cold outside but we enjoyed the balmy moist air of the greenhouse.

Wandering through room after room of astonishing color and earthen smell made us feel like spring was just around the corner.
These precious pink and white stamens are what is left after the petals fall and I am sure they will find their way into a beaded interpretation at some point.
The waterlilies were in bloom. The only thing missing were the fish and the mosquitoes.....not that we missed the bugs at all!!!!

After we had enough "green" (and red and yellow and...well, you get the point), we headed for Little Italy for a delicious lunch. It was a perfect day and maybe....just maybe....we will make it to spring.

BEAD JOURNAL PROJECT-January

I am on track so far! Ok I have to admit that I am the world's best procrastinator. And I thought long and hard before signing up for the Bead Journal Project. But I have completed my January "page". I am working with 4 inch crazy quilt squares that will represent each month of the year. I hope to either frame them as a unit or quilt them into a wall hanging.....which is why the edges are unfinished. I will be placing a unifying fabric around each square.

This year there has been SNOW.....everywhere.....and for a very long time with another storm or two predicted for this week. Hopefully I will get a jump start on February's quilt square with ample time to get to the store for beads before the next storm hits.