My son's new house

My oldest son just bought a new house--it is actually an older house in a nice established area of Atlanta. I love the big old trees. It needs a lot of redecorating but is in good condition. I am hoping to visit soon after they move in...isn't it a lovely place?

Peek Into My Sketchbook

These three pages are from my 2005 journal--it is larger than my current journal, so it's easier to scan. These journals include interesting quotes that I come across in my reading, as well as sketches of things that I see. Bits of "ephemera" are taped onto the pages whenever appropriate. Usually, I sketch with a black fine point marker, then later at home I use watercolor paints to add color. These pages will be sent to Artists Sketchbook magazine--they publish pages from readers who send them in.

No-Fear Guide to Creating Art Journals

Last weekend, I met Sabrina Ward Harrison -- she is a young artist who has been staying on a ranch nearby for several months and was doing a book signing and reading at a local bookstore. I bought all her books, including the newest one, "The True and The Questions." But I asked her to sign my own journal, instead.

Sabrina Ward Harrison's Art Journals

Adam and Eve

This is my newest quilt--I made it specifically for a show called "The Naked Truth." The two drawings by Rubens were printed onto fabric and then I designed the quilt around them, using some silk shibori scraps I bought from Judith Content several years ago (the horizontal pieces across the bottom and middle of the quilt) along with a large grey piece of fabric I painted. This quilt is about 30 inches square.

When I first finished the quilting, it was warped badly. I slice out about half an inch next to the "Adam" image, and then I pinned it on the floor and held a steam iron over it. I hope that fixed it! I usually don't do this much machine quilting, but the smaller pieces that I heavily quilted did not warp, so I'm not sure why this one did.

The color scheme is very subdued compared to my usual bright colors and I really like it--this could be a new direction for my fiber art. It's more like my watercolor paintings, don't you think?

"The Naked Truth" is a group show by the California Fiber Artists (www.cafiberartists.com). It will be at the Coastal Arts League Museum and Gallery in Half Moon Bay, from June 8 through July 3, 2006. (www.coastalartsleague.com) I hope you'll come by and see it.

Open Studio

Today, you get to peek inside my studio! It's just a bedroom in my house that I have been using as a sewing and craft room for several years. I don't have anything interesting on the design wall right now, but you can see my fabric storage (laundry baskets on wire shelving under the window), antique oak desk chair, and the sewing table with my new Janome 6500 machine (Love it!). A large cutting table and bookshelves are on a third wall, and the bedroom closet is full of yarn, batting, and finished quilts.

"Inspiring Work Spaces" (Amazon.com book)

Yadda, yadda, yadda

My latest little quilt, this one is called "Yadda, yadda, yadda" because it looks like some human figures and there are letter sequins glued on the yellow background, along with a few beads. The white "glints" are actually my camera's flash reflecting off the largest sequins. This is actually the second quilt like this one I made--the first is for a Bag o Stuff exchange for SAQA, and I liked it so much I had to make one for myself. They are identical except for the backing. The human figures are cut from one of the fabrics that came in the bag, I fused them onto the background, then machine quilted very heavily. I plan to send this to a CFA show next month at Ironstone Winery.

Tangle of Kelp

This watercolor painting is four times as big as the Stones picture. I drove to Santa Cruz a couple of months ago, and stopped to take photos on the beach at Big Basin. This tangle of kelp was a lot of fun to paint--like doing a puzzle. This is the first time I have used watercolor board, it is actually matt board with watercolor paper bonded to it. It is almost like regular watercolor paper, except it dried a bit faster. This helped me complete the painting fairly quickly, because I could put another glaze on top of an area I had just painted without waiting for it to dry.

The Train Depot Rocks

You are the first to see my newest watercolor. The title, "Train Depot Rocks," refers to the historic Train Depot where we usually have our watercolor classes. One day I took pictures of some rocks nearby--and this painting is the result. We have not had class for a few weeks now, as the Depot has mildew that is being removed. I miss it! Doing this painting brought back all my good memories of our classes there.

Textile Arts Today at Synopsys

Today I visited a show at Synopsys, a software company in Silicon Valley. The show was curated by Carol Dabb, and part of the proceeds from any sales will go to the San Jose Museum of Quilts. Two of my quilts are in the show. I was only able to see part of the exhibit, since the quilts are spread around three buildings and we were only allowed into one of them today. But you can see all of the quilts at http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/synopsys/index.html.

My quilts were both made at Art Quilt Tahoe (www.artquilttahoe.com) last November in a class by Gerry Chase. We painted on fabric with acrylic paint, then tore it into squares and designed small pieces. The blue quilt is appropriately titled, "Blue Squares." The other quilt is "One Fish," inspired by the tiny goldfish in a bag that is appliqued on the center section.