4/30/07
Yesterday I drove up to Clarksville, which is just on the southern edge of Columbia (Doug from Cali, Columbia visiting yesterday also), to attend a meeting of art quilters who want to start a critique group. What pretty countryside, rolling hills, cherry trees and dogwoods and lilacs and wisteria still in bloom. I want to go back and explore and just wander around and get lost.
Anyway, the meeting was held at one of women's house... big house, pool, looking over maybe 5 acres of land, rolling hills. Plus she had a studio, lined with bins of fabric and other things, all organized, and a big huge worktable in the middle. Sigh.
There were maybe 25 women there, quite an impressive turnout. We introduced ourselves and then went around and showed what work we had brought along. The organizer, Carole Shaw, I think -- I am SO bad with names -- had asked us to bring a couple of things along. I was surprised when one of the women picked me to show my work almost right off the bat. Maybe because I was all dressed in greens and turquoise, like Robin Hood?? Anyway, so I brought out my 2 little quilts, Porcupine and the latest encrustation, blue on pink, and passed them around. I got a lot of positive feedback on them.
Later one we started having a very interesting discussion about how we could do critique and what it meant and how it was not saying that you liked this or that; it was more about what were you trying to accomplish and did you succeed at it or not. The meeting had already been going on for 3 hours then and it was time to break up and go home, but I hope that the next meeting, maybe in June, we can pick up there and continue where we left off.
Today I an planning on going to the ArtDC show, last day at the Conv. Center downtown, a show of something like 80 galleries in the area. Carole Shaw had been, said she was somewhat disappointed in it in that there were only maybe 3 places with any kind of fiber, but that it was instructive in learning what we maybe have to do to get ourselves out there and into the gallery/art world and not be ghettoized as "quilters." It's too bad so many women call themselves "crafters" (at whatever they do) and also that so many don't put any real value on their work. I looked at Etsy yesterday and saw a woman selling her quite large quilts for $200. She doesn't do herself any favors, nor anyone else either. At the meeting, one of the first women to show her work started saying something deprecating about her work, and other women just jumped on her for doing that and said, Be positive, be great, think you're wonderful and your work is wonderul. Good for them!
Then I went to play tennis (match) with Susan and we kicked butt! 6-0, 6-0. Those other women were outclassed, I'm afraid.

My recent fascination with having some pictures of cherry trees and other spring going on around here now (DC area) is because I have become fascinated by the work of Tracy Helgeson. She is an artist who paints in oils and does these absolutely luminous landscapes in wonderful colors. They remind me of Wolf Kahn's work -- and it turns out that he is sort of one of her mentors -- but I have decided that I like her work better than Kahn's. Maybe last year there was an exhibit of Kahn's work at a small gallery down in Georgetown. I am so glad I took the trouble (I am so lazy about getting out and going to art shows) to go see it because I have admired his work for a long time, and this was the first time I had been able to see it in person. And of course, the real thing is so much better than any picture. His work also just glows. I would love to have one, but I think the best I could ever do is a poster. But maybe I could save up and buy one of Tracy's.

For some reason, this picture didn't come up with the previous post.

These are a couple of our azaleas which have just now come into full bloom. Also blooming now are the new red bud, which has masses of teeny little blossoms on it, our new cherry tree from last year, the white dogwood and the pink one. I love spring here. And I think I have talked our neighbors into getting a crabapple tree to plant along the back fence. We don't really have any room for one, though I would like to figure out a place for a lilac.
I have to get used to the new little digital camera. The focus is a little off. I suppose one day I will have to invest in a digital camera where I can do my own focusing and not rely on the point-&-shoot kind, esp. for shooting artwork.

These are more pictures at the same spot on the East-West Hiway.

April 27, 2007

I went out yesterday to take these pictures of cherry trees at a spot on the East-West Hiway where Beach comes in. They were in full bloom and gorgeous, and I knew they wouldn't last too much longer, even if the weather has been chilly and rainy, and is again today. Yesterday was also the day I went to have a carotid doppler (?), which turns out to be a sonogram of the arteries in your neck. This was because I have been having weird little dizzy spells. Even at the doctor's, lying on their table, the ceiling of the room was spinning around just a little when I lay down. Fortunately, it went away pretty soon.
When I was out photographing these cherry trees, there was a big boom of thunder overhead. I was already heading back to the car, and just when I got inside, Whoosh, came the rain, just pouring. Lucky me. I drove up a little side street right there, lined with nice houses and tons of cherry trees. Gorgeous. It was pouring rain and snowing cherry blossoms all over. I loved it. Today at the supermarket, we saw a car that was just plastered in cherry blossoms, literally. It looked like confetti had been thrown all over it and stuck.

April 2007
A whole year has gone by, and I've been obsessed with making "pot holders." My latest ones are called Encrustations because I just loaded them up with beads. They're not here yet. Being photographed tomorrow. Also made a paper piece, Rain, which came out pretty good. I had to struggle to glue those papers down how I wanted them. It's off at a show right now, in Missouri maybe? So here are some new little quilts, if I can figure out how to upload the images.

Blue-Footed Booby. Their feet really are this big.

Small quilts: Tall Mask, based on a African mask I saw. And Yellow Teapot.

Two more small quilts: Give Me More Arms, for people like me for need more hands and arms because we're always dropping things. And Blue Teapot.

The images below are Cat Grump, Tuff Guy, and Angel. All are very small quilts, using batiks, beads, and hand stitching.

Detail of Rain.

OK, here's Rain. It's made of vellum. I made diagonal marks on the papers with Caran d'Ache wax oil crayons -- lots of different greens -- and then painted over the marks with water colors -- also lots of greens. The crayons marks make a wonderful resist.
Then I had to figure out how to get the spiky effect I wanted. I folded the vellum like you fold paper for cutting out paper dolls and cut the sharp angle, so I was able to use all of the sheet of paper. Gluing was tricky. But I like it. I started some other papers in other colors but haven't finished those yet.

April 2007
A whole year has gone by, and I've been obsessed with making "pot holders." My latest ones are called Encrustations because I just loaded them up with beads. They're not here yet. Being photographed tomorrow. Also made a paper piece, Rain, which came out pretty good. I had to struggle to glue those papers down how I wanted them. It's off at a show right now, in Missouri maybe? So here are some new little quilts, if I can figure out how to upload the images.