Summer is Winding Down...

August is almost over and so is the family art show at River's Mist Gallery. It was a nice show and lots of people came to see it, but not too many sales. I sold two small pieces, my mom sold one, my sister sold one (to my mom!), and my son sold 6. It would have been nice if everyone would have sold something, but I guess it just isn't too be! The show will be up until Tuesday next week (August 30) so you have a couple of days to see it if you are in the area.

My next show (postcard image above):

The Artist's Shop

N. Higgins Avenue

Missoula, MT

406-543-6393

Opening Reception: First Friday, September 2, from 5pm-8pm.

I've got some brand new work for this show so please come and see it!

Once I get this show hung I will be working on a piece for the Trout Unlimited Banquet auction fundraiser later in September. I have been sketching out some ideas and thinking about this for some time now. I'm leaning towards a representation of a stream with shadowy fish swimming through it. I would include either cutouts or sheers for the construction. Another idea I had would incorporate the swooping line of a fly rod with a fly on the end. I love the gentle looping back and forth of the line and the graceful arch that allows the fly to drop gently on the surface of the water. This might also include the rings of water moving outward from the point where the fly lands---quilted in of course. As soon as I get this next show off and running I'll get to work on this piece and decide exactly what I'm going to do. Still thinking....!

I have two pieces in the Pacific West Quilt Show this weekend and just sent one quilt to the SAQA Sense of Adventure exhibition which will premier at International Quilt Festival in Houston. I'm waiting to hear from a couple of shows that I sent entries to and I'm going to be submitting a couple more entries in the next week or two. Keeping my work out there is a challenge---an expensive one. It would be helpful if I would win an award or two and get some funds to help with the entry fees and shipping costs for all these shows. I'm honored to be accepted to them, but it all adds up. The sales I have made in the last few months have all been small pieces. I'm grateful that, unlike many artists, I'm selling work on a regular basis, but the small pieces just don't get me too far!

Some images of newer work....

The first is called "Tulip Skies", and the second image is one that I believe I published on this blog in October of 2008 when I was initially working on this piece! I had met with irreconcilable difficulties and wasn't able to move forward with it at that time. When I pulled it out a few months ago I was able to work through the design issues and finish the piece for my August family show! It has received lots of positive comments and is a very bold and dramatic piece.

This next one is called "Tapestry Strutting". I used a small section of pin weaving that I had made over a year ago to create the body of the pheasant. I challenged my family members to all create a pheasant piece of some sort. Four of us participated and it was a beautiful display. The sculptural effect of the quilting over the pin weaving was very successful.

Pin Weaving and Gallery Opportunity

I am involved in a monthly textile arts group that inspires me (and many others!) to learn and use different techniques using different materials and processes that I may or may not have used before. Every month we get a packet of materials for accomplishing this and are shown some examples and given some ideas of what do to and how to do it. Then we are sent away to experiment and hopefully return the next month with a sample of how we used the technique/materials in a project. The exchange of ideas and the different ways that each person uses the packet is inspiring and motivating. I just love this effort and truly thank the women of In Good Company of Hamilton, Montana for sponsoring it. It is called "TARTS" (Textile Arts) and in February we will be having our 2nd Annual show and sale called "An Affair of the heART" over the Valentine's Day weekend. You can check out the blog that reviews the projects for the TARTS classes at
http://ingoodcompanytarts.blogspot.com.

The project we worked on this month and shared yesterday was Pin Weaving using a foam core board and pins to hold the warp and a tongue depressor to hold the warp threads apart for weaving.
It is a great way to use all of those fun and funky yarns and trim pieces that you just had to buy but don't know what to do with! I particularly like the fuzzy, hairy, and slubby yarns for great texture and combining them with silk ribbon---beautiful! We also did weaving of two (or more) different fabrics cut into strips which creates a very usable piece for backgrounds or whatever. I haven't done anything yet with the piece I made from fabric strips, but my effort at pin weaving became part of a somewhat sophisticated looking wall hanging with couched fibers and beads.

I used the couched yarns and ribbon to echo the lines of the pin weaving. I spent a long time with the piece up on my design wall trying to determine placement of the beads. I use long quilting pins to try to pin the beads up so I can stand back and evaluate it. I have a hard time laying the piece on a table or the floor to evaluate this since the perspective is not quite right. I have done that and stood on a chair to try to evaluate, but if I can pin them on my design wall it seems to work better for me. I must have moved them around 30 times before I was happy with the balance and design. I started with the red beads and some other beads that I did not end up using. I had just purchased the bone beads this weekend and I thought they worked well for the piece.

Last week my mom and I made a trip into Missoula (1/2 hour north of us) to visit a couple of galleries and hopefully make some appointments to show them some of my work. The first place we stopped was Whooping Crones Gallery and the owner said she had time and wondered if I had brought any with me. Being rather an optimistic person and always wanting to be prepared for an opportunity, I had conveniently placed a number of my works in the back of my car. I brought them in and she was very interested and will be showing several of them in her gallery for the month of January! I was so excited at this positive reception of my work and her interest in having fiber works in her gallery. Currently there is a show hanging in the Gallery for the month of November and December of works done by members of the Surface Design Association which are wonderful and worth seeing. I am honored to follow them and have my work shown in a gallery that is displaying fiber art in such a respectful and professional way.
If you are in the area, please visit the gallery at 508 E. Broadway (across from the Children's Theatre building). I believe my works will be hanging from First Friday until the end of January.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Check out the Studio Art Quilt Associates auction on www.saqa.com. I have donated a piece on page 2b that is up for auction right now called "Birds of a Feather" (see it at the bottom of my blog), but there are many other wonderful pieces. This is a reverse auction where the pieces start at $750 and go down each day until they get to $75.