"ONE" FiberArt for a Cause Fundraising Event!

One Cause - The Fight Against Cancer One Wednesday - February 16, 2011 One Hundred Collages - Created by this all-star team of artists: Natalya Aikens  Pamela Allen  Laura Ann Beehler  Liz Berg  Pokey Bolton  Laura Cater-Woods  Jette Clover  Jane Davila  Jamie Fingal  Gloria Hansen Leslie Tucker Jenison  Lyric Kinard  Jeanelle McCall  Linda Teddlie Minton  Karen Stiehl Osborn  BJ Parady  Judy Coates Perez Cynthia St. Charles  Virginia A. Spiegel  Links are to their websites/blogs

Please mark your calendars to participate in this event!  I'm honored to be an ongoing participant in FiberArt For A Cause (FFAC) events.  Since its inception, FFAC artist-participants have raised over $205,000, and 100% of the funds are contributed to the American Cancer Society.

Accepted!

Fiber artists Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, along with their Dinner At Eight group, have created a special exhibit entitled "Beneath the Surface" that will debut at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA, July 22-25, 2010. The exhibit will be sponsored by Moore's Sewing Centers and Brother International.

I'm so excited that my piece, "The Key", created especially for this exhibit, has been juried in, and so I'm giving you a tiny sneak preview of it. This just shows a few inches of the 36x48" piece.

I can't wait to see what all the other artists have chosen to do with the theme, "Beneath the Surface".

Another Collage Mania Supporter

I just love it when someone supports a great cause out of the goodness of their heart ... and pocketbook. Iris Karp http://www.mistyfuse.com/, besides producing my all-time favorite fusible web, is one of those people who puts her money where her mouth is, and always puts a little public service announcement at the bottom of her ads. Here's one, in the latest Quilting Arts Magazine, for a cause near and dear to my heart ... Fiber Arts for a Cause, currently calling for artists to participate in Collage Mania.

In case my scan isn't clear enough for you to read, her blurb says, "Buy art and find a cure for cancer! Collage Mania is May 5-7, 2009. Submission deadline is April 1. Learn more at www.virginiaspiegel.com."

FFAC's founder, Virginia Spiegel, has all the information you need at http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageManiaCall08.html. Step up ... do something good ... and have lots of fun while you're at it!

2009 Invitational Reverse Auction of Fiberart

I have been a huge admirer of Virginia Spiegel's campaign to raise money for the American Cancer Society, since she started with the original sale of Fiberart Postcards at the Houston International Quilt Festival several years ago. This has been a labor of love for Virginia, her sister Nancy Spiegel Rosman, and the many others who have helped. Having lost my husband to cancer 9 years ago, I wanted to make some small contribution to something that is so close to my own heart, as well as a joyful way to remember my husband and other friends and relatives who have fought this disease. Since fiber art is both my vocation and my avocation, this seemed a perfect match for me. I was honored to be asked to contribute to the Invitational Reverse Auction, and delighted to accept.

Here is Virginia's announcement:

The following ten invited artists will be featured in the 2009 Invitational Reverse Auction of Fiberart to benefit the American Cancer Society:

Natalya Aikens
Gerrie Congdon
Marjorie DeQuincy
Rayna Gillman
Carol Larson
Linda Teddlie Minton
Susie Monday
Judy Coates Perez
Leandra Spangler
Roxane Stoner

Links to the artists' websites/blogs are here: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

What a great lineup of artists who each bring a different twist to her practice of fiber art! Each artist will donate one artwork to the Reverse Auction to be held in March 2009. I don't have the exact dates set yet, but, per usual, the Reverse Auction will be three days in March with the minimum donation (made directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause) dropping each day.

I thank the invited artists for their great generosity and hope you will support them during the Reverse Auction and by visiting their websites/blogs.

Warm regards,Virginia -- Virginia A. Spiegel
Website http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/
Blog http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/
Garbage, Art, Recycling http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/GarbageDayProject/
Fiberart For A Cause, fundraising for the American Cancer Society. http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

A Birthday Postcard

Here is my gorgeous fiber-art Birthday Postcard from my friend Liz Broussard, named "Shattered & Scattered". Besides the beautiful stitching, the sewn binding is made from painted coffee filters! Thank you Liz!

more pics from the Opening

We had such fun at the Opening Reception of the Copper Shade Tree Gallery's month-long show for our Beyond the Borders fiber-art group that I have neglected to post pictures ... here they are, most of them courtesy of Cathy Winter and her trusty camera:


Barbara Jensen


Barbara Jensen, Liz Broussard, Nancy VerWest


Taking a group shot is like herding cats!


Me with two of my pieces ... "She Waits", the beaded icon behind my shoulder, and "Eve II", over my head.


Nancy Dickey


Connie Fahrion and her Guitar Festival fiber-art poster


Another effort at a group shot ...


Liz Broussard and her guacamole coffee filter piece, "Emergence of Spring"


Mary Ann Littlejohn and her Crazy About Round Top piece

Copper Shade Tree Gallery goes live on the Web!

Connie Fahrion, Debbie Tobola, Barbara Jensen, Susan King, Liz Broussard, and Nancy Dickey on the back row, and Gerald Tobola, Linda Minton, and Cathy Winter in the front.

Mary Ann Littlejohn must have been taking the picture!

Ready just in time for Opening Reception of the Beyond the Borders month-long show and sale at our beloved Copper Shade Tree Gallery, our friend Dave Hardin finished the new-and-improved website for the Copper Shade Tree, and went "live" with it on the web, including a very easy navigation system and a shopping cart! You can search by Artist, Category, Collection, etc. It's still a work-in-progress, but it is really beautifully done and easy to roam around. ("Try it, you'll like it!")

I'm very remiss in reporting this wonderful development, but have been recuperating from the rush of getting ready for the show, including a lovely beach-retreat with my traditional quilting friends. Now I'm back "in the groove" and hope to post a bit more regularly.

Thank you Dave and Denna Hardin, for the website and all the help at the Opening Reception, and thank you Gerald and Debbie Tobola, owners of The Copper Shade Tree Gallery, for the wonderful venue for our artwork.

Art, Nature, Creativity, Life

(The image above is Virginia's self-portrait,
printed on a proof press from a linocut.)

I'm excited to announce that Virginia Spiegel's long-awaited eBook Art, Nature, Creativity, Life will be released on Monday, October 8, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

All the details (including reviews by well-known fiber artists Pamela Allen, Lesley Riley, Tomme Fent and Claudine Hellmuth) are on her website:
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

Art, Nature, Creativity, Life is an expanded version of the best of her e-newsletters. There are 19 chapters stuffed with essays, art, photos, annotated book recommendations, and poetry.

From the Introduction:
"Make a cup of tea, settle into your favorite chair and wander through the issues at your leisure. You can spend ten minutes and be refreshed or spend several hours enjoying art, nature, poetry, photography and my take on the life of an artist. Enjoy and be inspired."

Virginia's goal is raise $30,000 to join the more than $130,000 that she and her Fiberart For A Cause efforts have already raised for the American Cancer Society. Take just a second to go to the website and see what it's all about.