Creepy Baby

Here's one of the babies in my Creepy Baby series ... she's not one of the creepiest, but she IS kind of weird! Her name is Circus Baby, and she is a beaded 4-1/2" antique bisque doll. She came into my possession without her original arms, so I created some happy circus arms for her.



And here she is from the back, so you can see her little bonnet:

Some people have asked if the beads are glued on. No, they are peyote-stitched around her body and head with size 15 seed beads, creating a little attached bonnet. My friend Larkin Van Horn (http://www.larkinart.com/) taught me how to peyote-stitch around a solid object, such as a bottle, and I translated the technique to the doll.

Her arms are stuffed, stitched fabric, beaded at the ends and wound around with some gorgeous silk waste yarn donated by a friend (thank you, Jo!)

Beads beads beads

My friend Larkin was here for a week, and despite her raging bronchitis, she proved to be a real trooper. We went to the Round Top Antiques Festival and found some wonderful treasures to use in our art. Some were old postcards, some were little bottles for beading, and some were what we called "Rusty Stuff", which Larkin was very sharp-eyed at spotting for me!

Of course we couldn't let our evenings go by without some beading, so Larkin showed me how to bezel a rivoli bead "in the air" ... a difficult and "fiddly" technique, but so much fun once I mastered it! Larkin, as many of you know, is a wonderful teacher (http://www.larkinart.com/) and is so generous with her knowledge.

Here's my first attempt at a bezeled 3/4" rivoli (two views because the colors look different at different angles) ...





Then, once I realized how to do the Peyote stitch on a solid object rather than on fabric (which was the only way I'd done it before), I was encouraged to try it on a tiny bottle ... only 2-1/4" tall ... here are the results ... front and back:




(I didn't want to cover up the Benjamin Franklin image on the bottle, so I added a little "cuff" along the sides.) Both the bezeled rivoli and the beaded bottle were done in Delicas.

Poor Larkin is recovering at home now, after I ran her all over the countryside ... but we did get some good video-viewing in, as well as some great visiting. Thanks, Larkin!

The Season of Green

“It’s Good To Be Green” Exhibit
Latimer Quilt and Textile Center, Tillamook, Oregon
March 4 to May 4, 2008
Larkin Van Horn, Curator

Since the Latimer exhibit has now opened, I can show my entry here. At the time Larkin contacted me, it was around the anniversary of my husband's death, and I was feeling "soft and sentimental" towards this piece before I ever started it. As it developed, it became even more misty and dreamlike.



Artist's Statement:

The Season of Green
Color of new life,
A most perfect hue is green.
End of Winter, Spring!

The deceptively simple form of the haiku has always intrigued me, and when I found this beautiful little example by contemporary writer Don Webb (writing as Erik Stark) I knew it was perfect to express in words the imagery I had in mind.

18" x 45" My own hand-painted sand-washed silk charmeuse, quilted, then delicately over-painted and lightly embellished.

Detail shots are shown in my previous post.

I have borrowed this description of the show CD from Lesley Riley's blog, since she said it so well: "You can see wonderful detail shots and an excellent quality overall image on the show CD, which includes 47 pieces total, 28 art quilts, 19 pieces of other fiber art, 39 artists from 18 states and 1 province. It's only $15 (including shipping) with a portion going to Habitat for Humanity. This is one of the best quality and visually interesting CDs I have seen. The detail shots are better than seeing the quilts in person." Thank you Lesley!

It's Good to Be Green

Larkin Van Horn has spent the last year and a half organizing and curating the "It's Good to Be Green" exhibit for the Latimer Quilt and Textile center in Tillamook, Oregon. Today is the Opening Day of the exhibit, which will run through May 4. For any of you who will be in the area, the Opening Reception will be March 9, from noon to 4:00 p.m.

Oh how I wish I could be there!

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in this exhibit along with many of my fiber-art heroes. (Thank you, Larkin!)

Please go to the It's Good to Be Green website and click on "Sample Work" each day, for a different artist's work. Larkin's Magic Man (aka husband and partner Van) will be changing the page every day to showcase another quilt or mixed media piece.

Here's a sneak peek (detail shots only) of my submission, titled "The Season of Green":




It's a painted silk charmeuse quilt, with minimal bead and paint embellishment, 18" x 45" (the required dimensions for all the quilts).

An exhibit catalog on CD-ROM, including over 200 photographs of 47 art quilts and mixed media pieces created especially for this exhibit by 39 artists, is available for purchase. In addition to helping defray the shipping costs of the artwork, a portion of the $15 CD price will go to support the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center, and all additional funds will be donated to Habitat For Humanity.

The postcards that were made up for the exhibit were also beautifully executed:




I'm honored to be showing among the following artists:
Pamela Allen
Arlene Anderson
Frieda Anderson
Brooke Atherton
Jan Beall
Mary Beth Bellah
Liz Berg
Kathie Briggs
Debra Calkins
Laura Cater-Woods
Gerrie Congdon
Anne Niles Davenport
Julie Duschack
Jamie Fingal
Terry Grant
Trudi Chamoff-Hauptman
Margaret Hunt
Peggy Keeney
Lyric Kinard
Kathy Lichtendahl
Michele Merges Martens
Scott Murkin
Karen Stiehl Osborn
Nancy Porter
Shawn Quinlan
Jeri Riggs
Lesley Riley
Amy Ropple
Sandy Russell
Linda Schmidt
Louie Shellenberger
Susan Shie
Ruth Sinclair
Sarah Ann Smith
John Thompson
June Underwood
Larkin Van Horn
Beth Whitman

More Festival Pics

Here I am with Virginia Spiegel, in front of the Fiberarts For A Cause Exhibit. See her website http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html for all the exciting information on the fabulous work she accomplished. I was proud to be even peripherally associated with her effort.



My friend Leslie Jenison from San Antonio ... we get to see each other every year at Festival, but never for long enough!


Franki Kohler was kind enough to come and introduce herself at the Reception ... what a sweet and fun lady!


My buddy Larkin Van Horn ... whattagal! (Gee -- in this picture, we sort of look alike!)


Larkin's fabulous beaded neckpiece ... there are no words!