Some of my Collected Art

There has been a discussion for the last few days on the QuiltArt List about what kind of art we collect in our own homes, and some of us are taking pictures to share on our blogs. Here are some of the things I have collected over the past 4 or 5 years.


I guess I should start with my very first fiber-art purchase,
"Celestial Sussurations", by Alan R. Kelchner, above.


Tribal Mask by Scott Murkin.
I won this at the Silent Auction at the Houston International Quilt Festival, 2006.


St. Quilta Blesses My Studio, by Susan Shie. I bought this
when I took a class with her at QSDS, 2004.


House Doll by Suzanna Scott


Untitled, by Sylvia Weir. Beatiful thread-painting.


Collage July 31, by Virginia Spiegel


Mini-Facade 2, by Rosemary Claus-Gray (w/ reflection in mirror).
I just had to have it!


Winter Woodgrain, by Leslie Tucker Jenison
I bought this before Leslie and I even knew each other!


Moth #3 by Susan Fletcher King, and
Sunflower #6 by Virginia Spiegel.
Aren't they beautiful together?


Old Book Installation, LTM.
OK, technically this shouldn't be posted here, since I did it myself, but it shows the type of unusual stuff I like to put on my walls.


Oracle II by Joanie San Chirico, and
Untitled by Clara Aurora


Dream Dancer, by Jan Johnson
Love these exciting colors and wonderful thread-painting.



El Morro Ruins (a collage and encaustic piece) by Joanie San Chirico, and
Untitled Outsider Art - Copper Assemblage.



Earth Wind and Sky, by Judith Shamp.
I won this at an AIDS Foundation Art Auction.



Untitled by Karen Stiehl Osborn, and
Birthday Wishes by Clara Aurora


Running Free, by Larkin Van Horn
Larkin is my beading hero and mentor!


2 Untitled pieces by Debra Greenleaf Campbell, and Art Cloth by Jane Dunnewold.
I just had to have the Art Cloth when I was taking a 5-day workshop with Jane a couple of years ago. Cut into it? No way!


Study for Unbridled Passion, Denise Havlan.
This was the small study that Denise made for her larger "Unbridled Passion" that was an award-winning quilt at the 2006 Houston International Quilt Festival . I won it at the Silent Auction.

Small Jewels, by Fulvia Luciano



Birthday Greetings (paper collage) by Clara Aurora



Blomster, by Inge Reinholdt
Inge is my long-distance friend in Denmark. I love her threadwork!


Captured, by Clara Aurora and LTM
My friend Gloria (artist's name "Clara Aurora") created the center portion from captured real flowers, and gave it to me. I painted the canvas to complement and mount it on.



Shadows II, Connie Fahrion
I won this in one of Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative auctions. Connie is also one of my very talented friends, so she was surprised when I showed up with her quilt!

Grey Tabby Cat - Varnished Watercolor on Yupo, Andy Mathis

Andy is an artist out of Georgia (www.andymathis.com), and I bought this original from his etsy shop (http://tinyurl.com/6f2fhp). The painting has a wonderful glow about it, and although small (6" x 6") never fails to be noticed by visitors to my home. I need to find a better frame for it.


Copper Mask, unsigned, and
The Silver Box, by Virginia Spiegel



Copper Assemblage Outsider Art, unsigned


Altered postcard by Debra Greenleaf Campbell



Dillon as Fallen Angel, by Alan R. Kelchner
I was amazed when Alan put this one up for sale, and I jumped on it!


Forestations 12 - Leaf Litter, by Alan R. Kelchner
I do seem to have a small collection of Alan's work!



Big Frog, by Anne Copeland
This friendly little guy greets me every morning, above my computer. I love him very much!

Beyond the Borders - Art Quilt Exhibition, 2008

Last night I received the postcards for our upcoming gallery show. Tim Tobola did another beautiful job on them.

The reputation of Gerald and Debbie Tobola's Copper Shade Tree Gallery has been growing in leaps and bounds, in the two brief years since its opening. We're very excited and honored to be associated with them. http://geraldtobola.com/coppershadetree.htm

Here's a look at both the front and back of the postcard:





You are invited to the opening! But if you can't make it that night, I hope if you are in "the neighborhood" ... the quaint little town of Round Top, Texas, halfway between Houston and Austin (which is evolving into something of an artist's colony) ... anytime during the month of February, you will stop by and see our art quilt exhibition.

A Christmas Postcard from Inge

My long-distance friend Inge Reinholdt in Denmark (http://www.123hjemmeside.dk/ingesol) sent me this beautiful fiber-art postcard for Christmas, and I wanted to share it here. Thank you Inge, you know I love your work!


Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

Another Bead Journal Page

... and here's the latest Bead Journal Page that I started months ago and just now finished ... now I'm "only" two months behind schedule!



(October, 2007) - She Waits


She Waits, side view. This page is very dimensional ... actually "stuffed" inside with batting.

Painted Z-Coils

I spent a couple of days painting my beloved Z-Coil shoes to wear to the Festival Hill Gay Men's Chorus Christmas Concert in Round Top yesterday, then ended up with The Dreaded Migraine, and didn't get to go. So here are my shoes, since I didn't get to wear them yesterday ;^)

Bead Journal Project

I thought I'd catch up on posting some photos of my Bead Journal pages that I've made for Robin Atkins' Bead Journal Project which she started back in June of this year. It's a year-long project, with a "page" per month. I've chosen to make my pages post-card size (4x6"), and here's what I've completed so far.


(June, 2007) Desert Tortoise - painted background, lightly beaded.


(July, 2007) Eye of the Beholder - using a painted background and a taxidermy eye.
(subtitled The Migraine.)


(August, 2007) WWND? (What Would Nancy Do?) - A reference to my friend Nancy Dickey.


(September, 2007) The Lizard Constellation - Painted background, with beaded button.

I'll post my October piece in the next day or two.

Demo Day at Copper Shade Tree Gallery

On Saturday, December 1, Gerald and Debbie Tobola had a Demo Day at their Copper Shade Tree Gallery (http://geraldtobola.com/coppershadetree.htm) in Round Top, Texas. They invited Patricia Daugherty, Jerry Potenza, Dave Hardin and me to spend the day demonstrating our various art techniques to the patrons of their gallery. It was a cool, windy day, and the Christmas Parade brought out lots of folks for the day, so it was a lot of fun.

Above is my little demo table with my beads. Along with my Bead Journal Pages that I'm doing for Robin Atkins' Bead Journal Project, I also brought a few of my beaded dolls to show ... "The Fishwife" and "Red Hot Alien Mama". "Tiny Dancer" is just visible inside the polymer clay-covered box.

Above is Dave Hardin with one of his smaller, portable looms. He makes gorgeous scarves on this little loom (I have two of them myself).

Jerry Potenza, above, did some beautiful leatherwork, and both Patricia and I were also interested in his vast array of specialty tools. He displays and sells his work in the gallery as well.

Patricia Daugherty, above, is demonstrating her method of "mokume gane" in polymer clay. She had lots of admirers, and even made some sales of some items she hadn't intended to sell!

Patricia and Denna, near the end of the day. Denna was sweet enough to go home and make up a poultice for my bee sting ... thank you so much, Denna! (I thought of posting a picture of my sting, but it was too gross!)

After Demo Day was over, Patricia and I drove out to Dave & Denna Hardin's A Light Unto My Path Retreat (http://www.alightuntomypath.com/) to see the new patio gate that they had had specially made from the bottoms of old wine bottles. It is gorgeous! I made Dave stand in front of it for a picture.

A Round Top Christmas

Only in Round Top, Texas ...


... does a Christmas parade begin and end with the Texas and American flags,


... include not one but two llamas,


... the obligatory longhorn / rooster / sombrero lead car,


... Santa's elves wear camouflage and clown-orange caps,

... and end with a Civil War-era cannon, the American flag, and Lady Liberty!



Last but not least, I just had to take a picture of this adorable little girl, the daughter of a local artist. Looks like she's inherited her mother's sense of style!

This was a lovely town parade, with most everyone participating. The town square is so small that the parade had to go around several times, so it would last a little longer!

A Few Quilt Festival Pics

Lynn Douglass and me.
Lynn is an A-1 Longarm quilting machine dealer with a cool blog at http://lynndouglass.wordpress.com/


Nancy Dickey, Liz Broussard, Rex Watson, Susan King, and me


Lynn with her Journal Quilt

The Dixon Concert

Even though this is such a blurry picture, it's the best one I have of Tommy and Sharon Dixon's annual country concert, and so just have to post it anyway. Their son Jared and their friend Pat plays with Tommy, and Sharon sings several songs with them. The atmosphere is always fun and funny, and children are allowed only if they are too young to understand the sometimes rowdy humor! I look forward to it every year, and this year was especially wonderful since we almost lost Tommy last year to some health problems. He's doing great now, and we were all so happy to have something to celebrate!





Barb & Betty, above, getting into the party mood, with food and beverage.


Ms. Lynn is ALWAYS in a party mood!

Grant Diffendaffer

Oh, and I forgot to post these few pics, from a class Patricia and I took with Grant Diffendaffer, courtesey of the San Antonio Polymer Clay Guild. He specializes in lathe-turned beads ... http://diffendaffer.com/





Grant is an excellent teacher as well as a visionary clay artist, and even took the ribbing from all us "older ladies" very well.


me, Grant, and Patricia


Patricia at the River Walk in San Antonio


Dinner at the River Walk

Pre-Quilt-Festival Festivities

Oh gosh, I'm so late in posting pictures of Quilt Festival, I'm having to go back and start at the beginning.

My friend Larkin Van Horn came into town a week before Quilt Market and we had a wonderful time roaming through a bit of the Texas Hill Country before coming back to Houston in time for Market. Here are a few pics of our lunch out with my friends Sharon, Barb, and Betty, at a local Mexican restaurant.

Above is Larkin - she has the most lovely smile, to go along with her fun personality. See her website at http://www.larkinart.com/

Betty

Barb

Sharon

Larkin & Linda, "sittin' in a tree"

I'm wearing my "Lizzy the Lizard" purse, hand-made by my friend

Michelle Verbeeck http://www.studio-259.com/ (you can have one too!)

"The Cartel" ... me, Sharon, Betty, and Barb.

We don't often get the chance to have a picture of the 4 of us together ... thanks, Larkin!

Gossiping Kittehs

A YouTube video, cribbed from CuteOverload.com (where someone dubbed a previously-submitted silent video):



Translation, in case your audio isn't working:

Tux: Hey!
Calico: What?
Tux: I've seen this!
Calico: Shh!
Tux: Huh. Ass.
Calico: What?!
Tux: Never mind
Calico: *quiet slurp cough*
Tux: you..You don't listen
Calico: Since when?
Tux: Since Always! Aaah! *pause, quietly*Someone's coming. Act like a cat.
Calico: Prr Pprr!*slurp*Prrt!
Tux:*in a bored, indifferent voice* Meow..Meow..Uh..Meeow.
Calico: Pmrr!
Tux: Act real cute, and he'll give us treats!
Tux: *whisper* Here, lie down!
Tux: *muffled* slurpslurpslurp
Ish he getting the treatsh yet?
slurpslurp
Ish he getting the treatsh?
slurpslurp
Calico: *muffled*Not yet, keep going.

My Winning Friend

My friend Nancy Dickey had three (count 'em, THREE) quilts in the Houston Quilt Festival this year, and I wanted to show a few pictures. Two of them were ribbon winners!

The first one shown here is "Pond Poker", which took First Place in the Hoffman Challenge, Applique Division.

Here's Nancy, graciously posing as she's being beseiged by the paparazzi ...

Here's "Oleander", one of my all-time favorites:

And here's little "Serendipity", a 12-inch square beauty. It took IQA's Third Place, Art Miniature:

More pictures to follow later ...

2007 Journal Quilt

Having been totally remiss in posting lately, I thought I'd start catching up by finally posting my 2007 Journal Quilt. This was the last year for the Journal Quilt Project, begun in the QuiltArt List and sponsored by Karey Bresenhan at the Houston International Quilt Festival (and traveling to other Festivals afterwards), and I was proud to have taken part in the project for the past several years.


eyePod, 17x22"

and here's my Artist's Statement which is displayed with the quilt:

“eyePod” grew from two of my favorite things … Nature’s forms and puns, or plays on words. I love the pod form, and had been playing with it in some of my jewelry-making, so it naturally came to mind when it came time to create my final Journal Quilt. My “pod” just needed some eyes to complete the pun.

On my hand-painted background, I painted the orange pod and the eyes, but the pod seemed too bright, so I covered it with one of my hand-dyed silks, which toned it down and imparted some shading as well. I then stitched around the eyes and cut away the silk so that the eyes were clearly seen again, and thread-painted the eyelashes. After quilting, the final touch was to add the tiny “apple of my eye”, as well as a crystal teardrop or two.

As an experienced quilter but an insecure artist when the Journal Quilt Project began several years ago, I can safely say that this project has pushed and prodded my “creative bone”. Now, thanks to the freedom to “play” and to see my work displayed without the novice’s fear of judgment, I have gained confidence and greatly expanded my artistic horizons. I’m sorry to see the Project end. Thank you, Karey!

Pay It Forward - Random Acts of Kindness

I love the “Random Acts of Kindness” philosophy currently traveling around blogs under the title of “Pay it Forward.” So, to the first 3 people who leave a Comment of their intent to “pay it forward” in my Comment section and also a promise on their own blogs, I will send a handmade item of my choosing within the next 365 days.

Here are the rules lifted borrowed from Carla:

Pay it forward rules: I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a Comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blogs . I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward.

Now, who wants to play? (thanks, Carla!)

Blog Action Day

My contribution to Blog Action Day (http://blogactionday.org/) is my renouncement of diet sodas in favor of plain old water. Not bottled water ... tap water. Considering the number of diet sodas I used to drink (5-6 per day), the plastic saved alone should ensure my place in Environment Heaven.

OK, OK, I didn't originally do this to save the environment. But since I was doing it anyway, I thought I might as well take credit for being environmentally correct, too!