I updated my shop today with some Mohair Top in several colorways,in an effort to destash my studio of fibers, fabrics, threads, and equipment I'm no longer using.
I will be updating daily until my studio space is usable once again!
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Studio DeStash Mohair Top
I updated my shop today with some Mohair Top in several colorways,in an effort to destash my studio of fibers, fabrics, threads, and equipment I'm no longer using.
I will be updating daily until my studio space is usable once again!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Fiber Purge Begins!!!
Tomorrow I shall be listing in my new ebay store, new because they apparently closed mine due to not using it for five years, wool and silk fibers of all types! I also have gobs of needle felting and knitting tools I'll be divesting of, as I am now going in an entirely different direction with my studio.
Mohair in several color ways.
Loose hand dyed wool fibers of several varieties including llama and alpaca.
And I will also be divesting of some of my natural dyes, not the indigo or cochineal (yet anyway).
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Happy Summer Solstice
Our cherry tree that is overflowing with sour cherries. Happy Summer Solstice!
Monday, June 08, 2015
Busy, Busy, But Not Creating
A simple reminder of what it is I'm supposed to be doing today, but have yet to accomplish. I spent most of today on the prowl for a cherry pitter and not just any cherry pitter but THIS cherry pitter. I finally purchased it at Amazon this afternoon after not being able to locate said beast locally.
Additionally after a very long search I was also able to order a part for my kitchen aide mixer that had unceremoniously broke. I was very upset when I was told that my mixer was not fixable, more from the stand point that I had used it maybe a half dozen times but also from a green point of view... if you don't want appliances going into landfills then build appliances that can be repaired!
This little gizmo (called a blender coupler) stands between me and a smoothie, and it shall arrive sometime this week! Now to purchase the face plate for my Champion Juicer, that hubs broke, and I'm set for a summer of smoothies and fresh juice.
I'm off to write and then maybe, just maybe stitch something this evening!
Saturday, June 06, 2015
Failure to Post
That's exactly what I'm suffering from a failure to post and regularly. I just noticed it's been awhile since I've updated.
I've been busy writing content for the 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge, and for Almost Stitched newsletter series (24 newsletters plus 6 bonus surprises) that I forget that others cannot read my mind.
So here's a photo of Pepper, our oldest cat, sporting some attitude while sitting atop a stitched story I wrote up yesterday with my sewing machine. In between bouts of stitching and writing I've been dodging rain storms trying to get the raised beds planted.
Right now I'm at 50% or so completion and I have to say it's looking good. John brought one of the porch chairs out to the garden area so that I can sit and watch the birds, butterflies, bees, and paint, sketch, and write unto my hearts content.
I've been busy writing content for the 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge, and for Almost Stitched newsletter series (24 newsletters plus 6 bonus surprises) that I forget that others cannot read my mind.
So here's a photo of Pepper, our oldest cat, sporting some attitude while sitting atop a stitched story I wrote up yesterday with my sewing machine. In between bouts of stitching and writing I've been dodging rain storms trying to get the raised beds planted.
Right now I'm at 50% or so completion and I have to say it's looking good. John brought one of the porch chairs out to the garden area so that I can sit and watch the birds, butterflies, bees, and paint, sketch, and write unto my hearts content.
Monday, June 01, 2015
A Little Stitching
A little stitching with perle cotton on a mini shipping tag, while I worked on the 60 Days of Birds and the Almost Stitched newsletters! Stay tuned as I will be giving away several memberships to Almost Stitched!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Fledgling A Stitched Story!
Available: Machine stitched free form style (thread drawn) fledgling bird on natural dyed silk organza fabric! Learn more here in my shop!
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Many Hats and New Adventures!
In the past year or so I've been working on sorting out my ""art"" life, i.e what direction did I want to go, and how did I want to get there because yes contrary to popular belief we do get some choices in these matters!
With that in mind I decided to close the Natural Surface Academy and focus on writing and creating art instead. Really all I want to do is focus on what I'm really interested in and yes this still includes Natural Dyes!
What I'm really interested in (aside from getting this crazy keyboard fixed) is hand and machine stitching, exciting surface design, and taking these two elements and combining them together for storytelling. Yeah, I was surprised to find out that storytelling was one word as well!
So sometime around June 1st (2015) I will be rolling out my vision for this journey that I have named: Almost Stitched!
Also starting June 1st is Round Three of The 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge (60 Days of Birds). Click the link to sign up for the newsletters!
I will be posting more information this holiday weekend about how to participate in Almost Stitched!
With that in mind I decided to close the Natural Surface Academy and focus on writing and creating art instead. Really all I want to do is focus on what I'm really interested in and yes this still includes Natural Dyes!
What I'm really interested in (aside from getting this crazy keyboard fixed) is hand and machine stitching, exciting surface design, and taking these two elements and combining them together for storytelling. Yeah, I was surprised to find out that storytelling was one word as well!
So sometime around June 1st (2015) I will be rolling out my vision for this journey that I have named: Almost Stitched!
Also starting June 1st is Round Three of The 60 Day Bird Journal Challenge (60 Days of Birds). Click the link to sign up for the newsletters!
I will be posting more information this holiday weekend about how to participate in Almost Stitched!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Art Licensing Show Round Up for Surtex
Revealing the Prairie One Stitched Story at a Time!
Proud to be participating in the Art Licensing Show Roundup for Surtex!!!
#artlicensingshow
Friday, May 08, 2015
Hacks on a Shipping Tag
L-R Life Hacks, Pattern Hacks, Business Hacks, Photoshop and Illustrator Hacks in front.
Back when I was subscribed to Alsyon Stanfields tribe she had us write down daily affirmations onto cards or tags, which I dutifully did and placed said tags onto a ribbon.
Then on day I noticed that Jamie Fingal had her pattern tags she was creating and she had organized them onto a metal ring. Bingo, I have a ton of those, and I had a ton of these tags laying around that I was leaving notes on for Photoshop, Illustrator, and the like.
So I reorganized them, and I'm in love with this method of note organization. Yes I still keep a daily journal and sketchbook, but it's super convenient to have all of my patterns on a ring on my table, or my life hacks on a ring and not have to dig through a journal from way back when to see what inspired me that day. Yes I still put my life hacks/inspirations/affirmations into my sketchbooks and journals, doing so allows me to see where I've been and how far I've come!
Monday, May 04, 2015
Studio Rehab
Oliver, my studio assistant.
Well now that the solo show has been hung, and a few items cleared off of my desk it is time to take the studio completely apart (remember I started doing this at the beginning of the year) and rearrange stuff so that it works better for me now.
I'm tired of the piles of stuff laying about, and as I was looking for some tools this afternoon, I came across several drawers in my storage chests that are essentially empty. Why they are empty is beyond me but this must be rectified and soon. I shall be going for better flow in my space and adding two additional work stations while also removing two incredibly huge shelves from my work area.
More later and with photos... rumor has it I'll have a formal dining room again once I get this mess taken care of, and that would be a good thing!
Friday, May 01, 2015
Vignettes Hung
The Solo Show has been Hung!!!
Yay Me!!!
So last week I was bemoaning the birth of a new series for me, vignettes of sorts that I've tentatively dubbed "Prairie Studies", and today after having hung the show yesterday, I've come to the realization that these pieces are a series of short stories that I've grouped together in a way that hopefully makes some sense.
When Wednesday night came around I was hating everything I had created, by yesterday afternoon I was like "meh", and after having hung the show thinking to myself "okay it's not so bad after all". Honestly the Mary Greeley employee, who came by while I was away for a few minutes signing contracts and getting end dates for picking up my work in June, who inquired about purchasing one of my pieces made me really happy!
So all in all maybe I did manage to pull this one off, it was quite the in process journey of deciding how it would all go together. Oh and there's only one piece that I truly don't like and it's because the color on one of the items in the grouping is all wrong, but I'll fix that when it comes back home.
Yay Me!!!
So last week I was bemoaning the birth of a new series for me, vignettes of sorts that I've tentatively dubbed "Prairie Studies", and today after having hung the show yesterday, I've come to the realization that these pieces are a series of short stories that I've grouped together in a way that hopefully makes some sense.
So all in all maybe I did manage to pull this one off, it was quite the in process journey of deciding how it would all go together. Oh and there's only one piece that I truly don't like and it's because the color on one of the items in the grouping is all wrong, but I'll fix that when it comes back home.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Vignettes and Textile Art
I have a solo show coming up that I will be hanging at the local hospital on the 30th, and I've yet to create a single piece for that show. Nope instead I've been working on other projects, ideas I just can't seem to get out of my head.
It's no lie, I've been struggling with what I want to say, what I want others to see, how I see the world, and this ties into my brand, licensing, and a whole nuther ball of wax.
So today, as I was cleaning my sewing table in desperate search for a needle I lost in hopes that the fur kids wouldn't find it with their feet, somehow the idea of 'vignettes' crept into my mind. So I wrote the word down and once I was done clearing my table, no I didn't find the needle, I got onto Google and looked up the definition of vignette.
Vignette in the literary world usually refers to a small impressionistic scene. Vignette in the visual arts world in a nutshell means that the edges fade into the background.
Corn No. 51
With the exception of election years and natural disasters Iowa pretty much has mastered the ability to fade into the background, maybe this is why the 'coasters' refer to this part of the US as fly over country???
In Memory of Corn No. 1
So now I'm contemplating the concept of a vignette and how this relates to the prairie and plains states and to fiber and textiles in general. And then I started digging through old photos I've taken of this great state, and of artwork I've already created and now see that I may have been creating vignettes all along. Sometimes it takes the artist way longer to see, than it does their audience, what they have been saying all along, sounds counter intuitive but it is what it is.
Queen Anne's Crow No. 2 detail
So I'm off to to do some more thinking, and possible some digital collage making tonight so that I can start printing fabric and paper first thing in the morning. The next eight days will be a flurry of creativity and most importantly stitching!
So today, as I was cleaning my sewing table in desperate search for a needle I lost in hopes that the fur kids wouldn't find it with their feet, somehow the idea of 'vignettes' crept into my mind. So I wrote the word down and once I was done clearing my table, no I didn't find the needle, I got onto Google and looked up the definition of vignette.
Vignette in the literary world usually refers to a small impressionistic scene. Vignette in the visual arts world in a nutshell means that the edges fade into the background.
With the exception of election years and natural disasters Iowa pretty much has mastered the ability to fade into the background, maybe this is why the 'coasters' refer to this part of the US as fly over country???
In Memory of Corn No. 1
So now I'm contemplating the concept of a vignette and how this relates to the prairie and plains states and to fiber and textiles in general. And then I started digging through old photos I've taken of this great state, and of artwork I've already created and now see that I may have been creating vignettes all along. Sometimes it takes the artist way longer to see, than it does their audience, what they have been saying all along, sounds counter intuitive but it is what it is.
Queen Anne's Crow No. 2 detail
So I'm off to to do some more thinking, and possible some digital collage making tonight so that I can start printing fabric and paper first thing in the morning. The next eight days will be a flurry of creativity and most importantly stitching!
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Busy, Busy
Holes detail. Machine and hand stitched painted timtex with aurifil threads.
I've been so busy with getting things done for an upcoming solo show, at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames, Iowa, that I will be hanging on April 30th that I have forgotten to post here. Lots of stitching and experimenting going on trying to hurry up and birth this new idea I have forming. Photos and soon!
Monday, February 16, 2015
Ames Community Art Council Member Showcase
Come check out local Iowa Artists, Musicians, and More this Saturday!
I'll be participating in both the Showcase and the Market!
WIP - Bjorkboda
Found while cleaning my sewing studio this afternoon, buried in a pile o UFO's (Unfinished Objects or in my case Projects!)
I remember now why I put it away, I started attaching stuff to the surface and then got stuck. I may have to rip it all off now and try something different.
I remember now why I put it away, I started attaching stuff to the surface and then got stuck. I may have to rip it all off now and try something different.
The techniques I used to create this piece are covered in my eBook Rust and Clay Dyeing which can be purchased here.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Studio Redux Part 2
Otherwise known as the overflow area!
Vintage dresser that's stuffed full of art supplies such as paints, etc.
Another view heading into my sewing studio, Oliver is not amused with all of this moving around.
This old chicken coop hutch divides my sewing area from the over flow area, as you saw in the previous post the backside of this hutch is where my extensive thread collection lives. I want to get rid of the chicken coop, or find another place for it to live, but if I do so then I need to come up with a better way to keep Oliver out of my studio. He's a thread, fabric, and paper thief, amongst other hobbies he has.
Cubbies filled with "stuff", an old Duncan phyfe table, my loom, several dress forms, deer antlers, skulls, and boxes and boxes of fabric. You get the picture.
Shelf that holds painted papers, artwork, and the like, and the plastic drawer units? Filled with silk, wool, cotton, and linen fibers.
More tomorrow, there shall be fiber kits assembled and ready to find new homes.
Vintage dresser that's stuffed full of art supplies such as paints, etc.
Another view heading into my sewing studio, Oliver is not amused with all of this moving around.
This old chicken coop hutch divides my sewing area from the over flow area, as you saw in the previous post the backside of this hutch is where my extensive thread collection lives. I want to get rid of the chicken coop, or find another place for it to live, but if I do so then I need to come up with a better way to keep Oliver out of my studio. He's a thread, fabric, and paper thief, amongst other hobbies he has.
Cubbies filled with "stuff", an old Duncan phyfe table, my loom, several dress forms, deer antlers, skulls, and boxes and boxes of fabric. You get the picture.
Shelf that holds painted papers, artwork, and the like, and the plastic drawer units? Filled with silk, wool, cotton, and linen fibers.
More tomorrow, there shall be fiber kits assembled and ready to find new homes.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Studio Purge Part One
Over the next few days I will be posting not only images of my studio spaces, for accountability purposes, but also to let you know what is available. I will be selling some items check out the studio purge tab for daily updates, and others will go to new homes for the sole cost of shipping!
In thinking about my "brand" I've had to make a decision as to which mediums and colors I will be working with and "why"! This wall here contains beads, findings, and all sorts of mixed media objects that is and should be heaven for most artists. Well this was true until today when I got into the last fight I ever want to have with myself over studio space EVER again!
Yes that is right, you know every time you scream in frustration because you can no longer move in your studio space, or find that book you need to finish a project at the last hour, you are fighting with yourself!
Stop fighting with yourself!
Far shelf, more beads, findings, jars with little bells in them... you get the picture. Foreground that's supposed to be my sewing table and right now it's loaded with drawing and painting supplies.
The other side of my sewing table. The plastic drawer stuff (to the south of the table) are filled with vintage, antique, and somewhat modern laces, threads, buttons, ric rac, you name it, oh and a ton of handspun yarns from fibers I carded and dyed myself and in some cases even acquired from local sheep I used to sheer.
More thread, and those plastic tubs are filled with... if you guessed vintage and antique trims you'd be correct! Two of the tubs are also filled with natural dyed wool, silk, and cotton fabrics. All of those baskets and tubs on top are filled with more fibers, more threads, and more mixed media objects, seeing a theme here yet???
And sweeping past the entrance to my sewing room... More threads under the clock.
More fabric, more threads, more fibers, and no place to put finished artwork! This is the north wall in my sewing studio and I want ALL of this stuff to go bye bye, with the exception of the shelf (you see the side of it here) with the clock. My goal is to put my drawing table and new flat file cabinet (that hubs is building for me) on this wall.
Finally the corner where I started, the NW corner of my studio. Again more fibers, more threads, more fabric, all dyed with natural dyes. Oh and a ton of knitting supplies and latruador that I'm never going to get to in this life time.
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow the area of my studio known as the "overflow" area.
In thinking about my "brand" I've had to make a decision as to which mediums and colors I will be working with and "why"! This wall here contains beads, findings, and all sorts of mixed media objects that is and should be heaven for most artists. Well this was true until today when I got into the last fight I ever want to have with myself over studio space EVER again!
Yes that is right, you know every time you scream in frustration because you can no longer move in your studio space, or find that book you need to finish a project at the last hour, you are fighting with yourself!
Stop fighting with yourself!
More beads, jars of silk cocoons, buttons, bells, baubles, and all sorts of nummies. The crates above are filled with mixed media papers, findings, Angelina fibers, pine cones, silk carrier rods, and who knows what else. Well I'm planning to start excavating tomorrow so we will soon find out what else lies within those crates.
The other side of my sewing table. The plastic drawer stuff (to the south of the table) are filled with vintage, antique, and somewhat modern laces, threads, buttons, ric rac, you name it, oh and a ton of handspun yarns from fibers I carded and dyed myself and in some cases even acquired from local sheep I used to sheer.
The wall of thread! And those little plastic drawer organizers, if you guessed filled with beads you'd be correct. And they are also over flowing with embroidery floss, pearl cottons, and the like.
More thread, and those plastic tubs are filled with... if you guessed vintage and antique trims you'd be correct! Two of the tubs are also filled with natural dyed wool, silk, and cotton fabrics. All of those baskets and tubs on top are filled with more fibers, more threads, and more mixed media objects, seeing a theme here yet???
And sweeping past the entrance to my sewing room... More threads under the clock.
More fabric, more threads, more fibers, and no place to put finished artwork! This is the north wall in my sewing studio and I want ALL of this stuff to go bye bye, with the exception of the shelf (you see the side of it here) with the clock. My goal is to put my drawing table and new flat file cabinet (that hubs is building for me) on this wall.
Finally the corner where I started, the NW corner of my studio. Again more fibers, more threads, more fabric, all dyed with natural dyes. Oh and a ton of knitting supplies and latruador that I'm never going to get to in this life time.
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow the area of my studio known as the "overflow" area.
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