Baby Max

Here is baby Max hours after his birth!  I'm in 7th heaven!

Merry Christmas

I'm heading up to Kentucky for the pending arrival of my first grandchild.  I am ever so excited.  I haven't been doing much "art" per say.  I've made a few baby things:  crochet hats, fabric balls and blankets.  I English paper pieced small hexagons for an "I spy" quilt ages ago for a little one (when I was dreaming of grandchildren).
 
I did create a scrappy fabric journal like the one Mary Ann Moss teaches at http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/ (She's having a December discount for the class).

This journal is "Baby boy" themed.  Imagine that.  I plan to document the fella's arrival and first days with his mommy, daddy, granny and gramps.  Maybe someday the fella will enjoy looking at it with me.  I know I'll enjoy writing my thoughts, adding pictures, etc.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year!

A Man and His Dog

"A Man and His Dog"  won third prize at my local Island Art Association's Nouveau Art Show entitled "Best Friends."  I'm so very excited!

Dyeing Experiments

I decided to get into dyeing fabrics again.  I had a bunch of old dye concentrates in my refrigerator, but most were way too old - I'm talking about 12 months or so.  The golden yellow was fine, the blues and the reds were not.  So I mixed some more - just enough concentrate for a few yards of cotton. I did enjoy myself.  I just love opening up the washer after the rinsing part to see the results.  I am working on values.  I dyed yardage for future portraits so these were not very mottled.  I do enjoy "tie dye" effects but not this time around.

Happy Thanksgiving

Bookmaking and Paste Paper Making

Last weekend I had a fabulous time with Eliza Holliday, a marvelous calligrapher, brush letterist, bookmaker and teacher.  She's lives locally and has just begun offering classes on the island, though she's taught across the country.  I am enthralled with her work and her willingness to share her talent.  We dabbled in making paste paper for future book covers and with page coloring with walnut ink, sumi ink and tea.  So much fun and fabulous results.  Eliza shared techniques for a glueless accordion book and caterpillar book along with the main accordion book.  I have spent much time viewing her videos (check her site for the links).  Oh, and go to her main website www.letterist.com to view her many examples of her art. 

Work in Progress

Another portrait in the making.  I dyed and overdyed cottons to try to get good values.  I'm thinking it's a bit on the dark side but i think I'll finish it up for my local Island Art Association's  www.islandart.org new Nouveau Art Challenge "Best Friends."  It's my son, Corey and his dog, Barley.  They have both been previous subjects of mine.