the night before thanksgiving

Sunday I asked that we cancel turkey day. I just was not up to it, truly. I wanted to bring in from the grocery store or the local restaurant. But the promises to help, do it all - prevailed. Tom is great with a turkey and we shall see what time others arrive, and what they bring. I love turkey, my mom's stuffing and totally politically incorrect beans. In the end it will be great, I just don't want to "do dinner". As they say, we shall see what we shall see. I promise to do better with Christmas. It was a great day. Thank you Michael for taking the lead in the kitchen, Tom for doing the turkey, Jack for his enthusiasm, Larry and Barbara for flying from Kentucky and spending the day with us, Spence for being you and Erin - you made the day perfect.

I participate in a weekly design group or gathering. We always begin our morning with a word or saying - drawn from a basket. The words/sayings have been submitted by members previously. LATE LAST NIGHT was the recent saying. Do a 5 minute drawing followed by a 15 + min. interpretation. I usually use paper collage and a glue stick. This is my "late last night", as the sky might have looked with the moon above the rolling hills or furrows of crops. I live no where near either of these visions but I can take poetic license.


The sharing of this exercise has been prompted by Rose Hughes. She does weekly Tuesday Teasers. She can be found at

http://ravenspeakquilts.blogspot.com/2010/11/design-groups-tuesday-teaser.html

And I am currently working on a quilt for Noble Seasons - FALL. I like working with old photos of woman doing something. This gal, a friends grandmother, is chopping wood or preparing a chicken for dinner. As you can see, I am not quite done but I will be. I am also using silk screens of winter trees and a screen of an old house. The house is my son's in Portland and was build in early 1900's so it qualifies for the time. I am curious how this will all turn out.

And getting ready for OPEN STUDIO at my studio the first weekend in Dec. See the notice to the right or left?
Happy Thanksgiving.

Men's Ties - start to finish

Early last spring I decided to make make men's ties for my fall art fair shows. It took months to get my head wrapped around switching gears - from sewing and "doing lunch" to dying yardage.

I participate in a small design group - we meet weekly at my home. There was interest in trying soy wax batik. Soy is supposed to be far friendlier to the environment, less hazardous and easier to remove than traditional paraffin and bees wax formulas. I found it a pain to remove totally and lines far less crisp. It could have been operator error and others seem to have better results. But I glop wax on, moderation a fleeting thing.

I dyed one yard pieces of silk. Dye on, wax on, dye on, wax on. This is the scene on my patio table - for weeks, it seemed.

Samples of the fabrics in process. I used a square wooden chop on this piece. Layering the dye and the wax, attempting to vary the dye color with each application and the placement of the chop.

I used a sumi brush for this piece -

These are the 4 final fabrics that headed off to the tie maker downtown L.A.

The ties will premier this weekend at Artistic License Art Fair . Hoping for a great show and a nice weekend -

Picker for a day, possible career change

In an attempt to gather more raw good materials for my "up scaled/repurposed" sweater, jackets , vest and scarves project, Anne and I spent Wednesday, 9 am till 2:30 pm at the "Last Call" yard of Goodwill Industries, in Long Beach.






We, the collective we, place our used items in a bag and deliver to a donation spot - ever wonder what happens? Probably not, I just assumed someone bought my great donations and Goodwill made money. That happens but tons never make to the stores. Before goods wind up in China or Mexico - there are options along the way and this is one. Stuff is $1.90 a pound at Last Call.




We had a great time spending the day with professional "pickers". And once we understood the rules, they were very kind. These gals were sorting machines.

An unfinished sample of end product. ( Thanks Jeanette for modeling)

April and pretty

It is beginning to look like spring - yeah!!. I do not like winter.

I was in Oakland last week and drove past this house and garden. These are the actual colors of the bark (purple blue), bushes and house color. How could you not stop and take a few dozen photos.


And in my own back yard!. The plant/flower - it reappears each year and only gets bigger and better. The Tea Cup/ bird feeder yard decor is by and from my sister in law, she has a way with decorating - home and garden. The view out my dining room is FAB - even if I do say so.

THE OTHER DOWN UNDER

Introducing my latest quilt - The Other Down Under. 36" x 48", has been juried into "Beneath the Surface", an invitational-juried show which will premier at the Long Beach IQA quilt show this July. I hope the show travels because the collection of quilts will be fabulous.


Here is a detail - again with the birds. They honestly screamed to be included in this quilt. They are above the earths crust and below - so, obviously a portal exists. And my favorite line for all this is - and who's to say it isn't so.

See the blog for this special exhibit at

HOLLYWOOD AND MONDAY

This is the star and wreath for actor Peter Graves - downtown Hollywood.

The Kodak Center - these elephants must be 50 feet high. A site to see. Had a great day with dear friends.

This is a scene from the Kodak center looking down onto Hollywood Blvd. Break dancers, Darth Vador and tourists.



View of downtown LA in the distance, taken from one the Kodak Theater. What a view on a marvelous day.

LUNCH WITH COLLEGE ROOMMATE

Today Patty and I met at the Getty Museum for lunch. We live in opposite ends of Los Angeles area, each about an hour from the Getty - on a good freeway day. It was our birthday get together and this was/is a big birthday. We walked the gardens, sat and caught up, barely looked at art and had a fabulous lunch. Ther is no admission pricd to get into the Getty but the parking is now $15. So we had $30. invested before we started and it was worth it. The Architecture is whatr I love and the views.
Take the walking tours when you visit - it is amazing - the history and the detail.
From our table at lunch I watched the sky change behind these manicured trees. When screen printed, can't you see these trees marching across the band of your pillow case - in red or purple .
Lots more going on. Will post quilt photos and picture of a quilt I have in an upcoming book.

WHILE ON THE WAY TO THE SUN

My art quilt, "While on the way to the sun" is now in the art collection of Hillcrest Congtrational Church in La Habra Heights/Whittier, CA. For three days the quilt held court in the Fireside room, during the 50th annual Hillcrest Art Festival.

I went to pick up my unsold items on Monday. One of the ministers commented that she didn't want to see it go. An arrangement was struck - everyone is very happy. This church has been having art fairs and collecting art for 50 years - I an honored.

A DAY IN SAN DIEGO

We have been attempting to take advantage of living where we do and taking day trips. This week it was San Diego. We started by looking for a wood working store in Solano Beach. The store had closed but was replaced by the marvelous import store, The David Allen Collection. Wonderful wooden furniture, tree roots carved into "objects of art". My favorite was a mass of Indonesian puppets from the 30's. There are 95 of these marvelous "people", an entire puppet theater troupe.



Then to the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park. Sea Creatures of Arline Fisch. To call it crocheted wire it to do it all a dis-service.



First post using the new Apple computer and finding the photos to upload. Success. Now to go practice Photoshop.

Summer is almost here

My newest quilt A SUMMER PARADE has been delivered and will premier in the Nobel Seasons Special Exhibit at Road to California in Ontario next weekend. Again it will be great to see how 20+ artist interpret the same theme - this time SUMMER.



I enjoy using old photos and making up my own story. This young 15 yr old is Violet, the mother of my friend Linda. The picture was taken in 1930. And again I have included the word Peace somewhere on the quilt. Take a look.

The holidays are over except for a couple of BIG birthdays. They might have been more fun or momentous when those big days were for being 16 or 21. We intend make it to Disneyland on these respective birthdays and receive vouchers to be used for renewing our annual passes.