"Crack of Dawn"

“Hope and Memory have one daughter and her name is Art, and she has built her dwelling far from the desperate field where men hang out their garments upon forked boughs to be banners of battle. O beloved daughter of Hope and Memory, be with me for a while.” ― W.B. Yeats 

  Studio Art Quilters' Association is sponsoring what they call a "Trunk Show".  They put out a call for 7" x 10" art quilts which will premiere at the 2017 Conference to be held in Lincoln, Nebraska next spring.  After the conference the art works will travel to various venues then come home to SAQA and be on sale if the artist gave permission to sell. Size was the only requirement; technique, color, design, etc. was an open book!  My kind of regulations!
      I had an idea in mind for a larger quilt which I may still do...in my mind's eye it was called "Raindrops".   I thought doing a mini of my idea would be good practice to see if I liked the idea.  Fabric was no challenge...I have tons of fabric...from yardage to scrapes!   So I started pulling out all my blues, greens, turquoise, and anything in between.
        I sewed my strips and miniature  squares together and began to place them side by side.  After having the size correct with out binding yet, I put it all up on the design wall to study before final construction.  As I looked at it, I thought it to be too dark and monotonous. So I picked up a sliver of hot pink and layered it between a couple of sections. And that was the pop I needed to see! Thus, "Raindrops" became "Crack of Dawn" in an instant!
   

"Crack of Dawn"

 After getting it all together, I decided, as it was a small piece, I would hand stitch it.  I do love to hand stitch in the evening while watching television....I can stay awake if I am doing something besides staring at the tv screen!

Closeup of stitching

Studio Tour and Temples

“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.” 
― John Lennon

     Yesterday I had a wonderful experience visiting artists' studios in the Lewisville/Flower Mound area.  It was the 15th Annual Tour sponsored by the Cross Timbers Artists' Guild. There were twenty-two artists with open studios. Many were demonstrating their craft which added even more fun to the experience.
       Our first visit was to the studio of Barbara Oliver Hartman, an extremely talented Fiber Artist who was demonstrating one of her techniques of stitching.

Barbara Oliver Hartman

Some of my SAQA fellow artists at Barbara Oliver Hartman's studio

Barbara Oliver Hartman's

This is one of Barbara's, hanging in her home.  My photo of it really doesn't do it justice! Walking through her house is like walking through an art museum!  I absolutely love her work and she is  such a generous person to give of her time and talent.  I came away very inspired!!
     On the way to our next studio open house, we diverted to the Quilt Country Fabric Shop in Lewisville because one of our peoples had a gift certificate burning a hole in her pocket. Then, as it was nearing the noon hour, we had to find a place to nourish our tummies...good ol' Smashburgers!!!

     Back on the road again to the home/studio of Irma Murray, a watercolor and color pencil artist. Then to Marie Klotz, a jeweler and ceramicist.

Marie in her studio...she lives way out in the country...beautiful surroundings in Copper Canyon

Then onward to the home/studio of Diane Hicks- watercolors, collage and bookbinding.  And to Eric Orr- pottery and sculpturing also in the Copper Creek area where we heard about  his classes on pottery and rake glazing...another craft to learn!!

Eric Orr showing one of his many kilns

     Our last stop on our tour (we were not able to go to all of them) was to the home/studio of
 Gloria Haefner-Gatti and Richard Gatti, a wife-husband team of weavers.

Gloria Haefner-Gatti showing us the intricacies of one of their looms.

     On the way home, Kay, our designated driver asked if we (Heather and I) had ever seen the Buddhist temple in Keller which we responded no. So she took us there...we drove through the open gate.

The Gate 

      We asked this man sitting at a table outside if it would be alright to park and walk around. With his assent we did so; I don't know what his capacity is but he seemed to be "on guard".  He showed us where we could go and said it would be ok to take pictures.  Then he asked us if we wanted to go inside which we did.   He escorted us in; we all had to leave our shoes at the door.  He then encouraged us to take pictures and explained some of the things to us with a heavy accent but we were able to understand quite a bit of what he said.

The first temple  we entered

The Buddha in the above temple, surrounded by real flowers, pictures on the wall, many symbolic designs.

The second temple-again leaving our shoes at the door-Dragon handrails up the stairs

The very large Buddha in the second temple we entered. 

     This temple was even more ornate....floor, ceiling, walls and pictures. Our self-appointed guide  told us that all the paintings were had painted in Thailand and brought here specifically for this building.  

One side of the front door

Above the front door on the inside

One of many pictures on the wall depicting the life of Buddha

The Dragon hand rail into the second temple

     I don't really know much about Buddhism but seeing these temples has made me curious to learn more.  I know the philosophy is very gentle thinking which is not a bad idea right now!  So, I'll keep you all posted on my findings!!

     

      All in all, a fabulous day!!!

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SAQA Meeting and Stella

     Last Saturday, I went to Dallas with my friend Heather.  Our SAQA meeting is held at a fabric shop on Commerce in Deep Ellum....a very interesting place!  The place, Petit Atelier, is very unique; has wonderfully fancy fabrics; and the owner, Michael is such a nice host. We have over 20 members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilters Association) but only nine were able to attend this week.
     The last time we met, we had decided to begin a challenge for all to take part.  The month before we had gone to the Modern in Fort Worth to see the Stella exhibit...a great day...we had a docent which was good because a lot to Stella's art is very abstract and having a docent to explain made the show so much better.  Anyway, as a result, we decided to use a Stella as our inspiration for our first challenge.

This is the Stella the was selected as our inspiration 

     When we have challenges, as in my studioQ group, we can create a work of art anyway we wish...using the design or color or whatever strikes one....that is what inspiration is!  "Inspired by" !

And my process begins with the selecting/auditioning of my fabric.

      I decided to take the colors that Stella used but instead of circles overlaid with squares, I decided to reverse that, using a square and overlap with a simulated circle.

My Stella...not quite finished... I need to do the binding and remove some loose threads.

     I was kind of handicapped this week because I have been receiving a treatment in my right eye so it was too blurry to see well.  Trying to thread a needle with one eye is really hard!!!  Ok, enough whining, I'm good now so will get it finished this week.

      Here are what some of the other members did.

Donna

Kay

Andrea

Heather

      One of the main things I like about our challenges is to see how differently everyone will interpret the same picture.  We meet every other month and try to visit galleries and museums on the alternate months.  There is another artist, Kaws, at the Modern now and we are going to try to visit his works with a docent too.  And we decided to choose his work for our next challenge.  I don't know which work it will be yet but will keep you posted, my readers!!