Art Inspired Overload!

     I am in Art Inspired Overload!! This past week, I have been totally saturated by art and artists! My first exposure was my Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild meeting a week ago Friday...great bunch of ladies who are more into traditional quilting, lovely but not the direction I usually travel. Although, our speaker this month was the very talented Carol Morrissey who is a Fiber Artist.

An example of her fabulous work!

     Then the Saturday following, I went to Dallas to the North Texas Circle of Studio Art Quilters' Association (SAQA). Now I am beginning my overload journey!  What a bunch of talented gals!

Showing wall hangings made from t-shirt 

Valerie showing a hand-dyed art.

And a scarf that Valery has made-very unique

Heather showing one of the Shibori pieces she purchased from a recent trip to Japan.

Natalie showing her "calligraffiti"

Carolyn with her "sunset" wall hanging

     After the meeting and lunch, we were invited to see Valery Guignon's studio, "The Primordial Ooze" in East Dallas. What a talented lady!  She does it all..her current focus being art clothing.  Her studio is so named because she proudly admits she never throws anything away!!

Valery with a couple of her friends (yes, she made them).

     Then Monday, I hit the Inspiration Jackpot!! My studioQ art group met at Kay's. We had our show and tell and discussed our latest venture.

Wendy

Kay

Kay

Lynn

Rhonda 

Five of our latest study..working with units

     Our latest study is how to make quilts using repetitive elements, varying the size and lines widths to create a pleasing design.  This is our third session on this study...next time we will create a wall hanging using two related elements...using black and white.

     Then after lunch, we traveled to Keller, to the Elm Street Studio to see an exhibit by Heather Pregger...her first private showing!

Heather with my favorite

     So I am home...working on my wall hanging for the "100" donation which is almost finished....totally in overload...as my mind is filled with all I have seen in the past week!

Bathroom Renovations

     My ugly bathroom is now beautiful! Thanks to my plan which the contractor  Steve Wison and his able crew made into a work of art! Especially his men, Sergio and Carlos and the rest of the crew, and the guys from Vader Glass led by Javier who installed the gorgeous glass wall!

Before shower

After shower

Before vanity 

After vanity

I am so excited to try out my shower but I have to wait 24 hours to let the silicon set up!!! Patience is a virtue! And I also had my guest bath updated! 

Old vanity and mirror

New vanity and mirror....the mirror is not new, it was my grandmother's and hung in my mom's house all her life. And the lights are new!

100 Fiber Artists' teaser!

     Now that Christmas is past, I can concentrate on my quilt for the 100 Fiber Artists Fund Raiser for the Cure!  I know what I am going to do...so here is a little teaser as the process begins!!!

Twenty one DIFFERENT white on whites, a rich brown, an equally rich red....and white beads!

Check back frequently to see what is happening! Also see the other works of the talented Fiber Artists on Pintrest donating their time and creativity!

Bathroom Renovations/Makeover

     Ever since we moved into the condos, I have not been happy with my master bath. The shower is/was very tiny! Of course, I was kind of spoiled by my old shower because it was ginormous! A friend of mine has purchased a condo just down from me and is having major renovations done. So I talked to her contractor who is well known in this area as having done much work for many people here.  He came right down to my place to take a look. After I explained what I was hoping to do he said he could start right away!  

     So for over a week now I have had workmen here. They are doing a beautiful job! It is all coming together just as I visualized. And while they are here I decided to get a new vanity for my powder room.  

My master closet is right next to my master bath. So I had them close off the bathroom door which was always very narrow, and cut a door into the closet. So in order to get to the bathroom I do have to go through the closet. But in doing so I was able to reconfigure the whole bathroom; I now have a larger shower, a more accessible vanity with several drawers, and a linen closet with a hamper in the bottom of it. And much prettier tile everywhere!

My before shower

My old vanity

My old linen closet ( no door )

New vanity location

Shower in progress...I even have a shower seat!!

My old powder room vanity...nothing new here....yet!

     And, a poor excuse I know, but I have not gotten a thing done in my studio since they have begun!

Our Beautiful World-Markets

     Another blog that I have throughly enjoyed (and neglected) is the Photography website, Our Beautiful World. These are people from all over the world who post pictures with a specific theme once a week.  I always gain inspiration from them so I have decided to join in the fun again!
     This week's theme is Markets and I have a few photos of just that subject!

Holland, Michigan

Rhubarb at Holland, Michigan

Holland, Michigan

Mums-Holland, Michigan-Fall-2014

    My first three pictures were spring, 2011 and the  last one was from a trip I took with my daughter Fall of 2014.

Quilt Con

     Okay, I have decided to brave the waters and enter quilt shows other than my guild! So I entered two quilts in Quilt Con...

Yellow Fin Tuna-18" x 22"

This One's for the Girls-24" x 31"

And yesterday, I received two rejection slips!  So much for that!  But I will not be deterred!!  I am following a FB post of those who were rejected and seeing many of those, I am very good company!  I do plan to go to Quilt Con in Austin, TX in February so I am eager to see those who were selected!  It is a learning process....I just wish they would have also sent recommendations/reasons for their choices so I would know how I could improve.

Now to get busy on my Fiberarts for a Cure Donation which is due in  about six weeks!  That I am a little nervous about because I have not done this before...but I have a mental picture of what I want to do...on to the studio!!!!

AQATW-Flights of Fantasy

NASA Picture 

My "Flights of Fantasy"

The Tardis...Flying through time and space!

My "Flight of Fantasy", the theme for my Art Quilters' Around The World challenge, is a bit late. It was due November 30. I have no excuse for my lateness, but here it is  and I am REALLY going to try be on time from now on!!!

Now my explanation...when Andrea gave us this theme, I loved it! I am fascinated by pictures posted by NASA so I knew that was going to be my basis! Then as I am a fan of the Syfy character, "Dr. Who". I wanted to incorporate his Time Machine, the Tardis into my quilt. So here is my rendition of the Tardis, flying through time and space! And, much as I enjoy Science Fiction, I do realize it is all fantasy....at least I THINK it is!!!!!

Technique: black Kona cotton, Derwent water color blocks, applied with a paint brush, and beading. The Tardis is blue cotton and white paint.

And please go the Art Quilters' Around the World blog to see everyone's wonderful and diverse Flights of Fantasy!

studioQ Meeting-November/December

   My fiber arts group, studioQ, usually meets on the last Monday of every month.  As the last Monday in November was also the week of Thanksgiving so we decided to combine our November/December into one meeting.  Last time we met, we started on a new challenge.  A couple of our gals have attended several workshops about creating quilts and have learned much about design so they are sharing some of the techniques with us. Our assignment was to create several units of our chosen element so we could play with them on a design wall...rearranging them in various ways to see which was most appealing.  After we all discussed our designs, our assignment for next time is to make more elements and create a quilt out of them!
     When I first started making my elements, I didn't think I was going to like this design technique, but as I made more and thought of how I could change them up, then discussing with my studioQ people, I think it is going to be facsinating project!
     We all started with black and white construction paper and glue then most of us progressed to fabric. Here are a few pictures of what we did:

These don't look like much now, but I am really looking forward to what we can do with them.

And here we are at the end of the meeting before going to lunch. We sometimes meet at one of our favorite fabric shops, Cabbage Rose.

Fiberart for a Cause

     My dear and faithful followers...I am going to take a hiatus from my usual blog so will be putting Memory Monday on hold for the time being.  Some other exciting things are going on in my life which I want to share with you! For one.....
                                      
    I am very pleased to announce that I have been invited to be a part of the Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser!  It is an annual event whereby 100 fiber artists create a work of art which is then auctioned off on the Internet for $100.00 dollars.  The purchaser will receive a work of art selected at random which will be mailed to them by the artist.
     This is the first time I have participated in this venture and am humbled to be in the presence of MANY very well known fiber artists!  Please click on the link below for further information, to see the other artists on the list, and to go to their websites to see their outstanding quality of work. 
                  http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/FFACThe100Fundraiser.html
     As I begin work on my own donation piece, I will post more as well as what some of the others are doing so you can join my journey!