New Look to My Blog

I hope you all like the changes that I have made. After looking around for a good way to keep track of stats on my blog (#visitors and such), I posted a question to the fantastic QuiltArt email group to ask for suggestions. Well, I received several great responses on stat programs, but also had many folks tell me things I needed to change on the "look" of my blog to make it more readable. THANK YOU!!!

So, I've made some changes, such as no more white words on a black background (was making some people see double!), and I have made the text bigger and lots of other minor changes. So, I hope you like the new look!

And, for those of you who have asked when you will see the full photo of the piece I submitted to Art Quilts Lowell...probably sometime after it is accepted somewhere (hopefully!), or I just decide to post it for sale or whatever. That is unless you are local. I've been showing it for Show and Tell lately. :)

Have a great Monday! Off to Music Class with my daughter and Field Day with my son. Fun, fun!

Heidi

100th post! And, yippee, I finally did it!

Wow, 100 posts! I can't believe I made it to this point.

And, the yippee is because after over 9 months of not entering a juried exhibition, I got my package in the mail today for Art Quilts Lowell! They extended the deadline and I pushed it all the way to 5 pm today! I don't even care if I get in. Well, okay, I do a little bit, but my goal was to really focus on entering a show. I have had so many deadlines on my calendar that have just whooshed right by. PArt of that was a conscious choice on my part to focus more on family and get away from the stress of trying to finish pieces on a deadline. I decided to just work and if I had completed a piece in time then enter. Well, I'm not a finisher, so without a deadline really looming and real commitment to make it work, that just didn't happen. That is still my goal however. To work on my work, regardless, and then if I have the work for a show then enter. I'll keep trying.

Here is a small bit of what I entered:




I started it about a year ago and then pulled it out of my tub of half way done pieces while away on the Focus on Fiber retreat. I hand stitched it like crazy. It gives me a sense of calm and peace when I stitch by hand. I call it Free Woman Dancing in celebration of the freedom I felt while on the retreat and the glorious women I was with and the wonderful dancing that occurred. It was definitely a time of new beginnings and growth for me.

So, keep your fingers crossed for me.

Lots of classes are coming!

Well, the summer schedule for my classes is now complete. The class information is all up on Fiber on a Whim's class webpage. Here is the short version:


Friday, June 13th, 10:30-1:30 Wet Felted Vessels $35.00
Saturday, June 14th, 10:30-1:30 Sunprinting $35.00

Friday, June 27th, 10:30-1:30 Watersoluble Wax Pastels for the Fiber Artist, $35.00
Saturday, June 28th 10:30-1:30 Stamp Carving (Make Your Own Stamps), $60.00 (which includes a kit fee of $25.00 for materials)

Tuesday, July 12th, 10:30-1:30 Needlefelting $40.00 (which includes a kit fee of $10.00 for wool felt fabric)

Saturday, July 16th, 10:30-3:30 w/ lunch break Monoprinting $40.00

I can't wait! I'm having so much fun completing the class notes and trying out the projects and ideas for the classes. I hope to see lots of you there!!

heidi

Yippee!

Both of my pieces sold today on the first day of Collage Mania II!! Yay! About 90 pieces sold today! Which means that Virginia Spiegel helped raise at least $7000 so far, (hopefully some generous donors gave more than the required minimum of $80.00). I can't wait to hear the final total.

So the good news is, that means there are still over 100 pieces to be purchased tomorrow!!! And, the minimum donation drops to $40.00 tomorrow! A lot of my favorites are sold, I'm not surprised, but there are many, many fabulous pieces yet to be acquired. So get your email ready and hit send at 9 am tomorrow with your choice of artwork(s)!!!

What I've been up to

Mostly playing around with project ideas and writing up notes for upcoming classes. I taught two classes in April at Fiber on a Whim, watercolor pastels on fabric and wet felted vessels. They are both being offered again in June. And, I'll also be teaching Sunprinting, Needle-Felting, Stamp Carving and Monoprinting. Still working on the dates and I'm still writing the notes and finalizing the projects, but I can't wait for June to get here! Once I have all of the dates I'll post the schedule here. I really enjoy teaching and sharing my passion for the fiber arts with others.

I'm obsessed with the monoprinting the last few days. I've done it before and really enjoy the process, but wanted to try out some ideas I have for the class. I made a "plate" (or a collagraph in printmaking terms) using a sheet of foam paper. I glued to this lentils, bits of foam, textured paper, tape and tin foil. I then played around with applying paints, misting with water, dry fabric versus wet fabric, using a brayer versus not, etc. so I would be able to answer all the questions that I will inevitably get! This process has just reaffirmed for me that you have to practice to get better at anything. And, practicing is the way to discover your own style and the little tricks. Here is one of the better ones from this practice session. I added a bit of colored pencil to highlight the edges of some of the collaged pieces.

Love to hear what you think! :)

Happy creating!
Heidi

My other piece in Collage Mania II

I just realized that I never posted my other piece that I donated to Collage Mania II. Here it is, Rearranged Continuation:

Just a few of the fabulous......

....pieces of art available through Collage Mania II! Get ready because I'm sure they will be selling fast on Monday. $80.00 for an original piece of artwork is almost unheard of. First come, first serve! Prices go down to $40.00 on Tuesday, but your favorite may be gone by then! AND, it all goes to the American Cancer Society. Every single penny!!! None to the fabulous organizer, Virginia Spiegel, who I know must work at least the hours of a full time job on her fundraisers, all in the name of a cause she supports. So here are some of the beauties I'm featuring today, just a few of the 235 available. I almost hesitate to post these as I might be bidding on some of them myself.

Some of these pieces are part of a series and you could purchase all 3 or 4 to make a stunning wall arrangement of art!!!

All of the details about the pieces are on Virginia Spiegel's website on the pages of Collage Mania II. The artists of the pieces I have listed here today are (in order from the top): Liz Berg, Jane Davila, Terry Stegmiller, Rhoda Taylor, Cynthia St. Charles and Karen Stiehl Osborn.







Please search through all of the others, there are so many fabulous pieces!!!

Collage Mania II

The Patron Preview for Collage Mania II is now open! Virginia Spiegel is again coordinating a fantastic event to benefit the American Cancer Society. So, if you like art and you want ALL of the money you spend on it to go to the American Cancer Society, take a look through the 200+ 8x10 inch collage art on this website.

She has raised over $150,000 already through Fiberart for A Cause. This woman is amazing!

I have two pieces donated to the event. :)

Bleeding Tissue Paper

My three year old loves playing with bleeding tissue paper. I brought back some of the pieces that Jacque Davis was using to dye fabric at Focus on Fiber. She loves ripping the pieces, cutting them, smashing them down on paper and then spraying them with water or painting them with water. Somehow she is able to come up with much better results than I. She layers on more colors than I think could possibly turn out any better than a huge muddy mess. Puts so much water on that there is a sitting pool of water in the middle of the paper. So, at first I was working on my own and she did her own. Now we do it together, so that I might learn from her free-ness with the process. We have several of these lying around and I've taken to enhancing them with colored pencil. It's great fun and as soothing if not more so than stitching. I love watching to see how different colors react to one another, next to each other, on top of one another, on top of different tissue paper dye colors. Great project for anyone looking to increase their color skills with colored pencil. Here are two different scans of sections of one of mine and Maggie's artwork. I should have taken a before colored pencil photo but of course I didn't.

Oops, forgot my photos on that last post

As usual, I'm too lazy (well, really just to busy, takes less time) to take actual photos and am just using my scanner, which means that I only have a portion of some of the items.

The third photo down is a scan of my last piece from my printmaking class. It is a solar plate print from a photograph my husband took of a reflection of a tree. I manipulated it digitally and printed it on a laser transparency and then made the image into a solar plate. Pretty cool process. The first picture is the original photo (credit to Dan McMahill) and the other is after I changed a few settings and made it black and white.

The other two are a small area of the silk square pieces I made in Hellene Vermillions silk painting class. It was a bit hard to get a good scan of silk and to get the colors right. But, good enough for my blog I suppose. Take her class if you can!!

Okay, back from the bus-stop (obviously) and now on to finding gymnastics outfits and a snack before heading out.

See ya!

Heidi

More Classes Are Coming!

Today has been a good day so far. It started with me getting my son on the bus and then going back to bed (bad habit, staying up too late). Then heading out later to pick up my daughter at the Chattahoochee Nature Center (she takes a nature class with Dad a couple of times a month on Wednesdays). Well, today I decided that she and I should hang around for awhile. We took a walk through all of the plants and learned many things about birds. Turns out Wednesday is the day that homeschooled students are at the center to act as educators about the birds! It was really fun watching the 10-12 year olds give me their speeches about the birds. They were really impressive! From there we went to Borders and read lots of books and magazines. I'd have just enough time to flip through a book or magazine in between Maggie picking out the next Dora or Elmo book for me to read. And, now we are home, ready to head to the bus-stop and then out for gymnastics for the kids. Where I can simultanesouly watch and look through more fun books or work on some stitching.

I've been working on class material for some more classes I'll be teaching and thought I'd share some thoughts on my art teaching experiences so far.

Teaching at Fiber on a Whim in Sandy Springs has gotten off to a really great start. I knew that I liked teaching but now I know that I REALLY, REALLY like it!! It feels almost like a sin to be paid for teaching art, almost. ;)

In April I taught Wet Felted Vessels and the participants made a small pouch (cell phone size) and a bowl. They were worn out from the physicality of the class after 3 hours but all seemed to have a ton of fun.

I also taught Watercolor Crayons on Fabric in April and this class was even more fun. There were a wide variety of comfort levels on using the crayons but by the end of the class all seemed to have fun playing and seeing how wonderful these little jewels can be.

Both classes filled up with waiting lists so the same ones are boing offered again. So if you missed them the first time, now is your opportunity!

Friday, June 13th, Wet Felted Vessels 10-1
Friday, June 27th, Watercolor Crayons on Fabric 10-1

Here is an email quote from a participant in my watercolor class: "This is ... as close to having fun as I can remember doing in my life." I couldn't have asked for a better compliment. I of course want to teach the materials and help students gain some skills and confidence, but giving someone a day of fun, permission to play and also to see themselves as a creative being are my ultimate wish.

To register for classes or for more details go to the Fiber on a Whim page: www.fiberonawhim.com

And be watching for even more classes!! Sometime this summer or into the fall, I will be teaching Sunprinting, Stamp Carving, Monoprinting and Needle-Felting (by hand and by embellisher machine). There may even be some classes for children or Mommy and Me type classes sometime this summer.

Oh and before I forget, I took Hellene Vermillions Silk Painting class and I had so much fun!!!! I came home with 3 great silk pieces! I highly encourage you to take a class with her. You can find her class info on Fiber on a Whim's site as well and her blog and website there I think too.

Have a great evening! Off to the bus-stop and to gymnastics!

Heidi

So Cool!

I found this by searching aruond the Artful Quilters Blog Ring. YOu can generate a palette based on a picture file. Isn't that cool? Here is one the one I tried using my series piece I already posted. Thanks to whoever had this on your blog! I can't remember who it was now.




If you want to try it out for yourself go here:

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/colors.php

Be warned, it's a place to try lots of fun things. Total time sink. Grab a cub of tea first.

Heidi

Working in a Series

I finally have a series! Yes, I work with similar colors and similar imagery very often. But, this time I actually created works all at the same time (well, started them at the same time). It feels really good to have work like this. I'm not exactly sure why just yet.

The pieces are the only ones I was really satisfied with after playing around so much on my retreat. It took several tries but I finally got the hang of a monoprinting technique, or more like a collograph, printing on fabric that I like. I placed objects on a piece of plexiglass to add texture and dimension and then added acrylic paint. I then laid fabric on top to make a print of the image. I then repainted it several times, sometimes moving the objects and sometimes leaving them in place and printed new pieces on fabric each time. I'm now adding stitching. I've completed two. Here is a photo of one. Well, actually, I'm not sure it's done. I'm liking the minimal stitching on them and trying to resist the urge to over do it. I often feel like I take things too far and end up ruining them. But, maybe it needs more. Hhhm. I was listening to NPR the other day and they were interviewing a writer (of course I don't remember who) and discussing how books, or the written word, is a living thing, always changing. For example, they mentioned a famous writer writing 39 different endings to one of his books (before publishing) and then after publication, that it changed again many times with each edition. I wish we had that option with artwork sometimes. Of course, as long as it is in my possession I can change it anytime I think it is needed, even if I thought it was complete before and had made it over a year ago. But, once it leaves my hands, that's it.

This piece is on cotton canvas and has acrylic paint, colored pencil, cotton embroidery floss and painted lutradur. What do you think? Finished? Or not?

The other is being donated to Collage Mania II.

Thanks for looking! What are you doing to feed your creative soul today?

Computer Art

Well, I've mostly settled back into my life. It is so strange to be back in the real world after having a week of no real responsibilities. But, the strangest part is to go from an environment where everyone around you is being creative and is not only not judging or criticizing that you are spending so much time on art but are totally just as enthusiastic as you are. It is total unconditional acceptance, which I guess I don't get enough of in my life. And, it is very rare to have so many people so interested in what you are doing and really GET IT. YOu know what I mean. That is what I miss the most. It's like a little private club and you get glimpses of it when you are around other artist friends, but to be in that environment 24/7 was simply a gift I will treasure forever.

So, I've been stitching like crazy on one of the pieces I worked on at the retreat. It's not new, I painted it over a year ago. I thought it was a flop, mostly turned out kind of a brownish green. BUt, I added lots of colored pencil while in Florida and am now stitching with beautiful embroidery threads. Hopefully it will turn into something I'm satisfied with. For now, I find the stitching completely enthralling and soothing.

I've been playing around with my Corel Draw program a bit the last couple of days (procrastinating other things of course). And, here is one of my drawings after many steps in editing. I think it looks really cool and would make a great fabric art piece. So be watching, this one may reappear. Feedback/critique always appreciated.

Focus on Fiber 2008/Atlantic Center for the Art!

Wow, what a fabulous time I had last week! Great space, great women, great all around! We named ourselves Sisters of the Cloth and we Stitched, Painted, Dyed, Talked, Ate, Danced, Relaxed, Screen Printed, Bonded, Drank, Smiled, Slept, Walked, Read, Sketched, Burned, Sewed, Pieced, Quilted, Felted, Laughed, ... I'm hoping to work on a piece to reflect the whole experience. My cell phone mostly didn't have signal and I didn't take a computer and there were no televisions. Heaven on Earth. There was a fabulous library, all art related books, journals and other publications. The food was fantastic--I gained 5 pounds!!! Whoa! And, the people, the BEST! We all shared and learned from each other. And, I believe that many of us made new friends and connections. I know I did. I didn't get the kind of work done that I had hoped-quilting already finished pieces, or creating new masterpieces. I did try a lot of surface design techniques and flopped on several and did okay with others. I learned a lot about how I work, what I like and that not all work is done externally (of course).

Here are some photos of the fabulous grounds at ACA and some of the fabulous artists at work.


Definitely, my favorite part of the campus and one of the first things I saw there. This sign! How validating is that??!! To show up and see this!















Here are some photos of the great studio spaces we had to work in. Great windows and light! Beautiful nature scenes all around us.






















The grounds were covered in trees. Lizards scurried at your every step on the boardwalks. The trees were covered with moss and lichen. I had never seen red lichen before but many of the trees had it. It is a sign of health for the trees.























Here are some photos of the fabulous women that I met. First one shows Julia Yaciw (and Paula Sheron, with her back to the camera, sorry Paula). Great gals! Had a lot of fun getting to know them both. They dyed a ton of fabric and were so neat and organized about it! They both worked on some fabulous pieces and made a lot of progress this week.









And, then we have Debbie Babbin demonstrating one of her techniques for several of us. She had wonderful, colorful mixed media artwork. She did a great job in the presentation of her work with her pieces mounted on canvas and wood.

To her right in the photo (in the green apron) is Kathie Briggs. Kathie was generous enough to show me how (and to share her supplies) to do some deconstructed screenprinting. She originally learned the technique from Kerr Grabowski and I am ordering my copy of Kerr's DVD on the process TODAY!! My piece turned out really nice. She did amazing work using her own photographs from Italy to design some of her screens and also makes beautiful dolls.






Next is Linda Dawson. Her art cloth pieces were simply astonishing. She did some very unique designs and techniques, and the layers of her prints on her cloth just blew me away. She also brought along a Jane Dunnewold piece. It was great to see one in person. She also had some copies of Jane's new book for sale. I can't remember the name of it but I hope to get a copy myself soon.








Here is Linda Hoffmeister and Jacque Davis (on the right). Jacque did some fabulous tissue paper dying of fabric and painstakingly worked on a piece inspired by one of her own drawings requiring lots of cutting of small pieces. She and I had great fun getting to know each other and talking about how to speak about your own artwork and to discuss what it is that moves you about other's art.












Here is Pamela Allen with her piece entitled Four Women Laughing Like Hell showing herself, Rosemary Claus-Gray, Claire Fenton and Mary McBride from the retreat last year. I guess they had a good time in 2007! I took a course with Pamela last year and she is still as fun to be around as ever. She is a hoot!















Here is Rosemary with one of her beautiful layered, transparent pieces. Watching her work was a real treat. She had a very calm and serene presence that matched what I see in her work.

















Mary McBride organizes and hosts the event and she did an excellent job!!! Thanks Mary!!

















There were many other great artists and women that attended including Jan Girod (my driving buddy! Thanks Jan!), fabulous artist and co-owner of Fiber on a Whim here in Atlanta (she is on the right in the photo below with Marilyn Cicek). Unfortunately, my 2 other buddies, Sharon Ahmed and Rebecca Reason-Edwards didn't make the retreat this year, althougth the 4 of us had hoped to go together. Sharon came for a few days but had to leave due to some health reasons. Rebecca had to cancel to get her house ready to go on the market. The other Georgia artist, Deb Lacativa, also had to cancel for some family health reasons. So, the Georgia contingent was on the low side but hopefully next year we can come back in big numbers. We missed you guys!!!!!!
















Well, it was wonderful! I hope I get to go back next year! Sisters of the Cloth You Rock!!!!

Okay, here it is again

This is the best I can do at the moment. I went ahead and submitted it to Collage MAnia.

See ya!

Heidi

Collage Mania

Well, I'm leaving town early in the morning for Focus on Fiber in Florida. A whole week in an artist's studio to work. No planned projects, no other responsibilities. Just time to work. I can't even fathom what it will be like. I'm trying hard to not let the guilt of the time away from home and kids and the money to go get to me. I keep telling myself it will all be fine once I'm there.

So, I've been trying hard to complete something for Virginia Spiegel's most recent fundraising event (she is the American Cancer Society fundraising queen!), Collage Mania II. Today is the deadline. I'm packing and working on another piece. I've done three for this event so far and have been happy with none. The one I"m trying to complete today seems to be headed in the same direction but I'm hoping if I actually finish it that this one will turn out in the end. I always try to push through when I'm unhappy with something. It's hard to find the balance with doing that versus letting something go no matter how much work you have put into it.

Well, here it is, incomplete, but hopefully done sometime today.

The list of techniques and materials is very long (hence, maybe the problem is that I've done too much). Here they are in the order in which they were done: inko-dye on cotton fabric, colored pencil, inkjet transparency transfer of original artwork drawn on paper then scanned, acrylic paint, pigma brush pen, spider writers, inkjet transparency, embroidery floss stitching.

Here is one of the other attempts (same theme) but all done with paper. Again, it was overdone and the main problem I had with this one is that you cannot see the angel's face very well. It is a color printout of artwork on transparency film. Here is the original piece the face came from.

Take care and have a great week!

Heidi

Awesome Etsy Shop

Hi guys,

Okay, so today I'm posting someone else's work (and, yes, I asked permission first). I have been creating but haven't taken any pictures lately, so I thought I'd show you some inspiring work from a couple of sisters in the UK and what they are doing with felt. Take a look. Aren't these just fabulous?! I'm blown away by the creations I find on etsy some days. I'm in love with their bags! To visit their etsy shop, go to www.feltathome.etsy.com. Of course, while in etsy, take the time to visit my shop too (shameless self promotion there)! www.hmiracle.etsy.com. You can find the wildest things on etsy. Do some searches on some really wild things and see what you get! Just be careful, you can spend hours in the shops you find.


Let's see what have I been up to. I've been busy preparing for my Wet Felted Vessels classes this Friday. Hopefully all of my participants will have fabulous bowls to take home and have a great time learning the techniques! I'll let you know how it goes.

Next week I will be away at Focus on Fiber, an fiber artist's retreat. I can't actually believe I'm going and this is happening. Until I actually get in the car and start the drive, I don't think it will seem real. I still feel incredibly guilty about the amount of money I'm spending to make this happen (childcare for my 3 year old for a week and the expense of the retreat itself) and leaving my kids, but I know I'll get over it and it will be fabulous!!!! I have no idea what I'm going to work on yet. Leaving it open for now. I've starting gathering surface design materials and already have two tubs of stuff and that doesn't include any fabric yet! Or sewing machine! Or wool roving or yarn! Or beads! Oh my gosh, I don't know how I will choose what to take and what to leave at home. In the end, I guess it doesn't matter much. I'll create with whatever I have. :)

As far as what I've been working on, I have found a new addiction, colored pencils. Not the watercolor ones I've used in the past, but regular ones, but artist grade of course. They make such beautiful colors on fabric. I get so mesmorized by the colors that I often forget to think of an overall design and just sit and color and shadow and layer and on and on. I'll post pics of something when i'm ready to share them.

Have a great rest of the week!

Heidi

Inko-Dye Workshop

This past weekend I took a two day course through our local SDA (Surface Design Association) group by Ray Pierotti (www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/r/raypierotti/). He is an amazing artist and an excellent teacher. The class was held in the fabulous home of another amazing artist, Leisa Rich (www.monaleisa.com). She works at the High and also teaches classes at Chastain Art Center and Callanwolde. It is such a treat to be in Leisa's space. Not only is it filled with her fabulous artwork, it is also organized, clean and clutter free! Complete with a studio space downstairs with two tables to hold about 6 students. It was so nice to have space to work in. It is a constant struggle in my own home to find a space that I can use for my art supplies much less a clear piece of table top. Anyway, it was fabulous fun and I met some other great artists. My friend and artist Hellene Vermillion was also there. Check out her fabulous work on her blog: www.vermillionart.blogspot.com. Sorry I'm in a rush, so I can't make those clickable links right now. But you should still take the time to visit all of them!!! Here's a photo of the group working on their pieces.

Inko-Dye is definitely a medium I will be adding to my materials. It's fantastic!!

Queen for the day

A recent drawing. I'm drawing lots of black and white again. My faces have changed (for now) to being more realistic. I'm working on paper collages for Virginia Spiegel's auction. I'm having fun but struggling with completing them or liking what I have completed it. Must be a growing point somehow that I need to push through. I'll get there.

I'm still missing deadlines on entering most exhibition shows and on getting applications in for art shows. I guess it just means it's not my priority right now. I do seem to be focusing more on my personal life in other ways. I'm enjoying having more time for my kids. I'm just a bit worried about stopping the momentum on a great start in my art journey. Don't get me wrong. Creativity and art are my spiritual base. I just cant' seem to get the business end going right now. On the other hand,I do feel like the 4 month mark (yesterday) after my Dad's death is a new beginning for me. That life feels like life again.


Today I taught my son's 1st grade class an art lesson and it was so much fun. The stories they have to tell in their art fascinate me (as the story is often the hardest part for me) and their creativity was inspiring. I hope I inspired them as well. I am very passionate about sharing my story with them. Letting them no that art is about breaking rules and that you aren't necessarily born with some inate talent but that it takes practice like anything else. And, that mistakes are part of the process and not to give up. Let go and just have fun. I hope I got that across to at least one of them.