Ruin III

20"x8" and framed 16"x24", Stitched the three pieces together and floated on a white mat board and then framed the piece with a white metal frame. This has a strong contrast between the soft almost tattered cloth with the hard edge white metal and glass frame...I like it and it holds up well in overhead lighting. The three levels speak well to me as a vertical spiritual journey.
I have already begun new work. This time to prevent indecision, I placed several of my different 'ideas to explore' on folded sheets of paper and yes, put them in a bowl, closed my eyes and Magically I picked out my next new assignment! I did the same thing with applications such as flour paste printing, silk printing, stencils,etc and did the whole 'bowl' thing but this time picked several papers as I will combine and layer to begin the new cloth piece. Now this works for me because I get so caught up and excited about explorations that I wander around for days in the studio.
This way I'm excited and looking forward to next steps...see you on the other side!

Fearlessly Flying Home

7"x8", fabric created by loose drawing of a ruin (archaeology magazine) with water soluble ink and following lines with freestyle machine stitching with addition of embroidery.

6"x8", circular bronze stamp, free style machine stitching and assorted embroidery stitches











6"x8" assorted pieces of cloth, scraps and printed papers. Free style machine stitching and variety of embroidery stitches.













I began this exploration using fabrics gifted to me by Constance Rose  , letting the cloth with its mottled markings speak to me as I followed these shapes with my freestyle sewing attachment. it was like driving with little steering and no brakes...fun and the shapes rather loose and interesting. I added  varied amounts of embroidery and the piece in the middle became moving shapes of wings and butterflies. The bottom one with added papers became a wall to me, old and held together by time. The third and top piece is a drawing i made with a water soluble ink pen of an old ruin. I started and stopped many times with all three pieces which left me feeling unsure of myself and direction. Now that these three pieces are complete, I'll connect them and frame as one piece. Sometimes I just need time away from the work to get a better perspective. I know I liked the freestyle stitching but not sure how that will fit with the next project. Onward to June!

Town Market

12"x15" A collage of photos taken in a variety of places. The pumpkins in the central valley of California, the pears and grapes in Ireland, assorted vegetables in the center in Vienna and the green peppers here in Santa Cruz. When I have traveled, I've always tried to find the local farmers market and in some places it is a fixture for hundreds of years. These farmer to home have been going on for forever and I can't see it dying out anytime soon. I used to go weekly here but I've slowed down...parking, carrying heavy bags but when I have gone it has been so much fun...almost a circus atmosphere, free samples, clowns and balloons, prepared food and a general fun atmosphere. I need to put this Wednesday or Sunday on my calendar as I'm out of local honey and nothing beats local honey!

Lessons in Faux Leather

Loved learning how to make this faux leather from brown paper and had to find a way to use it for the purpose of rolling up a piece of cloth as in ancient times. I used a beautiful cloth (I received from a giveaway at Connie Rose's blog} with a special note tucked between and wrapped this beautiful leather and attached it with rust string and beads and a key. The beads have sentimental value for me as they were the remains of a necklace from years gone by. Will I ever get to the bottom of my collection of stuff?