House project

I have completed a house as part of a local invitational exhibit. 20 other artists from all mediums have been invited to create a home. This is a picture of the front of 7 Meadow Drive 2008


House is simply the word for a physical structure;

A Home is the word for the place where individuals live. It congers up feelings of birth place, belonging, togetherness, cooperation, assistance, joy and above all love.

My home is a place of warmth where you hang your hat It is a place of refuge, full of laughter, music and conversation. It is a place that nurtures dreams, innovation, art and creativity. It is a place of wonder

where you imagine and share/ Finally it is a place of love and growth.


Materials: Pellon, acrylic paints, gel medium, molding paste, watercolors, pastels, grass,
color/black and white photo copies of photographs and pictures, various fibers, beads and embellishments.

Techniques: The pellon was cut to size and covered with a layer of gesso. Paint and molding paste was applied to simulate the interior and exterior walls. Copies were appliqued. Various paints were layered and sanded and layered again. Details were added with molding paste and painted. Dried grasses were added to roof the exterior. Finally various fibers and embellishments were added.

Onward.....

I have now recovered from my month of travels. Seems like I have almost been from one end of the country to the other. Michigan to Texas to Mexico to Texas to Arizona to Michigan to Pennsylvania, to Michigan to Illinois to Michigan.

The SAQA/SD conference in Wayne, PA was a resounding success. The workshops were by enlarge good and provide a ton of good information. The exhibit at the Wayne Art Center was outstanding. And as always it was good to see familiar faces and to be able to put a new face with a name. I hope it is the first in a series of collaborative efforts.


IQA in Chicago was great fun for me. I went wearing my SAQA "hat" and tried to be an ambassador for the organization. Clairan Ferrono did and outstanding job as coordinator of the SAQA table and all the volunteers. She made it look effortless, even though I know how many hours she spend.

There so many great SAQA members who volunteered their time. Ir is wonderful to be a part of an organization where members are energized and willing to give something extra to the group.
A big thank you to:
Karen Abramson, Carol Abramofsky, Jane Aldretta, Darcy Berg, Jennifer Conrad, Jane Cooperman, Margaret Cusack, JoAnn Deck, Cheryl Dineen Ferrin, Sheila Haberman, Denise Havlan, Cathy Jeffers, Gwen Jones, Mary Jo Lawrence, Kate Lenkowsky, Karen Musgrave , Stephanie Nordlin , Linda Olson, BJ Parady , Virginia Spiegel , Kathleen Stuart , Desi Vaughn , Kathy Weaver and Carol Vinick

In addition I did a gallery walk for SAQA's two exhibits, Creative Force and A Sense of Place. My idea was not to do all the talking like a lecture, but rather speak a little and encourage those who were there to have a dialogue about the works that we were viewing. I was pleasantly surprise on how enthusiastic the group was. In fact it went on beyond the planned 40 minuets to an hour and a half!! I really was energized by the discussion and would happily do it again.

Collage Mania

This is a shout out for Virginia Spiegel!!! and the 100 artists who have donated their work to benefit the American Cancer Society. Go take a look.

More than 100 artists worldwide have donated 235 fiber collages to benefitthe American Cancer Society.Collage Mania will be held May 5 and 6 with a preview of all collagesbeginning April 28. More information is available here:
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageManiaDetails.html
100% of the proceeds are donated directly to the American Cancer Societythrough Fiberart For A Cause. Fiberart For ACause has already donated more than $150,000 towards cancer research andeducation in the past three years.

Leaf Out Day

Today is officially *Leaf Out Day* here in northern Michigan. Every year for the past 20 years I have celebrated these first brave leaves. Now I have to say they they are the poplar leaves...sort of a wimpy grayish green. Very delicate and apparently waiting for chirorphyl to make its self known. But Leaves they are and abundantly displayed..fluttering in the wind like little handkerchiefs.



I had a wonderful time in both PA and Chicago. My gallery talk went well, and I survived the two segment taping for Quilting Arts TV. Now I am home and cleaning the studio and working like mad.

Home at last

We are back in Michigan, and happy to be home. Even if there is still two feet of snow on the ground and it is 13 degress outside right now at two in the afternoon.

The drive across the country was as usual wonderful. The southern central states were awash in spring bloom, so I know spring will come sooner than later.

I am getting ready for the SAQA / Surface Design spring conference. Desi Vaughn and I will leave on Wednesday morning for the 850 mile trip to PA. I am looking forward to emersing my self in art. We return to MI on Tues and Thursday we leave for the IQA spring festival in Chicago. Desi is giving a lecture on Saturday and I am doing a gallery talk on Fridsay. It will be great fun to see everyone there.

This winter has been somewhat productive for me...more in the area of using my sketch book.
The landscape in AZ is so different from what I am used to, that I tried hard to record some of my impressions. This happened when another artist asked me why my work did not reflect the time I spend there. My answer was ????? I rather think it has to do with the fact that I am slow to internalize my vision...so I started to look especially at the textures that are so amazing in that part of the country. I suspect that some of this will creep into my work shortly.

The other thing I have been playing with is some photos. This an original of a cactus

the needles are an interesting design element. I wanted to look at

negative space. So I used photoshop to do some initial exploring.

So I did a cutout after removing the color. I think this has some design possibilities. I will be trying to take a section of this and traslate it into fabric

Welcome Sweet Spring Time

Here in Arizona it is spring. The flowers in the desert are in full boom and the temperature is in the high 70's Ahhhhh Spring.

Last month I was honored to be part of the Fiber Art For A Cause auction. I donated a new work Rose Hips I which is part of a series I an currently working on.

3 Day until the opening of FAFC Auction

Ten generous artists have donated beautiful art quilts, beaded jewelry, and wearable art with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

The artists' are well known in the area of fiberart in which they specialize: Frances Holliday Alford, Terry Grant, Peg Keeney, Jay Rich, Susan Sorrell, Del Thomas, Larkin Van Horn, Laura Wasilowski, Leni Wiener and Maggie Winfield

Please check out the work, and help us spread the word

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/ReverseAuctionArtwork2008.html