The Dweller Within

Finished this a while ago and am just now getting around to having it photographed. The central figure is a photo I played around with and printed on fabric. The photo is of rock formations in the Arizona desert. I thought it looked like a spirit appearing. It felt to me like that radiant presence that is always waiting within. I have to be very still and quiet to hear the guidance of this inner self. There is always a feeling of homecoming and deep joy when I come in contact with this presence. In the depths of darkness there is a radiance. I am fascinated with the oval shape and the "oriental" doorway shapes and want to play around more with them. It is a female shape. a mysterious opening to another world.

Of course there is some shiney too...more holographic gold thread and joy of joys, HOLOGRAPHIC GOLD RICK RACK donated from my dear daughter from her stint as circus wardrobe mistress. ( or QWEEN OF WAR DROBE as she prefers to be called.)

Lace

Not only do I love fabric, I am fascinated by the making of fabric throughout history: spinning, weaving, dying. In doing genealogical research, I came across the lace makers of northern France and Belgium. I am impressed with the detail, beauty and delicacy of the pieces, and I always think of the women who made them in the days before machine made lace. When people who are not quilters look at my work common comments are, " I would never have the patience!", "How many hours did that take?". For me it is not a question of patience for that implies that I would rather be doing something else, or that the goal is the final product. Frankly,the result is very often a surprise as the threads seem to lead me down a path of their own design. Making art is more of a meditation. Today's expression might be "being in the zone". I imagine the lace makers of France and Belgium being in the zone with their work. Here is a piece of Antique Valenciennes lace I purchased from Em's Heart: www.emsheart.com

This lace was hand made in the town where many of my ancestors are from. It is made from very finely spun linen. Lace making became a lucrative industry for the region and there was much competition to make the finest, most intricate designs.  The lace makers of Valenciennes claimed that it was the unique climate of the town that kept the flax at just the right texture to allow the lace makers to achieve such fine detail. Hmmmm.   Stay tuned to see how I work this into a new art piece.

For more information on lace and lace making, check out the Lace Fairy: lace.lacefairy.com/

for Madeleine

 A friend visiting my art show in May told me she would be turning 50 in September and would love to have a small piece of my work. This was an uncharacteristically bold request on her part and I gladly agreed to make something for her newly redecorated house. She even gave me a paint chip

Somehow I can't make something until it feels ready to be born. I spent some months letting the idea be there and bringing to mind how I feel in her presence. A while ago I collected some photos of lotuses. Two of the pink ones floated to the surface of my mind when I thought about her so I began with that. It took a while to get them printed to my satisfaction. I think I now have  about 20 pink lotuses of various sizes and shades printed on various kinds of fabric. NEW PROJECT! Egg shape or ovals seem  like a comfortable space to work in so I started with the lotus printed on silk in an egg shape and added other shapes and colours to fill the space. I loved the way this piece of hand dyed turquoise and yellow silk looked with the lotus.
  It took a while before the right shapes and colours found themselves together and there was of course the moment when I hated it.

After a day or 2 the moment passed as it always does and I started to enjoy myself again. As you can tell, I am not a fast worker. It all needs to simmer for whatever time it takes. The finished piece  is 12"X16", photo printed on silk, hand dyed silk, lamé, commercial and hand dyed and batik cotton. I haven't thought of a name for this piece yet. Any ideas?

Being a foodie in Montreal

I was over 50 when I realized I am a foodie. I didn't really know there was such a thing. I thought everyone loved beautiful yummy food. I assumed that when traveling, the first place everyone wanted to go was the local food market to, fondle, sniff and ogle all the local fare. Also that trying a new recipe,or ingredient was everyone's idea of adventure or that everyone's idea of the most luxurious splurge was a good restaurant meal. Not so. Sadly, some just eat to live.

Well, if you ARE a foodie, Montreal is a great place to live. Of course there are wonderful restaurants of every variety and price all over the city and you can get breakfast, lunch or dinner pretty much any time of day or night. Another side of the food experience of the city is the markets, especially this time of year. Strolling among the flowers, fruits and vegies, sampling the produits de terroir,  is one of my greatest pleasures.

Yesterday's journey resulted in a Mediterranean salad with merguez from the Halal butcher, prosciutto, Greek feta, kalamata olives from the Itallian store, juicy sweet melon, greens, garlic, mint, fresh basil, 3 colours of tomatoes and edible flowers from the farmers stalls. JOY in the summer.

And PLEASE  never buy bottled salad dressing. It takes 5 minutes to make fresh and so easy and good. The key is high quality ingredients.

Best Basic Salad Dressing recipe
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic crushed
pinch or more of fines herbes
salt and pepper to taste
MAKING IT
Start with the vinegar. Dissolve the salt completely in it. Add the olive oil and other ingredients wisk with a fork or shake in a jar. Blending is all. Voila.

collage finished

YAY, finally finished the collage from the show! I embellished the fused piece with holographic threads on my domestic sewing machine then put it on the long arm to quilt and stitch the edges to a purple backing.

What a treat delivering it to Carina. She had the perfect spot for it in her loft. And she gave me a pair of her wonderful feather earnings!

My art is my church

I was so surprised to get a call from designer Katrin Leblond telling me the large crazy quilt piece displayed in her store just sold. Of course it is beautiful so why should I be surprised? Well, it is a fully hand embellished piece and largish. ( 47"X 47" X 47") I wasn't sure there was anyone out there besides me who gets such a thrill out of purple and hand embellishment.

I worked on this piece when I was between hip replacement surgeries. Obviously not very mobile but with still lots of energy and desire to be busy. What a pleasure to spread out all my beauties...
beads, silk ribbons, hand dyed laces I made years ago, embroidery thread...


and some Milagros from Mexico. The tin work done in Mexico is really spectacular and this is only a mini example. Outside churches they sell these small replicas of different parts of the body tied with a colourful ribbon. If you have an ailment you can buy a milagro for that part and bring it with your prayers for healing to the altar in the church. Well, my church is my art, so there are several legs sewn into this piece and well as a heart or 2 just in case.

I enjoyed working with the silks, satins, sequins that don't usually go into a quilt. And, yes, I admit it, thanks to my dancing friend who makes her own costumes, I came home from a trip with an entire suitcase full of fabric scraps, some no larger than a few inches. This is an obsession that must be controlled, but I digress.



Every bead is sewn on by hand. I learned many embroidery stitches as well as silk ribbon embroidery. Tiny silk roses...very fun. This piece is a lot to look at all at once and so interesting to explore all the little details. I have had it with me for a while now and am happy it has found a new home. It is wonderful to know there are people out there who still appreciate craft and hand made beauty. A big thank you to Katrin Leblond, queen of colourful fashion and her wonderful staff. See all the beauty she creates on her blog: katrinleblondblog.com.

Tequila Sunrise

Can you tell it is summer?

I know I have been absent from this blog for a while. It is my style to connect intensely and then retreat inside for a while. After the show in Montréal, I traveled to British Columbia where I assisted the final seminar in a training in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. This is the very deep and gentle form of body work I practice. It was profoundly moving to see the students complete this part of the journey. I also took some time to be with colleagues explore the astounding beauty of Vancouver Island. I am a slow mover and one who likes to take time and space. It was an intense and deeply nourishing journey.
And it is good to be back in my home studio making things again. Here are some photos of a piece I just finished. I have been working on finishing the collage from the show here in Montréal. I am embellishing it with metallic threads. There is a lot of fusible and the needle kept getting gunked up. I changed needles a lot. I was trying to figure out if I could quilt through all those thicknesses. I had another UFO here that is also fused so I went ahead and put it on DEEP ( my INNOVA quilting machine that is purple, hence the name) NO PROBLEM. So here is the new piece, Tequila Sunrise. I will get the collage on the frame today and post some photos when it is done so stay tuned...