My Amazingly Awesome Art Adventure Weekend!

Over Columbus Day weekend I traveled to Gimanton NH to meet up with several of my wonderful art friends. This is the first picture that I took of Patti's farm as we drove in the drive. This is Badger Brook Farm where my dear friend (who I had never"met" before) lives and works and teaches. Three other wonderful friends gathered with us. Patti and Laura flew in from Wisconsin and Mary drove up from Connecticut. We all knew each other quite well as interent artists who had worked together as Moderators of an online Art Yahoo group. When Patti B invited us to come for a rendez-vous at her home we all started planning and saving our money to make the event really happen. The whole thing was in the works for over a year and it was more fun and inspiring and soul filling than any could have hoped it would be. So we finally met! Not only did we have a wonderful time, but we created some art, met lots of other creative women around a late evening pot luck dinner and huge bonfire, went for a long walk in Patti's woods, but we got to explore some of the sites of Sountern NH. As it happens my family has a very long connection with this part of New Hampshire. My Uncle built a summer cottage about 50 years ago , on a small lake in the sister village of Gilmanton, where PattiB lives, called Gilmanton Iron Works. As a child I would spend several weeks of each summer with my cousins on this little lake never imagining that as an adult I would have a totally different reason to travel to this area!!!!! Patti B and I have also discovered that we have connections thru our seperate lives on Cape Cod with fiends in common. We have since decided that we were sisters seperated at birth!!! (Just kidding!!) It is truely amazing how much smaller a place the world has become thru the wonders of the internet!!

So, here comes a travel log of my Awesome Art Adventure with only very short captions- I took lots of pictures!!!

Patti B shares Badger Brook Farm with her wonderful rescued friends Bailey (with toy) and Josh, the Border Collies. They rule the farm and keep everyone on their toes! Theya re wonderful friends and great companions for all visitors!! We spent a good bit of time together playing fetch!!

Josh is 17 now. Patti got him as an 8 month old pup after he had spent the first 7 months of his life tied indoors!!!! Needless to say the poor thing needed to RUN!!!!!He watchs over the farm and everyone there with an eagle eye always ready for a good game of ball!!

The house dates back to 1726 and when Patti bought the place the interior beams had been painted bright pink and the beautiful floors had been painted some awful color as well. With lots of help from a wonderful builder, Patti added onto the house and buitl the barn. Patti learned how to cut all of the wood pegs that hold the barn together- each peg was cut by hand mostly by Patti - and then she was told that the pegs were available for purchase!!!! If you ever need instruction on how to cut wooden pegs for barn construction, Patti B is your gal!!!!

This is the western facing part of the house that was added on during the renovation.

And here is the barn that was made with the pegs that Patti cut!!! Two goats and many rabbits live in luxury after being rescued, in the barn made with the pegs that Patti cut !

We enjoyed several meals at this wonderful table that is made from a single plank of a New Hampshire hardwood tree!

The bonfire pit is ringed by periwinkle blue chairs in readiness for the next gathering!

Here are some shots of the interior of this magical place!! Patti B has been collecting wonderful things since long befioer Martha Stewart said that it was a "good" thing. martha has nothing on Patti B!!!

This is the first of three fireplaces that surround the central chimeny in the original farmhouse.

This is the de-pinked kitchen with all of Patti's wonderful green dishes and chopping block that she rescued from someones trash heep!!

This is the Birthing Room turned pantry.

Now for a picture of our wonderful hostess Patti B and the Queen of the realm of Badger Brook, Miss Diva. Diva is Patti's latest rescue pet and she came from a puppy mill in Louisiana where she had god knows how many puppies. Diva is a treasure and follows right at Patti's heels.

Now for The Shop at Badger Brook Farm. Patti teaches all sorts of needle work classes and specializes in Wool Applique and Penny Rugs, Needle Punch Arts and Embroidery as well as classes in Book Arts, dyeing workshops, felting and fabric embellishing.

Here you can see shelves loaded with all colors of hand dyed wools for use in the wool applique pieces. Below you can see all of the bins of hand dyed roving for felting and book art suppliess and trims and bits for other altered arts.

As you can see, Patti's shop is a feast for the eyes and a marvelous place for inspirational artistic gatherings of all kinds! Pure Heaven!!!

Laura and Patti , the two gals form Wisconsin had not experienced the fun of creating fabric paper so one morning we pulled out all of "THE STUFF" and got messy!

PattiB at work!

We laid our sheets of gluey mess out to dry in the sun.

At one point when Patti went out to check on the drying, Diva got left behind! We were afraid that her nose would be permanently disfigured from pushing at the door so hard!!!! She didn't make a sound, she just waited. It is a good thing that the door opens outward!!!!

Here are some of our dried fabric/papers.

Patti lives very close to Friday Harbor on Lake Winnipesaukee, which happens to be the home of Keepsake Quilting. I am sure that many of you have probably gotten their wonderful catalogs in the mail. Well the sroe was amazing and overwhelming and inspiring and tons of fun!!

After our sensory overload at Keepsake Quilts ,Patti took us up to the top of Frisky Hill. This was the place where I went as a little girl ,with my Mom, to get wool material to use in her braided rugs. (My Mother is still using some of those same braided rugs in her home today). It is quite strange how after 40 years one can come upon a place and simply understand that you have been there before!

Of course we had to do our share of leaf peeping and picture taking. Laura and Patti G and I had a wonderful time!

You may have gotten the impression that I love stone walls and being the Granite State, New Hampshire is full of beautiful rock walls. Here are a f ew examples.

The archway is the entrance to the vegetable garden.

On our last afternoon we went for a long walk in the woods down to the falls at Badger Brook.

We saw lots of cool Fun-GUYS- fungi!

This fungi had a luminescent glow to it!

Patti B and Patti G sitting on the bridge over Badger Brook. Laura took many pictures of all four of us at this spot as she knew how to use her timer on her camera. She will be sending more shots of all of us soon.

Yikes, this was a looooooong post! I hope that I did not bore you to tears. I took alot of pictures, this is only a very small sampling. The pictures do not do the magical quality of this very special place justice. The connections that I have with my Art Sisters can never be replaced nor have a value put on it. As the ad says, this experience was "Priceless". We are going to start hatching plans for our next Awesome Art Adventure. I will share some more pictures as soon as I get different shots form Mary and Laura and PattiG.

Spring Gifts Accordian Book

Recently I took a class with the wonderful and gifted Laura Cater-Woods. The class was all about creating images in fabric that would evoke feelings and inspire investigation by the viewer. Laura is a true nature girl and most if not all of her works are inspired by the natual world that surrounds her in Montana, where she lives.

This is the piece that I created in her class- and actually FINISHED at home!!!!!

This book titled Spring Gifts consists of 5 double sided fabric panels with sleeves between each panel that hold Dogwood twigs as supports. The book tells a story. It is a visual journal about nest building and hatching of eggs and the story of spring rebirth. I used a marbled silk scarf as the background fabric, handmade textured paper as the tree elements, bits of vintage lace and silk scraps and two phoos of a nest with eggs that had been printed on fabric. I used lots of free motion embroidery to enhance the images and designed the piece so the back panels fit in with the story on the front of the panel.

This next picture shows a close up of the building panel. The nest is under construction.

This next shot is a close up of the center panel that shows the nest with two eggs.

Yo can also see the next panel that has a representation of one of the eggs gone (the right egg that appears green).

This is a view of the back of the panels. They all coordinate with the front panels using the very same materials. I used Dogwood twigs as the supports for each panel and I shaped "roots" from Model Magic Clay which I painted after the clay was dry.

This gives you an idea of how the back can interact with the front, depending on how the panels are folded and displayed.

I have just learned that Laura Cater-Woods will be returning to VA in December and I am planning on taking another workshop with her. For now She has inspired me to look for more ways to incorporate my own photographs into my fiber collage work!

New Creations Ready To Ship!

Sorry for the long period between posts but I have just returned from a wonderful Art Adventure to Southern New Hampshire!!! I had an amazing visit with NEW/OLD Friends and I will be doing a very long post with lots of great pictures very soon!

For now I have returned home to find a check for goods that I have created for a wonderful little Shop in Flat Rock, North Carolina. The name of the shop is Bessie's Cattage and I made this contact when we were in N.C. on our summer vacation. Katherine, the owner ,was very taken with my new Denim Collage Handbags and my Scrappy Bead jewelry and proposed that she buy a selection outright!! Whooo Hoooo!!!!

Here are some pictures!

First, the jewelry! These necklaces are very similar to the ones that you have already seen. The beads between the scrappy beads are made with fabric /paper and then laquer coated.

And the earrings!

This is the first time that I have displayed my Denim Collage purses. Each is totally unique and created from a pair or portion of a pair of worn jeans. I have collaged each with paint, painted paper towels, book text, sheet music, tissue papers and decortative napkins. Each has been treated with three top coats of gel medium and three coates of protective Matte finish sealer. The final purse has the feel of soft leather and is a feast for the eyes and totally functional with pockets inside and out!!
Here is the first bag!!


Now, a detail shot.


And the second bag.


And some detail shots!

Now I must fly off to the Post Office to get these items in the mail!!

I will be back soon with details and pictures and the story behind my great art adventure in N.H.!