Gone way too long.........

It has been a very hectic and crazy fall and the blogging has definitely suffered!!  To keep this short and very visual I am going to give you a picture review of some of the things that have been keeping me busy since my last post!!!

Stitching journals with my own sun prints and creating Art Quilts.

Creating some fun textile necklaces with my fabric/paper/resin beads for sale at Artful Dimensions Gallery.

Managed to squeeze in a trip to Cape Cod to visit my Mom over a long weekend in October.  I even managed to catch a glorious sunset at Rock Harbor in Orleans, MA.

Got some shots of some sea gulls hunkering down for some blustery weather!!

We took a wonderful little drive to a friends organic sheep and veg farm!!

Once back in VA, I have taught several classes, Collage Jewelry classes have been very popular.

I took part in Fredericksburg VA, first experiment with Yarn Bombing!  Hopefully more events will be coming this summer!!

I was very involved in the Presidential Campaign for Barack Obama !! Becca and I were able to get VIP tickets to go to a Rally featuring our wonderful First Lady, Michelle Obama!!  What a thrill that was!!! She is such an amazing woman, incredible Ambassador for our Country, a wonderful Mother and an amazing speaker!!

Unfortunately we could not get close enough to shake her hand or to give her a hug.

Becca and I had a wonderfully inspiring time with all sorts of like minded Democrats and Obama supporters!!

Election night was so very exciting as our candidates,  President Obama and Senator Tim Kaine, easily won their respective political races!!!! I spent many hours working the phones and knocking on doors to make sure that Virginia came out in the Democrats column. Such a relief!!

Buddy and I spent several hours sewing and getting things organized in the sewing room .  I have been making finger-less gloves using cashmere and wool sweaters that I have recovered and re purposed after felting the sweaters in the washing machine.

This group of my gloves have already been sold but I have just listed several new pairs in my Etsy shop.  You can take a peek here.

I created some collaged fabric with silk fibers, silk fabrics, wool fibers and recycled cashmere sweaters to create this swing vest.  After needle felting , lots of free motion embroidery and then wet felting, this garment is now available for purchase at Artful Dimensions Gallery in Fredericksburg, VA.

Creating this piece was a wonderful adventure and I plan to work on many more garments in the near future.

So that is a quick wrap up of what I have been doing with some of my time!  I promise not to ignore my blog and my wonderful followers for such a long period again!! I have missed you all!  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Fall and Thanksgiving , Spring if you are among my Down Under buddies!! 

ART ON EVERYONE!!!! 

Wire and Beads !

Yesterday I taught my first Wire and Beads Bracelet Class at Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria. We had a wonderful time and my students made some amazing pieces of jewelry!!

Once I got them past the fear of making an error when bending the wire and we discussed some design and structural points, they were all off and bending and adding beads!

Below you can see the works in progress.  We had a marvelous time catching up and sharing bead stash and helping each other make design decisions.  All three left, after shopping in Judy's amazing shop of artistic must have 's and delectable  and enticing creative supplies , with their beads and wire and plans to go home and complete their masterpieces.  I will definitely be offering this class again soon, as many shop patrons came by to see what all the hub-bub was about .

This is Jackie's piece using antiqued bronze wire.

Kathy used silver wire and primary colored beads for her striking piece.

Janice went with purple beads and black wire to add her special style to her bracelet!


Artistic Artifacts has a wonderful roster of classes and we are adding new classes and dates on a regular basis.  Prices for our classes are incredibly reasonable and we are always anxious to work with individuals who have new class ideas and a group who wants to learn.  Bring us a small group and we will design a  class to meet your specific needs and desires.  it does not get better than that!!!
Art On everyone!!!




http://www.artisticartifacts.com/annex.htmhttp://www.artisticartifacts.com/annex.htm

Fredericksburg Diamond

I thought that you all might like to see where I love to hang out and sometimes where poeple buy some of my art!!



This is the exterior Of Liberty Town, the wonderful art mecca owned by potter Dan Finnegan.

Here is a shot of the front entrance which gives one a tiny hint of the wonders to behold after crossing the theshold!

Sorry about the glare on this shot but if you look carefully you can see the stained glass surround of the front doors.

Today I had my second class in another watercolor session that I am taking under the direction of Ariel Freeman. The subject of this session is painting White Flowers. When thinks about it, this subject presents a host of challenges, the main one being painting a subject that is supposed to be devoid of color. Actually the white flower reflects the colors surrounding it and you get the shape of the white flower by painting in the background around the flower. Pretty cool though a bit difficult to wrap ones brain around, at least it is challenging for me.

I am painting white cosmos. Here is my first glase of color and I probably won't do too many more layers. The rest of the painting on this piece will take place behind the flower with a tiny bit more definition to each blossom.

Another challenge is taking a good picture of white flowers painted on white paper!!!! This will be changing very soon!!

Stay tuned for further updates!