More Time, More Art

One of my entries in progress for the Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art Show, "Power Suit For Casual Fridays."

"Too Much Dress Up"

To accommodate additional artists who have works in other Wearable Art Shows here in Alaska and the lower 48 this month and still want to enter our show, the deadline for the Eye of the Beholder Wearable Art show here in Anchorage has been extended until February 27. What?! More Time?! Woot! –with all of this extra time let me completely deconstruct my entries this week and explore even more ideas! Extending deadlines is not a good thing for me because I tend to work best under pressure and there are just way too many ideas that can always be made! My entry “Too Much Dress Up” using lots of PINK BARBIE accessories as found objects has been a kick to make but has also had structural challenges with the weight of the collaged accessories pulling too much on the front of the dress. In this sneak peek of images I’m not finished with the shoulder treatments but the head piece and accessory bracelet are complete. The head piece is a Barbie luggage set stuffed with girl-pink must-haves! The bracelet is a chunky wristband made using all Barbie hairbrushes on a hair scrunchie, that is totally FUN to wear and look at. My second entry “Power Suit For Casual Fridays” is a retake on my metal sculpture “Power Suit” of plasma cut and welded steel with copper embellishments, hardware, aluminum mesh and purple faux fur lining the breast cones. I’m working on a hip denim mini-skirt with free moving “pleats” that will be worn under the “suit’s corset” area. With all of this EXTRA TIME, who knows both designs may be completely transformed this week, yet AGAIN!

Design ideas for one of my entries in the Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art Show "Power Suit for Casual Fridays."

I Stopped by 2 Friends Gallery today and saw that my Art Quilts were up! Jacqui purchased 8 of my fiber pieces. It was hard to see them leave the studio but hopefully the pieces will all find good homes! I’m still in love with most of them, especially the large Crane. My art work usually needs to have a “cooling off” period where I set them aside in the studio, not look at them for a while before I’m able to let them go. Most of my fiber work has been especially hard for me to part with, maybe because I spend so much time on each one and really enjoy what I’m making.

My Art Quilts on display and for sale in the 2 Friends Gallery.

With the temps FINALLY above zero, we were able to enjoy Westchester Lagoon on our evening walkies! January is on track to be one of the most frigid months on record in Alaska history, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature in Anchorage for January so far is 2.7 degrees.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/27/2287406/anchorage-on-track-to-set-record.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/27/2287406/anchorage-on-track-to-set-record.html#storylink=cpy

Plan Z

With apologies to Plankton, I felt like I was reverting to evil plan Z this week. After several different attempts and ideas for my Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art entry that were just not gelling, I finally found an idea that I could run with. Thank goodness. I’m showing you just a sneak peek for now… Frustratingly, there is no "on demand create” switch on my body –though I wish there were. My first couple of ideas for my entry were shot down (by me) after doing some reference image searches, I came across images of similar designs that had already been created –DOH! One early idea was a dress in the shape of hand painted, Tyvek sculpted butterfly wings I wanted to call “Mariposa Metamorphic”  -already done. Then, my idea for the “Read Queen,” a play on the Red Queen reinvented was going to be a red and black dress of sculptural books and magazine pages was just NOT structurally working as I had hoped. After sewing numerous pages from books, dying a thrift store wedding dress as a base in my NEW LG washing machine (I was panicked I was going to stain the machine using the Black RIT!) came out old lady lavender instead of BLACK, arrrgh, so I finally gave up that idea. Even after seeing that one of my original ideas had already been done I stubbornly kept at it and ground it right into the frozen ground until it died a slow depressing death until it was no longer fun. Then while feeling sorry for myself and farting around in my studio it came to me! I changed my thinking to try and create something that I LIKED MAKING instead of something that I HAVE TO DO or a piece that NEEDS TO WOW. Sounds easy enough, but sometimes I get so focused on the wrong direction and intention, like the JUDGING and the CONTEST portion of the Fiber Festival that I easily lose sight of the best part, the CREATIVE PROCESS and making. I put way too many self imposed high expectations on my entry even before I began. Fearing that my entry wasn't going to be "good enough" started to derail my ART MAKING even before I started MAKING the ART, silly me. I'm back on track and LOVING the direction my new piece is taking.

-P.S. There is still plenty of time for YOU to make something, entries are not due until February 3 and is open to all mediums! If you are out of state and would like to participate, I'd be happy to help coordinate the delivery of your piece. For for more information and entry rules visit the Fiber Festival web site.

Oh, and did I mention there is $2,000 in prize money up for grabs?!! 

The find of the week was my VINTAGE dress maker mannequin! Isn't she just FAB! 

She was immediately put to work fitting my Wearable Art entry for the Fiber Festival.

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Check out the entries from the 2011 Show for a little inspiration at  http://www.alaskafiberfestival.org/

This Weather is for the Bad Witch

As if Alaska’s record breaking snow wasn’t enough, now Anchorage has been plunged into a deep freeze with temps from -5 to -20, cold even for South Central Alaska! I can’t complain to Kristen up in Fairbanks though, her temps are regularly -20 below and they saw it drop to -40 below this week! All this winter weather has made me a bit fussy because it’s too damn cold to really be outside enjoying the beautiful snow and getting some much needed, regular exercise. I actually LIKE the winter and if you think I’m grumpy –whoa, you should be among some of Anchorage’s drivers! With the cold snap I thought this week was the perfect time to work on another art quilt with the Wizard of Oz theme fabric I found in a clearance bin. Only this week I didn’t add the good witch on the art quilt just added the legs and ruby red slippers coming out from under the old farmhouse!!

This was the first "Are You A Good Witch or a Bad Witch I" I created. It's about 14" x 18" art quilt using cotton fabric, free motion stitching, bead embellishment,  and digital image transfers. 

"Are You A Good Witch or a Bad Witch II" about 12" wide x 21" tall (not measuring the legs and ruby red slippers) art quilt using cotton fabric, free motion stitching, bead and button embellishment,  and digital image transfers.

All of my samples, sales sheets, price lists and positive thoughts are with my sales rep company, Karen Sobolesky and Company this weekend at the 2012 Alaska Wholesale Gift Show. If you are a qualified buyer there is still time to register and the show is being held at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center, Thursday 1/19 3-7pm, Friday 1/20 10:00 am – 6pm, and Saturday 1/21 from 10:00 am – 5pm.

Big Huge Color

This free app called the Color Palette Generator, automatically creating a color palette from any photo, I found on the Cold Feet Quilter’s Blog. I’m not sure what I will use the app/utility for yet but one thing I do know is I can use all the help I can get when it comes to color! I’m always looking for new designs of color wheels (or as I like to call them –Bravery Wheels!) and ways to learn more about the use of color. With this free app you simply upload a photo and with the click of the “Create>>” button and Big Huge Labs automatically generates a color palette you can use for your art making projects. Big Huge Labs “Helping you do cool stuff with your digital photos since 2005. :-) Have fun with your photos!” has other fun and free “toys, games and utilities” to use with images. Big Huge Labs has a whole menu of time sucking fun to offer! This weekend when I have a couple of hours to burn I’m going to check out the Cube, Bead Art , Captioner and Framer apps! After browsing their site I wanted to title this Blog post "Big Huge Time Suck" but the apps were clever, FREE and fun I thought that would be mean. So grab your favorite beverage, a file of images and have some fun and be ready to blow a few hours on your computer :)

Using my latest fiber pieces I uploaded them into the Color Palette Generator. "Choose or upload a photo and a color palette based on the colors in the photo will be generated automatically. Use it to help with art projects, website design, or even with decorating your home.

Snow Power

Seems Alaska is receiving all the snow for the entire U.S.! Alaska’s weather has even had CNN watching. We’ve set a new record for snowfall in the month of January, ALREADY and with even more snow on the way, it’s been a great time to stay INSIDE the studio and sew. Here is a link to the images from the snowfall in the outlying cities of Valdez and Cordova that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News. With some of my deadline projects out of the way I’ve wanted to work some more on my powerline series using image transfers, fabric painting, embellishing and free motion stitching. The new TAP artist transfer paper provided a smoother image for me to sew and paint over. These pieces have given me an opportunity to practice my sewing when I slow down enough to quilt “properly.” I tend to not want to follow the “rules” of traditional sewing or quilting. It’s a gentle balance because the perfectionist in me would like to already be an expert at sewing the basics but I’ll need at least another week, just kidding, I’m still light years away but enjoying the journey! I’m working on avoiding puckering, maintaining proper tension adjustment, avoiding uneven stitches with my free motion sewing and taking more care with my finish work. Part of my steep learning curve is my desire to use new and different materials, fabrics, designs and embellishments. At least with the kind of winter we're having, the garden won’t even be thawed out until July giving me PLENTY of time in the studio! 

Art quilt, part of the "Powerline" series is about 13" x 30" tall. Cotton fabric, digital image transfers, fabric paints with free motion stitching. 

Art quilt, part of the "Powerline" series is about 14" x 16.5" tall. Cotton fabric, digital image transfers, fabric paints with free motion stitching. 

In a Small World Lives Memory Lane

 A few years ago I ran into a high school friend David at City Market. David is cool, he was cool even in high school. In his high school life he was a fantastic artisan and potter in D-21. D-21 as it was called was the infamous Art Room at Dimond High School. Today, David is a successful and amazing carpenter. It was through David that Daddy-O and I met our current electrical contractor that installed our power box, panels and upgraded our electrical for my kilns, plasma cutters and welder at the old house (he's getting a call this summer for the new house needs!). Welders should never be without a good electrician and thanks to David we have one for life! David and I were reminiscing on one of our morning meet-ups over morning coffee and he mentioned that our old art teacher Mr. S, who also happens to be a very successful potter, is now teaching in China. David and Mr. S have occasionally e-mailed one another along with a few other of our D-21 art peeps. 

Directly above is a page from my high school yearbook showing the Art Room at D-21. That's me in the upper right corner! The other photo, upper left, is a picture of Mr. S talking with a student in 1980. The smaller inset is of another art teacher Mrs. P, who also happened to be a vendor at the Spenard Farmer's Market last summer selling her art!

Over the Holiday break I received an e-mail from an old high school boyfriend, Steve. He was happy to read on the internet that I was still an artist and even making a living at it. Steve shared that he is now also an artist as well as a teacher in Seattle. He wasn’t one of our regular D-21 crew because he spent most of his creative time with the theater crowd. Approaching 50 years old and ready for a change, Steve wrote he was about to be moving to China and had written and illustrated a book "A Place For My Stuff" about downsizing and his process that lead up to the big life change. The book was available on Blurb so I ordered it and when it arrived I put it under the Christmas tree. Finally able to sit down with my morning tea I had a chance to read through it. It’s a lovely story full of wonderful illustrations of places I'm familiar with in Seattle. Through the book I was able to catch a glimmer of what my old high school friend has been up to the last 30 years. The coolest part of the story is at a Holiday Open House both David and I were at, I shared that Steve is now in China and teaching at the same school as Mr. S! After all these years, it's still a small world.

"A Place For My Stuff" An Illustrated Journal by my high school friend Steven Reddy. Available from Blurb. 
Steve writes "All of the location sketches were done on-site with black Uni-ball pens in spiral-bound tablets of 90lb. all-purpose paper. I shade them with very diluted India ink washes with Utrecht's Nylon Sable brushes, and color them with whatever watercolors are handy. Sometimes I'll apply highlights with a white Jelly Roll pen."