Sculpture in the Chicago Midway airport

I wish I had stopped to get a better angle on this sculpture.  I thought this was absolutely gorgeous.  Each piece is suspended from a wire from the ceiling.  A close-up reveals that the bird is actually composed of tiny red aircraft:  antique to modern-day models.

Tank

Tank is a desert tortoise that has been in my late Uncle Ralph's family for around 50 years.  I first met Tank when I was 14 years old, visiting my Aunt Nadine & Uncle Ralph's home in Southern California for the first time.  I have seen Tank each time I visited, unless it was winter, when Tank was hibernating.
Tank, as it turns out, is a girl.  Oh well.

lunch time

She is fond of flowers and bright toenail polish.

A Great License Plate seen in the CREATE mixed media retreat parking lot

Why Be Normal?!

While teaching at CPS CREATE! in Chicago I had the pleasure of dining with good friends:

L-R:  Cheryl Sleboda (aka Muppin), me, Jeanne Palmer Moore, and Jamie Fingal

This makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Too bad we weren't having any fun.

Apron As Personal Armor

We will be teaching a full day workshop called "Aprons As Personal Armor" at CREATE mixed media retreat in Chicago.  The idea of the workshop is to use the apron as a framework for a fun means of self expression.  This is my second apron.  I have one additional embellishment to add:  a piece of trim with large grommets will run across the front of the apron at the waist.  I plan to put colored "loop clips" through the grommets to hold my scissors, etc.  An additional image will follow when this has been accomplished.

Artist Houses Accordion book

Here is my house book, "locked" with my old house key!

Jamie and I will be teaching a fun mixed media workshop in Chicago at CREATE called "Artist Houses",
which uses a variety of materials and techniques.  The finished project is an accordion book that can be mounted onto chopsticks to stabilize it as an open book.
Here are images of my house "pages" I'm rather pleased with how they turned out.

one finished side

...and the other!

Seen in my hotel room at the Hilton Fashion District

This is not a very good photograph, so I will apologize in advance.  Still, I loved the sentiment and thought it worth sharing.  It reminded me of the legacy of stitchwork and how much pleasure we all derive from it.

Moos and Doodles

gouche & marker on paper treated with absorbent ground

As part of the Sketchbook Project (this is the one out of Brooklyn that uses 5x7 moleskin journals) my 2011 theme is "The Writing On The Wall".  I took my journal to New York and worked on a few pages, or at least, started them, during our board meetings.  I find that my level of concentration and retention of information is heightened when I am drawing or doodling.  The theme of my 2011 journal allows me to continue my fascination with graffiti and doodling, all in one.

text printed onto cloth, gouche, Sakura pens, markers

canvas monoprinted with acrylic paint, Sakura pens

I love making Moo business cards.  It is such fun to upload digital images of artwork and other crazy things, and people seem to love them.  While I was hanging out with members of the NY Metro Mod Guild during their sew-in at City Quilter, one of the participants wanted to play with the cards so we laid them out on her work table.  These cards include photographs as well as details of artwork.

An Evening at City Quilter for the AAQ!

I love City Quilter in New York!  If you are in Manhattan, this is a fantastic place to visit.  They have recently expanded their space and now have the only gallery that exclusively features fiber/quilt art in the city.  We were treated to an amazing solo exhibition of Noriko Endo's Naturescape quilts.

Walking through the gallery into the shop.

This is one-half of their space.  They also have a large classroom

with lots of Bernina 440 QE machines!

A contest and silent auction of AAQ Board members' quilts was held during the event.

The winner was top center:  Luke Haynes!  

My quilt, "Empire State of Mind", is on the lower left, and went to a good home!

Posing with Jay McCarroll, winner of Season One Project Runway

His earlier attempt at styling my hair was lost during the rainy walk between events.

Sorry, Jay!

New Stylist, one of the many features of Quilters Take Manhattan in NYC!

Jay McCarroll, Project Runway Season One winner, and interviewee for QSOS with Mark Lipinski during our Saturday afternoon event, decided to update my hair style.

L-R:  Jodie Davis, myself, Amy Milne, and Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

Everyone in the photo (but me) is wearing couture from Jay McCarroll's collection.

Mark Lipinski, looking impish as usual!

Mark Lipinski interviewed Jay for Quilters: Save Our Stories, a project of the Alliance.  This was such an interesting interview, and a great opportunity to familiarize others with the mission of the Alliance.

San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild founder Jordan Hoppe 

modeled this gorgeous Jay McCarroll gown.

L-R:  Alliance board members Alex Veronelli (Aurifil Thread), Jodie Davis (Quilt Out Loud/QNNtv), and Mark Dunn (Moda Fabrics), chatting at the event.

In addition, Mary Ann Fons (Fons & Porter) and her daughter, Mary Fons (of Quilty) spoke to the audience and shared their stories.  Both were interesting and inspiring speakers, and it was Mary Fons' birthday so we all sang to her and presented her with a cupcake!

There were an amazing array of items in our silent auction, as well as fantastic door prizes to several lucky winners.  Who knows?  The Alliance may be coming to a city near you with a future event.  Stay tuned!

"Modern Stories" event in NYC

The first official event of the "Quilters Take Manhattan" event for the Alliance for American Quilts was in the Manhattan loft of Victoria Findlay Wolfe, founder of NYC Mod Quilt Guild and owner of Bumble Beans, Inc.  The wonderful evening included a QSOS interview of Victoria, conducted by AAQ president Meg Cox.

Victoria, with her QSOS id code for documentation of the interview,

poses in front of her quilt, "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".

I like how these photos look like mug shots!

Victoria, on left, and Meg Cox

The guests mixed it up and had a great time, and we all got an opportunity to hear Victoria's story about her journey toward quilt making and what it means to her.  The interview was recorded, and will be typed out and housed on the Alliance for American Quilts website as well as in the archives of the Library of Congress.   If you are a fan of the Story Corps project from NPR and have listened to any of those recordings, I encourage you to get involved in THIS project.  The stories are collected one at a time, in guilds, quilt bees, and larger gatherings such as the International Quilt Festival, Houston, 2011.  We will be conducting interviews live on the floor of the festival in the exhibit of Texas quilts.  Please come join us!

Jordon Hoppe, founder, San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild, and

Victoria Findlay Wolfe, founder, Empire Mod Quilt Guild NYC.

My youngest daughter has fun playing with 

a young guest.

Neat versus Messy: witness the different styles at the AAQ board meeting

I serve on the board of the Alliance for American Quilts.  I take this seriously.  I attend the meetings, both virtual and in real-time.  Somehow, my untidy work habits in my studio follow me around.
Witness the contrast of board member styles:
On the left side of the room, is Mark Dunn's table.  See?  He seems to conduct himself like a normal person:

an ipad and a few notes.  

Now, take a look at our side of the conference room.  Admittedly, this is not all mine.  Frances Holliday Alford may be making an even bigger mess than me, but we are equally responsible for this side of the room:

Frances, in the midst of the "stuff"

I was limited to a small pouch of postcards, my portable watercolors, and a few markers.  I was flying, and I only carry what will walk on the plane with me.   Frances came on the train.  Enough said.

Post Festival Field Trip, Part Two

The last stop on our bus trip was a tour of Alexander Henry Design Group in Burbank CA.  This was so inspiring!  I loved that the artists who are designing the lines of fabric are doing so by first drawing their concepts, then painting the different colorways onto 90 lb watercolor paper with gouache!
Although I did not photograph any of their designs (and they were generous to show us the upcoming work) I will share some random images I photographed, with their permission, inside the building:

This beautifully mottled (shiny/matte finish) concrete wall arcs through the building, which was retrofitted with the office setting.

All the buildings constructed in the early 40's near the Burbank airport were structured

so they could become makeshift hangars.  Thus, the unusual ceiling configuration.

I like that they left this intact.

I love the vintage metal cars that rest on top of the mail box!

Stacks of gouche color palettes.

Aren't they gorgeous?

A drawer of paint tubes

A demonstration of "wet into wet" painting

The container cranes at Port Long Beach

Port Long Beach.

We left with less than we arrived with (believe it or not)!