Introducing: Pollinator

If you know me at all, you know this:

I LOVE being in my garden!

Giant Alliums

Monarch caterpillar

Poblano peppers

Pomegranate fruit

butternut squash

 

Butterfly on Milkweed plant

 

Whale Tongue agave

When I am at home and in the studio I am also in and around my garden.  No matter where I have lived, a garden gets established and is an important element in my home.  There is something about the life cycle of a garden that serve as a metaphor for all things in life.  My habit is to walk my garden each morning before I go into the studio to work.  Interacting with my garden clears my mind and sets the tone for my work.  

Since moving to San Antonio I have become increasingly interested in establishing a garden that is xeric (low water), uses native plants, and provides attractants for pollinators.  These three characteristics were the driving force behind my current garden.  Pollinators are increasingly threatened by things such as broad-spectrum herbicides and diseases.  Thinking about these things led me to my current gardening practices and also to the idea of creating a collection of fabrics about Pollinators...

My drawings are always part of my design process.  Often, these are enlarged or reduced in size and made into thermofax screens.

I also use a variety of methods to get imagery onto and through a silk screen to create some of my designs.  Generally, I use thickened dye for my work....

....and I am very fortunate to have a great studio for this work.

Half of my studio is for design work, the other half is a "wet" studio which I use for print and dye work:

My garden environment paved the way for my new collection!

Here are some of the beautiful objects that my wonderful friend Joanna Marsh, of Kustom Kwilts, made for my part of the RJR Fabric booth at Quilt Market:

And here they are in the RJR booth:

 Here I am with Joanna, who made everything on my wall except the quilt!

I am truly excited to see what you will make with Pollinator!

The collection will ship to quilt shops in March, 2019.  

Ask your local quilt shop for it.  Please let me  see what you make with it!

As the designer, seeing what you make with the fabric is the very best part!

It's My "Blog-iversary"

I began this blog on March 1, 2009.
Lately, I've been a bit lax in writing and I hope to return my focus to posting more frequently.  I love to write and yet I allow other things to get priority of my time.  At the beginning of the year I vowed to do a couple of new things to add to my studio practice:  a daily spot of time for meditation, writing in a journal "app" each day, and I began an online "strength training" course along with a close friend.   My friend isn't a practicing artist but this course is designate to have a broader scope than simply art-making.  It is really about establishing some daily and weekly habits to improve focus and a depth of meaning in daily life.  This course, called "Creative Strength Training", is facilitated by Jane Dunnewold and her daughter, Zenna Duke.  *Enrollment is still open until 4/1/17 FYI.  So far, so good.

I have had a busy start to the year and (gasp) the first quarter is about to wind down.  January was spent teaching at Craft Napa at the second annual event, work on my 2nd line of fabric for RJR, and finally a week-long independent study at Jane's studio.  This particular week has become such an important component of each year for me.  So much work I make is inspired by the independent study!  I celebrated year # 15 in January.
February I continued my work on fabric line #2, and took a break to travel to Savannah for the first time for QuiltCon.  I met a friend there and we rented an airbnb right downtown.   Wandering around this charming town was such fun and the show was great!

 Everyone loved "Bling", by Katherine Jones from Tasmania 

It was really fun to spot "Boulder Field", by Kathy York!

She created this beauty from Urban Artifacts fabric and RJR's lovely solids for 

Quilt Market 2016.

I loved walking around in Savannah.  What a beautiful city!  The best part of it was discovering all the small "squares" scattered throughout the city.  I loved stumbling onto them and was delighted to see how much people enjoyed using them.

Yikes!  They were steep, too!

Okay, I'll try...!

Old headstones.  I guess they move them to this wall after they topple on their site? 

I dunno.

The Spanish Moss!

I loved getting a feel for this beautiful city.  Afterward, I drove up the coastline to stay with a friend on Wrightsville Beach for a few days.  

In addition to walking in the sand every day we dyed a bunch of fabric!

...and witnessed several breath-taking sunsets!

March brought a tight focus on finishing up my samples for my second line of fabrics for RJR.

I thought a little visit to RJR might be good.  It also gave me the opportunity to visit friends and relatives in the Los Angeles area.

Lunch and shopping with Jamie

Here is the RJR warehouse.

Spotted:  bundles of Urban Artifacts fat quarters!!

I visited my wonderful aunt.

I got to feed Tank, the Desert Tortoise.

The first time I did this I was 10 years old.

the beautiful texture of a palm tree.

A train ride from Anaheim up to Sierra Madre through LA 

brought me to another friend's house.

I was lucky enough to be designated an honorary grandmother to 

several beautiful little girls.  I was doubly-honored to read this one her 

bedtime story.

I got a tour of her pre-school.

Since it was St. Patrick's day they had several leprechaun "traps" set!

We spent the afternoon exploring the American Gallery & the Chinese/Japanese gardens at the Huntington Library & Gardens.  What a beautiful place (my 2nd time there) and so close to my friends' house!

Protea in bloom

An enormous Calder that I had forgotten about...

One of my favorite painters, Mary Cassatt.

I have a "thing" for lotus pods..

Look at the beautiful paved patio.

A California Juniper bonsai.

I wonder if this is what the ghost trees near Point Lobos are?

I arrived home to this copy of Quilting Arts in which I am the 

author of the "Last Word".

If you have the opportunity to read it I would love to know what you think.

and now it is spring!  The time has changed.

What does springtime bring for you?