Progress

I am making some headway on my latest project! Here is a photo and a detail of some fabric I printed using screens created with PhotoEZ. I love the PhotoEZ method of creating screens because I can go from an idea or drawing to a finished screen in about 15 minutes. I learned about the product when I took a workshop sponsored by Wearable Art Connection taught by Ginny Eckley at Quilter's Studio. Below is the screen I used for this project, made from an original drawing inspired by the photo of the liquid amber tree that I took and posted on Nov. 15, 2007. You can see what this fabric looked like before I printed on it on my post of Dec. 5, 2007, it is in the lower photo on the right.

Sharing the joy of fabric painting

Today, Judy Rys and I painted some fabric. She wanted to see the technique I use in some of my fabric painting. This is my piece of fabric in the beginning. Paint, salt, and water is down, now it is just a matter of waiting to see the end result. Check out Judy's blog for more photos and her fabrics.

Cute, but Hard to See

Last weekend Jim and I traveled to Reno to see our granddaughter in a performance of Finding The Christmas Star. It was cute, she was cute, and here are a couple of photos. She and her friend played twin sisters. Aren't they darling?

Of course it would be easier to tell if I would take better photos, but I seem to be getting worse. I will blame the poor photos on the miserable cold I had, it made everything look kind of glow-y.

Inspired, Finally

Here are some fabrics I painted last Sunday. After a long dry spell with no creative ideas that were interesting enough to pursue, I am inspired and have an idea I am excited to move forward with. I painted these for use in my upcoming project and was lucky enough to receive these

from one of my Fibervision friends at the Christmas party on Saturday. They all work very well together and are the right colors for what I've got in mind. I'll post more about the project as it goes along. I really do plan to have more than photos of fabric and parties on this blog!

First Christmas Party of the Season

Here are some photos from the first Christmas party I've been to this season. It was the Fibervision gathering at Linda's house and the food theme was Mexican. We did a great job! The feast included Margaritas, Sangria, taquitos pappas, tamales, enchiladas, rice and beans, posole with all the extras, about three or four salads, including my Ensalada de Noches Buenas, and chocolate treats for dessert. After lunch we shared some of our Revision 2007 projects and some other fiber arts and then we had a fabric exchange. Most of the fabrics we exchanged were created by each person, a few were special commercial purchases, and all of it was spectacular. What a wonderful afternoon with a group of talented and creative women.

Fabric Painting Day III

And here's one I did earlier today. The paints were different, started out lighter, and I used some metallic paints. This one was left for four hours with the salt on, but the metallic paints did not spread. Still, I kind of like the results.

Fabric Painting Day II

And here are these two fabrics after they have dried some. Phil Beaver wants the fabric to take about 4 hours to dry before the salt is removed. So far, if I leave the salt on for that long, I am not happy with the results because the light spots get way too light. I took the salt off after about two hours on these pieces.

Fabric Painting Day

I spent this afternoon painting some fabric for the holiday fabric exchange next week at the Fibervision holiday celebration. I really like the results of the technique taught by Phil Beaver at Quilter's Escape in May of 2007. Phil is a great teacher and the retreat was well run and great fun. These are two pieces right after paint, water, and salt are applied. I will post the results later.

Fibervision at the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art

The artists of Fibervision had an opening reception tonight at the Everhoj Museum of History and Art in Solvang, California. The reception was well attended and there was nothing but praise for the work itself and the setting it was in. Congratulations to all who participated in this show and special thanks to Lorna Morck for riding herd on the artists and for convincing Esther Jacobsen Bates, Executive Director of the museum to give fiber art serious consideration.

It's fall in Santa Barbara! We have a few trees that actually change color, the sky is clear and blue, the temperature is between 75 and 80, and, best of all, Project Runway is back on television. My favorite time of year and one of my favorite television programs. Life is good.

Symphony Afternoon

I just returned, on this gloomy and dreary day, from an afternoon at the Santa Barbara Symphony. It was an American program and while both Melody and I dreaded the Gershwin "American In Paris", we were looking forward to the guest musician, violinist Tai Murray. She is 25 years old and just by stepping on to the stage, she raised the energy level of the entire orchestra. The piece they played was the Barber "Violin Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14". Ms. Murray played the piece with joy and verve which left us gasping at the level of her talent and energy. Brava! We left the concert to a beautiful pink, blue, and grey sky of clearing clouds which matched our mood.


Oh, and the Gershwin was definitely a cut above the ordinary, too.

PIQF October 2007

At PIQF last month, I took a class with Lyn Worley. The fabric was hand-dyed by Lyn and we created the surface design in the class. This is hand-dyed habotai silk, stamped and free-hand dye discharge, stamped and free-hand gold paint. Don't know what I'll do with it, but right now I am simply enjoying looking at it.

Frustrated

Spent quite awhile creating a post, with pictures, of
some fabric I made. It disappeared! No time to redo
right now. Perhaps some time next week. I just love
a learning curve!

Jumping Into Blog World

I'm not sure where this blog is going to lead, or what subjects it will cover, but the main thing is that it will be a way for me to share what is interesting me at any given time with family and friends. Watch this space!