Blissful Validation!

I have been so busy the last week helping my daughter attend college orientation (college is 3+ hours away) that I haven't had a chance to shout from the 'internet' rooftops about my sale last week. On Mondays I work at a local gallery where some of my work hangs and last Monday a gentleman came in and just loved my "Midsummer's Dream" piece. It is one of my favorites and has received lots of admiration so I thanked him. As he wandered the gallery, he kept coming back to it and finally decided he had to have it:) I have sold work via commission before, mostly more traditional pieces, and never out of a gallery setting; so I don't know that there are words adequate enough to describe the pure exhiliration I felt as I bundled up my baby and sent it off to live with someone new. There is no better validation of what you do as an artist and the time and love you put into your work than to have someone come in and purchase your art with their hard-earned money. When your work hangs in a gallery next to so much beautiful work and yours is the one they choose, you can't help but feel Blissful Validation for all your long hours.
I did manage to keep my composure even though I was about to burst on the inside:)

Simple shapes lead to design wealth

Wow, where did the time go since my last post? Well, I know some of it was spent with the lovely group at the Durham Orange Quilt Guild. I was their June program and had so much fun sharing my design ideas with them.

One of my lectures is about using simple shapes that we all know and can draw (I promise) to design with. The above picture is of a gum tree. Once you learn to break it down into simple shapes, you can design your own art quilts. I think in the beginning we are all a bit intimidated about where to start and my lecture, "All Around Us: An Interactive Design Lecture", gives a full hour of 'jumping off' ideas.

What can you do with circles, rectangles, and triangles?