Sales and other thoughts...

So a bit more than a month has gone by with 6 small sales in all, along with an ornament and lots of notecards from the gallery....YIPPEE! The thread paintings are a favorite it seems and the pile of photos to choose from for my next project is piling up.

This was the first thread painting to sell after my "Midsummers Dream" piece."Still Beauty"

5" x 7" framed to 8" x 10"

I really do love this little piece...it is so relaxing to look at. Since I retire each photo as it is used, I have gone back to the Beaufort harbor looking for more wonderful shots but the harbor is now very crowded. The lesson is always have your camera because you never know when the perfect inspiration will come along.

It has been a long and busy, sad and invigorating month for my family. My baby girl went to college this year. My older daughter went back but into her own apartment this year opening up a whole new can of paranoid worries for her mother. We became official empty nesters on our 21st anniversary.

I held it together pretty well until we went out to dinner for our anniversary. With wine in hand, as my husband toasted us, I started crying. He asked for me not to since we were in the middle of a nice restaurant and thankfully it wasn't the ugly cry, but cry I did. Don't get me wrong, I am excited-just worried too and I miss my daily hugs. Of course they think I am nuts:) That is okay...it is part of my job.

With all this free time you would think I have been getting so much accomplished; but after spending 3 days cleaning the studio, I have been kind of floundering around. This week really feels like I am getting my groove back though and what better way than to write a post about what so many of us go through eventually.

You must move forward in life especially if you want your art to grow and evolve.

I will leave you with a photo of one of my ornaments that I sell. This is of the Cape Lookout lighthouse here in NC. Orders are always welcome and coming by October's end, I will also have Hatteras along with 4 other NC lighthouses.

Hand inked with beaded hang and accents.

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?

Crystal Coast Quilt Show 2009

The quilt show was wonderful as usual. We had over 120 entries along with the Alzheimer's:Forgetting Piece by Piece exhibit. I conducted a bead demo on Friday and Saturday with positive turn out and sign ups for a September class.

This is 'Swarley' (long story for a goofy name). 'Swarley' didn't make it to Paducah this year but was juried into the Mancuso Mid Atlantic show in February and won an Honorable Mention at the guild show in the group quilt category. It is all hand appliqued and then long arm quilted by my friend Beth Denmon, Illinois.
This is 'UP UP UP' and my entry for the guild challenge. Our challenge this year was to correspond with the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Innitiative in size only. Requirements were that the piece not be bigger than 9" x 12" to fit a priority envelope, monochromatic, and have a theme of Journey.

I chose a photograph of a balloon from a festival we used to attend every September in St. Louis. As I watched every year I imagined the journeys the participants would have along their path. It won 2nd place for 'Most Unusual Journey' and will eventually be donated to the Alzheimers Innitiative.

Last but not least is 'Wonder Under the Waves' by the Beachrageous group of Susan Hinzman, Lynn Strausbach, Mary Henris, Robin Koehler, and Eileen Williams-respectively.

It really is stunning hanging all together and everyone was impressed.

Hope you enjoyed the mini quilt show.

Wonder Under the Waves

I belong to an art group named Artrageous and when we got too big, we splintered off into smaller groups. A few times a year the smaller groups reunite into our larger group for wonderful show and tells. My smaller group is named Beachrageous since we all live out near the beach.

The five of us came up with our own challenge:

Under the Sea theme

Must use a piece of the five exchange fabrics in the background

Must conform to the preset shape agreed upon

Any embellishments work

We display together but each own our own section

I will not be showing the final 5 together until after the quilt guild show that we are entered into is over (May 15th and 16th- Crystal Coast Convention Center, Morehead City, NC).

Once I got going, I had a really good time. The background is pieced 2" squares. The applique is fusible with all free motion quilting. Embellishments include 3d fan coral, beadwork, beaded fringe, shells, and shrink art fish and sea anemones.

This detail shot shows the fan coral and a few anemones. I have decided to recreate this piece to sell since this one is for exhibit only.

5 Years

"Batik Blooms" detail shot.

Honorable Mention CCQG 2008

For those of you who read my post about the International Fiber Collaborative leaves, here is the update. The tree is up and looks amazing. There are pictures on that site of how they made the wire branches for assembly too.

I know we all hate paying taxes; but when I wrote the check this last quarter, I was pretty happy about it since it showed that I actually made some money this time. The amount coming in certainly softened the blow of having to pay some out. As long as the money keeps coming in I will proudly pay my taxes!

This next week I will celebrate the 5 year anniversary of NESTLINGS by Robin. I sent out promotional postcards for the first time offering 'no shipping' on wholesale orders of 12 or more patterns. If you are reading this and not a shop owner but would like to purchase retail from http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com/ I will offer no shipping on retail orders of 2 or more patterns. Spread the word. Offer ends May 9th, 2009.
I feel very honored to have been able to do what I love for 5 yrs and to learn from so many talented and wonderful people along the way. You have each touched me in different ways and I thank you.

No Illusions

This is 'Lily' one of my thread paintings that I accomplished in time to vend at the North Carolina Seafood Festival's poster contest unveiling. I was one of 8 artists juried into the April 9th event. It was a good opportunity to network.
My other big news is that I applied for an Artist in Residence program. I would highly recommend this to any artist. I have no illusions about being accepted but I am excited about the possibilities of what I could accomplish if chosen for this wonderful opportunity. More importantly, the process really made me focus on what I have done and want to do.

If you have been telling yourself that eventually you will put together a bio or statement, don't put it off any longer!! There is something very gratifying about putting your work all together to really look at it and form a statement about it. Assembling a resume might seem daunting; but once I started making a list of exhibits, no matter how small, and awards received I was impressed with how much more I had accomplished than I thought. It is important to assess what you have done so that you can know where you are heading or what else you want to conquer! I love that word, conquer. I won't ever conquer a mountain or swim a channel but I can conquer fears and once before thought of as 'lofty' goals!
Take the plunge and apply for something you have been rolling around in the back of your brain. The process is more the goal than getting accepted. I am more prepared for future opportunities now and ready to find them.