CONNECTING

Thanks to the dedicated work of several members of our Mountain Art Quilt group we had our 2nd successful Zoom gathering.  Soooooo great catching up with everyone and as always the inspirational show and tell by our talented members.

WHAT IS ART??

Let me say, really, I'm not being sassy, closed minded, or envious (criticism can often be based in envy)....but I truly don't get this.

Christie’s launched the full offering of From the Studio, a dedicated selection of 17 works, which have been generously donated by leading contemporary artists to benefit amfAR’s newly launched Fund to Fight COVID-19. This special grouping will be included in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sale, which is taking place on July 10 in New York. 

                                         

Rashid Johnson (b. 1977), Untitled Anxious Red Drawing. Signed 'Rashid Johnson' (on the reverse) oil on cotton rag, 19 ¾ x 15 (50.2 x 38.1 cm.) Painted in 2020. Estimate: USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.   

The photo and text was published in ArtDaily Newsletter.

Perhaps the estimated value of as high as $30,000 is based on the cause to which this piece has been donated?  If not, I may give up quilting and grab white cloth, a red crayon, close my eyes and start creating new work!

What do you think....what am I missing???

ANTICIPATION....

Still no in-person fiber group gatherings so I'm using my time to create, create, create.  

 Idea sort of sketched, fabric pulled.....of course this took all day.  No snap decisions here.

The background focus fabric was in my stash, flat dyed painted in 2015.  Unusual colors that took some searching to find companions that played well with it.  Let's see what develops.....

"CATTAILS" - NEW WORK

FINISHED!!!

CATTAILS - 14.5" X 9"

AVAILABLE HERE
Thread painted motifs on cotton batik, hand micro seed stitched background.

WE LEFT THE DETENTION HALL

After sheltering in place (except for essentials) since March 13th we joined friends for a social distancing/mask wearing outing.  Day one we drove the Cherohola Skyway which winds up and over 5,400 foot mountains for 18 miles in North Carolina and descends another 23 into the deeply forested back country of Tennessee.  

The 90 min. drive from our home to Robbinsville, NC where we picked up the Skyway has loads of fun sports car driving roads.  At one point our route passed one end of the famous Tail of the Dragon, a bucket list road for many thrill seekers.

We stopped at many of the scenic overlooks along the way and made a side trip to Bald River Falls in the Cherokee National Forest.  Glorious!  

 An overnight stop at Snowbird Mountain Lodge was relaxing with their large verandas, perfect for social distancing and their superb fine dining.

What a surprise to find a Tesla charging station on the property!!

Day two took us to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.  This 3,800 acre publicly owned virgin forest is best known for it's scenic 2 mile hiking trail.  Because a bridge was being repaired the trail snaked a lot further than 2 miles which left us panting by the time we returned to our cars.

Notice our concerted effort to social distance!

 Trunk art....someone put some stones in the end of this tree to create eyes that go along with the smiley face.

Many of the original trees still stand but you can't get an idea of their size until you see it illustrated like this.

Refreshed and in a better frame of mind to face the Covid restrictions.

MICRO STITCHING

I decided to micro seed stitch the background of this piece with one strand of embroidery floss rather than the machine echo quilting originally planned 

Holy cow.....this is SUPER time consuming but I'm now committed so I'm trying to enjoy the slow process.  The piece is only about 8" x 14". The thought was not to add the overwhelming texture of machine echo quilting, choosing instead to go with a more subtle pebbled background that would allow the thread sketching to be the focus.

This will certainly take time.....

FROM DEFEATED TO CONQUERED

After deep sixing my last project. I got back on the horse and started anew.

A very small thread sketched piece...drawn on tissue paper, taped to stabilized batik background. Stitching begins......

.......but a slight pause along the way to remove some of the paper to see the results. Happy, happy.

TWO DAYS - BLOWN

It's extremely rare that I give up on a project....very, very rare for sure.  But after two days and my process is going backwards......it's now headed for the trash bin.

I've been thinking about featuring Eucalyptus in a small wall art quilt.  Sad to say I'm throwing in the towel on this particular design. It's gone from bad to worse and smaller and smaller elements.....big sigh.....

Fortunately, there's more ideas in my head and more fabric where this came from.

SNAPSHOTS - JAPAN #1

What an off ramp this piece took.  From one......

To these two:

                                                                                                           

SNAPSHOTS - JAPAN #1 - 28" x 31.5"

AVAILABLE HERE

Japanese cotton fabric, machine stitched, quilted with metallic thread. Design inspired by a Shoji rice panel room divider.

SNAPSHOTS - JAPAN #2

Once the decision was made to split up the blocks, finished the smaller of the two pieces went smoothly.

"SNAPSHOTS - JAPAN #2 - 15" x 32"

AVAILABLE HERE

Japanese cotton fabric, machine stitched, quilted with metallic thread. Design inspired by a Shoji rice panel room divider.