MK's Creative Musings

Time Flies

2009-06-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

It has been so long since I have posted. I have been busy, but I have been missing my time at the keyboard sharing what I have been up to. Time has been filled with work, teaching at the bead store, which I do not consider work, Education Encore, PCA, my book club, Bay County Genealogical Society, WOTF, and of course my husband.

Friday we had Comcast out to install cable, phone and internet, as we had all of these services from different providers. It turned into a five hour event, as there were problems on the outside and then my studio was not cable ready and that had to be fixed. I had just purchased a new TV and now can enjoy HDTV. What Fun!!

At the June Women on the Fringe (WOTF) meeting we met at Ann Morrell’s house and we watched Jane Dunnewold’s “Improvisational Screen Printing” DVD. One thing Jane recommended was to have separate screens for each technique. Ann’s husband, Larry, had made Ann some frames and I offered to pay him to make me 11 frames. He was so generous he made them for me out of my friendship with Ann. What a thrill!!. What is so great is I will be doing a workshop for the Panama City Artist on August 1, on Deconstructed Screen Printing and other artists can use the screens to try out the technique. Of course I have to staple on the screen material and tape them up but it will be a labor of love.

Today my husband and I are off to the movies. As the temperature is in the 90’s i think this is a good place to be. We are going to see “Angels and Demons.” And then we will grab a bite to eat somewhere.

Firefly Necklace

2009-05-15T09:26:00.001-07:00

Here is the necklace and earring I made with the Vintaj findings I bought at the Havana Bead Festival.

My cats have taken a fancy to my car and in the afternoon they like to hang out on it. Mikey has possession of the top and Peabody has the hood. They really do not like for me to go anywhere when they are on the car. I find it amusing.

The daylilies are in bloom in the front of the house. They are so welcoming when I pull into the driveway and show me all their color.

Where Has the Time Gone?

2009-05-14T09:16:00.001-07:00

As usual time flies by and I wonder where it has gone. All I know is I have been busy.

One fun thing I did was to drive over to Havana for the Bead Festival they have twice a year, accompanying me was Myra, Chris and Clara. We had a blast. Above is a picture of the three of them I took while we were waiting for our lunch. I was able to buy some Vintag pieces and when I got home I made a fabulous necklace. Pictures to follow. I am keeping Myra in my thoughts as she went to the Mayo Clinic this week for tests.

Also, In addition to participating in my usual events, I did volunteer at the opening of the Panama City Artist’s show. Here is a link to see a little of it on You Tube. And then the next day, my friend Holly and I manned the hospitality table at the Downtown Festival of the Arts for three hours. Proceeds from this event help support the various education programs the Visual Arts Center offers to the region.

Those two events ate into my creative time, but it was worth it. I am trying to do what I can to support the arts in my community.

My studio time has been filled with making samples of jewelry to teach at The LH Bead Gallery. But I have decided I have to carve a little time to create on my own, as I have projects I have started all over the place and I need to finish at least one just to make myself happy.

My book club is reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett this month. I enjoyed this book and cannot wait till our meeting this month to discuss it.

Monday night I attended a meeting of the Women‘s Art Network at my friend, Becky Brodersen’s house in Freeport. Everyone brings a dish, we eat and converse, and then it is “Show and Tell” time. There were 27 artists in attendance and it was so delightful to see the works of all these talented ladies.

I have updated my playlist. I had on my high school favorites before. Now I have some of my favorite female singers, not all of them, but enough for today.

High School Play List

2009-04-26T10:42:00.001-07:00

Heather over at The Humble Beads is having a bead give away. Here are the rules. I would love to win some of her beads!! I have my playlist from my senior year in high school posted in the right column. It just makes me want to get up and dance.

Here is a picture of my sister Nancy and I in the summer of 1961. I am on the right. I was sweet 16. We were on our way to California. My parents had moved there and my grandmother, Jessie Sain, had stayed with us in Texarkana so we could finish out the school year. My grandmother then drove my sister, brother and I to California. This photo had to be taken on a Sunday, as we have on our church clothes. When traveling with my grandmother we always attended a local church on Sunday. I remember the outfit I had on. It was orange and had embroidered daisies on the blouse. It was in a Seventeen magazine ad and my grandmother had bought it for me.

Another UFO

2009-04-17T12:10:00.001-07:00

I had another good studio day. Got two squares done of my quilt as you go project. I am beginning to see these squares as a warm-up to the real work.

I then began to rummage through my UFOs and found a pendant I had made at least a year ago.

It was based on a Diane Hyde project in Vintage Style Jewelry magazine which was a special issue by Bead & Button magazine in early 2008. When completed I felt the pendant was too big for me and so I never turned it into a necklace. I like the piece and wanted to use in something. So yesterday I cut out some upholstery fabric and some hand dyed fabric for the lining and attached the pendant to one piece of the upholstery fabric. I am going to braid some yarn for the handle. The purse will be small, just big enough for my cell phone and my small credit card and change purse.

Back to work.

New Journal

2009-04-16T08:44:00.001-07:00

Day Lilly after the rain

I had a whole day in the studio, but I could not go forward with my new series. I have the first piece on my design wall and it stayed there. I know that the first piece is going to be whole cloth, and I want to do some stitching and embellishing. I think I am afraid to begin because I like the piece and am afraid I will mess it up.

So I worked on some UFOs. I subscribe to a newsletter from Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist and this week one the subject matters was “The 5 Ps for Creative People.” One of them really struck home It said: “Perseverance. Don’t stop when you hit a bump in the road. Commit to finding a way to solve a problem in your own timeframe, and don’t abandon it entirely.” So I making a commitment to finishing projects I have started. Most of the time when I put a project aside I am either bored with it or stuck.

One of the ones I am bored with is a quilt as you go quilt I started a few years ago. While it is a practical project as opposed to an art project, it is a great way to use up scraps. So I worked on it a little while and will try to make a few squares every time I am at the machine.

While I was digging out all of the parts of that project I found a 8x10 piece I had needle felted. I thought it would make a great journal cover and that is what it became.

I had felted silk fabric, polyester sheers, and yarn to a piece of flannel. The beads are from I swap I was in last year. Its size is 7-1/2” X 4-1/2”. I thought it would be great for photo journaling.

I begin teaching at the LH Bead Gallery next Wednesday, so I am looking forward to that.

Susan Boyle

2009-04-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Well if you have not seen this video it is a must. Here’s the link

Rainy Day Monday

2009-04-13T15:31:00.001-07:00

It has been raining all afternoon. The plants will love it. Right now the day lilies are in bloom. The pink one is new this year.

I began to work on a series today, not sure where it is going. Each piece will come from a deconstructed screen print piece that I did in the fall.

I finished the last of three samples I made for classes I will be teaching at The LH Bead Gallery I will deliver it tomorrow and then post a link once Lisa takes a picture of it. It came out really well and I cannot wait to share. I am also involved in Bead Unique’s Spring 2009 Bead Swap. I got my package of beads on Saturday. The package contained 14 baggies, each one from a different beader. Each Day I lay them out trying to figure out how to begin. Next I will start matching up some of the packages to my own beads and hopefully get inspired.

One of the things I learned at the retreat was how to make a triangular woven shawl. Janet Bernhard and Marian Shirk got me started. First I had to build the loom. I went to the local Home Depot and bought the pieces and put it together. I am almost finished with my first piece. I ran into a few problems, but I am working my way through them. Here are some pictures:

Marion wearing one of her shawls

My completed loom.

I stayed up late last night trying to finish Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth. It took a while to get into the book, then I could not put it down. My first real exposure to history was at St. James Episcopal Day School in Texarkana, TX. Mr. Lawrence was the head master and the history instructor. He was an amazing instructor and really made the subject matter relevant to us middle schoolers. (In those days it was called Jr. High School). So much of this book brought back memories of Mr. Lawrence and his history lessons, such as construction of cathedrals, hierarchy of medieval life, preservation of learning by the monks, and the struggles between the church and the monarchy. Eventually I got my B.A. in history and carry this interest forward as i I work on my genealogy, as I have to know more about my ancestors than just when they lived and dies. Anyway I enjoyed the book and already miss reading about Jack, Aliena and Phillip. I have rambled on enough.

FOF09

2009-04-11T14:59:00.001-07:00

I have misplaced my camera in my house somewhere. And I am sure it will turn up. But what an inconvenience, There are so many things I want to take pictures of. One of the things is the beautiful beads I am using to make three samples for projects I will be teaching at the local bead store, The LH Bead Gallery. Lisa, the owner and I spent two and half hours picking out beads. I am really excited about these projects. So once I find my camera I will take pictures.

I do have more pictures of Focus on Fiber 09. I spent most of my time in one of the wet studio. I shared this room with Liz Berg, Linda Hoffmeister, Kathie Briggs and Judy Gilmer. Other people joined us from time to time.

Kathie and I pooled our dyes and worked on dyeing, batiking and screen printing. Linda and I experimented with gelatin printing and discharging. Patricia Turner joined us for the discharging. As I mentioned in an earlier post she had a great brown fabric that discharged into wonderful colors.

Kathie doing a demo on deconstructed screen printing

Liz showing off one her hand-dyed fabric

Judy in front some of the projects she started at the retreat

Unpacking Day

2009-04-01T16:50:00.001-07:00

I have begun the arduous task of unpacking and putting everything away that I took on the retreat. I know my DH will be happy once I get the clutter out of the living room. I was hindered in this task, as I woke up on Sunday morning with excruciating pain in my upper right leg. I must have pulled a muscle. I had to pack my car limping the whole time and then drive six and half hours in pain the whole time. Thank goodness for cruise control. It was no fun. After I took care of work related items on Monday I was able to stay off my feet and put heat on the leg and did the same on Tuesday afternoon. So today I was almost as good as new.

I have so many pictures of the retreat I have to try to share a few each day.

I only sewed one day. I had set up my machine in the dance studio that we converted to the sewing room.

A view from my station.

I was between Patricia Turner and Julia Yaciw and Linda Hoffmeister was around the corner. They were so much and it was great to get to know them better this year.

Patricia Turner showing off some fabric she had discharged. She had some great brown twill fabric that discharged beautifully. She was so generous in sharing some of this fabric with me.

Julia Yaciw showing off one of her butterflies. Earlier in the month she had gone to Mexico to see the Monarch butterflies in the mountains. She was inspired and started making many butterflies.

Linda Hoffmeister working on a project she had started. You can see a reflection of me taking a picture of her in the mirror.

FOF09 Day 1

2009-03-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

I am back from Focus on Fiber. The wireless routers were misbehaving. Sometimes they worked and sometimes they did not, so I gave up on posting. I was not in the mood for techno problems. Here’s Day , where we have begun settling up our work spaces.

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Focus on Fiber Day 2

2009-03-26T06:05:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, I started the day with a walk and saw these lanterns and had to have a picture.

Then I attended an Elements and Principles of Design class conducted by Liz Berg. It was a full day event and we made small 4” X 6” compositions to illustrate many of the elements and principles. Liz is a great teacher and paces the class very well. Here are pictures of the samples I made from the exercises we did.

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Focus on Fiber Day 1

2009-03-25T06:43:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I drove from Panama City Beach to New Smyrna Beach to attend Focus on Fiber. It is a six and half hour drive if you do not stop. But being by my self I stopped a lot. I had lunch at a rest stop on I-10, somewhere between Lake City and Jacksonville. The oaks were in bloom and this one was covered in moss.

Peggy Imbert and early attendees of FOF09. From left to right: Marianne Williamson, Linda Hoffmeister, Patricia Turner, Lisa Marie Sanders, Pamela Allen, Liz Berg. In front: Peggy Imbert and Valerie Goodwin

Peggy Imbert, a local artist, invited us who had arrived early to dinner at her house. What a spread she prepared for us. The counter was laden with appetizers galore, from dips to shrimp and everything in between. After the cocktail hour, we had a sit down dinner of pork loin or roasted chicken, potatoes and salad, and cupcakes for dessert. Peggy really went all out to entertain and feed us. Plus her house was like a mini art gallery , full of her art work and others. In addition she had made each of us trading card that read “Welcome.”

FOF 09

2009-03-20T15:40:00.001-07:00

I never got a picture of my WOTF Recycled Challenge. But here is a picture taken by JoAnn O'Callaghan of me showing my piece. It looks like my eyes are closed and my mouth is open.

Tomorrow I am off to Focus of Fiber 09 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL. This is its third year and I have attended it each year. I like the retreat as we all work on whatever we want to . But there is an immense amount of sharing and a true sense of sisterhood. I hope to post pictures each day. Mary McBride is the planner and organizer for this event. In addition she schedules a few classes for the weekend before the retreat. I am arriving two days early and will take an Elements of Design class taught by Liz Berg.

My car is packed to the gills, except for the passenger seat in the front. There I will put a cooler, my computer and a small suitcase with the few clothes I am taking. But who needs clothes when you are making art?

Technorati Tags: FOF09

2009-03-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the Women on the Fringe (WOTF) meeting. It is a small fiber arts group I belong to that meets at the library in South Walton County. What an inspiring and sharing group they are.

The main focus of our meeting this month was a challenge we gave ourselves in which we each brought a recycled piece of cloth, a found object and a theme and from that we created a small art quilt. We then each grabbed our scissors and took chunks out of all the fabric, and then drew for a found object and a theme. Here are the results:

Here is Ann Morrel telling us about her piece.

Her theme was Light. Her piece is entirely made up of all the recycled pieces of cloth.

Becky Brodersen made two: Black Hole and Country Lane.

Here is JoAnn O'Callaghan showing off her piece, with Ann Welch in the background looking on.

Here is a close up of JoAnn’s house.

Here is Ann Welch showing off her piece.

Her theme was My soul’s in Paris. As she had drawn a fish as her found object, she did a play on words and made it A Sole in Paris.

It was a fun challenge. As I do not have pictures of mine yet, I will post them next time. If you noticed the great metal stand in the first picture, a neighbor of Becky’s made them. I bought a journal and a post card size to display small works of art.

Thomas Drive Fire Station

2009-03-01T12:22:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday a few of us from Education Encore went on a field trip to the Thomas Drive Fire Station. We were given a tour of the facilities by Lt. Gilman.

From Left to Right: Me, Sari, Wilma, Susan, Holly, Verena, and Verena’s Daughter. Lt. Gilman is in front.

But we got more than a tour. Lt. Gilman sat us down and educated us about fire prevention and the services offered by the fire department. One thing of interest was the resemblance that a fully outfitted fireman has to Darth Vader and how scary that could be to child.

Here’s Shari with Lt. Gilman. And when he started breathing through the air tank he sounded like Darth Vader. So I have decided that when my granddaughter visits next time that I will take it to the fire station for a tour and let her see and hear a fully outfitted fireman.

Some highlights of our visit included putting out a fire with a fire extinguisher.

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Also we got to handle a fire hose.

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But we turned into little kids when we got to sit in the engine with the fire helmet on and blow the horn and whistle.

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One of us made the comment that they would get educated as a result of the tour, but they did not realize that they would have so much fun.

Bead Store Field Trip

2009-02-22T08:17:00.001-08:00

Lass

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Last week my Bead Stringing classes took a field trip to The L.H. Bead Gallery in downtown Panama City. The owner, Lisa Hanna specializes in lampwork beads which she makes herself. Her work is gorgeous and very reflective of our Gulf Coast community. I had a really good time working with the students as they picked out beads.

New Journal Covers

2009-02-18T16:03:00.001-08:00

I finally finished my journal book cover I have been working on for a few weeks. It was inspired by a project in Kelly Rae Robert’s book, “Taking Flight”. I like her technique using Shiva sticks to make the face. know my face is flawed, but I still like the results. I did change things up to make it mine. I used some of my cloth beads and some of the ones I have received in past swaps as decorations on the thread covered silk I used for the binding.

Here is a close up of the quote I used on the front.

And here is the back. It was nice to finish a project.

I have begun to think about the Focus on Fiber retreat I am attending again this year at the Atlantic Center of the Arts. This will be the third year I have gone. It is the one event I go to each year. I especially like it because there are no instructors; there is a great wet room to dye, paint, screen print, batik or whatever; you work on whatever you want; everyone shares info; and there is a true sisterhood bonded by the time the week is up.

Windows Live Writer Test

2009-02-10T15:28:00.001-08:00

Technorati Tags: Bead class

I am trying out Window Live Writer that I downloaded today. I saw the link on Chris’ blog who I do not know but is on a Yahoo group I belong to. So I am giving it a try. What I wanted was to be able to put pictures where I wanted them.

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The above album is pictures of some of the students in my Techniques of Stinging Beads that I teach at GCCC in Panama City, FL.

2009-02-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday, my friends, Holly and Myra, and I went to the Seaside Garage Sale. It was just wall-to-wall people. I did not buy much but I did find a great glass artist: Shawn Bungo of Bungo Glass and of course I had to buy one of his pendants. The top photo is a picture of his booth. The first time I went by his booth, I just drooled and thought everything was out of my price range. But the next time I spent some time and found some smaller pieces more suited to my budget and also my body frame and settled on one piece. After we left Seaside we continued on to other garage sales and to the thrift stores in the area. plus lunch at Don Pedros , where we all had delicious chili rellenos. It was a fun girl's day out.

2009-02-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

The above pictures are from the Women on the Fringe (WOTF) meeting that I attended last Thursday. I was showing everyone the basics stitches in bead embroidery.

This picture is also from the same meeting. Here we are dividing up recycled fabric for a challenge we all agreed to do. In addition to the fabric we each brought a found object and a theme. We drew to see who would get what. The theme I drew is "I dream of Spring" . We are to make a small art piece and bring it to our March meeting. I will not have time this week to work on it, but hope to get started next.

2009-02-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

I got a call last Saturday from my friend Myra. She was at a garage sale and found something she thought I would like. So I told her to get it and it turned out to be a box of sample cards of trim. There are possibilities there. So now I am challenged.

Tomorrow is the Women on the Fringe (WOTF) meeting. I am going to do a presentation on beading on fabric. So I spent part of the day getting myself organized and ready for that event. In addition everyone is bringing a recycled piece of clothing, a found object and a theme. We each will take a piece from each other's recycled item, and then select a found object and a theme. From that we make a small piece of art based on the theme we pick plus we have to use some of the recycled fabric and the found thing and bring it to our March meeting. It sound like a fun challenge and cannot wait to see what I end up with.

2009-02-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Off Loom Bead Weaving Class

Above are pictures of my class at Gulf Coast Community College's Education Encore Program. The first class they made a peyote stitch sampler and at this class they made a simple peyote stitch bracelet using #6 seed beads. Only one of them had ever done bead weaving before. But they all did a fantastic job and most left class with a finished bracelet they would be proud to wear. Next week we are going to tackle Right Angle Weave.

Later this week I will post photos of my Bead Stringing classes.

2009-01-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, three of us from Women on the Fringe (WOTF) gave a Fiber Postcard Workshop for the Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA). Seventeen talented artists attended and the above collage is a sample of what they went home with .

Ann Morrell spearheaded and organized this all day event. In the above photo Ann is giving the group an overview of what a fabric postcard is and how it is constructed. In the morning we had them make their own cloth. We divided the group in half and one group worked with Ann using Shiva stitches, water color pencils, oil pastels, stamps, texture tools, etc. The other group worked with me with gelatin printing. Then we switched groups.

In the afternoon, the group began designing their cards. Becky Brodersen showed participants how to use the sewing machine in free motion quilting. In the above picture she is helping someone getting started. Ann helped them with satin stitching the edges of their cards. The participants are artist in other media than fiber arts and their machine skills were limited. So they really appreciated this help. I helped with embellishments, especially beading, which of course I really enjoyed doing.

This last picture shows some of the participants having fun with the gelatin printing.

Overall it was a fun day for all. One of the things that for me was great is that we were able to educated others about fiber arts. We may have gotten a few new members for our fiber arts group as a bonus.

2009-01-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is my newest piece. It is called Emergence. It is small, 8 1/2" by 6" and is framed on a 12" X 9" canvas that I painted black. It is a whole cloth piece that I have dyed and beaded.

I am going to take this to the PCA meeting tomorrow evening. Each month we have a creative challenge. The one this month is called "New Year's Resolution:" "As the new year starts, it's time to take stock of where we're going as artists. Bring a piece that shows us where you're headed in this new year. What new elements are you trying to incorporate into your work? What are you trying to improve? Show us your new years artistic resolutions."

I think this piece exemplifies my creative New Year's Resolution. I am moving away from landscaped into a more abstract representation. I want to the faric and beading to evoke movement and feelings. I am trying to improve my free motion quilting.