Featured Artist Lindsey Guenther

Lindsey and I have never met in person, but through her awesome aunt Kirsten, we have connected on facebook. Lindsey is making this wedding knot quilt. She sent me these pictures and I was so enamored with the colors I just knew this needed to go on this blog! I typically use matchy matchy colors. Lindsey is able to combine these two bright colors for a punch! I absolutely love it. Lindsey is currently in Argentina studying abroad. She plans to continue quilting, when she has fewer academic commitments. Thanks Lindsey for sharing.

Doodle

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine has a challenge for doodling. They have asked that you doodle your favorite art tools. The catch is that it has to be one color or black and white. The substrate must be flat and 4 X 6".  I am not a doodler by nature. However, with doodling being a huge part of art journaling I though why not.  I do love drawing dress forms, they are one of my favorite sewing elements, as is the needle and thread.  I did a practice run in the color pink, not my favorite so I went back to my trusty black and white. It suited my personality a little better. The dress form, needle, and tape measure were included, and hidden in the background is the work SEW! Happy doodling....

Journal-Butterflies

Art journaling is something that I have featured before, but not something I am completely comfortable with or good at...... The art that I am truly enamored with is quilting, but for those of us who have done quilting, nothing is exceptionally fast, and well sometimes you want to see results, like yesterday. Art journaling has become huge and there are some amazing artists out there, just pick up a copy of Art Journaling by Sommerset Studios. You will be blown away by some of the art that can be created in someone's diary, to do list, or class notes. This page was done using acrylic paints, bubble wrap, cut outs from people magazine, clip art, sizzix die cuts, fabric trim, and metallic sharpies.  Of course I didn't know what to write, my to do list didn't seem so artistic, so I used some of my favorite song lyrics.  The instant gratification of completing something artistic is worth it, even if I do have a long way to go. I look forward to including more journal pages in between my quilts!

Crooked Tree Arts Center 32nd Annual Juried Art Show

My art quilt "My favorite Moment" was one of 35 entries selected for the 32nd Annual Juried Art Show. The opening night was September 8th and it was such a rewarding experience. On the right, a pamphlet features the winners and the honorable mentions. I didn't win any awards, but just being in the same room as some of these amazing artists was more than reward enough. One of my favorite entries was done by Sara Gauthier. She did a pencil drawing of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and John F. Kennedy.  It is titled "Abraham, Martin, and John".  This pencil drawing is 206" by 109". It covered an entire wall in the crooked tree art center. Her work can be found at www.saragauthier.com. The picture at the top was of Mike, my model for the quilt and I at the exhibit when there weren't any other visitors!

The Perfect Mermaid

This art quilt started out with the fascination of Rylee as the mermaid. I must admit this board was quite popular on the cruise ship The Allure. This was taken two years ago when Rylee was 11 and I am amazed at how much she has already changed. She is a teenager now, taller than I am, and is involved in all kinds of activities.  I selected this picture to quilt, due to the vibrant colors. Again the picture was taken into Photoshop CS5 and then posterized. I constructed the mermaid from various fabrics. Some were quilting fabrics, garment fabrics, and upholstery fabrics. Her face was challenging for me. It was constructed using fabric, stitch, and various paints. The final part that was fun to complete were the accents in her hair, bathing suit top, and her fin. These were done using decorative stitches, satin stitches, or quilting motifs. More art quilts to come!

Layer Upon Layer

Working with scrap booking paper can be extremely fun. Many of the journaling techniques for artists include using these basic papers as a base. Building on them is the really exciting part. There as many ways to build layers as there are art supplies. For the ones shown I did a couple of techniques. I took great phrases from magazine articles, tissue paper, old patterns, old book pages, various images and adhered them with medium to the 12 X 12 scrap book paper. I then used various colors of heavy body acrylic paint. After this dried completely, I added stamps. This includes regular wood backed rubber stamps, cling stamps, and foam stamps. Different types of inks were used including Tim Holtz distress collection, pigment inks, and dye inks. Finally I added interest by using embossing powders. My personal favorites are the metallics. The final touch came with various paper tapes. As you can see  a very layered look can be achieved. These layered papers can be used in art projects or in my case will become leaves for the tree!

Give! and then Give some more.

 Those of you who know me well understand my love of animals and rescue! Over the past few years I have learned how to use my embroidery machine to make items for dog rescue. There are 5 rescues that are near and dear to my heart and I try and keep them all stocked with embroidered towels, blankets and accessories. My beloved machine broke this past fall and I did break down to buy a new one. I have taken the challenge to finish a number of projects that I have started. I have finished some fleece jackets, blankets, and towels. The fun is in picking out the thread and fabrics!!!

I find that doing these creative projects is so rewarding. I love to get the emails from the rescues detailing how much money they raised selling these items. I think the saying, "It is better to give than receive" is a perfect one.