Challenge Piece

My PTA group is doing a challenge for an upcoming exhibit. I'm not always enthused to do challenges but this one I'm loving....it's based on the idea of creating a piece inspired by a 2-dimensional artist - one we admire, one who's work has inspired us. It's been great fun seeing the different works in progress and the various artists represented. I chose an American artist...not one I was familiar with but whose work I've seen time and time again and have been drawn to. He uses lots of florals as his subject matter......

Soft colors.....
Interesting leaves....and lots of them.

Lots of swirls and "Curly-Qs".
In looking at my own work, I realized I've been doing a similar style all this time....especially the "Curly-Qs"...... on everything from quilts to clothing....
So he has become my artist of choice....
Oh......and hummingbirds appear a lot in his work.....which I intend to put in mine also....

Can you guess who it is?

More to follow....

Rainbows

I would love to open with "It was a dark and stormy night" but really it was just a welcomed rain storm....a very heavy ....long rainstorm....followed by lots of fog and then the sunset! Wow, talk about nature showing her colors......

But then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better.....I looked outside and saw this.
I've seen lots of rainbows but this was by far the best.....ever!
And it stayed around for quite a while - around 30 minutes.....

Everything looked so green and happy....

And as if this wonderful rainbow wasn't enough...along came a double rainbow.
My mother in law Hilda loved rainbows...always felt it was a sign that her hubby John was looking down on her.....saying hi.
A double...well must be both of them are looking down on us....After such a crazy 2 weeks, this was a welcomed, peaceful, beautiful and unexpected moment...one which makes you stop and be thankful for the beauty in this world.

Southern Highland Craft Fair

There are still 2 days left to visit the wonderful Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands held at the Asheville Civic Center in downtown Asheville. Hours on Saturday are from 10 - 6 and Sunday from 10 - 5. The concourse level is around the perimeter of the civic center and houses wonderful booths filled with pottery, fiber, gorgeous jewelry, hand made brooms, dolls and much more.

Come visit me at booth # 21 on the main level...would love to see you!
The arena - downstairs (this was taken from a balcony) fills the entire center of the civic center with lots of booths, live music and interesting demos.....
It's a wonderful, fun-filled and also educational day.

There are demonstrations going on outside the building as you enter. Sandra Rowlands will be working her magic with sun painting; she has lots of extra fabric for little ones to try their hand at....

It's been great fun meeting lots of nice people and being in downtown Asheville every day amidst all the hustle bustle........So I hope to see you at the fair...

Next week - BACK TO NORMAL....whatever that may be, but looking forward to it.

AQS Knoxville Show - We Did It!!!!

I know I've talked about my PTA group many times...just a great group of very talented, sharing and fun-loving ladies. Every year we enter the challenge through the American Quilter's Society show in Knoxville and every year we go.....and every year we don't win.....EXCEPT.... for this year. Our PTA group took a third place with their challenge pieces depicting Sunrise/sunset. For this challenge AQS sets size specifications but the rest of the challenge is up to the individual group. Our group decided on the theme of Sunrise/sunset and the use of black fabric somewhere in the piece. Each group has their own row which gives the viewer a good sense of what the challenge is about. Our row looked great!....so on with the show. Kate Weston designed this wonderful piece - "Sunset Cruise".

Dort Lee created "Morning Milking"....with some beautiful shadowing to capture the feel of early morning.
Janice Maddox created this colorful quilt - "Here Comes the Sun".
Lynne Harrill did "Jocassee Sunrise"....what a neat effect of the sun shimmering on the water.
Mary Berry did this wonderful piece - "Conundrum - Sunrise/sunset".
Mary Stori created "Pine Ridge at Dawn"....love the patchwork backdrop.
Barbara Swinea created this lovely piece - "Sunrise Silhouette".
Linda Cantrell created this very colorful piece -"Under African Skies". Linda taught in Africa awhile back and perhaps was influenced by their beautiful skies.
Our "row" looked great!
Congratulations PTA -ers....you did a fantastic job!

Meet Karen Tunnell

Let me introduce you to Karen Tunnell - an amazing marbler and fiber artist. I first learned of Karen through my Focus Study Group in Atlanta.....she was a new member....and although I'm not an active member, I still hear all the news! (Thanks FSG!) Karen also emailed me to say she was taking my weeklong workshop at John Campbell - an introduction to surface design. I was so looking forward to meeting her and after seeing several pictures of her fantastic work, I thought "what can I possibly teach this gal"?....Well, long story short, we had a wonderful class and week together (and I was able to teach her a few little things) but even better.... a friendship was born. Besides being just a lovely lady, Karen is one of the most talented fiber artists I know; I am one of her biggest fans. She has a solo exhibition which hosts its opening reception this Friday at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta. The exhibit runs through September 30 of this year.

Karen does beautiful Kaleidoscope quilts such as the one below "Egg Iterations" using marbled fabric she has created along with paintstik images.
Karen also does beautiful landscapes such as "Last Swim of the Season" using her beautiful marbled fabric. Her dad was a painter of landscapes and had a great influence on her art.
But my favorite.....my very favorite is her beautiful "Spanish Wave" technique of marbling. This beautiful piece - "Caracara" below is an example.
Karen had mentioned that she was an apprentice under Laura Sims - an extraordinary marbler from Asheville.... who taught Karen this very unique technique. Karen was introduced to the use of Paintstiks while in my workshop....and her fascination with eggs created such a beautiful combination to use on top of her marbled fabric. "Mute Swan" is seen below
The technique of Spanish Waves involves moving the fabric as you lower it down onto the sizing....sounds like a "piece of cake"....right....Not so....this is very hard to do.
Much of Karen's work involves using images from the ocean on top of her marbled fabric to depict the effects of the Exxon oil spill. Her work is beautiful but even more so, very moving and thought provoking. The following are beautiful examples of Karens work....with her permission I pulled them off of her website. They are thumbnails and couldn't make them any bigger but if you go to her website, you can see them really up close and personal.
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Or even better, visit her wonderful exhibit at the Fernbank museum in Atlanta.....

I know I plan to!
Congratulations Karen on a wonderful accomplishment!

Anniversaries

We love the Grovepark Inn in Asheville, NC and often go there for special occasions. Last night we went there for dinner and they were celebrating their 98th anniversary....lots of baloons and champagne.....

The huge fireplaces were filled with plants and baloons...

And as luck would have it, we were there for our anniversary.......which is today...I can't believe we took the walk..... down the aisle..... 40 years ago. Sometimes it seems like an eternity and sometimes it seems like yesterday.

Time has flown since then....til now....
And the journey has been fun and wonderful!

Gallery Walk

To continue our wonderful day at Biltmore Industries, we were treated to another tour of the building (open to the public) which houses the history of Biltmore Industries. Jerry's wife, as knowledgeable as Jerry gave us a tour, a quick history lesson and an interesting video to watch.

This room held many of the "homespun" textiles created during that time period....They were given that name because they were spun at home....I still hear the name today.
This beautiful jacket was made from hand woven fabric.
Being a clothing person who loves wool (probably my favorite fiber)....I was totally taken with these wonderful samples of cloth made during the different time periods...this one the 1940s...
The 1930s....
And the 1920s....really beautiful in person.
It was then onto the studios....Twice a year, the artists at Grovewood, open their studios to the public...It's wonderful to see their space and the amazing tools they work with.
The Portfolio Metal Works studio houses beautiful jewelry...All the artists were in their studio - such great fun to meet them.
Daniel Essig makes wooden and sculptural books...that description doesn't do it justice. I first met Daniel when I lived in Atlanta. My friends and I loved to attend the American Craft Council Show every year....Daniel was always there and quickly became our very "favorite" artist and always the first person we went to see.
Little did I realize that someday I would be living in the same town as Daniel.....and could see his work all the time.....up close and personal! Daniel is an incredibly talented and creative artist making book sculptures that deserve to be displayed like you see below - each one on a pedestal. You could pour over each one for hours noticing the wonderful detail that goes into each piece.
They are truly magnificent!

And these beautiful wall sculptures.....

If you're ever in Asheville, take a day to visit this part of town and the Grovewood Gallery which features the work of so many wonderful artists in this area.
Our wonderful hostess - Vicki Essig (yup!....married to Daniel) and an amazing artist herself helped to make this happen for our group. Thank you Vicki....it was a wonderful day....Stay tuned for pictures of all the interesting windows and doors I took during the day...a future quilt I'm thinking!!!!