It’s so frustrating, but I’m working on yet another project that I can’t share before it’s published!
I think it would be okay to give you a little hint, though . . . it involves hot pink, zebra stripes and some lace.
Sounds weird and wonderful, doesn’t it?
Life can be unpredictable, unsettling and sometimes just downright depressing. There are times when it seems that everything that could possibly go wrong — does. Those are the days when a friend can step in and offer a little ray of sunshine.
Yesterday, I received a virtual hug from one friend, and an actual, real-life hug from another. Both were unexpected. Both wonderful women reached out to me in the spirit of friendship. Their support and affection was much appreciated and brightened up my day with a little bit of sunshine.
Today, although the season is officially springtime, I look out my window and see snowflakes. It doesn’t seem at all fair!
So, instead of putting on a light sweater and going outside to lift up my face towards the sun, I’ll don my winter coat and hat and gloves, lift my hood up over my head, and take the dog for a little walk in the fresh air . . . a short walk, because chihuahuas hate the snow.
I’ve always been a doodler. All the way back in my high school days, I used to doodle while the teacher was lecturing (though I might have been better off if I’d taken notes instead). I’d fill page after page of my notebooks with doodles. Most of them featured spirals, which I loved even back then. I especially loved doodling during music appreciation class. I remember my doodles becoming very loose and flowing when listening to classical music. That’s still true today. But, when the music becomes something like modern jazz, the doodles become very different. They take on a short, staccato feeling. Actually, I don’t really listen to modern jazz at all. My musical taste runs much more towards rock and roll than it does towards jazz!
I’ve always found that my creativity is greatly influenced by music, and I try to make that work for me in my studio as often as possible by listening to music that makes me feel good.
I thought it might be fun to share some of the doodles I’ve been creating lately. I tend to spend time doodling in the morning. It helps me to judge what kind of day it’s going to be. Am a feeling creative? Do I need more coffee? These are questions that often can be answered by the quality (or sometimes the quantity) of my doodling. Most of my doodles end up very detailed, like this one . . .
All of my doodles start out simple, like this one:
But then, over time, I add to the blank spaces in each one, and they become more detailed. Some days I like to create new doodles, and other days I’ll spend a half-hour or so filling in a doodle that’s already drawn. This next doodle is a half-completed one, where I’ve only filled in the background so far:
This one, which is completely filled in until there is almost no space at all, is finished.
I think that my doodling looks a lot like my quilting. Notice the feathers? I like feathers, almost as much as I like spirals.
As for my quilting, well, I am doing some of that. In fact, you can see a tiny little piece of what I’m working on in the background of the two photos above. Unfortunately, I can’t show you more. It’s got to stay a secret for the time being. So . . . . Ssshhhhhh . . .
I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my doodling journal. I’ll post again soon with some more snippets of creativity when I am able!
Here’s some news, finally! It’s up-to-date, and not all about me. My life can be kind of boring. It’s a good thing my friends do exciting things, so I have something to write about in my blog!
I’m so happy for my friend Benedicte Caneill, who made the cut and has been chosen as a semifinalist in the 2011 AQS Quilt Show & Contest, an international competition to be held April 27-30 in Paducah, Ky. It’s her first time having a piece in this prestigious show. Her work is so fabulous, and the honor is so well deserved! To find out more about her and her quilts, check out this link: Local Quilter Makes The Cut!
My friend Teri Lucas at Terifications has been doodling lately. And I think that’s so cool, because so have I. My doodles look a great deal like my quilting, as do Teri’s. Funny how that happens….. I’ll post some pics of my doodling in the next few days. Promise. And I’ll check with Teri to see if I can show you some of her doodles too. Who doesn’t like to see doodles?
But for now, let’s discuss Teri’s very cool gig. She’ll be teaching at AQS Knoxville and participating in the “All Star Review” there as well. Very, very exciting. Oh, and if you like to see gorgeous orchids, go over to her blog and check out the ones she and her hubby saw the other day. Outrageously beautiful!!!
And my friend the fabulous Jeri Riggs has been knitting up a storm. She is a verified knitting celebrity (how lucky am I to have her as a friend? — any time I have a knitting question I have direct access to my very own knitting superstar to help me out!) and she is working on a very exciting project which you can read all about on her blog here.
As for me, besides doodling and knitting, I’ve been working on a big, big project that I can’t really talk about publicly just yet . . . but it’s very, very exciting, and I can’t wait to share the news here . . . stay tuned!
My friend Benedicte has sent me some of the photos she took at the Chandler exhibition, so I will share them with you! The first is an interior shot of the gallery. You can see a smidgen of my piece, Venetian Lace #2, on the wall at the far right of the photo.
And this second photo is of the window from the outside. The lighting is so wonderful that everything just glows.
This is another interior shot, taken with a wider angle. It shows my piece on the far left, then just around the corner, to the right are Benedicte’s two beautiful “unit” pieces, and then a gorgeous piece by Terry Jarrard-Dimond.
This final photo is of Venetian Lace #1. I am just thrilled with how beautifully my work was displayed at this exhibition.
Thank you, Benedicte, for the lovely photos!
I was overjoyed to receive these beautiful photos from my friend Georgia (below, left). She, along with Benedicte (below, right), visited the opening of the exhibit at the Chandler/Visions Gallery and took these great photos. First, here are the lovely ladies themselves with Venetian Lace #1.
And here is a photo of Venetian Lace #2, as seen through the window of the Visions Gallery. What a beautiful space, and what good friends I have!
In the photo below, you can see Benedicte’s two beautiful quilts hanging just to the right of mine. How nice that they are displayed together!
I just loved seeing my quilts displayed so beautifully . . . it was almost as good as being there myself!
I’m thrilled that two of my pieces were accepted into ART QUILTS XV: NEEDLEPLAY. The two pieces, Venetian Lace #1 and Venetian Lace #2 will be part of the exhibit at the Chandler Center for the Arts and Vision Gallery. Ninety-five works were chosen from artists in the United States and Canada, and some of those artists are friends, which makes the good news even nicer — it’s great to be able to share the joy!
Curated by Diane Howell, this annual art quilt exhibition began as a local quilt show and has grown to include world-wide entries with contemporary approaches to quilt making. The exhibit will run from November 5, 2010 to January 15, 2011. A complete list of artists whose work was juried into the exhibit is here.
