Studio Space

I have spent three days cleaning and organizing my studio space.  I needed to have a nice space to get messy in and now I finally have that.  I have all my messy art stuff, dye equipment and scrap-booking supplies in my basement.  (I am lucky that it has windows all along one side and gets a lot of light.)  I have my sewing room upstairs right next to my kitchen.  I was tired of having everything crammed into one small area, except my dyeing supplies which have always been downstairs.  Now I just have to finish organizing my sewing area and I will be ready to create some more art.  I have to have my all my art making supplies in the house somewhere.  With two little boys at home I can't really go anywhere else to be creative.  I am feeling a little more energized just to have my area organized, so I can find things when want them without having to dig around.

Sister Quilt

Here is my latest project.  This is a small art quilt that I made for my sister.

This is my first attempt using a whimsical style of art.

Weekend Fun

This weekend was my son's fourth birthday.  My family went camping near Interlochen MI, where my girls were attending band camp.  We saw their performance and went to Sleeping Bear Dunes to see the sights.

My son is really into superheros, so I made him a superhero belt for his birthday.

Now he has loops and pockets to hold all his little goodies.

                 Here are some pictures from around Sleeping Bear Dunes, which is along Lake Michigan.

                                           The water below, 400 feet down, is Lake Michigan.

                                           Here is one picture of the band during their performance.

Summer of Color Finale 2011

It has been  a fun ride this summer.  This is my first time following along with an art challenge.  I have enjoyed seeing other people's art and seeing so many different styles.  I enjoy having a community of artists to communicate with.  It has been really amazing and encouraging.  I hope that I can keep in contact with the artists from Summer of Color, because you are a great group of people.

Here is my main work for the challenge.

These are a few of the different projects I made.

This is some of my daughter's art from this summer.

This is a sampling of the dye work that I did for the color challenges.

I hope that everyone can have a great year and keep on creating and sharing.

Summer of Color (Orange)

I used a poem for my inspiration that I learned in an Asian Literature class I took in college.  I can't find the author, but here is the poem:

Red as wine
leaves fall
one by one in the autumn rain.


These fleeting dancers
quicken my heart
and tighten my throat.


Beauty never stays
but memories linger,
the leaves whisper to me.


When I dance my death
will that be beautiful too?


I have been thinking about autumn and all the joys that come with that season here in Michigan.  I used this to create my orange leaves atc.

 I used Shiva Paint Sticks to add color the the leaves on the top.  I want a hint of fall color to tone down the orange.  I dyed the fabric with my dye named soft orange, but it is a really vibrant orange in person.  


I also want to show a page in an altered book that I am working on slowly.  I was trying out some different art materials on these pages just to see how they worked.

Here is my daughter Katrina's art for the week.