I'm teaching at Houston!

I would love to see you at the International Quilt Festival!

I'll be posting details about my classes soon.

You can find the full class catalog 

here

in the meantime.

Winner: Patchwork Sassaman Style

 Donna~~ said...

I usually end up cutting them into small bits of the design I can use. I definitely need to read Jane's book and learn to see the large prints in a new way! Her quilts are beautiful!

Congratulations Donna!

A copy will be on it's way as soon as I get your info!

For Your Inspiration: time travel sweetness

On a recent trip to Philadelphia we did a little time travel....

 

My brother and daughter....

 

(messing around with the Autostitch app)

 "kid in the candy shop!"

(all photos taken with my iPhone and manipulated with the Snapseed app. Funnest toys ever!)

Work in Progress: changing my mind

The road project continues...

Unless I have a looming deadline I never consider "undoing" wasted time. It was worth a try and hand work can be like meditation to me. The color of the reddish beads worked beautifully with the center stone but I could tell it wasn't going to work with the other two and the direction I had in mind. So out it goes. I'm not expecting perfection so it isn't a mistake.

Down the Doors Winner

Congratulations to Amy Parra Morusiewicz! I'll be sending you a copy of Down the Doors next week!

Book Review: Patchwork Sassaman Style

After introducing you to the amazing Jane Sassaman and her art, I'd like to tell you about her new book, 

Patchwork Sassaman Style

Now - You know my work is usually made from fabric I've dyed myself and hangs on the wall, not the bed. But I've got to admit - I've been having that undeniable compulsion recently to make a bed quilt. The problem is my attention span for bed-quilt-making usually lasts about a day and a half and then I'm done. I have at least four mostly finished bed quilt tops to show for my short attention span. After reading Jane's book - I think I might just be able to pull something off!

With Jane's signature style of bright and bold fabrics she shows you how to selectively cut and piece your way to simple yet impressive quilts. She'll take two or three fabrics and give you a number of cutting and piecing options. Each one makes a unique and, dare I say, impressively gorgeous quilt. In this case, the fabric does all the work! She gives lots of hints for wise cutting and design placement to make your designs look well integrated.

Now I've got to admit that my very favorite part of the book is the section at the very front called "History and Designing Fabric." I'm always fascinated by the design process and reading about how Jane works to come up with her fabric is very interesting. 

Jane talks about being inspired by the 19th century Arts and Crafts Movement and William Morris who said, "have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I can certainly see those influences in her work. It's a movement I'm very attracted to myself.

Guess what - I think I need to go shopping.

If you can't find Jane's fabrics at your local shop try her online store.

Interested? Have I whet your appetite?

Leave a comment for your chance to win this beautiful book!

Tell me how you use big, bold, beautiful fabrics.

Make sure I can contact you - and check back in three days

(unfortunately this contest is only open to US entries)

or if you just can't wait the book is

available at Amazon

 (and... I'll be combining the comments here with those at my wordpress blog. They are identical as I'm still trying to get things running smoothly over here. A random number generator will pick the winner.)

Here are some other stops on the tour that still have giveaways open.

Stop by and leave a comment at each blog to increase your chances to win.

July 18 Jan Krentz
July 19 Make It Simpler
July 20 Lyric Kinard
July 22 Jane LaFazio
July 24 Nancy Zieman

Artist Spotlight: Jane Sassaman

I'd love to introduce you to a long-time favorite artist of mine - the lovely and talented Jane Sassaman. I have quite a few of her pieces in my favorite lecture (The Elements of Art). Her work is bold, full of movement, and speaks to my heart.

L: I'm always very interested in the different paths people take to their current place. Did you always know you wanted to be an artist? How did you get to where you are?

Jane: Yes, there was no other career path for me. Thank goodness my parents encouraged me along the way. But I have always been tunnel-visioned and it is very easy to ignore everything else when I have a goal or a project in the works. When I'm at home, I'm in the studio eight hours a day, seven days a week. 

When I started quilting my goal was to be in the Quilt National with all those other quilters that I admired so much. So that was the first show I entered and luckily I was accepted, in fact I was in every Quilt National from 1989-2005. I think that exposure helped get my work into the world. I think it's about time to enter again!

Lyric: I think it's very important for creative people to have a space of their own (no matter how small) where they can walk in and get to work. Tell me about your working space.

Jane: I have a nice big studio space now, but for years I worked on the only table in a small house in the middle of family life. Yes, a nice studio is great, but determination and vision can overcome many obstacles. 

My current space is in a separate building on our property, so now I can actually have some privacy. It is still waiting for more bookcases and storage, but it is great to have a larger space to spread into. The walls are painted bright yellow and saffron, colors that I find very energetic and encouraging.

Lyric: Your work is very bold and graphic in quality. Have you always worked this way or did you wander through various styles before "finding your voice?"

Jane: I seem to have been born with a preference for hard edged graphics and solid colors. Even in junior high school my work contained these elements. And these some of the characteristics that drew me to quilting, along with the craftsmanship, fabric, scale and independence.

Lyric: How do you balance the business side of your work with making art?

Jane: Sigh! I have found I'm a much better artist than a business woman! I would love to hook up with someone who's "art" is business. These days the studio work often takes a back seat to correspondence. But I am determined to adjust those proportions this year. I am also designing fabric for FreeSpirit/Westminster, which I LOVE doing. This designing takes a lot of time and concentration. And then I design quilts with the fabric to show the fabrics potential... and this is what Patchwork Sassaman Style is all about. I'm hoping that this book will excite people into using some of those big beautiful prints.

Lyric: Is there an event coming up that you would like to tell us about?

Jane: I will be attending the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, August 16-19 to do a lecture and a Meet the Designer event hosted by Kaffe Fassett.

This will be my first trip to the show and I am really looking forward to seeing all the quilts and meeting their makers.

So - isn't she amazing? Are you as in love with her work as I am? That beautiful scarf is for sale on her website, along with some of her beautiful fabric and patterns. 

Stay tuned - Jane has a new book that I'll review (and give away!) in two days!

Chance's End

(c) 2010 Eric C Carter / Dizzy Pixel

I love music. All kinds. My play list is, shall we say.... diverse. It includes all sorts of classical, a-capella, jazz, folk, world, and classic rock to name just a very, very small slice of the stuff I enjoy. My favorites are often odd combinations like Sagapool (funky klezmer/new age) or Salsa Celtica.

Several months ago I was approached by a musician named Ryan Avery, a talented young violinist who is half of the talented electronica duo named Chance's End. The other half of the duo, Emily Zisman, is a folk singer with the kind of  lovely clear voice I can listen to for hours.

Anyway - through the wonders of the Web he had seen some of my work and the long and short of it is that my artwork is on the cover of their most recent album!

My favorite bits are often the pure and evocative violin introductions to pieces like "The Blue Because" or the ethereal vocal and string combination on "Intro to Superman." I tend to loose interest in some of the more atmospheric electonica interludes but that's me - not the music. I tend to listen very actively to music (as a musician myself) and just like I can't piece a quilt block over and over I need a lot of variety in my music.

"The two members of electronica outfit Chance's End, based in San Francisco, will be the first to admit that electronic music is the last thing you would expect to be heard from a folk singer and a classical violinist. Vocalist Emily Zisman's folk-rooted melodies are awash in Americana, while Ryan Avery's violin seeps into every crevice. But throwing both of them in a room together is like putting Ani DiFranco and Groove Armada into a washing machine set on spin cycle – you get some convoluted metaphor that results in good music"

You can buy a download of

Down the Doors

at CD Baby

And just for fun
I'm giving away a copy! 
Leave a comment (make sure I have a way to get in touch with you) telling me what you listen to when you create. If you have any suggestions for more odd combo type groups tell me those too!  On Friday the 20th I'll pick a winner and ship out your very own copy.  

For Your Inspiration: Verbesina + Kaleidoscope

 Verbisina

 (and a little time with Paint Shop Pro's kaleidoscope feature)

For Your Inspiration: Philadelphia

I spent a week with the family in Philadelphia over the 4th of July.

A city where old meets new

One of the nations first banks (I think)

The Barnes Foundation - one of the worlds greatest collections of art.
Watch the documentary "The Art of the Steal"

Introducing.... The ART BOX CSA

(drum roll please)

The Art Box CSA

Art by Jamie Fingal, Judy Coates Perez, Lyric Montgomery Kinard, Deborah Boschert
Leslie Tucker Jennison, Desiree Habicht, Kathy York, Sue Bleiweiss

Remember that project I gave you a little hint of a while ago?

This is it!!!

Have you heard about those lovely community supported farms where you buy a share and in return get freshly picked local produce all year long? I belong to one and truly love my produce box - delivered fresh to my door every week all full of locally grown fruit and veggie deliciousness. It's Community Supported Agriculture.

Art Box work by Lyric Montgomery Kinard

The lovely Sue Bleiweiss is a creative and very busy genius when it comes to organizing wonderful ways to share the joys of art. What do you think of Community Supported Artists!?

Art Box work by Jamie Fingal

A talented group of artists have created small works for an ART BOX and just wait until you see how gorgeous this stuff is. As the pictures came in I was blown away with how gorgeous every piece of work is! I'm actually thinking I might need one of these boxes for myself. There are a limited number of full and half boxes available and I think they'll go pretty fast. This is your opportunity to collect works of art by some very talented people for well below market prices.

Art Box work by Desiree Habicht

The Art Box CSA

What is an Art Box?

An Art Box is a new and exciting way to purchase a collection of art from several different artists at once.  Artists create a limited number of new original artworks for inclusion in the box in a predetermined size making it easy for the collector to display them together if they desire. Purchasing an Art Box is a cost effective way to begin or add to a growing art collection from today’s most popular mixed media and textile artists. 

How many pieces of Art will I receive?

Full size boxes contain one piece of art from each of the 8 artists and a half size box contains one piece of art from four of the artists.  Each Art Box is unique and no two will be exactly alike.  For more information on purchasing an Art Box click here.

What size is the Art?

All of the artwork in the Art Boxes have been mounted on 8”x8”x 1 1/2” stretched canvas and is ready to hang.

So - run on over to 

The Art Box CSA

and check it out.

Do me a favor and tell your friends.

Help us get the word out. If this works, and I'm very sure it will, there will be more in the future.

Click on one of the icons at the bottom left of this post and share it on FaceBook, Twitter, or even copy this whole post onto your own blog!

Published: Rituals

The juried invitational exhibit

RITUALS

premiers in two weeks at the

International Quilt Festival

in Long Beach, California.

You can get a sneak peek in the published and self titled catalog

Book cover art (Left to Right) by - Susie Monday, Susan Fletcher King, Judy Coates Perez, Desiree Habicht, Yvonne Porcella, Gerrie Congdon, Gayle Simpson
available at BLURB

My work in the exhibit is title "Links"

Posts following it's creation can be seen here and here

The show will also be shown at the 

International Quilt Festival

in Houston, Texas

November 1 - 4, 2012

I'll be teaching and lecturing there

and would love to see you in class.

Stay tuned for descriptions of some exciting new classes.

Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to the Winners from my stop on the blog tour for

The Sketchbook Challenge

Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals

Remember - 

you can buy it at any of the following suppliers

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

ArtPlantae

Cheryl Gebhart said...

The book really looks wonderful and what generous sponsors! I love your circles. I use a sketchbook, but not to work out artwork; I use it to record my life.

July 2, 2012 6:32 PM 

M-R said...

I almost always use a sketchbook to work out ideas and have been meaning to join The Sketchbook Challenge to improve my drawing skills. I'll definitely be checking out that book. Thanks for the giveaways!

July 2, 2012 10:02 AM 

Super huge thanks go to the prize sponsors

Total retail value: $48!

and

 A $25 gift certificate to ProChemical and Dye
From ProChemical and Dye http://prochemicalanddye.com/home.php

And don't give up if you didn't win this round - there are still many stops on the tour for you to peruse. Get a peek into each artists contributions to the book and leave a comment at each one for more chances to win.

July 5:
Carla Sonheim  www.carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Carol Sloan  www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/

July 6:
Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Diana Trout dianatrout.typepad.com

July 9:
Tracie Lyn Huskamp  www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Judi Hurwitt  www.approachable-art.blogspot.com

July 10:
Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Kelli Nina Perkins: http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/