The Chicago School of Fusing

Ah. The illustrious 

 CHICAGO SCHOOL OF FUSING

It's been a lifelong dream of mine to earn a degree!

I spent two lovely years in the frozen north country

 where long snowbound winters drive textile artists to 

unheard of lengths of creatively insanity.

Dear Lyric,
Congratulations upon your completion of an under graduate degree in The Fine Art of Fusing from from the Chicago School of Fusing! Your abilities  as Press Squad Leader for the Iron Maidens Sports Team makes a fuser proud. May your exceptional expertise in Fusology and Iron Maintenance and Repair serve you well in the future.


And now, by the power invested in me as Dean of Corrections, I declare you a graduate of the Chicago School of Fusing.

Press On!
Laura Wasilowski

P.S. As a graduate of the school, I invite you to join our alumnae association and send me 50 bucks a year.

In honor of this grand occasion please join me in a rousing rendition of my dear Alma Matters fight song.

Chicago School of Fusing Fight Song from Laura Wasilowski on Vimeo.

Tune in tomorrow for a review and the opportunity to win the dean's latest tome full of stitch wisdom.
And to clarify - you need to leave a comment on tomorrows blog post for a chance to win Laura's book.
You can leave a post on each blog in the tour on the specific day the book is reviewed for more chances.

Faces on Friday and making lemonade

Beautiful fossils from the
Natural History Museum

Yesterday was a making lemonade out of lemons day.

I had a 7yr old trooper who carried a zip-loc all around a very crowded Natural History Museum in case she threw up. I carried her all afternoon once her fever picked back up. It kept me warm on a day when we weren't quite prepared for the cold.

Audio books
 a driving mother's life saving device.

We enjoyed much more of a great audio book than we expected to as I-95 was a parking lot. Nothing like a great fantasy novel to keep a carload of tired children happy and their mother awake and less stressed about driving in the rain. Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors for young adult literature.

Weekly progress - a face every day for a year.

So here are the faces this week. Feels a little like regression when I look at these results. Or is it just that I wasn't trying as hard most of the time - keeping it quick and light unless drawing from a photo. It was a good sketching week - enjoying it and not feeling like it was a chore. It's all about the journey.

Have you had lemons this week?

Did you do a little mental squeezing and sugaring?

Tell me about it.

The Journey to HOME

"Everyday is a journey and the journey itself is home." -Matsuo Basho 

The following post is from Lesley Riley, a creativity coach and all around lovely person. I thought her words followed on perfectly with the recent musings about finding balance between art and life and keeping the passion to create alive. I think Lesley hits it spot on when she talks about being at home with yourself: who you are and what you do. 

If you are not happy at home (and I mean being at home with yourself), you will not be happy anywhere, not in the next class, on the cover of a magazine, buying your next art supply or in your studio. Being at home with yourself is the result of taking control of your dreams and pursuing your passions once and for all. It means taking a no excuses approach to creating the life you want. Anyone can be an artist success. It's not about what you know or even how talented you are - its about what you DO. And here's what you need to do - create your best possible life and become your best possible self.

Yes, I know, that's much, much, easier said than done, so I'm going to give you three tips that will help you get started right now.

And let me ask you....."if not now, when?

1) Write down all the things you don't like about your present situation. Now go back over the list and see which ones are a result of your inaction. The number one reason we get down on ourselves is because we don't  DO the things we say we want to do. The cold hard truth is that only YOU can make change happen. If you don't see how, then apply your creativity to yourself and figure out how to craft the life you want.

2) To be at home with yourself, create your own recipe for happiness. Check the pantry of your heart for the ingredients you have on hand and then see what you can cook up. If you find you are missing any essential ingredients, create a shopping list and set about acquiring what you need in order to lead a fulfilling life. A tablespoon of gratitude? A cup of compassion? Spreading your gifts? Mixing in a lb of self-care?

3) Start where you are. Is your physical home in conflict with your inner home? Are you just passing through? Are you using it to complement and enhance your life or is it set up for "company," to please others, or just because that's how everybody else's home looks? Your home should be a reflection of your true self. In order to be at home with yourself, your house, your home, has to be a place of your making that gives you joy. So rearrange that furniture, toss the clutter, paint a wall with chalkboard paint and color your world.

Lesley Riley, The Artist Success Expert, is the creative founder of Artist Success, Solutions for the Struggling Artist. To receive her bi-weekly articles on creating your own success as an artist, visit www.ArtistSuccess.com.

Raleigh Sketch-In April 30th

Saturday April 30th

10:00 am -12:00pm

Meet  near the front door to the new wing - at those tables under the trees.

We'll do a couple of drawing exercises at 10:15 while everyone fills out their sketch pass.

(no tripods or easels inside, dry media and sketchbook only)

You can sketch in the permanent collections.

Or in the Museum Park.

http://www.ncartmuseum.org/

for directions to the museum

2110 Blue Ridge Road | Raleigh, NC | (919) 839-NCMA

For Your Inspiration: Beach Treasures

Fanciful Stitches Blog Tour

Hello Friends. Laura Wasilowski - an artist who's company I enjoy and who's work I admire has just published a new book and in celebration I'm taking part in a blogging blitz. Each of the following bloggers will review her book and tell you a little bit about Laura - and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US will be giving away a copy of her book! Stop by each blog on the day Laura's book is reviewed, leave a comment, and you'll have 10 whole chances to win a little bit of the happiness that Laura's cheerful work brings into your life.

April 19 - Annie Smith http://simplearts.com/blogs/

April 23 - Melody Johnson  http://fibermania.blogspot.com/

April 24 - Jane Moxey  http://moxeymusings.blogspot.com/

April 25 - Lyric Kinard (right here!)

April 26 - Judy Coates Perez  http://judyperez.blogspot.com/

April 28 - Linda Teufel http://dragonthreadsopenbook.blogspot.com

April 29 - Jane LaFazio  http://janeville.blogspot.com/

May 2 - Susan Brubaker Knapp  http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

May 3 - Frieda Anderson  http://friestyle.blogspot.com/

May 4 - Connecting Threads  http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/

Faces on Friday and Creative Students!

I spent time this week with the Peninsula Piecemakers Quilt Guild. These pictures were taken during our class "The Elements of Art." After a long day of play and design each student searched out an object and brought it back to the table. Each was then given a basic design element (texture, shape, line, color value) to concentrate on while they quickly interpreted their tableau. I love seeing the creativity and playfulness that expressed itself in each piece.

 tulips, basket, fly swatter

 branches, dandelions, sweet gum balls

tulips, cookie 

pot, glue, bowl of water 

floating leaf, plant

 tongs, water bottle, magnolia pods

These exercises were seriously "out of the box" for these lovely quilters and I am so impressed with how they willingly opened up and gave it their best. Their work was playful, lovely, creative, and wonderful.

This is why I love teaching!

And because I promised myself I would.... here are the week's faces.

Almost all of these are very quickly done.