Angles

These very old (and real) horseshoes were hanging on the fence at the farm this weekend. And because they threw an interesting shadow they became  a subject for this blog!

Ecological burning

We spent part of the weekend in Wiscoinsin at our friends who are restoring a large old farm to natural vegetation. Every year they work to clear out more of the non-native plants and burn the fields and woods to encourage new growth of the native vegetation. They have been rewarded with remnant populations of  plants returning and bird populations increasing. This photo of a burnt tree had a lot of character. Do you see the back of a sitting dog with his head turned?

New work

I have been working on a new series about the Plants of Concern in Illinois. The series is made up of 4 sets of Tibetan prayer flag inspired art cloth. Each set has 21 flags. This set included old and new joss and chinese almanac papers and includes the 108 named plants on the list.

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I love the car wash

I took my car through the car wash - at last- to clean off the winter grime. I love the car wash - sitting in the car while the mountain of water and the swishing things envelope the car. And with the camera handy I tried to capture the water sluicing down over the front window. I like the abstractedness of the way this photo came out.

Two days later

A couple of days after the snow and chair photos I took this photo of the same chair pattern as a shadow on the ground. What a difference a couple of days can make!

Snow patterns

I took these photos a couple of days ago and just got them downloaded. It's a good thing I took them when I did because the snow has now melted. This is snow settled into the ironwork on the back of a chair. I am going to work with the photos in Adobe Photoshop and make some silkscreens as I think it will make for an interesting textural pattern if I can get it to break up in various ways.

Let there be light

I have this prism made of a large circle of glass with small round raised circles on the surface that sits on a table near my bedroom  window. A sliver of morning light came all the way through the house from the front window - through the dining room, the kitchen, the doorway of the bedroom and stuck the prism at just the right angle to throw a shadow of it on the blind behind it. This can only happen a couple of times a year when the sun is at the right position in the sky. I think it is so cool.

Melting snow

After our wonderful spring weather last week, this weekend was cold and snowy. But today it is melting! The snow is actually about an inch above the pavement in this picture and the water is running away underneath. I like the strong black line that is created by the shadow.

Blue and gold

The hangars at the airport are a couple of different colors depending on the row. I like this combination of the blue hangar with the gold hangar reflected in it. Also all the various patterns.

Gerogia O'Keefe sky

A beautiful cloud filled sky!

Flying HIgh

Yesterday I went flying with my faithful pilot, Larry. We went to southern Illinois and back - the day was beautiful. I learned a bit about reading the navigation charts and finding the land features, towers, towns and airports on the ground. That's me in the rear vew mirror taking a photo.  It was a great day!

Pattern

Notice all the undulating lines that connect the branching pattern on this leaf.

Reflections, var. 13 detail

I had an opportunity this week to show my work to a gallery for a possible sale. This is a detail of one of the pieces. I hope that I will hear good news later this week!

St.Pat's parties

It has been the weekend for St. Patrick Day's celebrations. Went to two events, one complete with Irish fiddler and the other with green beer - I think I am as Irish as I am going to be for another year!

Yellow

 The scrawny little daffodils I got at the grocery the other day have burst forth in to a beautiful deep yellow explosion! Another sign of spring.

Spring

We went to the Chicago Flower and Garden show this week and got inspired about spring which right now looks to be just around the corner. I see green grass and the tops of bulbs peeking out of the ground.

These wind chimes were whirling around in one of the boothes at the show. There were hundreds of them all spinning at once - you could make yourself dizzy looking at them all going at different speeds and with various patterns and colors.

Chinese Papercuts

I was pulling out some of my travel albums and opened up my China album and came across these papercuts that I had bought when I was there in 2006. The detail in them is wonderful. I hope to make a piece of artcloth using these someday (just need more time!)

Signs of spring

Today I have a flock of redwing blackbirds checking out the back yard. A sure sign that spring might actually come again! I love listening to their trilling song and watching them spread out their wings as they wobble around at the top of the bushes.

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500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work

500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work has just been published by Lark Books. Kathy Bresnahan juried the work which showcases the work of 363 contemporary quilters. Martha Sielman, executive director of Studio Art Quilt Associates, describes the book as "an incredible feast for the eyes ... this book is a must-have for every art lover, quilter, and fiber enthusiast." My art quilt, Reflections, Variation 7 is on page 154. The book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other books sites. There are some incredible peices in the book.

Workshop samples

The last few days I have been teaching a workshop called Shape Up! Imrpovsional Fabric Forming. We had a great group - lots of energy and enthusiasm.  We were working with disperse dyes, a heat press and a pressure cooker, using polyester and mixed fiber fabrics. Here are a few of the results.

Shape Up ! Bananas

Just for comic relief.  I always pictured bananas growing down in clumps,  not up and in such an odd way! This ends the Cancun photos.

I am teaching a workshop for the next two days called Shape Up! Improvisational Fabric Forming. I will post some pictures from class in the next few days.

Black and white

I love black and white imagery and this photo of another water reflection shows how powerful it can be. This is as is - no changing or enhancing - you would never think this was a shot of water.