Another busy week!

Above:  New work made while conducting my two-day HOT workshop.  From left to right: In Box Relic CC, a special gift to a new friend; In Box Relic XCIX ($60); Relic CCII ($100); and In Box Relic CCI ($60).

When I'm conducting a workshop, I think it is important that I present myself as a "working artist" who produces ART.  All my demonstrations really do get finished, framed, priced and hopefully sold.  I encourage participants to "make art" by example, not by "workshop samples" but through a series I call "relics".  Each finished piece is like an artifact from the time I spent sharing what I know and what I do.

This past week found me in St. Augustine, Florida.  It was wonderful!  I'm really too busy to snap pictures during most of the workshop but I try to have a "show-and-tell" during the last hour.  That's when I take a few pictures of all the wonderful pieces created during the two days.

 

While in Florida, I made new friends, including Cindi (who hosted me in her lovely home and planted this pretty flower) and Laura (who made all the arrangements, dinner reservations, and handled all the money!)  I can't thank you two enough!



Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the very, very generous lady who donated this amazing stash of yarn to my recycling efforts.  Not only will this bonanza be turned into fiber vessels, but some of it is perfect for wrapping more wooden thread spools!  THANK YOU!

I truly enjoy teaching HOT: Heat Activated Techniques for Contemporary Embroidery and will be conducting it as a two-day and a five-day experience at QSDS this summer in Columbus, Ohio.  (For the Quilt and Surface Design Symposium website, CLICK HERE.  I'm teaching from May 28th through June 3rd.)  I'm also thrilled to be on Mary McBride's faculty for Focus on Fibers, a retreat at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna, Florida!  If enrollment is sufficient, I'll be headed back to Florida to teach Second Life on April 7th and 8th!  (CLICK HERE for more information.)

Teaching workshops is important to me.  I always learn something too, generally about myself and my own artwork.  I learn where I'm at creatively.  I find balance in my every day life.  I also have time (especially when driving!) to consider directions for the future.  So ... thank you to everyone who has signed up and taken one of my workshops! It really means a lot!

(Above:  Nike's Advice VI.  45" x 60". Acrylic paint on unprimed canvas with free-motion machine embroidery and hand-stitched binding.)

Before leaving for Florida, I finished all the machine stitching on Nike's Advice VI.  I took the piece with me and managed more than half the blanket-stitched binding during an evening with Cindi.  Once home, it got done and I decided to photograph it on the driveway.

(Above:  Photographing Nike's Advice VI.)

The daylight was perfect, a bright but overcast day without any shadows.  Steve helped erect all three ladders and the wooden ramp we use to put our moped into the cargo van.  The tripod and camera were firmly put into a stable place.  I'm pleased with the resulting photos ....

... especially the detail shots! (I am linking this blog post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber arts.)