Back home!

(Above:  Me holding the finished demonstration pieces created while conducting a very successful, private workshop in Shelbyville, Kentucky.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I was a little sad to leave my two-week art residency at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining, New York.  The time I had there was wonderful and so very, very productive. My new installation is now underway.  Thanks to my friend Nancy Cook's suggestion, the installation is now titled Cascades. Yet, I also left with a sense of excitement.  Why? Well, I wasn't on my way home.  I was on my way to a private workshop in Shelbyville, Kentucky.  The experience was GREAT!

(Above:  Relic CCLXIX.  Framed: 15 1/2" x 13 1/2".  Layers of polyester stretch velvet fused to upholstery fabric with beading and hand-stitched embroidery. $165 plus sales tax and shipping.)

Every time I conduct a HOT workshop (Heat Activated Techniques for Contemporary Stitch), I give demonstrations and finish the artwork.  This is what I made on the first day.  I bring all the materials and supplies for everyone in the workshop.  After my demonstrations, participants get plenty of time to create something using the same approach and materials.  This first day is meant to get everyone familiar with fusing polyester stretch velvet, applying strips of chiffon and/or netting over the cut shapes, and doing some free-motion stitching in addition to the beading and hand embroidery.

(Above:  Relic CCLXX. Framed:  12" x 10".  Layers of polyester stretch velvet fused to recycled industrial felt with free motion embroidery and melting techniques. $60 plus sales tax and shipping.)

After a full day of using these materials, everyone is ready for Day 2 ... during which polyester stretch velvet shapes are fused to recycled, black industrial felt before being free-motion stitched with 100% black cotton thread ... then melted with both a soldering iron and an industrial heat gun.  It is fun and everyone was absolutely successful.  Believe it or not, most participants finish at least four pieces during the two days.  Some finish even more!  I also bring all the mats and backing boards.  Below are just a few of the photos of participants and their artwork!

 

(Above:  The house my grandparents built in the early 1970s in Pocono Pines, PA.)

On the drive to Shelbyville, I made a slight detour off I-80 to Pocono Pines, PA.  Once upon a time (early 1970s), my grandparents built this house as their retirement place.  Unfortunately, grandpa had a fatal aneurysm at age sixty-one and grandma couldn't keep the place.  Still, I have so many childhood memories of deep winter snow and warm spring days of canoeing.

 

(Above:  A panorama view of the beach at Lake Naomi.)

My three cousins and three younger sisters used to play on this Lake Naomi beach.  We made sand castles with moats and dug an indentation which we called the Nile River.  Good times. Good memories.