Getting work done!

(Above:  Stacks of artwork waiting for the upcoming Smithsonian Craft Show.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Even before Steve and I took off on a last minute, whirlwind trip to Pasadena for the Rose Parade, I was working on some of the pieces finally finished and put in this stack ... just waiting to go to the Smithsonian Craft Show this coming April.  I've also finished three Found Object Mandalas that will be blogged soon.  Meanwhile, we are praying (like most of America) for those people, businesses, schools, pets, and even wild animals who have been displaced by the wildfires that are still devastating the areas near where we were on New Years Day.  It's been surreal to know our time in Los Angeles was only a week before this crisis.

 

(Above:  In Box CDLXXIV.  Framed with anti-reflective/UV filtering museum glass:  26 1/2" x 22 1/2".  Layer of polyester stretch velvet fused on white felt.  Hand stitched and zapped with an industrial heat gun. $475.)

During the drive, I stitched on an experimental design for my In Box Series.  Instead of carefully placing squares and rectangles of polyester stretch velvet in ways that they intentionally don't line up, I positioned three, central pieces inside a large, empty rectangle surrounded by individual squares.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out despite the fact that the "empty" rectangle isn't really obvious.  (It's the solid yellow piece.  On top of it are lots of additional square shapes ... which blend with the individual squares on the outside.)

 

(Above: Detail of In Box CDLXXIV.)

 

The solid yellow piece is more noticeable in this detail image ... though I think the texture is the more amazing thing! LOL!  It is fun to stitch in the car while the landscape changes state by state.

 

(Above:  Large Lancet IX.  Framed:  20" x 50".  Layers of polyester stretch velvet fused to recycled black felt with self-guided/free-motion machine stitching and melting techniques.)

 

I also finished Large Lancet IX.  I am planning to make more of these and others from the Fiber Stained Glass Series. It's hard to know just what people will like best in my booth.  I guess I just have to make lots of work and then decide what gets to go to Washington, DC!