my studio

...a snapshot of my studio today. does anyone use the term 'snapshot' anymore? making patches out of scraps - one of my favorite things to do. hope to sell them at the MECA holiday sale this winter. yes, i am planning ahead:) i stitched my index finger to one of the pieces while free-motioning with the bernina...not the first time i've done that, but still a big shock and kind of bloody. i won't try to sell that piece!

print 'n stitch

very excited about my new skill with screen printing. for one of my classes, we had to make a two-sided card to give out to prospective students. one side of the card was to show them the kind of work they might be doing in our print department. the other side was to be an artist statement. on the one side i screen printed some organic shapes from things hanging around my studio. on the other side i stitched and drew on mylar and shot the screen through the mylar. then i used my sewing machine to stitch through the printmaking paper following the lines of the organic shapes. i made 100 of these guys. my first foray into such a large edition. very fun and satisfying.

i took a one-week intensive screen printing class last month with the GREAT kevin townsend. take a class with kevin if you get the chance! he is a fabo teacher!

fabric collage

more playing with collage for my drawing class. making this image of two kids using various media.

paper collage

working on a collage project for a class. school is sooo fun! more to come.

bh & irritable 4ever!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the love of my life.

surprise!

i am learning the ins and outs of screenprinting. one of the first pieces i worked on was a 'night monitor' t-shirt that print majors wear when keeping an eye on other students using the printshop after hours to be sure it gets cleaned up and stuff like that. i successfully screened the images on the back and front of the t-shirt and left my shirt on the drying rack. when i came into the studio the next day, there was my shirt, hanging on my studio curtain beautifully embellished and personalized by fellow student, kat lamont while putting in some later hours the night before.

summertime

it has been a fun summer of not working much and not going to school. so i spent my time being a bad influence on grandchildren and their friends: we made sock monkeys, chewed bubble gum cigarettes, and hunted for frogs. most of these pictures were taken with my phone.

letting go

here is a little drawing of ME. i am at a bit of a crossroads with school and career and not sure which way to go. i recently lost my job at the art center. the opus school of textile arts, where i was a BA (hons) student, closed a few months ago. i can't even give a link to that anymore, as they have virtually disappeared, after taking our course money. another program has opened in its place, named after the creative and inspiring late julia caprara but i have been hesitant to join, as i am not sure that distance learning was to my advantage. so i applied to and was ACCEPTED to an MFA program at the great and wonderful maine college of art, except now i am trying to figure out how to pay for it. anyway, i have been meditating everyday and writing my gratitude list and letting go. xo to all!

sowebohemian festival

our local sowebohemian arts and music festival was this weekend - great fun, good food and lots of local bands. one of the events that supports the festival is a poster silent auction which will be held on june 7. here are the posters i made:

baltimore's kinetic sculpture race

a rite of spring every year here in baltimore is the kinetic sculpture race. this year i had the prestigious job of judging the sock creatures on each vehicle. here i am in all my sock creature regalia. and here are some photos of the fabo sock creatures that were competing. great day!

felted apartment numbers

old sweaters make great felted works! this one is a house number for the door on our apartment. fun to do and keeps me out of trouble:)

illustrated comics of everyday life

i have been playing with the idea of doing comics in stitch. so lately i have been drawing a picture, in comic form, of things that come to my mind. i need to develop the characters a little, but i like the idea of transferring these images into stitch.

small packages: the LAST MINUTE MAUL

this is what i do in my day job. i work at a local art center in baltimore and was asked to put together a craft event this year. so...what could i do that would be different from all of the other myriad of excellent craft events in our city? i came up with 'Small Packages: the LAST MINUTE MAUL. Locally crafted art no bigger than a fruitcake.' we will see how it goes tomorrow. i can't wait! lots of good local crafters will be there.