home sweet home

so i have been really missing a sense of home these days. this is a woodcut project i did on the theme of home. the first photo is the mock up drawing, the 'key' block printed on mylar and the carved blocks. the second photo is after the first printing of the light blue sky background and adding the tissue paper chin colle. then, voila! - the final wood cuts inked on various papers and cloth. this was great fun and i highly recommend it as a habit to cultivate.

hope everyone has a place where you feel at home. xo

stitching woodcut

another piece in my series of self-portraits. here i am indulging in one of my favorite activities: hand quilting.

embroidered maggie

hi everyone. i haven't forgotten you. school is keeping me busy and my frequent weekend commutes to be with my beloved big hiney. anyway here is part of a project of self-portraits i am working on. love to all.

i'm on the cover of people magazine

anyone who knows me knows that my primary goal in life is to avoid being on the cover of people magazine. so when i had to do a class project with my self portraits, i thought this would be a fun opportunity to play with the idea of putting myself on the cover. now all i have to do is learn photoshop so i can clean it up and play with the text - inserting my own name with the headlines of hysteria. wouldn't the whole thing look great as an embroidery?

sock monkey friends

these bright guys are 'dottie' and 'stripes.' made by suzanne freed, from atlanta. they are for her granddaughters. her first sock monkeys ever! let's give her a big hand. suzanne and i met in cyberspace on the very active quiltart email list. Quiltart is a great place to find out anything you want to know about making arty quilts and hearing funny stories. Thanks for your contribution to the sock monkey world, suzanne.

portraiture drawing

what have i been doing other than neglecting the blog? i have been working on my drawings for portraiture class. we have a 100 heads sketchbook to do....

IRRITABLE in woodcut

here is my self-portrait for my relief printmaking class. maggie as irritable...just right!

maggie's aboriginal art

inspired by the work of aboriginal artist kantjupayi benson - scroll down - i made this piece of work for a woodworking class i am in. we were given a piece of wood that was four feet long and three inches square. i learned to cut the wood into strips on the band saw - similar to the field grasses used in aboriginal sculptures. the head is made from a plastic bag full of wood chips from the woodshop. i finished off the piece with a maggie twist to the work.

what is big hiney thinking today?

chocolate, watching a movie at home and world peace (not necessarily in that order)... ok, that's what big hiney says he is thinking about today. i think he is also glad that i just let him in the apartment after he locked himself out. oh! it's good to have my man home:) maybe i will make this a regular feature of my blog.

good day to everyone!

crocheted scarf!

oh, my gosh. i have sooo much homework, i definitely don't have time for craftiness. but craftiness kept calling my name. and it is such a good stress reliever. plus, who doesn't need a new crocheted granny-square scarf for the start of a new school year?
this is made with beautiful mission falls 1824 cotton yarn...good for three seasons, which is what we have here in maine.

color wheels

mixing lots of color these days...color wheels, gray scales. i like how the local thrift store is getting in on the act!

woodcut

in my relief printmaking class, we had to do a woodcut loosely based on a historical piece. i chose, emile nolde's 'familie.' the woodcut i made is a funny story in my family life: hubby and me sitting on the couch together. he has, yet another group of tv remotes, that he is trying to explain to me. does it seem that i am interested?
i am really enjoying making woodcuts (and sitting on the couch with hubby). this woodcut is due for some refinements, but it still makes me laugh!

sock monkey quilt square

just in case i need a quilt square with a sock monkey face and the seven deadly sins.

more stitching samplers

busy busy busy. here is some opus homework. love to everyone!

sloth-er takes his bike for a ferry ride

an early fall day and sloth-er decides to put his bike on the ferry and go island hopping.

embroidered shirt

getting my clothes ready for back-to-school tomorrow!

karaoke...?

just so ya know...i don't karaoke (unless it's madonna songs). and as you can see, i am not even sure how to spell it. but a friend in new york, brian smith, does karaoke. i was commissioned by his fans to fashion this sock monkey in honor of brian's true karaoke dedication. how many people do you know, have been written about in the nytimes? this is big stuff!

...and they lived happily ever after

yes, the real big hiney (of the 5'10" variety) and the real irritable (5'5") are finally and forever united in beautiful portland maine! love, love, love all day long.

running stitch samplers

making samplers for an opus module entitiled 'embroidery methodologies.' my focus is on the versitility of the very simple running stitch in all its forms. this is so much fun! more to come.

kantha

playing around with a sample of kantha style embroidery.