remembering

Who will remember me?...possible title for the piece I am working on. Having a title or a story helps me focus on what I want to say in my art work.

I transfered the image of the letter my grandmother wrote to me onto hand-dyed fabric.

                                          I had the letter with me all day.
                                                   I held it, she held it.

                                        It is the only letter she ever sent me.
                                         I read it once a year to remember.
                                                      I remember us.

acceptance

I received an email today informing me that my art piece was accepted in the international textile contest, Le Vie della Seta si incontrano a Verona, www.veronatessile.it

The jury was made up of 5 european jurors: a textile artist, an architect, a goldsmith artist, a professional traditional quilter and a freelance journalist who covers textile art and quilt events and exhibits.

I will have to wait till Verona Tessile is over, March 8 to 13, 2011, before I can post it- contest rules. Here is the back view.

30% of the work had to be silk.
I used a discharge technique to get the effect you see on the black cotton fabric.

Having your art selected is extremely satisfying- someone "gets" your work and appreciates it.

creativity

                                      I started a new art piece last week.

I am using fabric I coloured using natural dyes. To dye this cotton piece, I used logwood, which is a bushy, tropical tree from Latin America. To make the extract, cover saw dust from the tree with water and boil vigorously for 2 minutes then strain......

                                         I used the packaged version!

my day off

  

                                     Today, I hammered instead of sewed.

With the help of teacher and upholsterer, Erin Petry, www.plushnplump.com, in three weeks it will look like this:

                                            ...only with a different fabric

Still creating on my day off.

don't despair

                                 Today, I had many obstacles to climb over.

                                 I had to remind myself to move forward and up.

I tried not to get myself down.

Blue Depression, 2008, third prize, Trame D'Arte, Verona, Italy, contemporary category

                                        Tomorrow, today will be gone.

new and old

Four years ago when I was on my first trip to Italy without children, I started this hand project to do on train rides. I travelled from Milano to Lugano, Switzerland, back to Milano and off to Verona, Padova, Trevi, Foligno, Rome, Naples, Atrani and Sapri.

I am almost finished the top of this baby-sized hexagon quilt, all done by hand using cotton bits saved from other quilts I made over the 20 years I have been sewing.

Here is a beautiful queen-sized antique I found at a garage sale in Toronto's east end. It is hand pieced and hand quilted from the early 1940's. It cost me $10. To think of all the hours someone put into this quilt! Years of train travel....

new

2011
a new thing to learn
a new way to think about something
a new idea to run with
a new opportunity to begin right

happy new

inspired by something old