What is wrong with her?

About 6 months ago, I took an online class through Joggles and loved the class.  I learned many new techniques and created "River Bend Lady".  She has been hanging on my wall in the livingroom and every time I see her I ask myself what is wrong with her?  Very slowly I have reached a couple of conclusions.  First of all she needs more hair on her forhead.  I wanted her to look windblown but it looks like some of her hair has blown away.  I will add more to see if that makes a difference.  Secondly, she needs a bra.  She is too well endowed to go braless.  Not sure how to solve this problem but will let you see when I figure it out.  I recommend online classes from http://www.joggles.com/  as a great way to get new ideas with great instructors.  This is about the only way that I can do this since I live in traditional land in the middle of nowhere.  Jan

Gallery Show

It was so much FUN!  The Arkansas Craft Gallery looks so gorgeous - the displays are wonderful and Pat and Jane do such a nice job making everyone's work look beautiful.  And they really did a great job with my quilts and boxes and postcards.  They mixed in art work from other artists - and the combination made me smile.  This is a photo of the main wall showing my quilts.

I also got to do an artist demo.  And while I was chatting with folks about what it is that I do (a great mystery to most) I realized that I really miss talking to strangers about my work.  I wonder if I can find a way to do that more often next year?  Writing for this blog fills some of that need - but I like the face to face contact.  And I really like watching people who know me in other areas of my life seeing my artwork for the very first time.  My work is so whimsical that it definitely does not appeal to all people..... but at least they get to SEE what I love to create.  This is a photo of some of the frilly goodies that I brought for my display table so that folks could see the types of things I work with.... FUN!      Barbara

Busy Time

Is anyone else TOO busy this Christmas season?  You would never know how busy my life is from looking at my calendar - but I have been scurrying about the house doing thousands of little things - and most days when I look back I don't have any idea where the time went.
But tomorrow is a day that I have been looking forward to for months.  I get to be a demonstrating artist and have an artist reception at the Arkansas Craft Gallery in Mountain View.  I am so excited - and honored that they are letting me do this!  I always love to talk to folks about my art and don't get that many opportunities.  So my demo materials are all packed up, the cookies for the reception are made, and I am ready!  I will try to take some photos to put on the blog.     Barbara

Inspiration from a challenge

Sometimes I go into a challenge kicking and screaming because I don't like to be told what to do.  Once in awhile, a challenge comes along that really inspires a creative frenzy. 

The small art quilt group that I belong to, the" Renegades", throws out a challenge at least once a year and this year the inspiration involved a deck of cards.  We were each asked to draw a card, create a work that is 18"X24" and  present it to the group at our May meeting.  As everyone drew a card, my  muse was having her own little silent fit.

Once I got into my studio, the muse and I had an attitude adjustment and started to brainstorm.  Now I have my sketch almost finished and am finishing up the last of the UFO's so that I can jump into this project with both feet and a great attitude. Since this will be kept under wraps until May, I will be giving little hints as I go along but won't post the finished project until after our May meeting.  Stay tunes!

Chicken is Back!

Back of Fiona showing quilting

Fiona Featherly  17" x 19"

You will note in my last blog entry that I completely gave up on this darn chicken quilt.  It was just plain ugly.  And then I took a nap - and when I woke up I had one final idea to try.  The chicken obviously needed a cardigan sweater to warm her little body up.  So I found a CrazyWild piece of fabric with the same colors, fused it over the top of the finished quilt, and Voila!  She looked SO much better.  So I added some trim to the new sweater and some buttons and now I like the quilt.  Sometimes the way these quilts unfold amazes me.  Her name is Fiona Featherly..... but you can call her Fiona.     Barbara

No More Chicken!

Sometimes you just have to give in and give up.  And today is the day that I am doing that with my Chicken Quilt.  No More Chicken!  Everything that I do to make it look better makes it look worse!  Yikes!

I guess this is one of those times when you put the quilt away in the Unmentionable Box at least for a while.  But I suspect that this is one of those quilts I will take out a year from now, look at and cut up into small pieces for another project.  Maybe I could take the border areas and make coasters??  All I know is that when a particular project becomes a frustration rather than a challenge - I need to just let it go and do something fun.

So what will I work on next?  Hmmmmmmmm..........              Barbara

Poor Chicken looks.....Naked!

The quilting is done and the feathers are added.... and I still don't like the way this one looks.  Boy is it ever hard to post things on a blog when you really don't like the way they look!  Too public!

But I do try to view problems as challenges - soooo - what is the challenge with this particular chicken?  For one thing the feathers aren't nearly as fluffy as I had hoped.  The spiny part of the feather was way too tiny to pierce with a needle so I had to sew them down more tightly than I had hoped.
But I think the problem is that the poor chicken looks like he has been plucked naked of all his feathers!  NOT a good look.  Way too much chicken body showing!  Is this just Thanksgiving guilt as I think of all the turkeys being consumed tomorrow?
The solution I am going to try is to paint part of the body as if the chicken is dressed - if you look very closely you can see that my quilting on his body suggests clothing.... more photos of a hopefully better looking chicken soon.              Barbara