ARTfiberFEST 2008

Registration for October 22-26, 2008 ARTfiberFEST, will start this Thursday.

To make it into this very popular event, it is very important to note there is a May 1st postmark date. The workshops that I will be teaching are:

soulful doors
Learn the secrets of creating the foundation for multi faceted interactive doors.
(how to make resin papers and charms will also be included in this class)

Ethereal Fragment Squares
Create an enticing texture-filled piece with hidden
fragments and meaning.
(how to make a fabric cone will also be included in this class)

I hope to see some of you there!

artful blogging

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. ~Buddha

I was very busy last week organizing my studio for a special guest, who came to see it on Saturday... I will blog about it all in a few days and share with you some photos of my studio, but for now I would like to share with you a peek of the article I wrote for artful blogging.

I am excited to be a part of this issue... my blog started as my way of keeping track of my creative journey, never in my wildest dreams would have imaged that I would be noticed for my blogging and wilder still that I would have blog viewers!

I must add that it was a strange thing for me to write about my blog... because my blog is about me and my art and I found that writing about my blog was me writing about me writing about me!

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

~Albert Schweitzer

Cherish Thou Art

I have no knowledge of myself as I am, but merely as I appear to myself.
:::Immanuel Kant:::

Yes, amongst this chaos and clutter, I create... I truly work on top of the layers!

I worked on this project last week... I had fun creating and altering fabric and papers for this interactive little piece.

I cut a heart out of many layers of book text and stitched them all up to create a "book heart" then I used gel medium to help add more "weight" to the pages.

here is the back side of the piece... I do not always show the backs of all my projects but the backs are just as important to me as the front... its a little hidden treat for the viewer.

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
:::Ralph Waldo Emerson:::

you can see how the little interactive part flips over to revel the words "cherish" and "pleasure" then there is a little tag that reads "they reviled" and "thou art" along with a lovely turquoise leaf.

Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and
to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others.
It leads to sterility.
::: Pablo Picasso :::

this is the side view of the "heart book" see how I used the gel medium to help the pages stand up.

An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.
::: Henri Matisse:::

The most potent muse of all is our own inner child. ~Stephen Nachmanovitch

I can't criticize what I don't understand. If you want to call this art, you've got the benefit of all my doubts.

~Charles Rosin

As an artist along the way we develop a style, our eyes and soul gravitate towards a direction that is uniquely our own ... our artistic voice if you will...

it becomes easy for us to be "our self" and create in our comfortable style... but sometimes our surroundings can change the way we view our own creativity....
case at hand a huge box full of ranger products that have been patiently sitting in my studio.

I am a creature of habit and happily work with what I have at hand... but as I started to work on the art for my fabric book and begin to teach fabric classes.

( please take a look at the classes that I will be teaching at
art fiberfest in October, I hope you can join me!)

I have decided that for the most part it would be easier to be able to tell people about a product that they could use... instead of my... "I do a little of this then I add a little of that"

Here are a few peeks at a project that I just finished for "Mixed nuts" I can not share what I did in its entirety but here are some of the products that I used to create it:


Tim Holtz™ Adirondack® Color Wash™,
first off I am totally smitten with Tim Holtz! (shush! don't tell any one!)
but once I got my hands on these I forgot all about Tim and wanted to have each and every color wash spay ink in my hands! it sprays on fabric like a dream! a dream I tell you! I have not been this excited in a long time about color! I have many ideas that I can not wait to try out with these!
Adirondack® Archival Quality Pigment Pens
these are amazing pens for writing on fabric and I have them all but these are the best by far!

Perfect Pearls™ Pigment Kits
I wanted to hate these but I have discovered that this are just amazing on fabric! and I can tell that I will be doing a lot of different things with these!
Inkssentials™ Mini Misters™
the perfect mist of watter! PERFECT!
I do not know what I did with out these!

Creativity is good... doing what comes natural is easy... having the courage to grow into a NEW YOU is part of the journey!

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

Carl Jung