brave heart "art dress"

I have been working on different types of "art dresses" over the past year (there will be a "art dress" step out and patterns in my fabric art book) the dress's started out quite small but over the last week they have started to grow.

Brave Heart "art dress" measures 13 inches by 14 inches.

(Brave heart for sale here)

I fashioned the pattern from this dress that hangs in my studio that dates to the late 1800's

(pined to the dress is a piece that I am working on)

the dress is all threadbare but made with such love, with all the tiny hand stitches. this little dress has somehow became my muse and acts as
a reminder to me to put heart in what I do.

I intentionally made rips in my fabric when I was making this dress then stitched them up to emulate the old dress that inspired this piece.

around the seams I stitched in a half hazard way around the seams to give the appearance of lace. my sewn signature is stitched in the bottom right hand corner.

the words "my heart strings" are on the back of the dress along side the neckline.

and here is brave heat all stitched and mended and ready to save the world of love.
(oh, I am one silly blogger this morning!)

Just posted on the web over at stampington and company is a cover artist interview with me that you can view here and here.


happy creating!

Inner stillness

A Taoist Meditation


Seek no contacts and you will find many

Be still and you will move forward on the tide of spirit

Be gentle and you will need no strength

Be patient and you will achieve all things

Be humble and you will remain entire

Close your eyes and you will see clearly

Cease to listen and you will hear truth

Be silent and your heart will sing

I have been lost in a little creative cocoon lately...

Once I start creating I find that there is this inner stillness with in me.
time disappears and I forget about the world around me...
its the time when all that matters is what is forthcoming.

I am working on a new body of work...
I have gone back to working with shades of white and cream.
I have embraced my stark color palette one again...
it somehow feels new and fresh to me once more.
I have become seduced by the translucency of fabric combined with light.

But leave it to Kristen to pull me away from my creative cave for some fun as we went to visit Jenny over at Stampingtion


and look at what I found on Jenny's desk!

(Sarah Rae AKA excited teenage daughter!)

its the newest sew somerset with my work on the cover!
also inside you will find a article that I have written about my creative process.

please take note, its now official Ruth Rae is a "sheer genius"!

and here is the Prof


A few peeks at what I have been creating in my studio...

these are works in progress: this one is still in the design stage

and here are a few detail shots of more projects that I am working on. I have been pleating and free motion stitching on the fabric.
"Trust thy be"

once these are completed they will be going off to Jenny and will be showing up in
Art Quilting Studio
so you will have to wait a little to see them in there entity.

but I can share with you "crossroads to the heart"

Here it is in all its splendor its another new process that has been rambling in my head.
I have been trying to work it out over the last few mouths I was toying with mixing fabric and paper but I could never get it to hold the shape that I wanted, then today I worked it entirely in fabric and it all came together.

I am happy with all the layers and the textures in this peace.

I just put "crossroads to the heart" for sale here so go on over and take a look!
(I will be adding a few more fabric pieces in a few days and one of them is in shades of white!)

From the outside looking in~

Snap shots taken when we are unaware of being viewed are such a stunning glimpse into how we must appear to the world.

I had no idea this shot was taken of me but once I discovered it I had a moment of clarity into what it must be like to have me as a mom... Always present but yet some how detached.

(photo taken of me by: Sarah Rae. Hawaii, August 2008)

I take A LOT of photos however artistic they may be they are not right to post to this blog as I try to keep this space just about MY art.

So I started a new blog
Please take a look its called "snap shots of my life" its where I will be partaking in photo journalism from my i~phone.

heartstrings

What guides you?

(back side of dress)

What makes your heart sing?

Do you wear your heart on your sleeve?

I spent a little time last night in my studio... the truth is that I have a lot of creative ideas right now running around in my head but no room or time to carry them out... I have been occupied with The business part of the art.

But last night I just hand to play. I made this little dress, it is quite small (5 inches by 3)
I used some of my hand dyed fabric in a soft Grey and stitched the words "heartstrings" and "guild you" and created the hanger form steal wire.

Today I picked up some wonderful storage units from a friend that I hope to use in conjunction with my studio clean up that will be taking place this weekend....
This task has been looming and is necessary to my creative process as I have been unhappy in my work space for some time now.

now to answer my questions:

What guides you?
~My Heart

What makes your heart sing?
~Creating

Do you wear your heart on your sleeve?
~YES! (but it has a tiny suit of chainmail armor to protect it!)

“I am not afraid…I was born to do this.”
~Joan of Arc

working from bed

working from bed, originally uploaded by ruthrae.

follow the link to this photo and you can get a preview of a page from my fabric book that I am working on. (it takes a lot of editing to get this girl in print!) You will also find a little more about my creative process (its deep and dark I assure you!)

Hope, Believe, Achieve.

Have Heart:
assorted quoits to inspire...

The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.
~Alexander Graham Bell

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, love more, and all good things will be yours. ~Swedish Proverb

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown

You have to do what you believe in.
~Ben Harper

"Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve."
- Mary Kay Ash

Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness.
~Alfred Bernhard Nobel

more new work from me here

Kelly is hosting a drawing for an autographed copy of A Charming Exchange.



So head on over to her blog to view the details and enter to win!