Compelled to Create

Embracing Your Muse
Nearly all creative possibilities are related to the muses that inspire us.
I enjoy a daily inspirational reading from the Daily OM- here
This one is particularly notable and thought I'd share with my readers.

Inspiration is an intangible yet inseparable part of the creative process. Nearly all creative possibilities are related to the muses that inspire us. The ancient Greeks believed that all creation, whether artistic or scientific in nature, was motivated by goddesses who served as the literal embodiment of inspiration. These were the Muses The givers of the creative spark. We still rely on muses to drive the creative process, though ours may take a diverse range of forms. People we meet, intriguing ideas, movies, books, nature, and cultural ideals all have the potential to awaken our imaginative minds. When we are touched by our muses, we understand viscerally that we are capable of producing our own unique kind of greatness. 

Many people move through life unaware of the presence of their muse. This lack of awareness can be compounded by the fact that we may have one muse that remains with us throughout our lives, multiple muses that inspire us concurrently, several muses that come and go as necessary, or a single muse that touches us briefly at specific moments. You will know that you have found your muse when you encounter a force that makes you feel courageous enough to broaden the range of your creativity. The presence of this force will erase your self-doubt and motivate you to give your thoughts and feelings form. Should your muse continue to elude you, however, there are steps you can take to increase your chances of falling under its inspired influence. If you surround yourself with people who support you, keep a pen and paper handy, immerse yourself in culture, and brainstorm frequently, you will soon reconnect with your muse.

 Once you have identified your muse, embrace it by giving yourself over to the creative inspiration it provides. No matter what you are moved to create, you will find that neither fear nor criticism can penetrate the wonderful bliss that goes hand in hand with the act of taking an idea and turning it into something the whole world can enjoy.

Fiberart For A Cause

I am participating in Virginia's Spiegel's new drive for the American Cancer Society, 
Fiberart For A Cause. 
I will donate 3 bonus's. Here's #1

How Does Foto/Fiber 2012 Work?

Gold Donor Day: Wednesday, February 15
10 a.m. Central - 3:00 p.m. Central
Make a minimum donation of $100 directly to the
American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause,
choose one of 90 photos, and choose one of
90 Fiber BONUSES by a specific artist.
Thursday, February 16
10 a.m. Central - 3:00 Central (or until SOLD OUT)Make a minumum donation of $50 directly to the
American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause and choose a photo.
Your Fiber BONUS will be chosen for you at random.

There will be drawings for fiber art throughout the event.

100% of donations are made directly to the American Cancer Society
through Fiberart For A Cause.

Info HERE

love

This person's FB photo's show some awesome Street art                                                                     StreetArt 1° album

By: Suoni Ribelli

A Common Thread

A Common Thread

January 13 to February 18
Opening reception: Friday, January 13, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.         Fiber art offers an artist more versatility than any other art form. The vast array of materials available, coupled with the innovations in textile construction techniques, give fiber artists unlimited freedom of expression. A Common Thread ties disparate expressions into one exhibition of the work of Textile Center members. A coveted benefit of Textile Center membership, this exhibition is the highlight of our exhibition season.
info HERE

2012 Word for this Year

My word this year is 'transition'.

Art- This year will be my fallow year. A year of renewal, review, reevaluate. Space. Percolate. 

     Personal- Reduce.

We will move out of our home of 35 years to a new home that we will be building. This requires commitment and energy toward a not entirely uncreative endeavor. This will require de-cluttering of a major scale. We will scale down from outside studio, outside office, summer cottage, and home. Perhaps even my father's house. He will be 90 in Feb. Shadow thoughts.

     Looking though things stored away for many years is like a past life review. Treasures sought after for so many years must be evaluated, given to family, friends or recycled. I have joined freecycle in 2 states. Decisions to be made on keeping or tossing are hard. I may need to weed though several times to winnow it down.

Transition indeed!

Stillness in Winter’s Dream

 “Come away from the din.

Come away to the quiet fields

Over which the great sky stretches

and where, between us and the stars

there, in the stillness

let us listen to the voice

that is spreading within us.”

Jerome K. Jerome

         

         LOVE, PEACE AND LIGHT,

                                                    Wen

silence before the dawn

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully” - Norton Juster

I love to have those quiet times before everyone wakes up and the world starts to spin again. Those are the times I can dip into my soul and remember what is important.

Happy yet?

Stuff your eyes with wonder; live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream." (Ray Bradbury)

Profiled on Textile Study Group of NYC

Profile of NH-based member Wen Redmond, whose work will be in Crossing 
Lines. This is a great way to learn a bit about her process before you see 
her work: http://tsgnyblog.org/index.php/2011/12/wen-redmond/ 

heart's song

“…..the work is nothing else than the long journeying through the labyrinth of art to find again the two or three simple and great images upon which the heart first opened”. 
- Albert Camus.

Why

Colors swirl behind

my eyelids and

I seek to meld my thoughts

on canvas.

To print the photographs

I see in my mind.

 to imagine.

Bursting Out!

WCA-San Diego- Online Exhibit -Bursting Out •

Congratulations! You have been awarded FIRST PLACE for "Whispers of the Positive" by Juror A.Kimberlin Blackburn.

The link to the exhibition is www.zhibit.org/sdwcajuriedshow/bursting-out

a walk

PhotoShop Options

Photo of my woods, blended wiht funky edges

 I enjoy layering my photographs in Photoshop to create images that are painterly.

There are a number of blending tools in this digital palette that is similar to the creative process used in any media.

Frosty Grass

sheets of hand made paper

pinlight blend with frosty grass

overlay blend 

another photo used in above blend

frosty grass with soft light blend

Outside/Inside the Box, Philadelphia!

I got into Outside/Inside the Box! I am tingling!

         "We received entries from 517 artists with 1361 artworks from 15 countries:Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany,Hungary, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. The names of all accepted artists will be posted on our website soon."

Artwork(s) accepted: “Cormorant's Perch”

      Outside/Inside is a brand new fiber show which will happen in Philadelphia this spring in a huge gallery in the Crane arts building as part of FiberPhiladelphia.org -- organized by many people including Bruce Hoffman (used to be at Snydermans) Amy Orr, Dianne Hricko and lots others. It will open March 31 and is a central part of the SAQA SDA Conference. There is more on their website www.fiberphiladelphia.org about jurors etc. Cross range of all kinds of fiber!


Happy Thanksgiving all!

Crossing Lines NYC

My work Crumpled will be in Crossing Lines in NYC, World Financial Center on Vesey Street. 

Beautiful

Waiting for the sun to rise, thinking of the day, I am grateful for this small minute of time, to think, muse & see the sun emerge. Smile!

source http-//fearlessknightsandfairytales.tumblr.com/3

Fall News and Annual Open Studio Event

Hi everyone! The snow is coming and the leaves are almost down as we look to forward to the new winter’s snow.

           

            Open Studio Event

The Salmon Falls Mill Building where my studio, #336, is located will have it’s annual Open Studios Event this Nov 19 & 20- 10-5. This year, instead of new work, I will feature a host of items, a quick art sale of seconds and slightly older works- really priced to fit your budgets, tons of my collage baggies that have been so popular and my usual line of vintage and gently used clothing.

            I will also have an Antique and Vintage area, with a special section of antique tools for the men and a swell treadle sewing machine.

            Please join me and lots of other artists for this pre-holiday event sure to bring you into the Holiday Spirit!

            Directions can be found at www.millartists.com or GPS- 1 Front St, Rollinsford, NH

Spring 2012 Studio Workshops in Designing Fabric   Dates TBA

This 4-week series covers a variety of surface design methods, more later or ask about it at the Open Studio event. I always post announcements on my blog.

Fab Fabric Painting

Basic Silk-screening

Stalking the Wild Print

The Thermal Fax

Recent Acceptances

CROSSING LINES: THE MANY FACES OF FIBER

Three World Financial Center
200 Vesey Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY

Courtyard Gallery- sponsored by the Textile Study Group of New York 

My work Crumpled will be exhibited.

 SAQA Showcase artists chosen

Jurors Judith Content and Carolyn Ducey have chosen the artists for "SAQA Showcase" to be exhibited at the International Quilt Study Center from July through October 2012.

ARTISTS SELECTED:

Deidre Adams


Michael Cummings


Gay Lasher


Jan Myers-Newbury


Wen Redmond


Susan Shie

Shaking the Tree of Imagination, juried into “Interpretations 2011” at Visions Art Museum, CA: Contemporary Quilts + Textiles. The jurors selected 40 quilts from over 200 entries for a stunning exhibition. They had a challenging assignment, as the quality and craftsmanship of the entries were very high.

To Be Published

New York critic and curator Sandra Sider founded an artists' monograph series, THE STUDIO QUILT, available via Amazon.com, artists books include Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer, Linda Colsh, Barbara W.Watler, Ludmila Aristova, Jetta Clover, Erika Carter, Virginia Spiegel, Judith Plotner, myself and more!

Creating Thermal Fax Images using Photoshop Options

This post deals with several options to create the Black and White image you will need to create a Thermal Fax Silkscreen. 

Fiber sculpture by Anda Klancic

The best screens for thermal fax need to be created from photos that are pure black and white photos. 

The original image is first simply converted to a Black and White image. Go to Image>Adjustments >Black and White. I duplicated this image to use so I could retain the original Black and White image to return to to use again if I chose.

For the first option, I used Filters. Filter>Sketch>Stamp. This image resulted which could be used for a negative silkscreen. All the black areas would be burned. This is where the paint will be placed.

I prefer a positive image. To create this, go to Image.Adjustments.Invert. This will invert the colors so the subject in this photo is in black. The result is too thick, not detailed enough for what I had in mind.

As with most everything, there are different ways to do things. For above image, I returned to the original Black and White image and went to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. A small window with a slider will pop up. I slid the brightness first to lighten the image, than the contrast to darken the subject. I needed to up contrast several times to get a high contrast or dark subject. I decided this image was too delicate.

For this final image, I again returned to the original Black and White Image. This time I went to Image>Adjustments>Curves. A pop up window will show a scale. I slid the small triangle to the right, while watching my image. When I saw the desired darken image, I went to Adjustments> Brightness/Contrast and upped the contrast to create a dark high contrast image. This highlites all the veins in the leaf that I found so attractive. Perfect! This result has the detail I want and is dark enough to create a great Thermal Fax SilkScreen!
Copy and paste image onto a letter size file with a 1/2" border. Repeat until you have 4 images on a letter size file.

Fabric of Legacies Art Quilt Exhibition

2 of my works are on view at 29th Annual Fabric of Legacies Art Quilt Exhibition
at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, CO
Trees Seen, Forests Remembered 

  Digital Fiber Collage. Images of favorite trees printed with archival inks on various substrates. Mounted onto canvas and collage fused with painted, silk-screened cotton and stabilizer. Stitched   24x33w 

Lichen on Stone Yellow

 Digital Fiber Art Manipulated original digital photograph by artist, divided into 5 different images, printed with an Epson 2400 onto especially treated polyester. Stitched.  15x44w 

Stone as Drawing Line

Stone

Image changed to black and white high contrast

Printed on silk organza used as overlay

I Dreamt I Knew a Man Who was a Tree. He Told Me about all the Wonderful Lights He could See.

Bayberry Quilters Hit Holographic Imagery with Gusto!

     I was invited to teach my workshop Holographic Imagery with a delightful group of women on Cape Cod recently. Not only was the area just gorgeous- we had a very successful workshop with 99% finishing their personal Holographs.

Charlotte

Lynn

Mary Ann

We each started with a 5x7 image printed on silk organza and a reverse on inkjet transfer paper. Everyone chose their border fabrics and Ta- Da!!

Meredith

Priscilla

yours truly with finished samples