You know those days when it’s just too nice to stay inside? Like the middle of November and the sky is a brilliant blue, the sun is beating down, and it must be at least 50 degrees. Today was one of those days. I decided it was time to put on my work duds and […]
Beauty of the Beasts, which is traveling with the SAQA Wild Fabrications show, has now landed at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, 700 North 12th Street (Franklin & 12th Streets), Wausau, WI. The exhibit will be at Woodson from December 2, 2017, to February 25, 2018. I was pleased to find out that Woodson […]
I’m a working artist. I love to sell my work, but that is not the reason I make art. I make art to touch another human soul. Today, the favor was returned by the employees and clients of Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital. My heart was filled to overflowing with the stories and thanks I […]
When we brought Drew home from the Humane Society, his older brother, Wiley, showed him around our small house. Then Wiley started to bark at the living room window. Drew stood there thinking about what he had just learned, and then turned, ran to our bedroom, and jumped up on the bed to see out […]
There can be drawbacks to working in a room with just yourself and a dog. I tend to lose myself in a very specific part of the piece I’m working on, even to the point that I don’t see the whole piece when I step across the room. This happened with the bison. What drew […]
Now that I’m six months past 55, it has started to hit me that I’m no longer in my 20s with ages and ages before me. I’m not sure how this has happened. I think someone is stealing time while I […]
Now that the Preview night has happened and the 2014 International Quilt Festival in Houston has officially opened, I can finally reveal photos of my quilt Summer Camp, which won first place in the special exhibit It’s Raining Cats and Dogs. Though it wasn’t as lucky, the Drew quilt Can We Talk About the Steak? […]
There I was up to my elbows in raspberry jam, my all-time favorite, even better than chokecherry! I am fortunate to have a friend with raspberry bushes that are producing a bounty of berries this year, and she invited me to come pick them. The kitchen was overflowing with the sweet smell of raspberries and […]
At the first hint of cool mornings and turning leaves, I turn into the Energizer Bunny. I’ve never figured out why that is, but some of my best work has been done in the fall. I started this fall by rearranging my studio so that I will now be able to accommodate small classes of […]
I approached the BLT dye day with a plan, something I have not done before. On my list was to try ice dye, a shibori wrap I watched Ruth do at the SDA weekend, and to overdye some of the monoprinted fabric from the SDA weekend. This was a more productive way to approach the […]
One of the many hats I’ve been wearing for the last few years is that of exhibit assistant for three organizations. I donned this hat because I wanted to learn more about how an exhibit comes together and gets hung. I would like to share a little about what I’ve learned so far. Let’s […]
One of the perks of being a member of Front Range Contemporary Quilters (FRCQ) is access to the inexpensive workshops with an amazing array of FRCQ member teachers. So on a recent cold, snowy, windy morning I carefully made my way to Golden and the Mountaineering Center for a class taught my Melody Randol. I […]
For a dedicated lone wolf, I’ve become quite good at sharing the sandbox. There is value in having a community of like-minded peeps. My sandbox is filled to the brim with critique groups, guilds, and artists of all kinds. But it is the critique groups—Boundless, BLT, SDA and the as-yet unnamed group—that keep me grounded […]
When there is only one three-day workshop you want at an “Urban Art Retreat,” you double-check everything to ensure that all the “i’s are dotted and the “t”s crossed. You also get up early the day early-bird registration opens so you can get it done and in the mail with the earliest postmark possible. So, […]
Are you familiar with the Dr. Seuss book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins? It was a childhood favorite of mine. Every time Bartholomew took off his hat another would pop up larger and more extravagant than the one before. Until the 500th hat that so impressed King Derwin that he buys it for 500 […]
Most of my life I have been painfully shy around people I didn’t know, and even people I did know. I was the one hiding behind my mother’s skirt at the birthday party. There was a time when walking into a room of 55 people, only four of whom I had met over dinner the […]
When my trusty sewing machine starts to misbehave, I know it’s time to change needles. So you might ask why it took me almost a month to get it back in working order recently. I have a routine of cleaning the bobbin area with a paintbrush every time I drop in a new bobbin. This […]
Illiamna and The Old Codger have extended their travels after debuting at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. They’re part of the Deux-US exhibit that will be traveling throughout the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo circuit: September 19-21, 2013 — Atlanta, Georgia October 3-5, 2013 — Fredericksburg, VirginiaOctober 17-19, 2013 — Fort Worth, TexasNovember 7-9, 2013 –– Minneapolis, MinnesotaNovember 14-16, 2013 […]
Once again, I’m on my way to Chicago. Can a year go by in such a flash as to be hardly recognizable? This year sure has for me. This trip will be a little different from the one I did last year. I will spend time with my aunt in Chicago. We have plans to […]
The men stand with their lunch buckets and miners candles dressed for work. The photo may have been taken in a Boulder studio, but these men were miners through and through. One of the requirements of being chosen for the Caribou Ranch Open Space Artist-in-Residence program is that you donate piece of artwork inspired by […]
During Open Studios last fall I met another of the Caribou Artist-in-Residence, Anne Gifford. Anne is an award-winning artist from Boulder who is currently working in watercolor. I have admired her work at the Boulder Arts and Crafts Gallery for years, so it was fun to meet her and swap Caribou stories. Like me, she […]
