Reflection on my Birthday....

Yes, today is my birthday and I've received an abundance of flowers/plants....which is very nice!!!  I love color and I love the flowers...hubby gave me the roses and the Bromlaid plant, my daughter Jenny the cactus display and my friend Malinda in Port Orchard Washington sent me the carnations...we share a birthday, spoke this morning and then the lovely flowers arrived on my doorstep this afternoon...quite a surprise.

Turning "69" is sort of mind bending for me right now....mainly because that means I'm at the end of my 60's and the next number is .......70.     I guess I should get used to the higher numbers because I intend to live many more years and with that means more aging.  Someone said to me "you sure don't look like you are 69"....but when I think about that, I wonder what 69 is supposed to look like at all.  We are who we are and we look a certain way no matter what....I don't drink or smoke and I take an abundance of vitamins and I stay busy in my body and my mind....that's the most I can do to keep myself going at this point in my life.  And yes, I get aches and pains....my hands hurt a lot from arthritis and sometimes my left leg bothers me (had polio as a kid in my left leg) but other than that, I feel very good.

It's all a state of mind over matter.....my mind doesn't matter what age I am, I am who I am and that's the end of that conversation.  So Happy Birthday to me, myself and I and onward into being 69.  I hope this year is clear of health issues for myself and Lynn and our family unit.  

Week One of Five

Week One of Five.......................sewing like a mad woman this week....the above dress image is similar to what I am just completing for my daughters wedding dress.....last night was our last fitting and it was decided that the zipper in the back of the lace should go...so I spent about an hour carefully taking that out of the lace...hard to determine stitch versus lace at times, but I got it out and now I'm going to create a smaller opening without zipper...looking nicer for sure.  Fishing off some seams left naked until the last fitting and the hem on both dresses...the underdress a normal seam, the lace over dress will get scalloped lace added to the bottom and she's all finished.  I also cut out the bodice for the flower girl dress yesterday and will sew that up today/tomorrow and then move on to the skirt and then the first fitting before I put in that zipper.  The maid of honor dress...that's another issue...silk chanteuse with two  under layers...not looking forward to that task.

I got accepted into the Blue Line Gallery 30 x 30 exhibit, which means I have 32 days to create 30 6" x 6" pieces of work......I have been working on getting all the parts/pieces together and I have thirteen of the thirty ready to go under the sewing machine needle this week...my goal is to finish these thirteen by end of this Saturday and I'll start another set on Sunday.  When I'm not at the sewing machine I'm either coloring the remainder of black/white images for the 30x30 or hand work on the wedding dress/other dresses.......................and of course when it rains it pours, acquired two new commissions in the course of all of this and I have a new piece I need to get down to the gallery to hang...........maybe later this week.....

Enough time on the PC for the day....need to get back to the work on the work table.....L

REcpetion Day

This afternoon is my reception at the Artists' Collaborative Gallery in Old Sacramento, sharing with Verena Borton, weaver.....anyone that knows me knows that I hate being the center of attention, that I don't like artist receptions, but I know I need to do them in order to keep the customers happy.  I don't like explaining myself for my art; I don't like hearing the questions "how much time did it take you to create this piece";  I don't like being asked whether I used my own fabrics or store bought fabric..why does it matter, it doesn't alter the finished piece.     I guess I just don't like being asked questions about my work as I feel people are criticizing me instead of praising me.    Must be a character flaw on my part, because I feel that way when asked.  I know, "get over it".  Part of who I am.

I'm right in the middle of creating my daughter Jennifer's wedding dress and once that is finished, I'm on to the bridesmaid dress and flower girl dress.

I'm also hoping to be accepted into the 30x30 exhibit at Blue Line Gallery in Roseville...thirty pieces of work 6" x 6" in thirty days attached to a large board that is hung in the gallery.  I've already printed off about 22 of the images I plan to use but am stuck with not working out the back plan because I don't know the size of the back board...I plan on painting a design on the backboard and that design will also be in the background fabric of each piece, so that when you stand at a distance you see on design, but when you come up close to the full display you see all the different images.  We'll see if I can make this all work with the time constraints and my daughters wedding on Nov 21.  I should be able to create up to ten pieces a week, which I'll need to do to meet this deadline.  I won't know if I've been accepted  until Oct 16....only six days and waiting.    

I know I'm nuts to get involved in all of this, but this is what I thrive on....pressure and creativity and it's good for me right now. 

Summer Project - New Exhibit at Artists' Collaborative Gallery

My summer turned out to be very production...nine new pieces of work all around wild animals and there will be more.  The Zebra: Coat of Many Colors is turned out to be the primary piece with several others not far behind. 

I did some solo two color images, sort of like a silhouette effect and they are very effect when viewed...loads of stitching over the entire surface, just like all the others. 

There are three pieces with this same silk dyed background..one with the the giraffe, then another with zebra and yet another with elephants...titled:  Migration...............again I started with a silhouette effect and then changed it to where I used fibers that reflected their natural skin surface...odd looking foilage against the stark background/heat of the animals habitat.  They all turned out stunning.

This is a detail of the elephants....there are about six more in the length of the piece.
36" long by 16"high...they will be hung as a group.

And they I swung the other way and did a collage of rhino shapes against the black/white and red/white background..heavily stitched as usual and looks very crisp pulled back over the stretcher bars.  32" w x 22"h...larger piece, but looks great.

All in all there are nine pieces that I will hang at the Artists' Collaborative Gallery on Oct 5 with a reception on Saturday, Oct 10  2-5PM along with Verena Borton, weaver.  Should be a good time and I'm hoping to increase my sales...I intend to leave these hang at least through December if not longer.

I have been at the gallery since 2010 and most of what I have shown are the pieces using old photos.  Even thought there are always new customers coming into the gallery who have never seen my work, I felt personally that I needed to change my wall coverage.  Everyone wanted me to go floral, but I just don't get the spark doing floral...something I'll have to work into in the future possibly.  I want to do the work I want to do, not what others think I should do. 

Now on to creating my daughters wedding dress, flower girl dress and a new project if accepted, 30x30 through the Blue Line Gallery...hope that happens as I really want to get my work out into the public more, different work that what would sell at the gallery in Old Sac.       9/27/215  LS

OMG....I have neglected my blog for sooooooooooooooooooooooooo long....can you tell I've been way to busy for chatting on line?    But I'm about to break that spell. 

I have been creating, but doing it silently.  I've worked up four pieces with a fifth under the sewing machine needle as I type and a new surface finished, ready to layer and start sewing next week.  My plan is to do two additional larger scenes and another animal and I should have more than enough for my unveiling in October as featured artist at the gallery in Old Sac.

As I told my Board of Directors last night at our meeting, I know my sales have been slow;  I have been doing something about it by changing what I have on the wall...if this doesn't generate sales over a specified amount of time, I will most likely leave the gallery.  You should have seen their faces....it was worth a picture, but I didn't have my camera/phone handy.   I meant what I said, so sales better start to happen or I'm going to have to pull the plug and move on.

Taking care of hubby has become far more than I even expected....it's been the hardest thing I have even done in my life and what I fear is that it's changing me.  That's why I moved my sewing table into the dining room so I could sew this summer and not have to dodge the heat in my studio.  It has helped a great bit to be able to sew and watch Lynn at the same time...at least I'm getting some new work completed and that's my goal. 

Lynn  and I have to come to a place where we have our new "norm" for us....he is not going to get much better..he is always going to be confined pretty much to the house and I'm going to have to pretty much take care of everything else.  His health is the biggest issue in our life; living it day by day. 

Elephants, Giraffes and Zebra, Oh MY

Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras, OH MY>>>>>>

I attended a gathering last week where I really had a wake up call....stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to working/creating....and since that gathering, I've put together three new surface designs, all using animal shapes.........ready to put them all under the sewing machine needle.  Now I have to find a "cool" day to get that started....seriously considering pulling my sewing machine back into the air conditioned house to do the sewing portion as I just don't seem to get the right amount of time to sew early in the morning when it's cool out in the studio room.  This is my plight every summer.  I've researched putting in a/c into that room, but the cost is very high for very low results...mainly it's because that specific add on room is on the south side of the house, full sun all day and I've got windows all around, bright light, meaning heat build up all day long.  Fortunately summer it's year around or I'd definitely have to make a permanent change. 

What usually happens has happened again...I start on one idea and all of a sudden I've had a flood of other ideas come at me using many different images and now I have a ton of ideas floating around on paper I can't keep up...this is how I like to work.  In no time I'll have a good series to finish off and hang in October.  I broke through my spell and I'm feeling fairly good about the outcome.

A huge thank you to my friends:  Dee, Marjan, Peig, Debra, Martha, Marjie and Carol...a good kick in the butt seems to work every time!!!!

Spring/Summer Project Finished

My Spring/Summer project has come to a finish...Dan Gannon, designer/landscaper, finished the last of what needed to be done yesterday and the huge pile of old pulled up shrubs were picked up this morning......looking very good.  Mulch and native plants were placed and this wonderful little patio area just outside my front door. 

And from the front sidewalk, this is the view...keep some iris and poppies and sage in their original spots with other plants in and around them.  What he planted three weeks ago have definitely started to grow in a couple of months, most will be filled in over the surface.  Under mulch drip system is working well and we are saving a huge amount on water. 


On the fiber art portion of my life, I have decided to do a small series on endangered animals that will  hang in the gallery for the October featured artist exhibit.....and I'm started a large project for myself, two pieces above my red couch on my gold wall...black w/red and red w/black silhouette images of endangered animals mainly from Asia and Africa.  And then I'm starting up on the three pieces I have on the back burner to use for submission into online art shows, etc.  These pieces will be far too expensive to put into the gallery;  not tourist worthy.

I feel I've made it over the hump of depression and I'm beginning to work more in the studio and I'm enjoying it more....I've realized that I need to ignore what "others" give me as ideas...they are nice to mention the ideas, but unless I come up with them myself I'm not going to produce at all.  Each day as a caregiver takes so much out of me and I have to accept that...do what I can and keep my head up focused toward a goal.