Lotería Collage Project
18 El Violoncello (the cello)
My project got slightly derailed by a weekend away and an overload at work, but I'm getting back on track now. Next week I hope to start the matting and framing of some of the pieces, after a trip to Ikea. They have a marvelous 10" square frame that will be perfect.
Art Quilts at Play, my new book written with Elin Waterston for C&T Publishing is now available. If you'd like an autographed copy you can order one from me here. The book is gorgeous, the designer and all of the folks at C&T did a knock-out job. I've been furiously packing up all of the books for people who pre-ordered a copy and should be caught up soon.
In other news, our first book, Art Quilt Workbook, was voted the Most Inspirational Book by the readers of Quilters Newsletter magazine in the latest issue. What an honor!
So the big project that Sam started on Thanksgiving is finally finished. It's actually been done for a while and I didn't get around to posting the pictures. It's really remarkable!
She found a really neat pattern for a cat bed and decided to make it for her ferret, Paisley (good name, right?) It was quite an adventure, starting with an egregious error on the supply list. It called for 12 feet of 24" wide by 1" thick upholstery foam. There are places in the construction where you would be sewing five layers of this foam together. Wasn't gonna happen. Of course we didn't discover this until we had spent nearly $80 on the foam and she cut out all the pieces. Headliner fabric worked perfectly though. Anyone want a whole bunch of weird shapes cut out of 1" foam? We can hook you up...
She picked fabric from my stash and made hers a Rainbow Trout. I think it looks amazing. The mouth is the opening to the bed, the whole inside of the fish is hollow (and lined), the fins are quilted and the eyes are styrofoam balls cut in half with pupils painted on.
It's huge - nearly 30" from pouty lips to flirty tail. And Paisley loves it.
Lotería Collage Project
16 La Bandera (the flag)
The weather is not cooperating with this project. It's too cold in my studio to work most evenings. Not fun on so many levels, at home and at the store. The pipes froze at the shop on Saturday and burst in two places (it was minus 15 without a windchill in the morning). Plumbers are in short supply because everyone's having the same problem.
I'm very wearily starting a countdown - 61 days until Spring.
Lotería Collage Project
12 El Valiente (the hero)
Not sure what he's warding off, and look, he dropped his hat!
Lotería Collage Project
10 El Arbol (the tree)
The fact that it's been less than 50 degrees in my studio when I get home from work at night is wreaking havoc with my best-laid plans to post a new piece every day. I probably should have started this when the weather was warmer, but there's something so symmetrical about starting a new project on the first of the year. Tonight I sewed with a parka, scarf and hat on and baby, that machine was COLD to the touch. Brrrr. (Couldn't sew with my mittens on, though I tried.)
Dorian Price at the super-cool website Refrigerator Art Online interviewed me the other day. Check it out here.
Dorian's site is a fantastic resource for artists and art lovers with reviews of galleries and shows, art news, interviews, calls for entry. Head on over for a visit, she has all sorts of goodies!
Lotería Collage Project
06 La Sirena (the mermaid)
Oooo, I was doing so well and then last night when I got home from work it was 47 degrees in my studio. And the power's been going on and off all day today from the ice storm. Good thing I committed to Nearly Every Day.
cotton fabric, cotton batting, cotton thread, metallic foil and acrylic ink on 6" x 6" stretched canvas
This little guy is full of steely resolve. The bigger birds had better not mess with him.
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the three small dark squares on the upper left are metallic foil -- steel colored. I don't know where all of these birds are coming from. Every week when I read the IF word, a bird pops into my head.
I love New Year's Day - the whole bright, shiny new year is stretched out ahead of me. It holds only possibility and potential in it - no mistakes, no problems, no disappoint, no disillusion. This is going to be a good year, a year full of hope and of change. My only resolution is to make time to create more art. I do have a formidable list of goals and will be working hard to realize them.
Last year I started off with the best of intentions to create one small piece of art each week. I got waylaid in the early part of the year when deadlines, working full time, business trips and life in general got in the way and I missed a number of weeks. This year I will continue that project (6" square work mounted on canvas using the prompts from Illustration Friday) and strive to do better. I really enjoy the format of IF and love the community.
I also decided the new year needed a new project and I cast about for inspiration in early December. I remembered that I had bought a few packs of Lotería cards from Judy Gula in Houston this year and thought they would made a good basis for a journaling project. The Lotería cards are used to play a game like Bingo and each of the 54 have different pictures and labels on them. I'm going to make 5" square fabric collages with them, using either the card itself or something about the card as inspiration. The iconic Mexican nature of the images and their overall kitschiness appeal to me.
The first card is El Gallo (the rooster). I have trouble with the Every Day thing, so I'm shooting for Nearly Every Day. I also need rules (well, self-imposed rules anyway, -- outside rules, not so much) so each piece will start with a square of wool felt and have some hand stitching on it.
So, who else is journaling on a regular or semi-regular basis in 2009?
