Let's get this party started!

Tomorrow is the big release party and book signing for Art Quilts at Play, the new book that Elin Waterston and I have written for C&T Publishing.



Please join us at the Country Quilter in Somers, NY from 1-4 pm for the celebration!

If you can't make it and you'd like to have your own party, you can order an autographed copy here.



We'll have an exhibit of a lot of the quilts from the book, great snacks, good music and as a bonus, the retirement sale is in full swing at the shop. A number of the contributing artists will be there and, of course, your favorite Most Inspirational authors - me and Elin!

Almost...

The new office area in the barn studio is nearly complete. Sometimes I think I should have been an interior designer, the decorating part of any project really floats my boat (bad metaphor, I get seasick really easily, but you know what I mean). Or, putting my reno and carpentry skills together with the decorating, a contestant on one of those reality shows where you get two days, $100, half a sheet of plywood, six old planks of knotty pine, two rubber bands and one copy of the Sunday New York Times to make over a room. I would totally rock that.



This project did involve trips to Ikea, Home Depot, Lowe's and an office supply store, and didn't involve any rubber bands, but it still looks hot. The shelves on the other side of the room are getting containers and labels. I need another trip to Ikea to finish it up.



And yeah, it's snowing again. Even with the snow, the view is better with the window.

More art, another collage made in December:



pescados musicales

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Lots of stuff going on, lots of changes happening and lots of time being eaten by said stuff and changes, which leaves little time for art. So, I'm going to distract you from the fact that I haven't posted a new Loteria collage in a while with some art I haven't shown yet.


las peras verdes

This is a mixed-media collage mounted on bristol board, using more of the mini-pear prints from last summer.

And this is a quick peek at one of the distractions in my life right now - another reno project, this time in Carlos' studio.

We decided that the shed attached to his studio would benefit from the addition of a window, among other things. Of course, there's always more to a project than that.



First I needed to clean everything out of the room and paint. I like to visualize things in advance (and I'm impatient), hence the blue tape to see where the window will go.



A quick trip to Ikea with a very focused list netted us some extra-tall shelves to create an impressive amount of storage along one wall of the room. I love Ikea.



Today we put in the new window and tomorrow, after the foamy, squirty insulation is dry and shaved down and the moulding is added, I'll take photos from inside. This is a picture from outside and in looking at it closely, I'd better add "paint the barn" to my To Do list for the Spring. Ignore the air conditioner lounging on the shed roof. It's a long story involving two ladders, a long rope, colorful words in several languages, rodent offspring and a slight miscommunication...



Have you noticed that when life-changing events are taking place that you have difficulty producing art? I certainly do. It isn't even a matter of having the time or desire, but rather the mental, emotional and creative energy necessary. So, a fallow and frustrating time.