Fiber Arts Open Studio

It was snowing 'to beat the band' yesterday on Hatteras Island up to three inches total.  But the ladies and I were warm and toasty embarking on new knitting projects and casting off old ones.  I'm so proud of this beginning group they've caught on fast and have created fashionable accessories.  Amy mailed her scarves off to Cali, and is learning to knit in the round; Jane completed her first scarf and is working on a novelty yarn cowl; Claudia has knitted scarves, throws and now this beautiful shrug.  Come join us at Blue Pelican Gallery & Gifts and learn to make your own handcrafted fashion.

Snow Day

Today is the first real snow storm I have experienced on an island.  It's very raw and beautiful.  Normally I see this kind of snow in the mountains is so different seeing snow on a beach.  It's very beautiful and raw.  I love the different faces of Mother Earth.

I love the contrast of the bright colors of the house with the snow.

Nala loves the snow.  She's watching the kids snowball fight.

My son went to the beach to take these beautiful photos of the snow on the sand.

5 Day Artist Challenge

I was nominated by Delia Marsellos-Traister who is a Fantastic Fine Metal Jewelry Artist in the Los Angeles area to participate in a 5 day Facebook Artist Challenge.  I took it as an opportunity to present my past work on line and to nominate some wonderful artist friends of mine.  I'm currently moving in a different direction fine tuning my skills in other mediums.  I enjoyed revisiting the past and seeing the continuity in my artistic journey.  Vibrant color, texture and whimsy was the constant theme through the use of a variety of artistic mediums. Here is a brief example of my work.

Day 5 - I presented my 'Soulful' collection.  I express my soul and creative spirit through vibrant colors, textures and all kinds of materials. 

Day 4 -  I presented another phase of my artistic journey, Hand weaving.

Day 3 - I presented another phase of my artistic journey, Ceramics. I found my voice in hand building clay after many poor attempts at the wheel. Once I went to hand building I was singing. So here are examples of my storytellers and baskets of course.

Day 2 - I presented pictures of my next phase of creativity, my knitting.  I began knitting again as an adult while going through some heavy duty life issues.  Knitting brought me comfort and joy and helped me find a new way to express my artistic voice.

Day 1 - I began my work as an artist when I found my voice in basketry.  Here are three examples of my work.

Vibrant Color

The past couple of days have been really bleak.  50+ mile an hour winds! driving rain! howling and swaying! rocking back and forth.  I couldn't even create anything the past two days.  I had to be patient and wait.  (not my strong suit)  yesterday I got my house cleaned, did laundry, ironed and ironed fabric.  (I told myself. 'Let it cure one more day.'). Then bam I couldn't wait I had to wash the fabric.  I would try one piece and let the rest wait until tomorrow.  Once the water hit the fabric I was in Heaven, the reveal.  Brilliant, vibrant colors better than I had anticipated.  I'm going to wash them all.  I Hand washed each piece with loving care.  Draped them over the bathtub, stood for a second to admire my work.  Then BOOM!  Power out!  What?  The storm is over WTF!  Just when I got happy and excited and almost literally jumped for Joy, and all goes to black.  I freaked for a minute got out candles and flashlights and waited patiently.  And waited and waited, visions of vibrant colorful fabric dancing in my head.  Almost an hour later and boom, lights again.  Reality set in and I had to drive my daughter to basketball practice.  I would have to wait a couple of more hours until I could revel in the reveal.  But, it was so worth it.

Fiber Arts Open Studio

Yesterday we had a wild, wooly and windy time at Blue  Pelican Gallery and Gifts.  Hatteras Island had up to 50+ mile an hour wind gusts and the rain and noise was deafening.  But, we were cozy and warm knitting and spinning up our own storm at the Fiber Arts Open Studio.  Linda Sue was mastering the art of using the drop spindle and Claudia revealed her beautiful Yarntaster throw.  (The picture does not show the depth of color or the many beautiful yarns she used) Come join us next week.

Fabric Painting and Duck

Yesterday I finally got out my paints and stamps and made a real mess in my cottage.  I've been chafing at the bit to get going on my fabric experimentation.  My intent is to find my voice in fabric, I just haven't found it yet.  I'm continuing to explore all avenues and can't wait until I sing.  But, until then I'm enjoying the process.

When I began painting I felt great, I was in a rhythm.  Then it became work, but I wouldn't stop.  I keep pushing myself.  This is a long process.  It takes a couple of days to see the end result.  I was hand painting on cotton and faux batiking using a resist paste.

Then I decided to take a break.  I had been in the house all week through all of the weather changes.  The sun was shining it was almost 60 degrees so I went to the beach.  The wind surfers were out.  It was extremely winding, but felt good.  Nala and I got out to touch the sand.  There were a lot of washed up seashells.  So I started picking them up and before I knew it I was strolling down the beach.  This had been a visualization of mine a few years ago when I was almost immobile and very sick.  Wow, dreams do come true!  I couldn't believe it I wasn't huffing and puffing. Yay!  When I got back home I was ready to paint, but had a duck to prepare and cook.  My sister had sent me it for New Years and I was ready to cook it.  So, as the duck was cooking I was painting more fabric.

I went to bed tired, yet fulfilled.  I had accomplished a lot and my visions were manifesting before my eyes.  Bright colors on fabric, collecting shells on the beach and beautifully roasted duck ala orange served with baby peas.  Healthy goodness.

Doodling Cards

This week I have been painting, learning new techniques and creating art.  By Friday I was totally spent.  I had enjoyed my burst of creativity, but now I was empty.  I cleaned up the art table and put everything away.  I rested a bit and even took a brief nap.  When I got up I decided to try and find something to make.  Nothing called to me though.  I gathered all of  my neon craft supply stash that I could find and put it all together.  Still nothing.  I started putting everything away again and saved my colored cards.  I then saw I had a new brush tip black marker.  Hum...  This could be something.  I started doodling and look what came up.  I started making these inspiration cards and doodles, found my metallic markers and 'Boom'!  Back in the creativity vortex.   These cards make me so happy.  It's so empowering to be inspired by yourself.

Creativity Vortex

As I have been saying I am riding the wave of a major Creativity Vortex.  The energy is strong, vibrant and all consuming.  I haven't felt this creative in years.  It's a wonderful feeling and full of creative possibilities.  I finally have the physical energy and emotional desire to craft all of my crafting visions into reality.  The past several years had been very challenging for me.  I was in a lot of pain both physically and emotionally.  Ever step I took was painfully.  Sitting up and laying down was painful.  Brushing my teeth was painful.  I was swirling in a whirlpool of pain and discomfort.  The doctors recommendations were none.  Increase your medication and basically gave me no hope.  When you are overweight and have a heart condition they are just waiting for you to die.  Added to that I had several other issues going on.  I refused to cave into the pain and what got me through was my children, my pets, my sister and a couple of friends.  I lived in my head, I had all of these visions of making art, crafting and vivid colors.  I had dreams of a life crafting and sharing the benefits of crafting with others.  I am now taking baby steps toward realizing these visions.  Last year I was able to overcome 80% of the pain and began crafting.  This year I am teaching and coaching on a weekly basis and crafting these bright, vivid, colorful works of art.  I'm loving it and enjoying living in this creative vortex.  It's the answer to my prayers for creating joy and wellness in my life.

Here is the artwork I created the past few days.  I never ever considered myself a painter.  I love painted everything, clothes, furniture, artwork etc.  But, I never felt I had the gift.  These pieces are still childlike and whimsical but, I see some potential here.

Dream Circle Workshop

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to work with two local women business owners.  They were interested in making Dream Boards, a visual collage activity.  This process assists the creator in tapping into their own unique inner eye and bringing those visions or dreams, goals and desires into the physical world.  Once you see your hearts desire on the boards it gives your dreams more clarity and enables you to focus on things and feelings that you want to manifest in your life.  It's also a form of active meditation and can be very soothing and empowering.  The boards reveal a lot about our selves and I thoroughly enjoy facilitating this technique.  We had fun playing with the art materials and of course sprinkling the fairy dust around the table.  I look forward to working further with these women on their creative journey towards personal and professional success.

This was my piece that I worked on after the workshop.  I have not painted something like this before.  It was nice to just make 'art for art's' sake.  Of course, I had to take advantage of the art table.