Thursday, May 21, 2015

About me...


I was tagged for the one lovely blog award by Kaja (at sewslowly) and Marly (at marlysquilts) which was a happy surprise! Thank you to both of you. They both have terrific blogs, full of ideas and color and creative inspiration.  Both of these women take time to share their artistic journeys in a real way, so go meet them.

About me.... 
1. I love color. From childhood I loved color and making things. I have tried just about every craft out there and believe it all goes together to inform my current art. Once I discovered sewing however, it's all about the fabric! I still paint watercolors, I still bead, I still make sculptures, I still like stone and metal but it all relates to fabric nowadays and textural 3-D effects are important to my art.

2. I make original, story quilts that are often humorous. I want my artwork to express who I am, and either make a viewer laugh or think, and hopefully relate to them in some way. 
AMOO-HA!  detail shot


3. My degree is in Psychology/ Sociology and I worked way too many years as a social worker.
 I am lucky enough now to spend my days as a writer and an artist. I travel to guilds to teach and speak on increasing one's creativity.  
I love to laugh, and find the funny moments in life to share with others as I believe fun and creativity are soul sisters.

4.  I love words. I love to read and have since I first held a book. I put words on quilts now, and write for the joy of it! 
Words are magical and can transport you.
Quiet in progress
 5. I am a terrible housekeeper.

6. I have done a lot of musical theater both as a dancer and singer. I worked the Renaissance Festival in Florida for about 10 years as an interactive character doing improv. I am an old ballet and tap dancer with injuries but I still do Contra Dance with my Favorite Dance Parner (my husband) as often as possible. I used to belong to a zydeco group so I also still love to do Swing Dance, Cajun, and waltz.

7. I do math puzzles for fun and love jigsaw puzzles. I spend too much time playing games on the ipad.

8. I love dogs, still miss my labradaughter Chelsea after 14 years, and now live with a standard poodle Cole who writes a post weekly. He's very clever and funny too.


9. I have way too much fabric to use in several lifetimes and am happy to have it.
 It is my obsession and palette.
When I start a project I shop in my own stash for materials!! It's so much fun!!! I do spend time on it's care and housing.

I sew every day that my body allows. If I am not at the machine, I also love to hand piece and applique. I can't just watch TV, I must have a project going as well. I sew on an old Bernina 1630 and need a new machine but I would rather keep this one if possible.

10. I collect pin cushions. And poodles, flamingos, cows, and other bright and shiny sparkly things.

11. I go by principle of just try it, with art. Go ahead, try it! 

12. Walking is another passion of mine, and I find viewing nature  increases my creativity. You'll see posts about our travels as there is so much inspiration out there in the world.

I believe we are all here for a reason. We are the only people on Earth with our particular set of skills, history, challenges to overcome, minds, abilities. There is no other person better able to tell our story than us. Artwork has more impact when it's personal, and I encourage you to tell your story in fabric.

 In fact I want to hear all your stories... come sit by me and we'll chat!

I try to do that in my daily writing of the blog. Check out the top pages, the categories to the right, for lots of fun stuff from the past.

 Y'all come back again sometime!

Check out a few  blogs I am nominating and it should be every one of you!!

snowcatcher for the inspiration, beautiful photos and Friday Funnies!
pugmomquilts down to earth fabric and color lovin' gal
sooner or later we'll all be blogging for the mix of dye, weaving, fabric, and fun
daybyday  Mary has beautiful photos including her dragon sometimes
quiltedfabricart. Always cheerfully experimenting with fabric
poochsmooches  Funny accounts of Rita the dog

And folks, I read a lot of blogs, and LOVE them. I love the writers of these blogs!!
Please don't be offended if I didn't mention yours this time.... I know I am leaving out some that I read weekly, and I apologize!!  I can only throw myself on your understanding that my brain is crowded with quilting ideas and funny stories! 

hugs, LeeAnna




13 comments:

Snowcatcher said...

What a fun, fun read! It was so nice getting to know you (and your pooch!) a little better! I enjoyed finding out how much we share in common, such as more fabric than we can ever use!

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna!
Congratulations!
Great to see the cow in the grasss skirt! And all your photo's!
Thanks for sharing through 'all about yourself'!
Keep on blogging! You and your blog are so creatively inspiring!
Looking forward to reading and enjoying more!
Take care,
Joanne

sonja said...

congratulations!
great humor and colorful art, who could ask for anything more?
perhaps a walk with a friend or an opinionated poodle!!

LA Paylor said...

ah Sonja... now there's an interesting blog y'all. This artist lives in Hawaii and has lovely photos and fiber art to share...

Nancy A. Bekofske said...

You have so many wonderful interests! It's great how blogging helps us to meet people we would never have known.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I got tagged yesterday by my friend Mary, but I certainly do appreciate being nominated by you as well. I wrote a post today about myself. I kinda like reading these post about my blogging quilting art friends! Fun!!

Jackie Bouchard said...

Thank you so much for the nomination! (Those stars are right... It really is a thrill just to be nominated!) :)

AMOO-HA! Love it!!

Kaja said...

Always nice to get a peek an Amoo-ha. I love these posts: it's always nice to learn new stuff about people I read. And I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who neglects the housework.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Though we are followers of one another...it's always fun to learn a little bit more about ya. You post was fun to read. :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats-well deserved recognition. Keep up the good work. :)

Dasha said...

Somehow I missed this post when you first wrote it. Thanks for sharing your creative journey with us. Love the whimsy in Amoo-Ha!

compusword said...

LeeAnna, I discovered your wonderful blog today and signed up. I am curious about your mandalas. After sketching, it seems that colors are laid in circles. What is your method for disbursing the color? If this is already posted, where may I find it? Lovely, lovely work! Liz in Houston

MKQuilter@hotmailcom said...

LeeAnn, I think I just found a sister from another mother!!! I am a retired teacher an avid quilter. I have a lab but we were just talking about how smart poodles are. I love your stuff!!! Keep it up you are making the world a better place!! MKQuilter@hotmail.com