Around the World blog tour... It's all about me! (this time)

Time Flies and Imagine!

Marilyn Wall (see her work here) asked me to do this tour. She makes some beautiful art! I was asked several times to do this, all by fabulous bloggers, and wasn't able then to put the effort into the post, so this is my second chance. Relax and Welcome to my blog!
The quilts shown hung behind me at my last lecture. Time Flies is still my favorite out of over 200 quilts finished. "Imagine" tells the viewer to imagine the possibilities! I have not shown it here before. I plan to show mostly work you've seen as this post is about process not discussion of new work.

 Why do you make what you do?
I have tried just about every craft out there because I have always been driven to make art. I didn't recognize it as creativity until I joined a watercolor group in Tampa. I didn't know I could paint or draw, til I did it.
Although I enjoyed all craft forms fabric stole my heart as a child and continues to keep me enthralled.
I make art because I am driven. I write and make quilts to express myself, and to connect with others.

 I still sketch, paint, and work with beads, but I love fabric and thread, and the line  that stitch provides.

For examples of my work, there is a button at the top( click here) and under the label( click here for my art posts  )  There are some great older posts under labels of interest and I hope you explore my blog over time

How is my work different from other quilters?   What a great question!
My artwork is personal, original, and often humorous.I think, how can I make this...different.
Add in colorful, bold,  lots of metallic thread-work, 3-D effects, script/words, beads, attention to good workmanship and details. I work on many projects at a time, in different styles.

 I careen willy-nilly  from project to project depending on the moment. I have found it's important to pay attention to the muse and the moment. 
If I have a compelling idea I drop everything and explore it. Inspiration is magical and sometimes fleeting. 

for more creativity roadblocks posts click here

I can be driven as well, and work intensely on a project, start to finish, as I did on Amooha, a challenge to interpret one of the 50 states of America...

see more posts on the making of Amooha in archives May 2013

 My work must be meaningful to me.I have a large collection of fabric and draw from it when I work.
As David Walker said, Excess is never enough!
I might be different because I work in many styles depending on what I want the piece to convey. I am experimental, because it's fun, not just to try a technique. I work large, and small, by hand and by machine, whimsical as well as abstract sometimes together. The hibiscus on Amooha are worthy of their own piece!

Bikini Body

 There are a lot of details in these two pieces. Please click on images to see. There are posts on both outlining how they were constructed. Bikini Body was made to interpret the Song Yellow Polka dot bikini. 
It's a self portrait.

one of my abstracts, with paint and thread work

How does my creative process work?   
Two students once asked if they could come watch me work in the studio. I was flattered but I wouldn't be the same with other people in the room. They wanted to know how I made decisions and how I approached problem solving. 
I  start with a concept.
 An idea, poem, shape, technique, challenge or desire to interpret nature. I sketch about 12 possibilities, until one sings to me. On the other hand, the concept for this quilt came in the night. I woke with the completed quilt in my mind, rushed to sketch it, complete with coloring it in. Then I took a month to complete it, working on nothing else until it was done. I call it Tequila Sunrise, but the working title was palm leaves...

I put my heart and soul and lots of sewing time into this piece. I developed some techniques I plan to write an article about, when I am more confident about publishing ideas. The following picture represents my ongoing challenge to study well known painters and their styles, interpreting them with fabric. It shows the details that make me happy.

 
This is the study on Klimt. All the STAT quilts can be seen from the STAT label on the side there =>>
Because I paint, because I made dolls, I learned to paint faces, and am now enchanted with female faces. They come out differently each time, have such expressions that I feel they make themselves. 

When I approach a challenge like this, I look at the artist's work, I decide what makes HIM unique and what aspect of his art speaks to me. 
I then sketch, then decide what technique will work best to showcase the concept I have.  



The studio is in a constant state of mess as I pull out material and bits like metal, beads, fringe that I might use. I like it tidy, everything has a place, but I can work in a mess just as well as a tidy area. 
The idea drives me. The concept to convey. The feelings and moods I want to capture in fabric. 
I love to finish a piece, to bind it. I am constantly inventing techniques, new ways to bind or embellish a piece and live a creative life. As a social worker, I had little time to make art, but my husband supports my creative spirit in every way imaginable so now I have the gift of time. I don't squander it. 
What are you working on now? 
I have so many projects in the works! UFO's don't worry me, they sit quietly waiting for me to return to them with fresh eyes. I have ongoing series that I visit each year, such as Halloween quilts, Valentine quilts,

An abstract nature series, STAT quilts, and others. Currently, I am working on my Day of the Dead quilt that is encrusted with beads and fun! It will be done by Halloween for the QuiltArt online challenge. I am also working on my STAT project interpreting Georgia O'Keefe which will have painted elements and beads. The one I most look forward to this year is my guild challenge quilt, which is one using a poem I wrote a while back and has two elements I repeatedly use, female figure and a tree. I leave you today with my power suit quilt,

The poem describes my life these days of coping with chronic body issues, and says basically it takes power to put one foot in front of the other and face life bravely. 
I encourage you to work originally and freely share your work with others. 
I am available to visit your guild as a lecturer and teacher. Please see my page at the top. Thanks and please visit my friend Sandy Donabed next Monday for her Tour. She is awesome. Talented and her blog never fails to entertain me. The link is Waiting for the Muse