Welcome to Thursday!

"We can tap into a powerful source of creative energy when we are willing to gradually cultivate a sense of order as to how we conduct our daily affairs" - Sarah Ban Breathnach

I've been sewing! Yes, sewing! And I am so happy.
My studio is not quite in proper order yet, but it's getting there! I'm close. I just have a few more things to tidy up. From this new arrangement of my space, I am receiving energy that has sparked my creativity. I am putting fabrics together, shifting them, moving them around and feeling the energy that comes from doing this. I am being propelled forward! My new pieces are currently hung on my display board, in full view and I'm loving them!
This is all good!

Teaching this Saturday will just bring on more creative energy!
Keep it going!

A trip to the New England Quilt Museum

Wow!

Did I say, "WOW?"

"A full spectrum of saturated color"

Yeah, WOW. Look up Jenny Hearn from South Africa!

What a great show! So many quilts from people I have been following for years. Like Terrie Hancock Mangat, Nancy Erickson, Susan Shie. These are people whose work I saw back in the 80's and said, "This is the direction I want to head in!" And to see their work, today, up close and personal, like that! My cup runneth over with joy.

Now it's time to:

"learn and delight in your own style...."

Get busy!

"No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch." ~ Leo Dworken

Did I ever tell you that all my quilts are cat tested and approved?
I should make up little circle stickers (with ears!) that have different inspection numbers for my three babies, Felix, Milo and Bish. I think each cat has exceptionally good taste in preferring to sit on my quilts.

There is something about knowing that a cat loves to dream and twitch on a beautifully made, colorful, comfortable, homemade item.

Yes, I had a creative day today. Can you tell? Thanks for asking....!

I'm teaching at Northern Lights Quilt Guild, Lebanon, NH

If you want to take my class, Saturday, January 30, 9am-4pm, at
the Methodist church in Lebanon, NH, please email michelle@fabricadabra.com There are still a few spaces left.

Art Quilts: Methods to the Madness I
In this class you will learn simple methods and time saving techniques that will make the art quilt of your own design look more complex. You will learn reverse applique, couching, satin stitching, using fusibles and stabilizers, and touch briefly on bobbin drawing. Plan to work with a bit of reckless abandon and have fun! You will be gently cooerced into taking risks with design, color and craftsmenship. Definitely a hands on class!

January 17th

Currently, I am sitting idle in my sewing room, taking an assessment of all that I need to do. It's starting to look coherent. I've been putting together a new arrangement for better productivity. There are still things that need to find their places. Where can I put all these things?...that is logical AND that I will find later, easily! Hmmmmmmm
My hope is, that tomorrow, I enter a new creative space.
Today, I've also been going through photo albums and rearranging my shelves in the living room to accomodate new stuff. It's out with the old and the dust, too. Cough, sputter, gag!

Yes, I know what you are thinking....

Now her house is totally a mess.

And you are right!

"Out of clutter, find simplicity" - Albert Einstein

Tra La!

Hey there! Good morning! I feel good today.
My talk last night about color went well. I am really happy. I had a great audience, with several people willing to play and have fun and we did. I learned so much from the event as well; about myself, presenting my work and pacing. I would really love the opportunity to offer this talk to other guilds so I shall fine tune my notes and add it as an offering to my resume.

Moving onto other things.....
I will be teaching my "Methods to the Madness" classes at the end of January and February for the NLQG.
Fun! : )
I will create/finish a whole new body of work for a show in May/June at the Lyme Library, Lyme, NH.
Introspective! : |
I will jury state wide for the League of NH Craftsmen this year, and add work to all the League galleries.
scarey! :o
I will start on my book.
ya, right! :?

Whew! I'd better stop there, so I don't overwhelm myself.

Now, I just have to move my tables to finish setting up my studio, then Look out list, here I come! I'm gonna start crossing off stuff.

Have a great Day.

Preparing

All I've done this month so far is prepare for things. I have been preparing my sewing room, and preparing this talk, and preparing myself.
Oh yeah, did I mention that you should prepare yourself for me, whining?
I hope all the preparation will pay off and I actually start to do something.

"We want to know it all. To be creative means becoming more familiar with being a little lost."

O.K. I admit it. I'm lost.
Tomorrow night is the kick off to a great year. Then take it one day at a time.

Monday, Monday...

"Now the eyes of my eyes are opened" - e.e. cummings

Yup, it's Monday. The first day of the week. The time to start afresh, feeling renewed from the weekend. My list of things to achieve is long, and I am optimistic. I'm still feeling the upsurge from a new year beginning and resolutions promised. Keep the momentum. Keep going.

Cross off number one....I'm on to two and so on.

A Saturday Spent with Art Quilters

"Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day! I've got a beautiful feeling, everything's going my way!

Energy, Rejuvenation, Happiness, Empowerment, Renewed Creativity and Sense of Direction, ....what else....? My descriptive list could go on and on! Oh, the positive sense of well-being that comes from being with such a wonderful group of women. I LOVE it.

Now, to capture that moment, that energy, and keep it contained inside my studio while I am by myself. That is the key.

Let the creative juices flow.

"...in my view, fewer women than men are drawn to the self-limiting or even self-mutilating obsession that artistic careers often demand."

"In many ways, art is a beautiful delusion. One has to be willing to sacrifice everything to create an alternate universe." - Camille Paglia

I was reading "edge" the magazine of the University of the Arts. The story was about what has held women artists back from ranking with Michelangelo or Picasso.

It made me think about something I never thought about before.

"...most women do seem, for whatever reason, to be more empathetic and less aggressively confrontational than most men. Attacking the establishment and trying to topple and destroy cultural idols is more a male than female style." - Camille Paglia

It's time to walk the walk.

Too many UFO's

O.K.
While tearing apart my closet preparing for my talk on color, I unearthed my UFO bin.

OMG!

I don't remember half of the work I found inside there.

No wonder a few years ago I overheard someone comment about how I never finish anything! Note: since hearing that, I have finished several large projects, just not these!

Well, now I have things draped everywhere and my studio is a mess!
But I did find myself making "Hmmmm" sounds.

I heard my inner voice say,

"Not bad!, maybe I'll finish this one!"

Progress is, finding an old piece that you thought was bad at the time (and stowed away out of sight), and thinking (now) that it is gold and you want to finish it.

I love that!

The Random Use of Color

That is where my mind is at today...I'm thinking about the Random Use of Color.

Question: Is color generally random? or has "something" planned the colors we see in nature?

Question: Do human eyes see colors differently? There are people who are color blind, who can see color, but not the same color everyone else sees. I wonder, is everyone just a hint or maybe one or two degrees off from each other?

Question: Can random color work in a quilt without any thought as long as a neutral color is added? What if a neutral color is not added? What are the limits to random use?

I am giving a talk to the Northern Lights Quilt Guild on Wednesday January 13th about the Random Use of Color. Today I am preparing for it, reading books on color and traditional color theory, but mostly spending time thinking about how I go about using color. I want to present a non-technical approach to using color for those people, like me, who just dive into color. Also, I'm interested in appealing to people who are neutrals, or pre-set patterns to encourage them to try something different. I want to make it fun, too!

Ah, time now to paw over my past quilts, to tear open my fabric closet and look at and try several mock-ups. Who says preparing for a talk isn't fun?

See ya.

Ode to Color

Colors are electrons

Visible, they occupy one octave of the
electromagnetic spectrum

To reach you, their rainbow vibrations move
at the speed of light

Yet, they require no medium
for transmission

Learn from your colors, for they are part of you:
mind, eye, sensation

Use your colors, for they are your personal resource
from the universe.
- Dorothee L. Mella

O.K. it's time to start a new year! Just do it!

Today is the first working day of the new year. I've got my coffee, I'm tidying up my space, I'm getting ready to work. My mind is preparing for exploration. So, what's wrong? I'm a little worried that I may be in a forced mindset today because I am just a little too much aware of myself. I'd better do some warm-up exercises.

"People become really remarkable when they start thinking they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success." - Norman Vincent Poole

Well, I gotta go! I've got lots to rearrange and jump start today. I'm still organizing, but if that's what it takes to help me warm up into my project, that's good! There's nothing like a clean studio, inviting new messes and sparking creativity!

Enjoy!

A Team of Empowering Allies

"A goal without an action plan is a daydream" - Nathaniel Branden

This year, I have decided to create a door where there was a window. Where once I sat on a chair and looked out, I shall now stand and move through. What does this mean? Well, I have begun to realise that I need to move out of stagnation and start taking more risks. Yup.

How do I do this? I love this line;

"If what you are doing doesn't feel wierd to you, you haven't gone out of your comfort zone for change to happen" - M.J. Ryan

Yes! It's scary because I like my comforts! Eating un/healthy food, being cozy, safe, unruffled. I like that!

The term "just do it" is a phrase that both excites and repels me. I have had many people suggest it to me over the years. It's exciting because I want to just do it, but I find I'm really, really, scared to do it! Don't my friends know that? But, when I reflect on my path through life so far, I see that when I have been passionate about anything, I have tended to dive in and, yes, just do it! I think I must have a way of making it appear easy or something.

Well, I know now that for solid change to happen, it takes a village of people around me to get me to "just do it." So I hope to create a "Team of Empowering Allies" to help me through my discomfort. I already have several wonderful people around me, I just want to broaden my circle for better insight.

And, yes, to all who know that life does not have to be uncomfortable all the time for change, I have reached that point where some things come relatively easy because of all the growth, learning and discomfort I have experienced. That in itself is such a shock when it is first realised and a pleasure and comfort when it happens.

But life is continual change.

I'll end this on that thought.....

2010 is here!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Yes! Of course! I have resolutions. How about you?

I actually have so many I could burst! But I will not force myself to keep any or all of them, or I'd be a wreck with myself as soon as I broke them.

This year I will be gentle on myself.

This will be the Year of trying to stay focussed on a specific goal. All my many resolutions are tiny missiles toward that one goal. If I slip up on one, the others will carry me. If I slip up on all of them, then there's always more time, or next year. I'll just keep heading toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Just gotta keep chugging away at it.

Coming back to my writing here is one resolution I hope to keep. So check back here often.

"You're good enough as you are to do what you want as well as you can" - M. J. Ryan