Papier Mache Camp ends today!

I have been teaching a camp for 8 - 10 year olds at the League of NH Craftsmen this week.  It's called, "Masks and Sacred Vessels". So far it has been a really creative week!

I start out encouraging the kids to go with their inner creativity.  If they "see" something in the shapes they are creating, they should tell me about it and I will help them make whatever it is.  This week, I have gotten to see several amazing projects emerge and grow!

Wow.  The power of a person's creative energy is just mind boggling to watch.  I never get tired of it and I wish I could feed off of it more!

Needless to say, I am sad that my week long camp is over.  But I look ahead to getting back into my own work, hopefully with the same freeing abandon that the kids enjoy.

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”  -  Mary Lou Cook

Happy Solstice!

Close up of
a silk scarf.

Procion Dyes
with thickener
mono printed

and dip dyed.

Surface Design Blowout Weekend

Well, today is the final day of another Surface Design Blowout weekend. 88 degree weather and possibly 90 degrees today does not stop the creativity! In fact, "It's a great day for dye-ing!"

There is shibori, mono-printing and stamping occurring as well as silk painting and T-shirt design.
Lots of action!

Yee Haw

It's June!

My birthday! Yes! I had my birthday, and as you can see from the cake, my daughter insisted on putting all the candles on it! I said, "You don't have to do that!" but when she continued as if not hearing me, I asked, "Who taught you to be so honest?" We had a good laugh. The house did not catch on fire from that picturesque blaze, either!

The spring is flying by me. With the gardens and the lawn needing continuous mowing! I also have my art and lots of it! I just finished installing the prayer flags at the Aidron Duckworth Museum. Opening Reception, June 19th 3 - 6 pm. I still have my show up at the Lyme library until June 30th. This weekend I am teaching a two day Mono printing on fabric class at the Hanover League (and there is still room!) call Suzanne Jones at 643-5384.

I head to the studio today to set up for tomorrow and Friday to work privately on my next SculptureFest installation. Mono printing on pure silk... this should be a real pleasure!

I will be demonstrating Papier Mache at the Hanover Farmers Market today from 3 - 6 pm. Stop by to say hi!

Show's up, what's next?

What's next for Margaret?  O.K. I'll tell you!

I will be installing my sculpture "Forever Reverent" at the Aidron Duckworth Museum, Meriden, NH in early June!

May 22, 2010
Meandering and Drawing with a Sewing Machine
League of NH Craftsmen Fibers Studio
Call Suzanne Jones: 643-5384

June 12 - 13th, 2010
Mono-Printing on Fabrics
League of NH Craftsmen Fibers Studio
Call Suzanne Jones: 643-5384

June 19, 2010
Moving Art 
Opening reception 3 - 6 pm
Aidron Duckworth Museum,
21 Bean Road,  Meriden, NH
Call 603-469-3444 for more information
www.aidronduckworthmuseum.org

Happy Mothers Day Weekend!

Today I take another road trip. I am going to Massachusetts to celebrate my mo-in-laws 80th birthday. How lovely is that? I want to bring her an armful of flowers! But simplicity remains the order for today... no gifts, just her family surrounding her with love.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Happy Mothers Day to all the women out there who take the time to raise or nurture children! You don't have to biologically have your own kids to be a mother. Mothering is something that flows out of us naturally when we are around children.

So, celebrate the nurturing spirit of all women this weekend. Take a hot bath, relax, curl up, read a good book, and breathe.

Enjoy!

"My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune." ~Graycie Harmon

Quilt Show! Next week!

Modern technology allows many options for advertising.

Today I will be mailing traditional paper cards as well as sending e-cards out for my show.

I will be curious to see how effective e-cards are on attendance.

I've been busy, busy, busy.
The time rearranging my studio was well worth it.
The space is working out perfectly for getting things done.  Also, It's interesting to notice that friends who come in here say, "Wow, it's so organized, everything in it's place!"  Like that is a surprise!  Ha Ha!
Yes, folks, I may be covered in white cat hair all the time, but I am organized....

Lots to do still.  Gotta go!

"Plan your progress carefully; hour-by hour, day-by-day, month-by-month. Organized activity and maintained enthusiasm are the wellsprings of your power." - Paul J. Meyer

Starting to feel the pressure!

O.K.
I am getting the work done.
But, I am feeling the pressure.
Time for distraction techniques....

This is my kitty Felix.
He is one of the quality control personnel in my studio.
All of my quilts are cat tested and approved.
I'm thinking I may give each of my cats a number.
For example, Felix could be number 3.
Then I can put a little piece of paper with my quilts that says, "Inspected  and approved by 3"
I should also say that all quilts after inspection are then cleaned with tape and a lint remover before being displayed!  My better pieces are kept away from these guys!  Can't afford to have a claw in the wrong place!

O.K. Back to work.

"When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. - Brian Tracy

New Body of work for Lyme Quilt Show!

Down a Meandering Path

Art Quilts by 

Margaret M. Sheehan

Lyme Library, Lyme NH

May 12 - June 30, 2010

Opening Reception

May 12, 2010

5:30 - 7:30 pm

First SAQA regional meeting as a Rep

WOW!

 That's all I can say!

I am left speechless at the amazing talent that surrounds me! What a great and dynamic group of SAQA women who met yesterday! I found my jaw dropping at everything I beheld, even the pot-luck was beautiful. I do love the energy I get from attending a meeting like that one! I felt like singing all the way home!

We have some pretty amazing people who belong to SAQA and the tri-state reps and the MA/RI reps want to meet you and energize! We are a powerful source!

Let's keep the energy going!  Proposed meetings are already brewing in Vermont and Maine!  I'll keep you posted!

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." - Ray Bradbury

Where have I been?

I haven't written in awhile because I have been in New York!

My daughter sang in a chorus at Carnegie Hall!  So a week ago I went to New York and enjoyed exploring.  I had a fantastic time!

Now I am preparing for a quilt show at the Lyme Library.  My show runs from May 11th - June 30th.

I will also be teaching a beginner class May 22 at the League of NH Craftsmen Hanover Fibers Studio. Meandering and Drawing with a Sewing Machine Call Suzanne Jones at 603-643-5384 to enroll

"It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block. - Paul Gauguin

No words

I seem to have no words right now.
I'm finding it hard to express myself.
The words are not coming.
I am silent.

So, I place a picture.

I took this while walking
on the beach in Florida.
February, 2010.

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

April, full steam ahead!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am working full steam ahead on my show now. Serious work is emerging. I'm happy. Hopefully I can get it all done before the first of May. That's when my show goes up in early May, at the Lyme Library.


Upcoming events for me.
April 10th "Beginning Art Quilts" League of NH Craftsmen, Hanover Fibers Studio. contact Suzanne Jones, 643-5384 There are still openings!

April 24th "Methods to the Madness II" Northern Lights Quilt Guild, contact michelle@FabriCadabra.com There are still openings!

May 8th "Celebrating an Ever Winding Path" Art Quilts at the Lyme Library

Life is full! Full Steam Ahead!

Mantras

"Decide to be the generous, change-making, scarifying, delighting, over-the-topping dreamer you’re capable of being. -Seth Godin

What is the answer to today's question:

(A) Today is the first day of the rest of my creative life.

(B) It's time to put the demon behind me and move forward with the dream.

(C) Maple Syrup.... Maple Syrup.... Maple Syrup.

(D) Spring is rapidly descending in full bloom and with all of its glorious distractions!

(E) Oh. No! Not again!



The answer:
All of the above

Face the Demon

"Do not destroy yourself just because you are good at what you do. Eat well, exercise, and take care of you!" - Margaret M. Sheehan

Life is change. With the increasing pressure of upcoming deadlines, I am feeling the effects of my very own, personal saboteur. Yes, you may know what I'm talking about! That crafty demon in disguise! The one that suddenly makes junk food more appealing, and you gorge on it until you feel fat, worthless and disgusting. The one that subliminally seduces you to stay up late playing a computer game so that the next day you feel cranky, unfocussed and tired. The one that places silly mundane tasks in your path so you avoid getting right down to the meaty stuff until the deadline is tomorrow and you can't do anything about it. Well, welcome to my world.

O.K. Margaret. That's enough!

Snap out of it!

Face this demon head on and tell it to go jump in a lake.

It's time to move on.

O.K.

Classes for April

"If you're going to have an event, better make it big. Or even bigger than that. It needs to be awe-inspiring, frightening, on deadline and worth losing sleep over." - Seth Godin, from his blog 2/19/10

Up coming class in April!

APRIL 10, 2010
Beginner Art Quilts: Simple Shapes to Create Abstract Images
League of NH Craftsmen, Hanover Fibers Studio
9:30 - 4 pm

In this class you'll begin piecing the art quilt that resides inside of you. Using simple shapes as a stepping stone, with fabrics that you have made or bought, you'll confront the sometimes daunting questions of, "Where do I begin?", "How do I know where to go next?" and "What happens if I do this?" Exploration within certain guidelines will allow you to maintain your voice while being exposed to standard techniques needed to create a base.

APRIL 24, 2010
Methods to the Madness II
Northern Lights Quilt Guild

It's Friday!

"Those who are comfortable taking chances know that the best way to grow is to reach beyond their grasp. Their sense of direction comes from the heart. They don't shy away from surprise; they might even seek it out. And they seldom die with regrets. In the end we regret not what we have done but what we have not done."-from the book, Get out of your own way

I am organizing my fabrics, the final touch to completing the new look of my studio. It's a completely new look and it's taken forever, it seems, to get it to this stage. Now to dive in and work. I have the rest of the afternoon and weekend to fuss in here.

Gotta go, my sewing machine is calling me. Can you hear it? It's like a siren..... haunting me.

"Art does not reproduce what is visible; it makes things visible"

O.K. I need to take an assessment of all my unfinished quilt tops in preparation for my upcoming show. Which ones do I choose to make visible? Create a realistic timeline. Allow for hyperventilation. Good!

Today, I got randomly selected for jury duty. Not sure how I feel about this... mad because I am missing a couple days of personal time, but I'm also intrigued to see a court in action.
So, words to myself? Just stay open to new things because they are coming at you full speed. Stay focussed. Stay on track.

"If there wasn’t a penalty for laughing in court, the jury would never be able to hear the evidence."

Ah, today I would give anything to jump at the sunset.

This is my daughter, on Valentine's Day, in Florida.  We were so happy to be there!  Even though it was cold.  I love this picture.

The storm supposedly coming to our area fizzled out, after I spent a long time deliberating over whether to hold my workshop on Saturday ! Ah well. Hopefully nothing will happen to cancel it the next time.

"And imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name." - William Shakespeare

Class Rescheduled due to weather

Hi Everyone,
I am sorry to report, that due to snow storm predictions with accumulation this evening I am rescheduling my Methods to the Madness II class for the Northern Lights Quilts Guild to April 24th. In the meantime, please review the initial methods, add to your piece or even make a new one to cut up in the class. Please let your friends know because there is still space in the class! The more the merrier! - Margaret