Celebrating African Grandmothers

I am so honored to have been chosen to participate in this exciting event.  Now the tour is drawing to a close and tickets are on sale for the final auction.

CELEBRATING AFRICAN GRANDMOTHERS,

Heroes of the continent

ART AUCTION

Tickets are selling fast! 

Forty juried works of art have toured fourteen cities.

The collection includes 

paintings, sculptures, textile art and collage.

The final auction is in March:

Friday March 7, 2014

7-10 pm

Inn at the Quay

900 Quayside Drive

New Westminster BC

$35

Cocktail reception

No host bar

Live and silent auctions

Cash or cheque sales preferred

Here are my two pieces that have been on this year long tour.  Tears of Hope and Wall of Courage.

Click HERE to see the full gallery

Click HERE to read all about the auction and how to bid online if you wish.

And Last but NOT least!

Number Six

Final Piece for the Voyage group exhibit in France, April 2014.

This is another of my Up Close and Personal series. The inspiration is another macro photo taken on a trip to Texas. In a small town in East Texas there was a very old log cabin in the town park. The logs were sun bleached to a beautiful gray. And the green spiky plants just added a pop of color. These green plants would very likely been tucked in a corner of the log cabin when it was lived in long years ago.

I did take a bit of license with this one. I changed the ground to a brown. I tried every green I have (and being a hand-dyer...there was a lot of options) but they all distracted from the spiky plants which I wanted to show up a bit more. Here it is with the original macro photo that inspired it.

TUCKED  IN  A  CORNER

Now to get them all in a package and they are off to France!!! Whew....then I can breathe a bit maybe?

In the meantime....I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off The Wall Fridays!

Wounded Tree (?) is completed.

And this makes FIVE ready to ship off to France by the end of the month.

This is inspired by a macro photo and one of my "Up Close and Personal" series.  The working title was Wounded Tree (and I have to leave it that way for now as that is the info sent to France.) but the more I worked with it...it became Knotty Situation.  So after April it will have a new name!

I really have fun on this one working with Shiva sticks and bark cloth. So...here it is with its original macro photo.

Wounded Tree (aka Knotty Situation)

Five down and one to go. Number six is well under way and will make the deadline. WHEW!

Pushing the deadline again!

One of the online groups I participate with is having a group show in Beaujolais, France. The show is in April.  Because of all the work I had to complete to be ready for my solo show this month, this project got a bit behind.  I have to complete the other two pieces (which are well under way so don't worry.) and get them shipped to Europe by the end of the month.....yes.....this month.

Oh I must LOVE a challenge!!

My theme for this series is "Up Close and Personal"  The concept is to use macro photos I took myself and redo them in art quilts. I have to say...I have had so much fun with these pieces!! The previous ones are already posted in this blog if you want to see them.

Anyway, here it is......Rusty Leaves is completed!! Here it is below (on the right) along with the original macro photo on the left.

Rusty Leaves

17" X 12"

Now back to work!!! I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off The Wall Friday!! 

After the Show

Now that the opening is over, I would like to post the four pieces that make up the Pecan series.  Each of these works is 30" X 30" mixed media/textile. 

Are you ready?

The  Sapling

 One small tree, full of the promise of things to come. Holding within itself all 

the potential for the future harvest.

Summer  Grove

Growing life is all around, from the closest tree to the ones along the far hills. 

Encouragement that all is as it should be and moving in the right direction.

Emergence

The fruits of labor and nature combine to begin the emergence of the long

held hope as it peeks out of its protective covering to take on the world.

(This one is sold)

Winter  Harvest

At long last, the promise is fulfilled. The potential is realized. The harvest is 

at hand and all the work and waiting proves worthwhile.

I hope you enjoy them!

The Art Show Report!

Friday evening.....after a day of jitters and butterflies...we made our way to Pine Center for the Arts.

The weather didn't turn out quite as well as predicted but it wasn't below zero with 90 mph winds! So it was all good.

Arrived in plenty of time to do some last minute adjustments and then just wait for people to arrive. When they started coming in, all the butterflies disappeared and I got to talk to people about my art. It wasn't wall to wall with people and I find that I like the smaller crowd.  It gave me time to do more than just "Hi...how are you...nice to meet you."

The art was all hung on the walls with care....(hmmm that sounds vaguely familiar.....)

I brought my guest book and colorful gel pens...and, of course, a bowl of pecans!!! And the brochures and cards. A table of goodies was provided by a local caterer.

In other words...I had a BLAST!! Several friends showed up which meant the world to me. Some others who couldn't make it I knew were there in spirit, cheering in the background!

As you know...this was my first SOLO show. So this bit is probably "old hat" to many of you but for me....to walk in and see walls full of my art....then people looking at them - first from a distance and then getting really up close and seeing different parts. I even sold one that evening! It was thrilling!!  I'm ready to do it again!!!  OK....maybe after a few days off?

So, as promised, after my weekend to recuperate from a very hectic pre-show schedule, the report is filed and until the first week in February, we'll see how it goes from here!

Thanks to so many of you who sent good wishes and encouragement! I love you all!

Today is the BIG DAY!!

This afternoon....5pm - 7pm will be my first solo show!!! It will be at the Pine Center for the Arts in Pine City, MN.

I'm so excited and full of butterflies!!  I'll be presenting my newest series on "Pecans"  Here is one piece from that series.

THE  SAPLING

30" X 30" 

Mixed Media 

Not time to write much more now.  But I'll fill you all in the beginning of next week! Stay tuned!!