Climbing and helpers

First I want to show you the helpers who hang out in the studio with me. Ilan is 6 and Rascal is almost 2. They are evenly matched at tug-of-war and they keep me entertained.

Darcy is a collie who just got a complete makeover. He seems much happier now that he can actually feel it when we pet him!
The Illustration Friday word this week was "climbing" so I used my rubber stamps again and had fun embellishing the piece. I have also been working on lots of other projects which will be unveiled slowly. Stay tuned!

IF: Pale

Once again blogger has decided to turn my photos when I post them. Grr.... I am going to have to figure out why this is happening. In the meantime, I will tell you that I have started a new project. If you got to www.illustrationfriday.com you will see an incredible number of blogs by artists in lots of different areas. Every Friday a new word is posted and the idea is to create something inspired by that word. My first word was : Pale and aside from the look on your face when you see something scary I wasn't sure what to do. I checked out the dictionary definition and the first description that came up was talking about pale as being a division between one area and another so I ran with it.
I have also completed a King Size Lone Star quilt top but I won't be posting it until it is quilted.
We had a great meeting with Diane Ericson at Quiltz on Thursday night. I came away with a lot of ideas on how to get creative but the biggest thing for me was her comment: You want people to say "look what she did with the fabric" not "look at that fabric". That one hit home. I also got the message to stop saving my favorite fabric - use it! And I plan to do just that.

Art group Self portraits

My art group has been working on self-portraits for the last few months and we unveiled them the other night. Carol made this beautiful bowl and brought it with the following words:

Her life is at a turning point and she is waiting to see what will fill her bowl next.

Denise did this piece using wax and angelina fibers and all kinds of found papers. Unfortunately it didn't photograph well.

Jayne began with a cigar box which she decorated completely.

Inside was fully decorated with found objects pertaining to her or beginning with her initials: JLW.

She included a book in which she collaged pictures of herself in new and different settings:

Unfortunately, blogger wants to tilt the picture so you have to tilt your head with some of these!

I created a piece from things in my studio and gleanings from garage sales. I began with the circle and had fun attaching items. The smiling photo is me when I am in my studio. The other photo is me when I have to cook for people! The photos spin around.

I attached cooking items and sewing items and wrote my name with game board pieces.

Maya made a beautiful book of collages and once again you have to tilt your head to see them. They were hard to photograph and I wish that I had gotten pictures of more of the pages.

Patty says she has big ears and never leaves her house without lipstick so here she is....freckles, bags under her eyes, wrinkles and all.

We sure don't see her that way!

Wendy's piece is also about finding herself - a common theme among us. She is definitely not afraid to use yellow.

We all had a great time creating our pieces and sharing them with each other. Now we are pondering the next art challenge, a name for the group and direction for the coming year. It is sure to be a good one.

New Year - New show at the Medford Library

To start off the New Year, the Rogue Art Quilters have a show at the Medford Public Library. The theme is books or reading and we all used one particular batik in a variety of colors. We also had to put text on the quilt somewhere. This gentleman belongs to Terry Stone.

Sarah Breckenridge did a lot of bead work and hand quilting.

Rona Barnes used lots of "fish tales" for her quilt. Can you identify all of the stories? Her sign gives the answers:

Patty Duggan created a whimsical piece with a book worm on it.

Pat Gleitzman featured "The Secret Garden" in her quilt. Wonderful details:

I photographed my two favorite kids, Shoshana and Ilan and photo transfered them to fabric.

Elaine Turcke used her grandaughter as her model.

Denise Johnson used Rumi for inspiration.

Cynthia Mckee scanned books onto tissue paper which she affixed to fabric. The bindings on some of them look like real leather. This is one to see close up.

Photos just don't do it justice.

Christine Smith retitled her books to be appropriate for cats.

Carol Stocking opted for a book on Penguins

Her ice is fabulous. The show will be hanging for a few months so all you locals should check it out.