"Threads" Exhibit Now Open

I am happy to share that my art quilt, Spirit, is now on view at the Tubac Center for the Arts in Tubac, AZ.  Here is some information on the exhibit:

It looks like a wonderful exhibit. Hope you can stop in and see it, if you are in the area!

Spirit by Judy Warner

La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum Show opens Friday

The 2013 Quilt and Fiber Arts Festival opens on this Friday, October 4.  I am pleased that my art quilt, Roots, makes it debut at the festival.

Last year I was able to attend the festival and it is really worth seeing. The display is extensive and on view in a number of venues in La Conner. The community really gets behind the annual show. I loved the stories that accompanied many of the quilts.

The museum itself will have a number of exhibits on view as well including Regina Benson's From Nature's Studio. Regina's work is amazing and if you have never seen any in person, that alone is worth the trip to La Conner.

Hope that you will have a chance to attend. The festival is from October 4 - 6. If you would like more information, you can find it on this web page. 

Art That Lifts Our Spirits Exhibition

I was pleased to learn that my art quilt, Journey, has been juried into the online exhibition, "Art That Lifts Our Spirits", hosted by Manhattan Arts International. The exhibit is on view until November 23, 2013.

There are 60 artists in the exhibit. Hope that you will stop by and view some of the works. They are all quite amazing!

Halfway there!

Well, Serenity is a long haul anyway you look at it.........pre-naming a piece as such probably ordained that it would be long in coming and less than serene as it grew. This was the week when I decided that all possible quilting would be done. The top half of the piece had been fused but there were sections that I just didn't seem to be finding the time to quilt. Remember, I am exploring an approach of fusing directly onto batting and back fabric and quilting as I go. Finally, yesterday, the last stitches were made on the non-pond half of the quilt.

Here is a photo of mostly the top half:

Everything above the actual bridge and along the shoreline and above is now quilted. I have a large rock with reflection and bridge reflection pinned on the base pond fabric to remind me of where they will go. Reflections of the other rocks still remain to be cut and then the challenging part - shading of the pond and reflection of the forest. I have some ideas to cut sheer organza for pond shadowing. In addition to the light green I have pinned up there now, I have some brown that will add some good shading that is needed on the left.

Next week is granddaughter week so this will now sit a bit - which is good. I need some perspective. I won't mention how many times while working on this piece, I was less than serene. :) I have decided that letting something sit while I contemplate next steps is an excellent method. I envy those that can plan an entire piece before turning on their machine!

Since this is Friday, I will be linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday site. Be sure to check out what other artists have been doing!

And then there was a tree.....

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,	5
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.	10
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

1886-1918

This poem kept running through my mind while I added a tree to the right side of my piece. It was, like much of this piece, a pain staking process.

• Draft the tree on my tissue paper full-size sketch that I am using as a rough base for the scene.

• Fuse the trunk and limbs to the background.

• Create clusters leaves with my ice-dyed organza and add to the barren tree.

• And, there you have it - a tree awaiting quilting!

to be continued.............

Riding the waves of creativity

The proposed title of my new work is "serenity" but I would hardly term the process of creating it such. I am constantly accosted by my 'internal judge' discussing the state of my piece with me. :)

For the past week or so, I have been working periodically on the bridge that is a focal point in the piece. Creating it has been a bit tedious to say the least and so there has been plenty of time for self-critiquing with a resulting range of emotions from satisfaction to frustration.

Tom Crum used to talk about roller coasters of emotions and feeling buffeted by the heights and depths of these emotions as they flow through our consciousness. Rather than embodying whatever is our current emotion, he always suggested viewing emotions as weather patterns passing through our being and recognizing that we are not our emotions. This metaphor helps me tremendously in simply witnessing my emotions rather than letting them dominate my life.

Useful information when creating bridges!

Last night I got to a point of finally adding the infamous bridge to the background. I stepped back, actually across the room, and discovered that there was hope. I snapped a quick photo - not exactly in focus - but enough to give me a bit more perspective. Here is a quick crop of that villainous bridge so you can imagine more vividly what was involved in its construction.

The bridge is simply fused at this point, not quilted or shaded with stitching, and much more needs to be added to the scene but progress is obvious. I am particularly pleased with how well the background trees are blending into the scene. I trust that as the pond in the foreground is added, the bridge will naturally blend in as well.

Conecting this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday. Please check out everyone's projects for the week.

Sacred Threads Exhibit Starts This Week

Two of my art  quilts, "Spirit" and "Emergence," will be in the Sacred Threads 2013 Exhibit that opens on July 10. The exhibit will run through July 28. 

The exhibit will be held at the Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon, VA 20171. Hours will be from 10 am - 5 pm, Sundays  10 am - 4 pm. 

There will be a Meet the Artists Reception on July 13, 2013, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

Scared Threads features quilts exploring joy, inspiration, spirituality, healing, grief and peace/brotherhood. I hope that you will be able to visit the exhibit. 

"Spirit" by Judy Warner