Exciting New Class by Red-Dog Enterprises

Saturday I had the pleasure of taking a new digital class that Julie Brandon is teaching through her company, Red-Dog Enterprises. The class entitled Digital Meets Fiber was held at the White Birch Cove Retreat.

Images appearing from printer

I have owned Adobe Photoshop for years and used it for very specific purposes. I have always wanted the opportunity to explore its use in art quilts and this class offered just the opportunity. In the short span of a few hours, I was able to create a collage design, work with it in Photoshop, and have it printed out on cotton fabric.

Julie was a dream of an instructor. She set up exercises to get our creative juices flowing and then coached us through the design aspect of the class on computer. I was quite impressed with her time management and directional skills. I have been in many classes where students fall behind as the class progresses and the goals for the class are not achieved. Not this class.

Julie explaining the intricacies of design work on the computer

I left at the end of the day with an exciting image on cloth to play with on my machine, as well as three other collages scanned into my computer for future projects.

Julie showing my first digitally designed full cloth image while Sophie looks on

The class is offered again in August if you are interested. Both Julie and Val Schultz are offering a selection of classes at White Birch Cove this summer. You can check out future class offerings on the Red Dog site. And, I understand that White Birch is also available for private retreats and other events. It would be a beautiful location to spend a weekend!

White Birch Cove Retreat

The House Quilt Project

I learned of a truly worthy art quilt program last week - the House Quilt Project. I have vowed to create one myself but didn't want to hold up on letting others know about the project by waiting till I had created my own quilt.

The project was started by Jamie Fingal, a California art quilter. In Jamie's words:

I work with individual quilters to coordinate the making of patriotic house quilts for the walls of rooms for individuals in the Wounded Warrior Battalion and Habitat for Humanity .

The House Quilt Project was established in June of 2010, to assist Furnishing Hope, a group that works with designers to create interior rooms and entire houses to help those in need. So far in 2012, Jamie has collected 9 quilts that will hang in homes for the Wounded Warrior Battalion worked on by Furnishing Hope.

Sample House Quilt

The requirements to contribute are simple.  Create a 16"x20" quilt with a house and a patriotic flag. You can find more details on the House Quilt Project website.

Hope that you will considering contributing a piece!

The Quilt that Keeps Giving

Last year I wrote about the quilt, A Rose is a Rose. A member of my local quilt guild, Christine Wickert, handquilted this beautiful piece and donated it to a local hospice, Isaiah House, where her sister was a resident.

The quilt was eventually auctioned off and the winner has now donated the quilt back to Isaiah House for a second auction in memory of Christine's sister.

It is a beautiful quilt. Chris does impeccable handwork. If you would like a chance to own it and donate funds to a very worthy cause, you can find information here.

Much thanks!

Intuitive Play

Years ago I took a personality test called Myers-Briggs which confirmed that I am a highly intuitive person. These days as I refine a process that I have for creating art quilts, I fully appreciate and trust the value of this intuition.

In the process that I am refining, construction begins with a blank piece of muslin tacked up on my design wall. Maggie McNabb writes in her book, Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design (Voices That Matter), that emptiness gives you a point from which to start from. As I begin to fill in my muslin, I use a 'map' that I create by abstracting from a photo that I have been attracted to.

Portion of map from Illuminated Albizia

I begin to fill in parts of the muslin with fabric, following the rough guidelines of my maps.

Early stage of Illuminated Albizia

 While intuitive play is somewhat constrained at this point by my map, I always grant myself the option to not follow my map. Contrary to some other approaches that use a guide from a photograph as a strict diagram for their art quilt, my map marks a general direction to my goal.

 Once the muslin is filled with fabric, the stitching part of my process begins. This is where intuition  plays a major role. It is in the thread painting and quilting that my art work really comes to life.

Winter Morn prior to quilting

As I quilt each portion of a project, I allow my intuition to guide me. I actually create a 'sample sandwich' with pieces of fabric from the art work that I test various quilting ideas upon. This give me a general idea of how the quilting of a particular area like the mountains or a tree might look.

Sample of quilting effects

As I actually quilt my piece though, I really allow the fabric to 'speak' and guide me. This is often the most exciting part of my process. In Winter Morn, for example, I had a general idea of how to approach quilting the river. I started according to plan but soon was listening to the fabric and trusting my intuition. Quite honestly, when I completed the section, I wasn't 100% certain of what I had done. It wasn't until I viewed my piece from a distance that I realized my intuition had transformed the river from a quiet stream into a more interesting element - a dynamic flow rounding a bend.

I have taken a number of design classes with Dena Crain. An observation that shows up repeatedly in classes is the recognition that there is a point where you, the artist, surrender to the piece you are creating. If you allow that to happen, the piece will show you what needs to happen next. This is where intuition rules the day. When this occurs in the creative process, it reminds me of those perfect moments on the mat in my art of aikido where you totally blend with your partner and joy results.

In reality, it is this blending or dance that happens in all those moments in life where we are happiest and most fulfilled. The founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, expressed it best:

To be one with the universe.

A Moment to Remember - Queen's Jublilee

This morning while I was quilting away, I put on CNN and witnessed the most amazing sight. The Brits were celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.  This was the day for the Thames Royal Pageant  with over 20, 000 people in over 1000 boats. Those figures alone are fairly amazing. But, here is the thing - it was cold and pouring rain. It didn't matter.

The Royal family, stood in an open air reviewing stand for the entire 90 minutes of the spectacle (when they weren't on a barge themselves, waving to well wishers). A million people came out to watch the event, despite the weather.

At the end, the London Philharmonic orchestra and choral group sailed up the Thames and sang to the Queen. The singers were on top of their barge and drenched through and through. The orchestra was pretty wet too. But, it didn't matter. The crowds cheered and the band played on. It was a most amazing demonstration of respect for a woman who had served them for 50 years and of the determination of a people to carry on despite a little weather.

I am reminded of a favorite quote of mine from naturalist, Stuart Mace, whom I had the pleasure to study with many years ago. 'No one ever melted from the rain."

Here is a clip from CNN of the final moments of the pageant and singing of a very wet national anthem. Would we all show such determination in carrying on despite unexpected turns of event!

While I was heavily involved in mind/body work with Thomas Crum, a favorite colleague of mine was Judy Ringer. She trained with us at Aiki Works, Inc. and the two of us have continued a natural friendship through the years. Judy now has a highly successful training company of her own and maintains a blog.

I always enjoy her posts and the latest post is one that I am sure we can all identify with - a difficult customer service call. Judy describes her process of starting to lose her patience (and center) and then having an aha moment where she regains her balance and the words flow to dissipate the unpleasantness of the call.

There were several inspirational quotes in Judy's post from the art of aikido, which we both study, and related material. I thought I would leave you with them and hope they will inspire you to check out Judy's tale:

All things change when we do.
– Kukei, Eighth-Century Zen Master

To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. 
To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.

– Morihei Ueshiba, O Sensei, Founder of Aikido

Aikido masters say that opposing an attack directly feeds it. You may stop the other person temporarily, but you don’t stop his or her intention to attack.

— Andy Bryner and Dawna Markova, Ph.D., An Unused Intelligenc

In The Dance of Connection, author Harriet Lerner writes that in difficult conversations the task is not to “be yourself” but to “choose your self.”

In, out, and Beyond

Since my last post I have been out to Arizona for a wonderful family reunion and then basically hibernating while I have begun my next art quilt. But, along the way, some stories caught my attention and so I thought I would share  them along with my latest project.

In
A photo that my son took near Vail, CO is the inspiration for my current work. In the past few days, my impromptu design board has sat in our family room while my interpretation has slowly grown. I totally love this early stage of creating an art quilt. I use a piece of muslin as my blank canvas and then begin to 'draw' with fabric.

 I have been collecting a stash of subtle blue/grey/green fabrics for the past year without a specific purpose. In the past few weeks, I have been supplementing my stash with this photo in mind - creating an artist's palate. The point where I settle down and begin to actually create is exciting and intense. Slowly the piece begins to grow.

It makes little sense to the outside observer (my husband) at first, particularly since I began with one detailed portion of the piece.

But, finally, it reaches a stage where it becomes recognizable.

There is a certain sense of accomplishment in reaching this stage. There is much more to add - in fabric, thread painting, and quilting - but the basic foundation is set. Now my feverish pace slows a bit, while I contemplate the next steps, and also catch up on all the tasks that fell by the wayside while I started this piece towards reality.

Out

As I out and about on Sunday, catching up on those errands that had fallen by the wayside, I found myself listening to a most fascinating  program on CNN. It was about Sarah Parcak, who CNN describes as following:   

Sarah Parcak has been dubbed the "real-life Indiana Jones," but she prefers to be called a "space archaeologist." From her lab at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Parcak analyzes infrared satellite imagery to map lost cities thought gone forever.

The program I was listening to was "What's Next" and features stories about forward-looking thinkers in the fields of tech, science and social change. Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosts the program and this past Sunday he was interviewing Sarah about her work. She uses satellite imagery to identify and study lost civilizations with a particular focus on Egypt. You can get a sense of what she does at this link. Eventually, the entire interview will be available there and it really is an fascinating story to listen to. Her enthusiasm for her work is contagious. She not only discovers historic sites but can monitor their condition - during the recent uprisings in Egypt, she was able to identify where looters were desecrating archaeological sites. Listening to her describe her process of 'exploration' and how she deals with an occupation where 'failure' is a common experience is an uplifting experience. 

Beyond
A year or so ago, my husband and I got to take a tour of NASA's headquarters in Houston, TX. The space program has always been dear to my heart since I was in high school when we set out to put a man on the moon. That accomplishment soon after I graduated from college instilled in me the philosophy that nothing is impossible if you set a goal and work towards it. I was touched by my visit to NASA and the enthusiasm for space exploration of the workers there. I have watched with concern since then as the shuttle program ended and the future of space exploration has seemed so tenuous.

So, I took special pleasure this past week in following the launch of the unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule – the first U.S. vessel to visit the space station since NASA’s shuttles retired last summer — and the first private spacecraft to ever attempt a delivery. 

SpaceX’s objective is to help stockpile the space station, joining Russia, Europe and Japan in resupply duties.  It is up there right now performing its task. Upon completion, it hopes to return to earth - it is the only supply ship designed to return to Earth with experiments and equipment. If all goes well, in three or four more years, the company run by the billionaire who cofounded PayPal, Elon Musk, hopes to be launching station astronauts.  SpaceX is the cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s strategy for NASA: turning over orbital flights to private business so the space agency can concentrate on destinations farther afield, like asteroids and Mars. I hope that it is successful so that future generations of young Americans can continue to be inspired by the wonders of space exploration.