Keith Richards Anyone?

So, check this out. The most common portraits done in Carol Culbert's (pictured at the light box) and my "A Portrait Quilt Anyone Can Do" class are of ancestors, grandchildren, children,sometimes pets,or 'people of interest' whether well known or not. This weeks class was no different but such diversity ... it was great. 'Thought you might enjoy seeing this in-progress student painting (by Guila Greer of Tarzana, California) of the infamous guitarist Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. This is one interesting face and coming along beautifully. I Love It.
Carol and I have so much fun team teaching this class quarterly at Material Possessions in Lake Forest (www.quiltessentials.com). We'll be teaching this at Road to California in Jan 2010 and I'll be teaching it in Houston this October.

Check out THESE student works

A one day painting with inks class, 18 students, mostly doing different things, and all turned out GREAT! Thanks North Cities Quilt Guild for a great time. Betty Jura hosted the day and dang.... I didn't get a picture of her wild tiger. Sooooo much talent in this guild! Look at the dueling lions done by Olivia Sproal and Chris LaMorte... and the dragonfly by the one and only Mary Lou Ripper. Click on a picture for a better closeup view. Pretty neat stuff.

When the right fabric is just plain wrong.

Sometimes we just have to take risks.... and the bull by the horns at the same time. When I did this bordered equestrian piece, I had added a broken vertical line on each side border. The idea was to raise your eye up and back into the central image. This essentially worked though I admittedly use less borders today. I had looked for a subtle mid value textured fabric to insert as the vertical line drop off strip. When all was said and done, the vertical strip looked too light from a distance (key learning.. back up and look) when it had looked fine close up. So I needed to tone the fabric down by making it a bit darker. A scrap piece of fabric was tested with diluted inks and even a watered down Setacolor transparent paint, the later winning out because it offered a more compatible hue. Atop a finished quilt once again, the vertical strip was carefully painted and dried to a softer tint than appears in the photo demonstration. The end result looks like commercial fabric right off the bolt. It's not at all painterly. I had forgotten that I'd solved this little problem this way. Perhaps by posting, I'll remember and I won't reinvent the wheel someday.

Recognize these two... Look Closely!

On Saturday last, La Veta,Colorado (home of thequiltshow.com) celebrated the flower power children of the 1960s. Everyone in town and on the set at Ricky Tims Art Quilt studio was dressed for the occasion. Check it out on the daily blog at www.thequiltshow.com. Have you figured out who these 2 are yet? They 'might' look at bit like Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. Very convincing! PEACE!!!

Step Back in Time in La Veta

Okay.. I did survive the taping of a segment of Series 5 of the quiltshow.com. Series 5 begins in July but I haven't a clue when my segment will show. There is no still photography allowed on the set of the Quilt Show. But what a hoot of a time. I met several renowned quilt artists. I stayed in a historic suite of the old La Veta Inn.... creaky wood plank floors, vintage furniture. It was great. It seemed as though Matt Dillon or Miss Kitty (Gunsmoke TV, 1960s) might stroll in at any minute. I can't even pronounce the name of the suite. There are reports this hotel is sometimes haunted by guests of days gone by. IF that is so, they were turning lights off and on. I chose to think it was old electrical wiring so we unplugged the flickering lamp. EEK... who knows? Don't ya love that old red velvet seat?

Endangered headed for Paducah

Well this is a bit of a surprise.... I've never submitted anything to Paducah.... but this year I figured "what the heck!".... so Endangered was graciously juried in and will be in the mail to Kentucky within the week. This piece BARELY fits Paducahs minimum size for wall quilts. It is 41" x 41". Pigment ink and heliographic paint on cotton. Machine quilted. This piece was all about the coveted ivory still poached by greedy killers. This was the first piece I ever floated paint atop a completed quilt. Scarey! I just felt it needed to be a bit more rugged. If you click on the full view, you'll see the affect of pooling between already quilted areas. This time it worked. Who knows about the next risky move. I'm pleased it was accepted!

FIRST Haircut for Baby Boy Max

What a hoot this was. Part of the trip to Colorado allowed a side trip to see my grandson get his first haircut. My daughter is so grateful people will no longer talk about her cute little Girl. His hair was long but he waited for Grammie to arrive before his first salon visit. Cute fellow! Thank goodness for suckers!

Home from La Veta Colorado with Ricky and Alex

Wanna step back in time to a more beautiful, simple lifestyle? La Veta Colorado is about the same size as my once home town in Oklahoma. Small stores, friendly people, and right in the middle of it all is Ricky Tims Art Quilt Studio where segments for TheQuiltShow.com are filmed. It's a good bit south and west of Pueblo Colorado. It's lovely.

The Quilt Show has posted a slideshow of their little town. You just might enjoy it... and I'm quite certain the background music is indeed Ricky himself. Great Fun. I'll be telling you about my time there, but wanted to get this link up post haste.

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4f4445344f4463354e513d3d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_playback_link

Sitting in an Airport

Rats... travel delays from all 5 lanes of traffic stopped dead for a sig alert at the Ontario, California airport exit off the 10 freeway... at 4:50am. I was 45 seconds away from NOT getting my bags ( with all my quilts) on the plane headed for Colorado. Whew! So am here waiting for another great quilter Terry Hill. We'll soon head out for La Veta where tomorrow (please pray for me.. or at least hold good thoughts.) we'll film a Quilt Show.com segment with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson.

Beautiful in Camarillo

I'd never been there, but what a trip! The daytime Camarillo California Quilters Guild is dynamite! There are lots of enthusiastic and very active members... wonderfully friendly not to mention great leadership and organization. I've spent Monday thru today with this group and I didn't want to leave for home. Here they are looking back at me as I began my lecture. I warned 'em..... if you are supposed to be at work right now, duck down as this pic. is going on the web. :-) I saw no ducking! Double click for a closeup. Yeah Roxy... you got your water quota for the day. :-) :-)
Today was our painting with inks workshop with quite a variety of subject matters.Note the very focused group of artists!!! THANK YOU Camarillo, and specifically Roxy, Paige, Wendy, students, and those that helped display quilts at the meeting. You guys rock!

All that said, I still had to come back home and repack to leave early tomorrow a.m. for La Veta Colo. to film a QuiltShow.com segment. Am "I" nervous???? Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.... o yeah I truly am! but I'll give it my best shot! I'll give ya some feedback when I return Monday.

Houston Bound Oct.09

Now posted on the calendar and news links accessible via this blog.... I'll be teaching again at Houston. Hope you can come to Houston whether you take my class or not. It's unlike ANY show you've been too. www.quilts.com

I hate Spreadsheets/ I hate Tax Season

Artists hate left brained stuff like financial analysis of one's shrinking 401K and getting tax info ready for the tax accountant.... Well heck, everyone probably hates that this year. But that's what I'm busy doing and I swear I need to do some quilting, sewing, of ANY kind to calm my nerves. Maybe after Wednesday tax appt. Where's the chocolate??? :-)

Strings 1 in Los Angeles Area Gallery

Sometimes I NEED to do something abstract just to focus on fun quilting techniques/ patterns. Strings 1 is one such quilt. (There is also a strings 2 and 3). I dropped Strings 1 in the mail today for an upcoming Surface Art Associates juried exhibit/sale at Avenue 50 Studio Gallery, 131 No. Avenue 50, Highland Park, Ca. 90042. This should be interesting in that there were some 134 juried entries including international entries from Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Canada, among others. The exhibit and sale will run from March 14, 2009 to April 5, 2009. I think I need to go there myself!
Their web site... www.avenue50studio.com.