Just Gotta Paint Miss Olivia!

 I am always looking for great source of portrait demos for my classes..... My out of state friend has a new granddaughter... Miss Olivia , 9 mos. Grandpa Barry took an adorable photo of her wearing 'Mama's cowgirl hat. So flipping cute. I painted her here for absolute joy... giggling throughout the effort.  First a black and white contour drawing of her placed underneath sheer  white PFD.

Skin tone ink added.  ( Wet here and always scary looking until dried and eyes are in.)

I've added some dry brush contour using a sand colored ink. 

No longer scary... Bright blue eyes, nostrils darkened, big time eyelashes are in... lips added. 

Below: Baby girl blush pink added.... some dry brush white highlights on the chin, tip of nose, under eyes, etc. , jammies added and we're ready for that hat!! There are several things different than norm on this portrait... 1) light source is from below promoting little shadow at the lower chin, 2) white highlites are on the lower half of the pupils, 3) lip edges appear turned down, and 4) the underneath edge of the upper lid is visible and almost pure white.  

Lasting message:Take nothing you think you know for granted-STUDY;-D 

So, the DETAILS of her hat don't help tell the 'story' so I left it mostly out of focus. Pretty darned cute kid.... What fun to paint! Now what to do ???

Back side view...

 Machine Quilters know one can sometimes better appreciate the overall quilting job from a back side view. So the previous quilt taken off the long arm and laid back side up atop the bars.

 Wow.. I think I used about 3000' of thread (many bobbins) . 

It even surprises me how much is in this piece. 

This might be why I'm behind on my laundry and other chores.  ;-D 

'Will deliver to owner upon return from Asilomar.

Words To Live By

So here's what I've spent much of February doing....   First,  a friends quilt laid atop my  glass table to consider a quilt plan. The pattern is gorgeous... 90 x 90 " Words to Live By."  This quilt deserves some attention. It's an heirloom.  Felted wool  hand appliqué atop cotton.

In my art quilting, I don't mark anything but this will need some repeated flourish in open red and black triangles.

The above markings were  actually done later in the long arm process, But thought I'd  show the known plan here. In long arm quilting, I machine baste the entire quilt . Those half square triangles were just 'ditched' then on to the appliqué blocks. I chose a free motion echoed S curve coupled with scrolls for the individual appliqué blocks in both the center 4 by 4 blocks and surrounding individual word blocks ( A few shown here.. In addition to the center 4 x 4 medallion block there are 12 large individual  blocks ) 

I do love the look of wool atop  light value cotton. It's gorgeous! 

I need to get this off the long arm and trim it up. 

Heading To Asilomar, Pacific Grove Ca.

It's been one crazy month since the last post.... Lots going on... won't bore you here. Today however, I am packed up for departure to Session II  teaching at 2016 Empty Spools Seminars. This on the  seaside grounds at Asilomar.. ( a.k.a. heaven on earth) in Pacific Grove.  Can't wait to see the sights of this beautiful community.  Here's a  couple pics I shot from last visit.

.. A cool window display in a shop in neighboring Carmel.

As always.... beautiful beach walks right outside our doors.. the shore is within feet of here.

 A look back eastward  from waterside... a gorgeous sunrise as I headed to breakfast before class.

Love the Birdies

Quilting in The Desert student Pam Jordan from Oregon has what one might call a catbird seat in the top floor of her home. Just outside her window are routine bird shows which ofcourse Pam photographs. Because her home is on a large parcel of land, birds love it there. It's both their and her sanctuary.  Just a couple of Pam's class  fabric paintings shown here. So neat! (c) pls. do not copy images without approval of painter.

 I've never seen a hummingbird sitting still.

 Congratulations Pam !!

North to Alaska

Last week at Quilting In The Desert , student Keats Scott ( great name) tackled an ink painting on fabric that honored her memorable trip to and photograph of this charming waterfront Alaskan town. Everyone in the class wanted to take a trip to see this in real life.
Keats has a keen eye for detail.  A great photo became a great painting! The soft reflections on the water draw one in for sure. Great job Keats.

(c)  please do not copy image without approval of painter
Keats and I have been chatting about how to quilt this piece.  Her still water is so magnificent, quilting might seem a distraction. We've discussed  her misty fusing the water area and not quilting it at all.

QUILTING In The Desert

 For those wondering why the heck I hadn't posted in a couple weeks...One has to be a detective in this world of technology. The mystery of being locked out is solved...a new and different browser was required and I 'am loaded and back in business;-D


What an absolute joy!!! 5 days of painted quilt art with lovely women from both the U.S. and Canada... all in our classroom at Four Points Sheraton- Phoenix-South. I can't adequately express the total pleasure of this experience... 'such brave, adventurous, and prolific artists. THANK YOU to Ginny and Lynn Goodbar  AND Ginny's 3 sisters for pulling off a great quilt camp. Sooo many great pieces created. I will  only post photos only when given permission by the artist.  We had abstracts, landscapes, portraits, travel and outdoor recreation pictorials.  One abstract shown here...