Working on gettin' back into a drawing habit. Finding ideas in my dreams.

Another hand-full of shots from my art show, currently up at the Green Bean Coffeehouse in downtown Greensboro, NC. Ahhh, aren't these three meant to be above the accoutrement table?? 

The two on the right are the only pieces I showed that weren't made in the last 2 years. They were work I completed back in 2007 while at SCAD, in the Beaded Surfaces and Structures class taught by the always-inspiring, totally-cool Sam Norgard. We were learning bezeling techniques (that's the circle of beads framing the central motif) and I had just received a badge-making kit as a gift. Using that, I decided to laminate Dave Grohl (on the left there) and subsequently worship him through encircling beadwork.

I was so happy with how he turned out that I went on to another music idol, Frank Black. This time I was able to work through the bezeling issues I encountered in the first piece, and elaborate with peyote stitching and porcupine quills. It's interesting how I found myself incorporating written word into my art even back then. I can't resist a good lyric! I used to constantly scribble lyrics all over my notes, on my backpack, on my jeans, and in various agenda books and journals as a teen, and I guess the power of words hasn't left me. I feel like I've changed so much since then but it can be kinda crazy to see the ways I never change.

Then, years later, I decided to revisit this small series I had started. I had a pill of a time finding the discipline to bead again. I think it's the scale that's jarring to jump back into. I can't even remember how long I worked on this (checkpoints documented here and here), all I remember is that every time I would have it out, Hunter would say "You're still working on that?" Needless to say, I finished it the morning I hung the show. 

Each piece is built on a wet-felted wool base, and thrillingly incorporates all kinds of found and collected tid-bits I've had in my possession over the years. That's probably my favorite thing about making these. It's like a mini treasure hunt every time I look through my stash!

Being that I have no shame, I recruited a guy attempting to sugar his coffee to hold these for me while I nailed them up. It's a community effort whether you're offering or not :)

McCann Brothers Quilt

65" x 60"

One quilt, three brothers, and their long history with sports.

I was a little down-trotted on this project after finishing the top. I felt like I didn't challenge myself, or do anything new and creative, but then I had a lot of fun with the quilting and that cheered me up. I wrote the three brothers' names with the piping that came from their baseball uniforms. I needed something loopy to break up all the squares and something new I hadn't tried before. 

I didn't buy enough backing fabric so I used what I could find to fill out the rest. They looked like the same color until I stood back to take this pic! Happy accident though, I really like the effect of the subtle patchwork.

A simple label with a good, motherly quote of Tammy's choosing; it fits, I believe. Typically on a label, you write where the quilt was made....but I couldn't decide where was where. Technically, I made the quilt in Hillsborough, Burlington, Durham, and Julian (not to mention Tammy lives in McCleansville). So what exactly do I write? I settled on North Carolina and moved on but I'm still mulling this over!

Didn't really think how the back would look when I traced around the App State helmet but love how it created this point of interest. I also traced around some numbers and found those popping out when I turned the whole thing over. 

You know, there is part of me that wishes I was doing more creative patchwork and not always making t-shirt quilts but there's still plenty of creativity to be had with projects like this. And everyone has these piles of sentimental, unworn shirts in their closets that are so much more appreciated in a project like this, I'm happy to be creating such special, personal quilts for my clients to snuggle under for years!