Monday, April 15, 2013

Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop

Hello, welcome to the Studio Blog Hop. This is my quilting studio. My sewing cabinet was lovingly made by my father. It is made of oak and has three leaf extensions, three large drawers and a drop in sewing table. My fabric is stored in the large china cabinet shown in the far left corner of the room. On top of the 
china cabinet are bolts of fabric and an embroidery machine. To the right of the china cabinet is my ironing surface and underneathe is my thread cabinet that has seven drawers. I also have a cabinet with sliding glass doors where I keep books and magazines. On top is a wooden bin with six compartments  

for storing beads, buttons and other found objects. I also have an old treadle sewing machine which I use to hold my felting machine. In addition to my quilting studio, I have a painting studio. Here, I have an easel table for drawing and painting. My paints and mixed media supplies are stored in the  
colorful ten drawer carts. The large clear drawers on wheels house my stamps, stencils, heat gun, foils, etc... The leaf table provides a great area for working on projects. I absolutely love my paint rack that I purchased at a garage sale for only a dollar. What a bargain! I like to keep my color wheels on the   
   
my easel. There are two sets, one done on black fabric with opaque paints and the other done on white fabric with transparent paints. They are wonderful references, especially for mixing colors. I have also acquired some book shelves but they are not pictured here. I would love to get that set up but life has 
been kind of crazy lately. The large stacks of plastic cubes have 2 inch squares of fabric and are all sorted by color. They are fantastic eye candy and I hope to do something with them at some point. There is also a bathroom and a large closet off of this studio that provide easy access to water and additional storage. My family tease me that I have taken over the house but hey, I am the one that spends the most time here! So why not? Right? I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Thank you for stopping by. Please be sure to visit Amy Wright Weaver http://theweavershand.blogspot.com/
JudiHurwitt http://approachableart.blogspot.com
Jim Parrillo http://thinkjimcreative.tumblr.com
Lisa Chin  http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/
Barb Forrister http://www.barbforrister.com/category/blog
Frieda Anderson http://www.friestyle.com/
Lynn Krawczyk http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/
Cheryl Sleboda http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/blog/
  

Monday, April 8, 2013

3 Dimensional Mixed Media Flower Workshop

Hello, it has been a while since I last posted. I have been busily creating in the studio but in the meantime, I thought I would share with you, some of the delightful pieces that were created by my students in the 3 Dimensional Mixed Media Flower workshop that I taught earlier this year. The first piece, "Not Your Grandmother's Flower Garden" was made by Josie Davis. I love the stamping and stencilling she has done in the background and her lovely 3 Dimensional irises and calla lilies. Josie writes, "I'm bringing my piece to put at Wesley Show. It's called "Not your grandmother's flower garden". I really enjoyed making it and have tried some ideas of my own to make other leaves. Thanks, Josie Davis." Yay, Josie, I am thrilled! It's a beautiful piece.
 The second piece was created by Anita Mester and measures 8X10. I love the textured leaves that she has created along with her calla lilies and red rose made from variegated ribbon. Each of the pieces have been set on a painted background, layered and quilted. I really enjoyed seeing how different they all are and how each artist is able to create with their own signature style. Fantastic!This was the first time teaching this class and the students were a joy!
The third piece is a free standing iris that was created by Andrea Brokenshire. Here, Andrea opted for very rich shades of purple velvet. Yummy! I love the way she has created the stem and leaves. Can't wait to see what she does with it! She is a marvelous artist. In fact, every one of my students are brilliant artists and I was elated and honored to have them in my class. It's not every day, you have a superstar class! My good friend and student, Rob Bartlett writes, "I am not a stranger to fabric, but the idea of altering it, in terms of creating my own textiles, was daunting to me - much like a blank sheet of drawing paper can be daunting. Barb's workshop was a big stepping stone in helping me get over some of my fabric manipulation trepidation. I did not expect to be exposed to so many options for altering the color, texture, and structure of fabric and fiber. Barb gave us so many things to try that I couldn't complete them all. While I did not finish my flower, the techniques I learned while making it have inspired ideas for other projects, and I've since jumped into experimentation mode. Barb shared ideas, suggestions, and information freely during the workshop - something that I highly value. If you want to learn a lot of different ways to create your own textiles and effects, I recommend that you take her workshop!" Thanks, Rob! And thanks to each of my students for allowing me to share their work with you! They are amazing!