Happy New Year and New Work for Jonesboro!

First - Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all had a warm and wonderful time with family and/or friends. We did both and are so thankful for the fact that we get to see all of the kids and parents, and that we enjoy it.

I am way behind in both keeping up the blog and getting these pieces made for the show in Jonesboro. I should have 10 pieces done by March 1st, so I can let them know sizes, numbers, etc. I am excited to report that today I have 2 pieces very well on their way and several sketches that I can't wait to get to.

As I move along this new path, I find I am really enjoying playing with fabric and metals, and making something arty and unusual and hopefully, beautiful, that others will enjoy. I know not all others will, but I hope some will. I like the Chinese-style coins on the right and the hammered and colored copper wire. I haven't yet decided how to attach the wire, or what I want the final effect to be.

Well, here is a HUGE detail photo of the top of the piece. Orange torn, hand-dyed fabric (dyed for me by my friend, Laura McGrath - http://periwinkle-quilts.blogspot.com/), copper sheeting that I annealed with a blow torch and hammered for texture, and a curly-cue of bronze mesh. Combining fabric with metals is a lot of fun and offers such a variety of textures and techniques.This is a very preliminary stage. Nothing is attached except the background, which is sandwiched with batting and black backing. But I am still thrilled with how much I have accomplished in 2 days. I don't believe I've been able to do this much in months and months.
I'd like to know your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. about this piece, but please hurry! I have a lot more to do, both on this and upcoming work. And I am off work all this week, so I intend to be creating in leaps and bounds!

AND - have you considered your word for 2011?  I hope mine will be two-fold - Search and Discover. I intend to search out more techniques for working with metal on fabric and discover more about myself and  my fascination with both metal and fabric.
I hope you will think about what you'd like 2011 to be? Rather than making resolutions that will be broken within a week and make us feel guilty again, why not establish a word in your mind that will inspire you? I'd love for you to share them  - either on your blogs or here, on mine.

Thanks for looking and have a Happy New Year!

Sketchbook Challenge

I have just joined Lyric Kinard's Sketchbook Challenge for next year. I have several sketchbooks in a variety of sizes. Perhaps this challenge will help me fill them up faster. And improve my sketching skills along the way.

We have just finished putting up the outside Christmas decorations. For the first time in my life, I get to have outdoor lights! I was going to put them up, but when I climbed up the little ladder on the porch, things got a little tilty. Fortunately, Steve came to the rescue and put them up aftet I put all the little clips on the keep them on the roof. What a guy. We put the tree up this morning and got the lights on (multi this year). We had to stop and do the outside because it's supposed to rain cats and dogs tomorrow. So we I can finish the inside tomorrow. Steve raked the entire yard and is a bit whipped, so I won't push him today. He has to get the stuff down from the attic. And he does help decorate the tree.

As far as art - not much going on. I did get the background for a new copper piece stitched together, but the copper paddles I was using fell kind of flat against this piece of dull green fabric. I'll have to use some other colors. Since I learned how to make alcohol inks this week, I think I'll go make some and paint some copper paddles darker. Great idea! No photos right now, sorry.