Winter 2011

Hello and Happy New Year! I have not posted lately as the holidays have been really busy for us. The last of our house guests left yesterday and now I am scrambling to get back on track for the New Year. I have been busy in the studio even with all the holiday events. The Ivory Gift Shop, inside the Elephant Butte Inn, sold scarves for me this year. It is such a lovely shop and terrific people to work with !! How fortunate I am ! :)...but it did keep me busy creating new silk scarves :)
Pictured above is a guest book I created for the Sierra County Centennial Celebrations...It was a challenge to create something that would travel well (it will be at every centennial event in Sierra County). I started with very elaborate ideas and then scaled them back to this very simple format. The images are on silk ...no surprise there...and the inside pages are archival. I hope it last for 100 years :)
I am also doing more custom work. Such fun to work with clients to create something specific. I guess I have slipped..kicking and screaming into the world of couture...I only say this as the work is specific to the client to their measurements and most of the sewing done by hand. I actually like the idea of the garments being hand made...and I am finally getting the quality I wanted!! Opens a new world to fabric choices and designs...even if it is extremely time consuming.
As some of you may already know, I take care of my elderly mother (95 years young) in the evenings, staying with her at night and then returning to my home, hubby, puppies and studio in the mid-morning. I now how several hours a day to explore hand sewing, knitting, card making etc. This quiet time spent with mom in the evenings and early mornings have proved perfect for experimenting/practicing with different techniques. Mom loves to see what I am creating and I gain new 'expertise'. Such a lovely time for us...
My good friend Linda Sharpling show me that creating hand rolled edges on garments is not really hard just very time consuming and delicate work. It helps teach one the art of Zen...one stitch at a time "LOL" when I am creating the hand rolled edges that is my mantra.....One Stitch At A Time.......this is not production work!! I find the results to be so worth the time and effort. Plus you have a certain 'feeling' when you wear the garment...a feeling of Lightness and Zen....I like it! Sooooo...... for now this is how I have evolved as an artist. Thanks to good friends who take the time to show us the way....
Now off the to studio..Jessica's robe will be cut out and the hand rolled hems started tonight.....such a delightful way to start the new year... Thanks Linda and Tina Sharpling for assisting in the design process and yes, you too L. Caperton LOL girlfriends
love and light surround you..blessings be

Filling the Well 10-2011

Last weekend we took time off to go camping. A short break but such a needed one! I spent some of the time just sitting and studying the effects of light on water. I want to take my meditation panels to the next level with more complex color and design. We know that 'grasshoppers' are learners.....I do my best to always be open to learning from nature, other artists...or any source that presents itself.

We were very lucky to have an east facing camping spot. I simply got up way before sunrise, just sitting and absorbing all that was offered to me..Out of the hundreds of photos I took over the weekend this one is possibly my favorite. I love the muted colors and soft edges.... I am not sure 'how' this time out will connect to my work...but 'filling the well' is a necessary aspect of my connection to my art.

I finished several new pieces just before the mini-vacation. Wish I could share them all with you...so stop by the studio some day...let's have tea and chat...love and light surround you....

Autumn ~ Simply Silk ~ Workshop

Join us for our Annual Autumn "Simply Silk" Workshop...to be held  at Grasshopper Silk Art Studio near Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico USA.  Details at http://www.grasshoppersilk.com/  always great fun!!

Koi

This piece is a crepe de chine silk. Measuring 6x24 just a playful piece exploring Koi..another of Tuesdays paintings...it will be steamed on Sunday..again letting the dyes rest and set for several days....

Tuesdays painting

Pictured is Tuesdays painting.. Just having fun with dye and soy wax as a resist. This piece is approximately 34x34 jacquard silk. It is waiting to be steamed letting the dyes rest until Sunday.

Sunday afternoon

The Koi pieces are finished and I have just stretched 6 different sizes of silk for tomorrows play in the studio. Now I am off for a short kayak with my friends...The lake is simply beautiful this afternoon...The photo above is from last month...can you believe how beautiful the water was..?? Just like glass..today looks to be just about as good...:) I will think about the colors for tomorrows pieces and maybe the subject matter...hummm.....where to start and how the layers will be applied. Many times I spend far more time thinking about the process..there is that word again....than I spend doing the actual painting as once the method is thought out...the painting can go quite fast! the only delay being the time each layer needs to completely dry before the next layer of color or wax is applied. Which is the main reason I work on so many pieces at once. As one silk piece is drying I can be working on the next piece and then the next ..keeping the flow of thought and color going as long as possible before I must stop and wait on the silk....It continues to amaze me how each piece still comes out with it's own personality...the color combinations, although from the same thought process, end up so different!! Even the subject matter becomes unique to each piece......ideas from one piece inspiring ideas that are so different for the next piece and so on.....It is my favorite way to work when time and space permit...
For those of you who know me...mom is doing fine...and she is ok with me being a little late coming to stay with her tonight as she knows the kayaking weather will not last long, soon winter cold will be upon us, the kayaking put aside till spring. I am so lucky to have a mom who loves the out of doors and who would actually be out there with us if she felt more secure that she would not fall :( Falling is the major concern with age...broken bones are not fun at any age but at 95...really, really not something one wants to try out!! She has been kayaking and such and now just enjoys her rocking chair...
Enjoy your Sunday evening..and have a blessed week...

Exploring the Art of Koi

GOOD SUNDAY MORNING!! The photos above show a small segment of the progression of my latest silk painting. I am Exploring The Art of Painting Koi on Silk...not just the Koi but how to put them under the water....how to use only layers dye and soy wax to create the feeling of looking down through the water. I know I could go somewhere and take a lesson or read about it in a book found somewhere..but for me part of my passion for painting on silk is the unknown. I love to just sit and think about how to go about it...would this or that work..."I wonder if"...it puts such magic in the process...yes, here I go again on the process...but I am in love with the process...not necessarly the finished work...as there is always something that perhaps I could/should do differently ...... I simply love the thinking process and the suprise of what happens...even the pushing myself to 'ruin' a pretty piece by taking a chance and trying one more step...wondering what will happen..Ruin or Wonder...in the lastphoto the piece is 'maybe' finished...it still has all the soy wax protecting the lightest areas and the Koi..so until it is steamed I will not really know what it is going to look like. However, this moring I thought I was finished with it at #4 but wanted to soften the center as with my previous works I felt the contrast was just a little to jarring...this one is now softer...but..will the protected areas play well when they are exposed?? Will the edges of the soy wax and the dye be to harsh...or to soft...We will have to wait and see...but it has been fun working on it and I actually cannnot wait to get this one wrapped and stretch another silk on the frame to see if I can improve ....I know I can in the area of the shapes of the Koi.....I am dissapointed in the koi at the upper right...at a distance it looks ok but up close it looses its something in translation..>>LOL meaning I just did not get it quite right...You see, when I start the Koi it is just color laid down ...then I use soy wax to define the shape...kind of like finding a design in an abstract painting ...it is fun.....and challenging..and not a perfect science as of yet...so back to the studio to try yet again....I think this time I will just put Koi on a long Opera Shawl...focusing on the shape and multi-color of the Koi......until then..love and light surround you...