Mohair Fiber Purge

I'm destashing my studio of items and supplies I'm no longer using, I'm updating my shop daily!

Paring Down & New Beginnings!!!

Paring down, starting with my websites and blogs, and soon to be my wet studio, and have new goals and an actionable plan for future art and designs. I'd do handsprings from the excitement, but my allergies are preventing me from doing so today, lol.

I have two immediate goal dates, September 6th to get my new designs/collections for licensing up onto my blog (group accountability is great for this!!!) and October 4th for the Open Studio Tour. I need to deep clean for the tour, which means an opportunity to get rid of stuff I haven't used in years and probably won't be using again anytime here in the near future, and get prints made of newly created works of art for the tour!

The next goal after that is the Month of November which is National Writing Month and the goal is to get my last Natural Dye Book finished, and hopefully the app (by the end of December) and then it's on to other activities. I'm culling the Natural Surface Academy, etc., too many things on my plate which prevents me from creating and doing what I really love! Also no more teaching!!!

The 60 Day Crow (Bird) Challenge has been a wonderful experience, I will do the big reveal here in a few days.  I now have plans to run this challenge again, as it was quite popular!

Studio Help

Or not so much. Oliver waiting in his kennel, he goes in there when I'm working at my drawing table on projects.  Actually I'm really glad he likes his kennel!

Angel is still with us, I thought for sure she was done for a week ago as I hadn't seen any evidence that she had been eating, etc.  Well it turns out she's been shimming under the gate and has been eating the cats food.  So I raised the gate up a bit so she wouldn't have to shimmy as much.

Thoughts on Eco-Dyeing

Today I shared some thoughts on my other blog about why I do not consider myself an eco-dyer.  The studio purge continues and I will share photos and updates throughout the month. It's a great feeling to know that the materials I no longer need to create art with are going to studios where they will be utilized!

Studio Purge and Color Wheels

On Purging and Creating: I decided to take the month of June off from creating, etc., with the exception of the Art Walk here in Ames on June 6th, to focus on paring down my studio.  I've already started lining up local artists that are interested in my excess fabric, wool and silk fibers, oh and the yarn!  I have to say it's exciting, very exciting.

I had hit the wall and that wall was I cannot create anymore until I get rid of the excess in my studio it is weighing me down.  So out it goes so that I can move forward with my new Canyonland Series, and my collections for licensing.

Watercolor on Bristol board with Sumi Brush

On Color Wheels:  I love certain colors, and I tend to work ONLY with those colors in my work.  After twenty years of producing work I've decided that this is ok and these are my signature colors.  So I've been busy making color wheels in watercolor, acrylic paint, and with natural dyes, and how I achieved those colors so that they are repeatable.

On Planning:  Something I got from Lisa Call a couple of weeks ago that has lit a fire under my can is this:  "Planning is Defining the Dream!"  I started working on my business plan again, laying out the road map to where I want to go and have began planning how I want/hope to get there, and doing so has lit a new fire within me.

Experimental Birds and Studio Clean Up

I have a bunch of altered papers so I decided to use my Three Crows Stencil to make some cut outs for some upcoming projects, so far it's a LOT of fun!

Shiva paintstik in iridescent copper and raspberry pink folk art paint on blue scrapbook paper.

Cleared off my drawing table, let the fun begin, well for me it's cleared off!

Am gearing down for my solo show next month, and another project that will be revealed about mid-month so decided it was time to do a little cleaning and organizing so I can focus!

I found this raised panel frame earlier, while organizing my paper storage rack, it's been hiding there since about 2009.

Desk Ideas

I'll have to clean it out first, but this lovely little secretaries desk sits right across from my computer table in my studio!  It won't replace my office desk, but will give me a place to put important stuff that I use on a daily basis in my studio.  Speaking of my office it's in sad need of cleaning, ever since I moved the computer out of there I haven't been spending any time in there, which I need to resolve and soon.

Studio Delimma

Delimma:  How to keep Oliver out of my sewing area when I'm not using that space???  The chair with the pile of stuff is the current gate for my sewing studio, it's butted up against my spinning wheel which is butted up against a Singer sewing machine cabinet.  This all to keep a curious puppy safe.  A baby gate won't work in this situation since there is nothing to really attach it too. so am looking for creative ideas.

Outside my Studio Window 112413

John putting the storm window back on the house and doing some minor repairs while on the scaffolding.

Gorgeous blue sky today, the squirrel has been very busy picking crabapples off of the tree.

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A light dusting of snow.

View Outside my Studio Window

Snow!!!  I laid down around 10:30 for a much needed nap and woke up a couple of hours later to snow.   Here's the view out of my studio window, onto snow covered scaffolding planks.

Studio Redux 092413 Contiues Onward!

The shelf has been moved over to it's new spot in the main studio, and soon there will be a newly rehabbed table in this spot for my new work station.

The shelf in it's new space behind the loom.  Now to get space cleared out of my office for the looms!

A mess, but also an obstacle for Oliver, this keeps him out of my sewing area and away from all of my threads.

The cheering committee, Oliver and Angel.  Notice the big yellow blob in the photos?  That's so you don't see the pile of laundry sitting on the floor that's slowly migrating it's way to the laundry room n the basement!

More Organization

The wall of wool has been moved, now to disassemble these wire racks and put the drying rack here, then it's time to set up the new computer work station in my drawing and painting area.  Some day that loom will be upstairs in my office with the wool, spinning wheel, etc!

Birds and More

Getting ready for my Open Studio, for Art Crawl Iowa, in October. 
Ink on watercolor paper.

And then some down time with some hand carved and mounted stamps.

Ink on watercolor paper.

WIP - Birds in Tree

First design made with the Birds in Tree stencil design.  The stencil to the right is Birds in Tree Inverse - works best as a mask or with a large brayer full of paint!  More photos later...

Desk Surface Found!

In the spirit of accomplishing one of this months goals, get the bookwork done, clear off my desk, and deep clean my office, I am a third of the way there.   Found:  One desk surface!!!  I'll have to do is dust it and vacuum the walls and I'm ready to finish off the bookwork.

Yestday I worked on these three Corn pieces, they are still in progress.

Organizing Fabric Stash Leads to Found Samples!

Believe it or not the fabric in that suitcase really is organized!  While I was searching for piece of unfinished silk fabric I found my long lost stitched sample I had been looking for late last fall. 

Due to the sample of the rights disappearance, deep into a pile of folded fabrics, I made another sample to pratice some machine stitching on.  Both sample pieces consist of cochineal dyed cotton fabrics and are machine stitched.  The left sample, however, has been surfaced further using fabric paints, oil bar, and ink.  I'm thinking the sample on the right could use a good dose of color as well.

Studio Redux 013013

The last of the piles that need sorting and organizing!

My fabric stash and finished pieces need to be sorted and put in their proper places.

Angel keeping me company while I work, she doesn't like having her picture taken for some reason.

The Studio Waits!

I have mono at the present, so my studio sits idle waiting, waiting for me to come paint, dye, and stitch!  All simply because I'm just too tired to do anything, but the diagnosis sure does explain a lot.

John moved the plastic drawer units into my studio two weeks ago, it's so nice to have all of my vintage yummies within arms distance now.

Vintage pink trim, there's a few things left in the office that need to be moved into the studio otherwise it's all in there now and it's a matter of just getting busy producing some new work.

I love black and white zippers, somewhere in one of those plastic drawers there's a black and white houndstooth zipper that's just wanting to be stitched onto a beautiful surface!

More Studio Organization

John moved my thread boxes into my studio this evening and I spent the better part of the evening organizing the contents.  Tomorrow I will be moving the rest of my studio supplies in while the temps are still bearable in the house, and right now it's downright pleasant!!!

Boxes of beads.