Wisdom Keepers Done - half of the fabric 

Wisdom Keepers in progress 

Journals, Books, Web Cams and More

I picked up a couple of interesting books, recenlty, to help me along my new path in my studio life. Mainly they are about drawing and journaling, which seems to have fallen to the wayside the past few years. I need to get back there, it seems that a lot of good things in my life have fallen to the wayside, the results are not so good.

The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to be the Arist You Truly Are by Danny Gregory

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around you by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth

I also picked up a new blank journal. I have leather scraps that I bought eons ago to make a leather journal cover. It'll be fun to have something that personalized. The books have been helpful, somehow I, as an artist, got off the path that God set forth before me, I think it was the smell of money, or the potential for it, that did this. As a result everything started falling apart, my health, the business, you name it. Good thing my husband has a strong sense of stick to it ness!

Anyway... I'm back, I told John I feel like Stella in the movie Stella got her groove back! Only I got my artistic wings back instead! I think the whole venue of online classes has really opened my eyes to what I've always wanted to do.

I bought a web cam tonight, it's way cool. Tomorrow Brenda and I are going to go get one for her computer. It took me about two hours to figure out how to get the audio going on my computer, but I'm living testimony that if you pull on enough cords long enough you'll find the weak link in the system, or get electrocuted trying anyway!

Natural Surfaces

I started a new group today, it's called Natural Surfaces and it lives over at Yahoo. It's a group for Surface Design with Natural Dyes. I'm excited, quite a few new members already. Here's the addy:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Natural_Surfaces/?yguid=129581707

The next thing is I'm now offering online classes for the Natural Dyes (first class is an indigo dyeing class), Rust Dyeing, and Clay Dyeing! My Mark Making with Nature, Surface Design with Natural Dyes will start in April. I'm off to buy some web cams for my computer.

Indigo Class

I am teaching an Indigo Dyeing Class this spring, online, it's called The Springtime Blues. Click on the title and it'll take you to the page with all of the info. The class is $75.00 and runs six weeks, there will be one lesson each week, I will be available on lesson days, and available via email, or the phone, any other time. I also created a Yahoo Group called the Prairie Fibers Classroom so that students can meet one another and can use the chat option if so desired. We are busily getting the platform ready for more classes, I'm so excited, people are interested!

My wet studio library, a combination of surface design, dyeing, and natural dyeing books.  

All of this stuff has to find a new place to live, it can't be in my way anymore. Once the new table is built there will be lots of storage under the table. We will then put counter tops on the south wall, that we salvaged for free (gotta love dumpster diving), there will be shelves under the counter tops. 

The other end of my studio, it'll all be cleaned an organized come tonight! I'm so excited I just wish my head didn't hurt so badly I'd probably enjoy it even more. 

The base of the new table assembled and the leveling feet are now level. Now to put the bottom plywood on, and then for the table top! As a bonus I'm getting a slot for my screen printing screens to live in! 

Some Assembly Required. The new table being assembled. 

Wide Open Spaces, my temporary table, of 4 years if finally taken down, you can see one of the top pieces leaning against my sink to the right. 

Barley aka Old Man of the Woods. I also call him Pez, as in a Pez Dispenser, he sleeps with his toungue sticking out of his mouth most of the time. Here he's sticking it back in as I just woke him up taking his picture. 

Ok they are so cute and adorable with their feet up near their faces like that! Even if this one is a bit surly looking. 

Silk Dupioni dyed with a Madder Root Lac Extract. I wish I had done a yard plus of this now, it turned out great! 

Another detail oof the cotton piece. I'm planning to work more purple and blue onto the edge of this piece. It's about 4 yards long and 60 inches wide. 

Silk Organza and natural dyes, it's in the washer, while the cotton piece waits. It now needs to go through the second phase of dyeing, and I've already torn two holes in it, it'll be interesting to see how I work around that issue. 

Detail, again all natural dyes on Pimatex cotton. 

It's half done, pimatex all done with natural dyes, once the large chunks are off it needs to go through the washer and then be overdyed. Ignore the back yard I'm a fiber artist, not a landscape architect! 

My latest creation. All natural dyes of course. 

Space Universe Links

Check out this link, the pictures are way cool! I have a book with these very pictures in it called: Other Wolrds Images of the Cosmos from Earth and Space by James Trefil, it's a Nat'l Geographic Publication.

http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive/space.html

January Challenge

I posted this challenge on the Quilt Art List for the participants there:

Maybe it's time to start a monthly challenge to be hosted on this list? Especially in the down times when folks are not getting stuff ready for shows.
I really liked the idea of swapping the colors out on the paint by numbers kit, this would have been something we would have done in art classes. On another list I'm on we are doing a color challenge, the list owner made a list of 50 colors, you had to have your numbers picked out in advanced and then your colors were emailed to you, so you couldn't pick the colors you like.

So... If your game. Here's what I'm thinking. Make it small, post cards, journal quilt size, Atcs, whatever. It's January - up here in the north, and I want my snow. So my challenge to you if you want to participate is to use my 4 colors of winter, and white has to be one of them, tree bark brown, you pick your tree of course, and there are a gazillion varients of brown, crab apple red, and some bird color, pick your bird. Me I'm going with Blue Jay Blue as that's whats in my bird feeder right now. I suggest going outside and looking at a tree for your inspiration. This'd be a great project to try different techniques on, like drawing on fabric if you've never tried it before.

I will have my new website up very soon, http://www.blogger.com/www.thistlequill.com I'll post the challenge picks there.

Due date, Jan 31, 2006. Just let me know when your done, I'll post the info on my blog as well.

No sign ups necessary. So get sewing people!

Oh and the big table there in the front, that's an old drafting/studio table that I picked up for five dollars. I used to stand all of the time, what ever happened to that? 

My other sewing table, which is supposed to be something else, but since there's no space on my sewing table for my sewing machine... need I say more? 

And my clothes, they really don't need to live in my studio either. While this once was a master bedroom, my husband can be a good sport what can I say, my clothes are still in the master closet, and I can't even get to them so what's the use??? The clothes must leave, so I can have more storage. 

The business office has gotta leave! As you can see my sewing table has turned into a bona fide desk! 

This would be especially true if the sensory overload was physical enough to keep one from her design wall. Do I really need those three antique sewing machines in my studio? I think not. 

My studio, it's time to clean again. 

It was mentioned on a list that sensory overload can keep you from creating.  

What can I say. 

In Progress Quiltlet #1 for the Tolerance or Not Challenge.