Here’s another seriously overdue post…about my wonderful visit to teach in Little Rock and Hot Springs Village in Arkansas this past April.

Sherri wanted me to see this old mill which was, if any of your are movie buffs and eagle-eyed, in Gone With the Wind! It was a stunningly beautiful setting, even with somewhat drippy skies!

I had a “down” or extra day between my bookings in Little Rock and Hot Springs Village.  Imagine my delight when Sherri D.–an internet friend from a small quilt group on yahoo– realized I was coming to teach at her guild and that we could chum around together on that day!  We had a blast…but I think the best part was something for which there are  no photos, so you’ll just have to use your imaginations:  after supper, I was treated to an impromptu Celtic concert by Sherri, her dear hubby and dear son.  They play at RenFaires, and I got my very own performance as they prepped for performing at their first RenFaire in Arkansas!  So tap your toes and hum to yourself as you read….

This falls into the “inspiration is everywhere” category. This is old elevator equipment next to the parking lot for the main public library, where the QUEST guild has its meetings and workshops. Lovers of steampunk…feast your eyes on real gears!

Although I’m usually all about asymmetry, I loved this cropped view of the elevator workings.

and I couldn’t resist one more…

We also had fun wandering around that old stone mill….

This bridge is next to the old mill shown in the photo at top. Can you believe it…those “tree branches” are actually cement!

And who can resist a photo of a real mill wheel:

the mill wheel at the old stone mill….

Sherri and me…astonishing…we both look good! Must be because we were happy and just kept smiling all day! Even my *hair* cooperated!

I hereby vow that I will TRY to post a little closer to when stuff actually happens.  Gee…what a concept LOL!

I’m thrilled to share with you (again, but in more detail) Conversations I, which has been juried in to a World of Beauty, the competition exhibit at International Quilt Festival 2012 in Houston, Texas.  As usual, the jurors utterly mystified me with their selection:  I entered both my portrait of Joshua (which I personally think is the best piece I’ve ever made, seen here) and this quilt, and this is the one that got in!  I am thrilled to have a quilt in Houston which is–let’s be honest here–just about the biggest, most important show there is in the quilt world!

Conversations I, juried in to International Quilt Festival-Houston 2012

A couple Aprils ago, I had the great good fortune to be invited to teach by the Arizona Quilt Guild–it was a fabulous visit.  I discovered that it would cost the same to fly via Los Angeles (I’m in Maine, on the other side of the US for those reading from other countries) as to fly direct.  If I stopped en route in L.A., I could visit my beloved Sister-in-Law (sister of my heart!), so that’s what I did!  When she asked what I wanted to do, I promptly replied: go to the Getty!  I had seen photos of the Getty Museum before, including my friend Deborah Boschert’s trip there.  The lines, angles and shadows from the tables absolutely enchanted me, so I took a TON of photos.  You can see the FOUR (!!!) blogposts from that trip here-1, here-2, here-3 and here-4 if you really want an armchair visit!

I combined two of my photos of the tables and chairs to come up with this composite image…. I also really wanted that stark contrast between stone and sky, but since the chairs were in a courtyard surrounded by buildings, I took artistic license to put my table and chairs somewhere they weren’t in real life!

The shadows were one of my favorite things, but it took a few attempts to get them right.  For the quilt, I began with white fabric which I dyed to match the colors in my photos (Thank you, Carol Soderlund…. using my color swatches and formulas and learning from your class did EXACTLY what I wanted with the cloth!).  I had intended to use a sheer for the shadows, fused to the beige “stone” paving.  But it looked like I stuck something on….and one of the things I liked in the shadows was the seamless transition from beige to dark.  So I decided I would use ONLY thread, stitched very closely, to create the shadows, as seen in this photo:

I had thought I was done with this quilt when I took this photo, but decided there just wasn’t the stark contrast that I wanted in the shadows from the table and chairs–if you look at the photo at the top of this post and this photo, you can see the difference in the shadows.

So, on to Plan “C”!  Yes, I did test, but it was pretty nerve-wracking to take out the Derwent Inktense pencils and darken the shadows:

You can see what a difference there is in this photo. I darkened the shadows under the foreground chair first.  Notice that there are two pencils to the right of the chair, and just off the edge of the quilt a paintbrush.

VERY carefully, so that the pencil-ink didn’t bleed into the stripes of sunlight, I pencilled in with the Inktense pencils (see the pencils and sharpener) in the shadow stripes. Then VERY carefully I held a paintbrush wet with water in my right hand and my hair dryer (turned on) in my left. I would brush a small section of the penciled area, then zap it with the hair dryer to allow the paint to intensify by wetting, the dry before it spread into the sunlight stripes. I only had one small bleed!  This photo shows that about the top half of the shadows have been wet-then-dried, while the lower part of the table’s shadows are still just pencilled on–not yet wet-and-dried.  I sure was glad when that was done, because I could have wrecked the whole thing!

I also needed to think about how to create the shaded side of the wood slats on the chairs and table.  There is only so think one can cut strips of cloth to fuse.  And I didn’t really want to totally mash the quilt by darkening the sides of the slats with thread stitching (as I did in the shadows under the table and chairs).  So I used a brown (or was it red?)  Pigma pen and wrote words relating to the visit:

Detail, Conversations I

So that’s the story….the conversation between me and the cloth and thread and pencils and quilt, but it is just one of the conversations from that wonderful day.

Prepare to be amazed….

The Camden-Rockport Middle School mosaic mural, in the cafeteria, Camden, Maine. In the style of (and with the permission of) Eric Hopkins.

This post is frightfully late…. I only took these photos in June 2011!  Yes, more than a year ago at the unveiling!   But the mosaic in the cafeteria at Camden-Rockport Middle School (Maine) is so stunningly beautiful and wonderful a public art project, that I decided I still needed to share it with you all.  It all began with Kristen Andersen, the CRMS art teacher.  Kristen is the kind of art teacher you dream of having–after having kids in CRMS for 8 years, I STILL want to go back to middle school and be in her class–alas, I’m a bit too old!  As Kristen put it when she approached world-famous artist Eric Hopkins with the idea, it takes a great deal of faith on the part of the artist to grant permission to a group of children to make a work in his own style.  I’d add that it takes a great bit of courage and creativity to come up with and execute the idea–Well Done, Kristen!

What you see in the photo above is eight 2 x 4 foot (24 by 48 inch) panels of glass mosaic, MADE BY the KIDS of the middle school!

The project began with a detailed proposal. On the storyboard, you can see some of the original sketches, inspiration art by Mr. Hopkins, some of the glass tiles and tile nippers used in the project.  The photo (printed on 4 sheets) on the table is the view from Mt. Battie, which overlooks Camden Harbor.  The mosaic is this view, with the top of the old stone tower on the left of the mosaic and the harbor and view beyond.

A closer view of the sketches

A closer view of the photo-montage and tools used in making the mosaic

The Youth Arts program helped fund this large undertaking…thank you Youth Arts! On the easel at right you can see a mock-up block for what Kristen envisioned. The pictures on the left are of Eric Hopkins’ art.  He has his own gallery in Rockland, Maine; if you’re ever in the mid-coast, DO take a detour down winter street to go visit…it’s just a stone’s throw from Main Street.

The mosaics were made in eight sections that fit into the VERY sturdy frame.  Should the piece ever have to be moved, that can happen because of how this was assembled!  Way too wonderful and too much work not to plan for the inevitable changes down the line.

And here is the official unveiling! Gasps of delight all around!

CRMS Art teacher Kristen Andersen–the multi-tasking mom– tells the assembled students, staff, important folks, parents and onlookers how the project happened.

While Kristen explains the project, (from left to right) Principal Maria Libby, Asst. to the Principal Matt Smith, a Youth Arts representative, and Eric Hopkins listen.

Kristen and assorted students and volunteers (THANK YOU volunteers) met once a week after school to work on the project.  Early on, Mr. Hopkins came to one session and helped fine-tune the drawing on the plywood panels to give it that Hopkins-sweeping-view.

After the unveiling, we all got to go up close. Here is my friend Kathy on the left, then Kristen and her son on her hip, and Mr. Hopkins. It was SO totally COOL…he kept going up to the mosaic touching it in wonder…the way you see folks walk up and want to touch a quilt. Neat!

Another shot of the mosaic, with a Youth Arts representative, Principal Maria Libby, and Eric Hopkins.

And back to where we began… on the tower at Mt. Battie, a close-up of the left end of the mosaic.

THANK YOU Mr. Hopkins for saying yes.  Thank you Kristen for being such a wonderful teacher and inspiration.  Thank you to Maria Libby and the school system for being a place that encourages such wonderfulness in the school.  Thank you to the kids and the volunteers and Youth Arts for making this wonderful piece. Goosebumps, all over again.  WONDERFUL!

SAQA-The Maine Event 2012 dinner at the Capt. A.V. Nickels Inn, Searsport, Maine

What a lovely place to have an art quilt meeting!   I must say that this regional SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates, main site here) was the first time I’ve been around this many really top notch art quilters outside of the ginormous International Quilt Festival in Houston!  Thank you to coordinators Beth Berman, Sarah Carpenter and Margaret Sheehan for bringing this together for a third consecutive year.  I’ve already got the third weekend in September reserved for next year!

During the break after the last workshop/demo and supper, I sat outside on a breezy (and increasingly nippy) deck enjoying the view and sketching.

Earlier in the day I had spotted a beautiful old spoon amongst the assorted styles near the coffee.  I picked it up and decided it was so lovely that a mere photograph wasn’t enough, so I sketched it!  I then added a quick watercolor of that view (I believe that is the far north side of Penobscot Bay in the distance) and journaled a tiny bit on the page:

My sketch page of the day. The tiny writing that scrolls around reads: As the sun goes in and out behind the couds the shadows shift and move dancing over the page (upper line) and In the late afternoon we had a break after the last session and before dinner, so I painted the view. The spoon needs to be a bit darker at the tip of the bowl, but otherwise I’m happy with it.

After dinner was the best part…seeing what others are doing! Alas, I do NOT know everyone’s name, so I apologize to artists and readers alike for not having attribution on many of these.  If you know who did what, please let me know so I may update the blogpost!

Sandra Betts (on left) shared this portrait of her mother, using Mary Pal’s technique using cheesecloth. Very effective…. when Sandra first held it up I thought it looked like her, but not quite. When she said it was her mother that explained it!

Isn’t this FABULOUS? Someone please tell me who made it!

Michelle Goldsmith (on left) told us about taking Lisa Call’s working in a series online workshop. This was one of many large pieces, wholecloth and painted. I loved the joyousness of the color in this one. Plus it was fun to see Michelle again–she was program chair for her guild and they hired me to come teach there in May 2011, and it was so much fun!  I blogged about that visit here and here.

Beth Berman, our lead coordinator for this event, has a thing for crows. Her art quilting skills have just blossomed since I first met her. This is one of her two pieces.

This Maine quilter (on right) loves color and dyes her own fabrics and creates her own embroideries (in this case the seagulls). I just want to dive headfirst into that color!

As you might gather, it was a WONDERFUL day!  Thanks Beth, Margaret, Sarah and everyone who traveled from near and far.

At the Hemingway House, Key West, Florida

Back to some visual inspiration from our Florida trip!  After our first night on Duck Key, we drove down to Key West for two nights.  This allowed us one day to wander (sweating a lot…it was over 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity) in downtown Key West and one day for a snorkeling trip to the Dry Tortugas.  The one thing I absolutely wanted to do was visit the Hemingway house, where I promptly fell in love with the acid green shutters!  The house is on the second highest bit of land on Key West, a little over 20 feet above sea level!

Of course, one of the reasons I wanted to go is the cats.  We have a polydactyl, which means many-toed cat.  They are reasonably common here in Maine as well as on Key West.  Most cats have 18 toes (four per foot, plus dew-claws on two feet).  Thumper has 26 toes–basically a foot and a half per leg!

This regal calico allowed us to photograph her in the dining room of the Hemingway house. I think she has the normal number of toesies.

Here’s one of those lovely windows from the INside looking onto the verdant garden.  There are fans for the obvious reason…it was HOT!  Apparently Hemingway’s then-wife (they lived there in the late 20s and 30s) decided to remove the ceiling fans and install her collection of crystal chandeliers.  The tourguides regret her decision every summer!

I loved the paving in the verandah area around the house…looks like a Quilt Modern plan, eh?

I LOVED the pods and flowers… I believe this is a Royal Poincianna tree. Stunning against that blue sky!

Speaking of cats… clearly they go where they want, even if it is on top of wet cement so that their feeties are preserved for posterity! Can you say Surface Design?

More wondrous and bizarre berries on trees–this one near the dock area where we departed for the Dry Tortugas.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Royal Poincianna petals among the stones and buttress roots! Can you say QUILT-to-be?

And here are Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Mile 0 of US Highway 1. Now we need to go, maybe next summer, to the OTHER end of US Highway 1 where it runs into Canada a couple of hours to the north of us!

Coming soon:  our trip to the Dry Tortugas… yes, it is possible to go beyond the end of the Key West…keep going west!