The Day The Kiln Gods Were Merciful

Rebuilding the house after the fire took as long as building it in the first place! During the process, we made all sorts of little changes here and there. When I redesigned the kitchen, I decided to have a tile backsplash. And I moved the microwave to a different location so I could have a proper range hood. That left a really big available space above the stove for something special. I found some really interesting border tiles and fashioned a "frame" on the wall above the stove. That is where my tile guy started. He left the inside of this frame empty for artwork to be determined at a later date. And since my BFF Margot owns a company that manufactures fired glass color, I figured there would be some way to make something for that space. Now - we moved back into the house at the end of February - TWO years ago. I have been staring at that empty hole for two years people!! Several freeform attempts to make something for that frame failed miserably and I would go back to thinking about it. And you can't put just anything there! It has to match the kitchen aesthetic and is kind of permanent. At the least, it would be decidedly difficult and laborious to remove. And I wanted it to be my own design!! But what?? Then my daughter asked me to host a baby shower for her so she could invite her friends and family here. Nothing like planning a party to get the rear in gear! Finally, I came up with a design I thought would work and fit the style of the kitchen. The design would have to fit into two tiles as my kiln wasn't big enough for one complete piece. Not a problem - I will just do two firings. The glass I used came from a broken painting hanging in the family room that fell during the fire? I already had a nice stack of glass cut to size from that one big piece. I worked for two days getting all the color applied to the design and it was finally ready for the kiln. Did I mention the baby shower is in 10 days? My kiln is a small fiber one that sits on a shelf when not in use. I place it on the garage floor (nice & level surface) and plug it in. I put the first piece in and start the kiln. Sometime later, I run to the market. Coming back, I open the garage to pull in and notice the kiln is off - but there is NO LIGHT telling me it is complete! I go inside and my son is running the vacuum for me - only the canister in the garage isn't working. We've either blown a fuse or tripped a GFCI! Evidently, we have had a trifecta of power overuse. The combination of vacuum/kiln/garage door is all on the same line! Who knew?? We finally found the GFCI that had tripped and restored power but I couldn't turn the kiln back on because I had no idea where it was in the firing schedule. Nothing for it but let it cool down and see what was what. This in itself wouldn't have been a major disaster but I had two pieces to fire and they had to match! Did I mention the shower is in 10 days? No time to start over on this! I called Margot and told her what was going on. She talked me through the possibilities and options and wished me luck! It wasn't until I could open the kiln later that night that I knew I had at least one good piece. The colors were good and the edges were the best I had ever achieved! But could I get the second piece to match? I started the second piece before I went to bed and crossed my fingers & toes. The next morning, I held my breath as I opened the lid and pulled out the matching piece! Did a happy dance right then & there!!! Cleaned up the second piece and laid the two together and my design was complete. Installation is finally over and I have a complete kitchen!

Iris Medley for the Art Play Date

This is the first peek of my painting for Art Play Date! It is mixed media with stamping/embossing used in a couple of new ways and a really easy painting technique. Best part? No pattern transfer! How do I do that you ask? Come check out Art Play Date using the link to the right. You will not be disappointed! This is going to be fantastic arty fun!!!

My First Online Course

I am so excited! Not only am I working on my first online art class, I get to participate with some pretty incredible artists!!! ART PLAY DATE will start in May and run through October. Each Monday, a new lesson will be released from another teacher for a total of 24 weeks. All for the very low price of $99!!! Each class will consist of a pre-recorded video and a coordinating PDF. More information is coming but I couldn't wait to share this exciting news!! If you want to sign up, just click the link in my right side bar. Come play with us!!

Energize!

Packing that many big holidays into such a short time frame are draining, especially when Thanksgiving is so late in the month. It seems like the parties and preparations is nonstop! Once it was over I felt the need for a bit of a break. Lots of cleaning out and preparing for new art adventures has been going on. To kick off this bit of activity came my word choice for the year - ENERGY! I want to rev up my energy levels by creating lots of fun happy art and inspire others to do the same! It is fitting that I share my first finished art project of the year with such a vibrant jacket. Airbrushed silk dye with my custom silk screens in the "flower freedom" design applied with iridescent fabric paint. What do you think?

A Little "Frosty" Fun and Thinking of My Word for 2014

Our painting chapter had the annual Christmas party way back in the beginning of December. Two of our members belong to a very charming church in a small community with all sorts of victorian style buildings. The annex is white with shutters & blue carpeting and light blue table cloths - kind of a scandinavian flair but lovely in its simplicity. This year we went with a Winter Wonderland theme to play off the colors we had available. The committee painted up some door prizes to reflect the wintery colors. Simple paper doily placemats dressed up the tables and some crystal & cut glass globes & other candle holders were clustered in the table centers. Right before everyone was to arrive we dropped in some of the battery operated candles and tossed in a handful of fake snow to camouflage the plastic candle bases, then scattered some of the snow around on the table tops. Simple yet elegant! With all this going on, I wanted something new to wear and wanted to show off my new silk dyeing tricks. I made this jacket and the scarf, then had my nails done with frosty blue polish with snowflakes! And I was set to party!

As we reach the end of the year, I have been reflecting on my word for this year and trying to decide what my word for next year will be. My word this year was "journey" and I have certainly done that! We have traveled to new places and returned to some old favorites. My art has traveled into some new avenues with lots of new and exciting techniques that I can't wait to share this next year in some new formats. We found out that we get to begin the journey into grandparent land this next year and my daughter is having a boy! My son married his sweet Lilly and they are working hard to make their new production company a success! The journey isn't over - it is ever evolving - but it is time to bring forth a new word that will spearhead my creativity for 2014. So, until that time arrives, I hope you have a lovely holiday season however you celebrate - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Another Paris Bag

While I am getting ready for a craft fair I wanted to share another of my Paris totes. Each one has different embellishments and trims. Will be back to posting more regularly very soon!

Trip to Paris - I wish...

A few weeks back (see my August 8 post) I shared a journal page created with lots of mixed media elements I had laying around - Gelli print, stamping, chalks, silk, etc. I loved it so much I decided to turn it into fabric via spoonflower (if you haven't visited spoonflower.com yet, you are in for a treat)! My fabric (and wallpaper) came this week and I had to make something with it right away. Starting with one panel of fabric, I cut it in half horizontally to make the top of the bag. I found a black on black swirly fabric to lend a bit of sophistication for the bottom of the bag and the handles, and some wonderful tassle trim for embellishment. Been playing with Tim Holtz grunge paper and tattered florals die cut and stamps with embossing powders. And had a great Art-i-cake pendant by Amy Labbe that has a tiny photo of the Eiffel tower in the center of a metal flower - been saving this one for a special occasion. Tucked a scrap of black lace up under these two elements for a bit of panache. This was stitched on the front just below one of the handles. I also had some wonderful rose taffeta that I used for the lining so she has some fancy underpinnings. Can we say ooh la la????

Making My Own Fall Colors

Fall is my favorite season but we have to wait awhile sometimes for the least bit of color change. We do have some trees that flower & turn from yellow to rust in the fall season. And my Chinese tallow tree has been turning and dropping leaves for the last few weeks. But what I love to see is rolling hills and gentle mountains draped in the colorful finery of fall from my childhood in East Tennessee. So I have to make my own. This is a silk piece I am playing with. The dyeing is done but I still have a bit of embellishment to finish. Will show the finished piece soon!

Playing with Shrink Plastic

The weekend testing grounds... die cut shrink plastic! I used the Tattered Florals die from Tim Holtz and sandwiched a piece of shrink plastic between two sheets of grunge paper (another TH product). Ran this through my Vagabond. I also slipped in a piece of plain card stock against the outside plate furthest from the cutting blades. This seems to give me a better cut from the grunge paper and the grunge paper cushions the shrink plastic so it doesn't break or tear. Then I punched holes in my floral shapes, used various stamps with StazOn ink in Royal purple and used my heat gun to shrink the plastic. I didn't want flat flowers so stopped heating before they went totally flat and teased some of the ends up while they cooled. There is a white card stock shape in the last photo so you can see the amount of shrinkage. The largest flower went from 3-1/4" to about 1-1/2". End use? Don't know yet but really happy with the results. They will find their way into art somewhere!

ART 30/30

Can't believe this is Day 30 of the month long challenge - the time just flew by! I managed nearly every day, only missing the day that the internet decided to smack me. The photo above is what is on my painting table right now. Kelly has asked to see our painting tables over in Art Amusement so this photo will get double duty. I dare not show you the rest of the table. It is very scary. Let's just say this is all the room I have to work right now & leave it at that! The letters are about 7" tall and currently have a layer of paint skins. They will be mixed media and I will try to remember to take progression photos. Let's so make some ART folks!