Snowflakes (Sort of)

 

DIGITAL FLAKES

OK, looks like we aren't going to get snow, at least not with this cold front or the next (blowing in tomorrow night). So I've satisfied my desires (which are fickle at best) with some snowflake like mandala designs made with various iPad apps. 

 

Stitching Stories

 

 

TELLING STORIES WITH STITCH

If you've ever had the impulse to tell a story through your art work, don't underestimate the power of stitch. While we textile artists often lose ourselves in the colors and shapes that make the bold statements in our work, the elements of stitch are no less important. I use machine and hand stitch both as textural lines on my work, but also as expressions of rhythm and energy and movement.

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Stitching is the final layer of story that I try to tell. Think about it: do you strive for even regularity? For an all over even steven precision of stitch -- nothing wrong with that! Or do you let the speed of machine, the size of a by-hand seed stitch take on some of the emotional content and context for your art. I know that the second approach is mine. I gave up perfection long ago, and while I admire the skill that that kind of quilting requires, I don't even pretend to aspire to it -- I prefer my own rather higgledy pigglety kind of approach to stitching and it suits the kind of work I do.

FIND OUT MORE IN THE E-MAG

If you'd like to know more about my approach to stitching, there's an article in the new issue of the electronic magazine In Stitches. Included is a short video interview and demo, as well as the step-by-step how-to of my process for making an art quilt. I can't share the link to the article, since that's the point of selling an e-zine, but I can share the links to the store for various platforms! If you do make the purchase (or subscribe -- I have found the e-mag full of great content) you'll find a variety of videos, step-outs, reviews and helpful and interesting stories. In this issue: articles by Janet Lasher, Carol Anne Grotrian, Jill Jensen, Norma Schlager, Cloth Paper Scissors editor and author Barbara Delaney, Carol Sloan, Kathyanne White, Eileen Lauterborn, and editor Jane Davila.

 

Store Links:

For iPad

For MAC

For PC

Books Made by Hand

 EXAMPLES OF BOOK PAGES FROM MY WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS:

 

 

 

I teach Central American/Dominican teachers creative strategies and techniques to use in their rural schools back home. we've been making books and illustrating personal stories.

The photos above are a selection of illustrations from the SEED team. They'll take home the process to establish or expand libraries in their schools with books made by students, parents and community members.

 

Bounty of the Season, South Texas Calendar



South Texas is on a slightly different seasonal calendar than most of the U.S. While you may be braving a wintery day, we are still taking in the fruits of summer, albeit the last ones! Here is what went into the oven from our garden last night, slow roasted and packed away in olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar so that we can stretch out the flavors of summer for a few more weeks.

I picked the tomatoes from our garden about a week ago when our first "hard" freeze was forecast. We barely dropped into the low 30s on our hill top -- it's usually about 5 degrees warmer up here than it is in the valley below. So a few fruit remain on the vines, still green along the ground! Most of these sat for a week completing the ripening until we sliced and salted them and put them to roast last night. Now three lovely jars of roasted tomatoes sit on the refrigerator shelves. I don't bother actually processing them since we eat them up so fast!

And, to boot, the temp is expected to reach 80 degrees today!

Looking Beyond the Art Village Where We Live

We fiber artists live in a very rich and connected community. And sometimes (often, actually) it's important to travel outside to see what other "countries" in this universe of art are up to. The valuable messages may come in the form of technical tips, some new materials that could enrich your own work, or in broader messages about the business and/or creative trajectory of being an artist. 

This great podcast showed up on my phone this morning on my commute into Palo Alto College for more bookmaking with the Centeral American teachers. If the copy and link don't show up for you, you can find the page link to the Design Observer site here. Louise Fili is a wonderful typographer, designer and inspiration to those of us who like to include text and lettering in our work. This interview is a wonderful reminder about the power of timing, about paying attention to opportunities and the importance of  taking what my coach Lesley Riley calls "imperfect action."

 

"AUDIO DESIGN MATTERS 2009-2012

Louise Fili

Louise Fili designs specialty food packaging and restaurant identities, and is pazza for tins that speak Italian.  A graduate of Skidmore College, Louise designed books at Alfred A. Knopf in the mid 70's, worked for Herb Lubalin from 1976-78 and then joined Random House as Pantheon’s art director in 1978. In her eleven-year tenure as art director of Pantheon Books she reinvented book jacket design. Louise’s passion for 1930s Italian and French poster design migrated from her book covers to her restaurant design. You can read more about Louise in the  introduction to her most recent book, Elegantissima. 


 

Design Workshop with Central American Teachers

 

Today, (a couple of days this and next week) I'm working at Palo Alto College in San Antonio with 20 Central American and Caribbean teachers -- part of an international education program that I have been part of for the past 10 years. These teachers (and those who have been here over the years) come to San Antonio for the equivalent of an education degree from rural "underserved" communities in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic for 6 month or 1 year terms of study. They return to share their knowledge in their schools, communities and nations. This program, funded by USAID and administered by an international expert staff at Georgetown University (and our own Alamo Colleges International Programs) is one reason I don't mind paying taxes. 

These teachers who work under conditions that most U.S. teachers would find impossible (50-60 kids in a SMALL classroom, few if any books and supplies, often limited electricity and no running water, in communities with high incidence of absentee fathers, illiteracy and poor nutrition. They work long hours for not much pay -- many of them work second jobs to make enough to support their families.

Today I am facilitating a design workshop to help them find their strongest illustration style for personal stories that will become the first books in their classroom and school libraries of handmade books. These are simple products, made with inexpensive and recycled materials, and the teachers return home to teach their students and parents how to make the books based on their own experiences. I LOVE these books and have a great collection of art from throughout the past years -- I'll share some favorites over the next few days.

 


 

Paying Attention

The just-past post covered a lot of territory. As I take on this new expanded adventure of art out into the world, it's a good idea to think about my story, and what I bring to the table. (Perhaps you should do so, too! Post a link in the comments to your blog about your creative path and we'll see where this takes us...)

Where does my story as an artist begin? With paying attention.

Paying attention, this skill, like any other, needs focus, practice and to be honored within the environment (culture) of its practice. Fortunately from my childhood, I had mentors, parents and teachers who gave me that skill and fostered it's development.

First, a family who loved nature and beauty: Birdwatching was the usual activity on any trip; a geology pick was always in the back seat; composition books for note-taking are STILL a Christmas stocking standard. We looked at plants and creeks on Sunday afternoon drives as we searched for farmland (soon thereafter purchased with the GI Bill). My chemist father shared his love of observation and my intellegent stay-at-home mom nurtured beauty in the everyday life; both of them honored the skill of paying attention and modeled it to us four.

The concepts in The Missing Alphabet speak to my second set of lessons in paying attention. When 12, I was enrolled in a Children's Theatre at Baylor University, part of the department of drama headed by legendary regional director Paul Baker (he also headed the Dallas Theatre and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright on the design of that forward-thinking structure on Turtle Creek). His wife Kitty, and the young woman who became my mentor for decades, Jearnine Wagner, had started a children's program based on the same principles and ideas that were at the heart of the college drama program. These were: that each of us is creative and has a unique story to tell in our art and that all art/perception and creative thinking can be discerned through a vocabulary of form: line, color, shape, movement, light, rhythm, space, sound and texture. These perceptual/sensory tools could be harnessed by the artist (no matter his or her genre or field) as tools for telling that unique story. These, called by Baker "the elements of form," have moved into our missing alphabet book as "the sensory alphabet," a change of language that helps us explain to parents and educators that these are not just "art" words.

I've been able to take these perceptual and creative tools into my life in so many ways, I use them daily as "screens" for my thinking and inventing and imagination. They are the tools that I teach to the participants in many of my workshops, retreats and courses. I find them invaluable in defining and critiquing, in helping other artists find their own strong suits, their own voices and their best ways of working, simply by asking them to pay attention to these perceptual elements in their lives and work. The Missing Alphabet, while its a book targeted at parents, is still a useful resource for emerging artists who would like some specific information about the sensory alphabet, as well as lots of activity ideas that have no expriration date according to age!

Art school introduced me to another set of tools for paying attention, principally, that of drawing. I am not a natural "drawer." In fact, as a young woman (and even in art school) I pretty much decided I could never be a "real' artist because my drawings in junior high and high school never measured up to the cpaturing of reality that I expected as artist should be able to achieve. And though my college drawing classes at Trinity University were dully attended, I still never really fell in love with drawing until much later -- like a couple of years ago.

Paired with the sensory alphabet, some simple ways to approach the blank page have helped  me to get over my fear of drawing and to actually treasure the time I can carve out to pay attention through drawing.* I have a new group of "drawing" mentors, in real life, my friend and artist Sarah Jones, in the digital and print world, the work and writing of John Berger . 

 

That's why I am looking forward to the next Fearless Sketching workshop here at El Cielo. It's scheduled for April 12-14, costs $180. There is still room for a couple more participants, so if you are interested, send me a note through the comments or on the contact form on the sidebar to the right. 

 

Pulling Me all Together

Perhaps you have this problem, too. Lots of different people living under one head (or in one).

I've been challenged to tell the story of how and what I do that ties it all together. This book, The Missing Alphabet, my teaching (here and there), art work (big and little), my work with Central American teachers...the occassional foray into designing kid's programs, training teachers at Big Thought in our New World Kids programs or volunteer work in pr for the upcoming SDA conference. (Whew!) What is the strand -- well, perhaps multifiliment cable is a better image -- that ties it all together?

At the core of what I do is a deep and well-grounded interest in the creative process, an interest, and profession, that has 50 years of history behind it. I was one of those lucky kids who found a creative path at a young age, nurtured by a very, at the time, radical children's theatre program. That was not only integrated racially, but integrated creatively. And this in Waco, Texas, go figure. 

What those early experiences in inventing, presenting, working long hours, delving into personal and collaborative visions did was to give me a grounding in both the how and the what of creative work. As a result of that children's theatre I had experiences as a teen, young woman and young professional that took me from, at age 18, running a visiting  children's program for 20,000 participants at HemisFair '68 to the Year of the Child with Erik and Joan Erickson (PS she was also a weaver) at the Smithsonian Institute, to a fulltime model school that won international accolades and a Ford Foundation designation of model educaitonal program, to the Kennedy Center for exhibit and program design, to Cleveland in the era of serious racial disharmony to teach in inner city neighborhoods, from there to Neiman-Marcus with window designs and products that showed up in the Christmas catalog. (again, whew) I am so grateful for such a rich and complicated creative path.

The new book for parents, The Missing Alphabet, is ONE summary of thaat informed inquiry that started when I was twelve and developed through that career in first in arts education, then in journalism, museum exhibit design, writing and art making. This book is what's come of my experiences and those of my co-authors (with similar and diverging paths) as written for parents who want their children to meet the challenge of 21st Century thinking and literacy sklls.

Other summaries have developed into courses I teach to adults, such as Creative Jumpstart, Finding Your Path as an Artist, and the Artist's Journey. But the philosophy and approach informs all of the workshops and retreats that I teach -- even those that are somewhat technique oriented. I always try to move beyond or below or above or inside of a technique or tool, teaching it as a means for someone to find as the ideal expression for her or his story. At the core of my teaching is a deep and abiding belief in the power of individual story and expression. I do firmly believe that each person on this earth has a unique, powerful and absolutely unrepeatable experience to express in some or another medium, be it art, science, music, research, homemaking, poetry or any other field you can come up with. And I make art myself because I am passionately drawn to figuring out what it is I have to say -- and, besides, how could I have any credibility in this world of wonderful artists I find myself in, if I didn't make my own statements?

I've had many ways to express my story and my creativity in my life, in my art, in my relationships, in my teaching, writing and designing. I love having the opportunity to open the doors for other's creative work though example and through nurturing connection and conversation. The personal values I have selected as guiding stars for the next stage of my creative life are: CREATIVITY, CONNECTION (CONVERSATION), ADVENTURE, IMAGINATION, and ALIGNMENT

Post Script: And speaking of conversation between the this and that of our lives, here is another wonderful piece from David Whyte:

What Stories are Just Old Stories?

In an effort to make my story bolder, bigger and more adventurous, I recently signed up with a coach (I'll share more about that as the process processes!) and, as a result, am doing some of that deep-digging internal work that is both exhilerating and terrifying at the same time. Like trying to answer the question: What do I really want in my creative life? And, what do I need (to have, to do, to think about, to change) to make that happen?

And, of course, as often happens when one is paying attention to one thing or another, two smart amazing people whose work I follow came through with related posts. 

First, poet, creative consultant and teacher David Whyte wrote a wonderful "letter from home," and in it he describes this aha moment:

One of the most beautifully disturbing questions we can ask, is whether a given story we tell about our lives is actually true, and whether the opinions we go over every day have any foundation or are things we repeat to ourselves simply so that we will continue to play the game. It can be quite disorienting to find that a story we have relied on - is not only not true - it actually never was true. Not now not ever. There is another form of obsolescence that can fray at the cocoon we have spun about ourselves, that is, the story was true at one time, and for an extended period; the story was even true and good to us, but now it is no longer true and no longer of any benefit, in fact our continued retelling of it simply imprisons us. We are used to the prison however, we have indeed fitted cushions and armchairs and made it comfortable and we have locked the door from the inside.

The imprisoning story I identified by the time the entree was served was one I had told myself for a long time. “In order to write I need peace and quiet and an undisturbed place far from others or the possibility of being disturbed. I knew however, that if I wanted to enter the next creative stage, something had to change; I simply did not have enough free space between traveling, speaking and being a good father and husband to write what I wanted to write. The key in the lock turned surprisingly easy, I simply said to myself, “What if I acted as if it wasn’t true any more, what if it had been true at one time, but now at this stage in the apprenticeship I didn’t need that kind of insulation anymore, what if I could write anywhere and at any time?” One of the interesting mercies of this kind of questioning is that it is hard to lose by asking: if the story is still true, we will soon find out and can go back to telling it. If is not we have turned the key, worked the hinges again and walked out into the clear air again with a simple swing of the door.

Read the rest of the story here to find out what happened when David Whyte took action with that insight. And join me in asking what are just old stories I am telling myself?

Also in my inbox, a newsletter from Lisa Call, another of my on-line gurus. A systems analyst by day and artist in heart and soul, Lisa has a work ethic I admire, and such complex and organized systems for her own creative goal setting that they make my little improvisational soul quiver. I don't even aspire to such a level of organization, but I do really find her inspiring and motivating. She says:

I just received an email from my coach addressed to "Big Rock Lisa". *

What a great reminder to stay focused.  I love my coach!

I've gone through periods of trying to hold it all together without the support of a paid coach or mentor, and I can do it. 

But it's a lot easier with one.

Sometimes it's good to get a neutral party to have a look at my ideas, plans and actions as they often see things that those closer to me do not. 

It was my coach that said "you are always busy but you don't seem to get the most important things done".  Well duh!

And now I focus on the big rocks first. 

Like my studio.  I'm spending more time making art this month - with a consistent and sustainable pace - than I have in a long time.  Woohoo!

To come clean about my coaching commitment, I've signed up with Lesley Riley and even after just a week o work on visioning my goals and how to go about them, the universe is responding in kind. I decided to take this step of hiring her as my coach after seeing an amazing panel discussion that Lesley put together (and only half of it at that) at the International Quilt Festival. She invited a group of successful artists to talk about their work, approaches and how they capitalized on their strengths and talent to get where they are. Lesley has online courses and does one-on-one coaching with her Artist Success programs -- check it out!

10 Great Gifts for Artists

Speaking as one, here's what I think any artist would love to get as a gift this holiday season (from big ticket to stocking stuffers). 

1. A handwritten letter that specifically and deliberately tells me what you like, enjoy, appreciate and find interesting about my work. We so often feel like our work is out there in a vacuum. We would love to know what you like about it, what it makes you feel like. I know these things are hard to put into words, but putting them into the words you can really would make us happy!

2. Scratch materials -- what do you see in my studio that gets used over and over? Maybe (for any textile artist, any way) a terrific new set of scissors, even a coupon for scissor sharpening or a sewing machine cleaning would be very appreciated gifts. Quality watercolor pads are expensive and always welcome for the water media painter. A gallon of gel medium or tar gel might make the heart of any mixed media artist happy. If all else fails, a gift certificate from one of the online art stores or fabric stores could be just the ticket. Check out Jerry's Artorama, Dick Blick, Dharma Trading Company, or Pro-Chem.

3. If the artist on your lists likes blank books, just some really functional ones like the black bound ones from any art or book store will do. Different sizes are fun to have.

 4. At the top end of the gift bestowing standard, (if your artist doesn't already have one) a new iPad tablet. Whooo Hoooo! Or if your artist already has one, how about an iTunes gift card for those apps that just need testing out. Another idea would be an iPad workshop for said iPad-owning artist -- there are some online ones, and (modestly, I say) I am teaching one here at El Cielo March 1-3.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Speaking of workshops, another welcome gift might be a gift certificate for travel or lodging to be used at a workshop or conference, or a workshop or conference fee paid in advance. The Surface Design Association conference will be held in San Antonio in June, a great gift to give any fiber, mixed media or textile artist on your list. For an event less directly art related, but inspirational for any artist, see if there is a TEDX event scheduled in your community and offer your artist the means to attend (there might be a fee, parking, babysitting, whatever it takes).

6. At the other end of the supply spectrum from a supply something used everyday, how about giving a luxury, unusual, international or unusual material that you think your artist could use in her or his work. Some treats that I've seen online lately:

Shizen papers -- handmade papers from Asia and elsewhere -- (lots of arts stores online carry these)

7. Something inspiring. For example, an art book of one of your artist's favorite artist. A big beautiful picture/photo book of something your artist includes in his or her work (fruit, flowers, landscapes, shells). A book about creativity, such as my own THE MISSING ALPHABET (yes, for parents, but it's a great book for those of us looking for artist dates for our inner artist kid)  Inspired, How creative people think, work and find inspiration, or The Art of Looking Sideways:

 

8. Travel. Travel is inspiring to most, if not all, artists. Maybe its just an overnight to a nearby city with an art exhibit worth seeing, or a weekend to a nearby spot of natural beauty -- or an extravagant gift of India or Italy. Be sure to package the gift with an appropriate postcards, set of travel tools (book, watercolor or sketch tools, guidebook or tickets!). 

9. A gift certificate for your artist to make a hard-cover book of his or her art  using iPhoto, Blurb or Lulu, or another of the online publish-on-demand sources. You can specify hard cover or soft, size, type of paper (choose the upgrade for better art reproduction).

10. With caution I suggest, A studio clean-up partnership-- just make a little coupon offering your services for a weekend clean-a-thon, and throw in some new storage containers, plastic boxes, filing ideas or other support for an organized workspace. You'll know whether your artist would welcome or reject such a gift -- some of us like our messy ways, others would love some help putting things into order (even if chaos was just around the next corner!) For additional inspiration, add a subscription to Studios, the Interweave Press publication that showcases wonderful artist studios of all kinds, sizes and shapes.

Do you have idea? Post them in the comments section and we'll see how many of us get the gift we really want this holiday season!

 

India Inspired Pillow

http://www.craftsy.com/classes

I hope to offer a class on Craftsy one of these days (you can help get me there by reccommending me as a teacher send an email to courses@craftsy.com). I demo'ed a couple of two hour sessions during the Houston International Quilt Festival and liked their professional attitudes and have enjoyed checking out the website. (Jane Dunnewold teaches a dye class there, too.)

So it seemed essential to actually take a class on their platform and to see how it worked. The lessons here are all video, with supporting print materials -- though I admit, I just went by the video and had no problem with the pillow project I tried. The class was taught by Carol Ann Waugh, Slash and Stitch, and she was great -- easy to follow, not boring, but certainly thorough. I just plowed through in one day with the class, though all the Craftsy courses are taken when and where and on your own schedule. The class commentary and questions to the instructor seem to be easy -- though it definitely must mean quite an ongoing commitment to the class by the teacher, since students start at any time and work at their own pace. Here's my project. I think I'll make more for Christmas gifts if I can work in the time. This pillow took me about 6 hours, but I think the next one will go more quickly as I learned some tricks from the first time through -- like, don't use slippery fabric for your bottom layer! And for less stitching, use more print or patterned fabric on that bottom layer, too. 

 

 

Anyhow, if you like to sew, quilt or make art with fabric, I reccommend Craftsy -- and this course was great!

PS Here I am at the Quilt Festival doing a stamp-making demo at the Craftsty area in the Food Court.

 

 Photo by Lesley Riley

More about The Missing Alphabet

Our book for parents is birthed and we are selling quite well -- would love to make an even bigger splash out there is in the world, so if you know of anyone who might want to feature it on a blog or review site targeted at parents, creative thinkers or others who are interested in supporting the NEXT generation of creative thinkers, leave me a comment or send a message via the contact box on the sidebar. This is the book that distills the information and ideas that have informed much of my career as an arts educator -- frankly, the ideas and activities in it are fun for all ages, including adults looking for opportunities to awaken (or reawaken) their creative thinking and "noticing" skills.

Of course, I hope you'll consider it as gift giveing time rolls around. It's a spendid, helpful, interesting and important read, if I do say so myself! For parents and for artists of all ages. 

You can from Amazon or B&N, both electronic and paperback versions are available.

Here's a bit more about the book, from the website at http://www.themissingalphabet.com:

What is the best way to equip our children for the unknowns of the future?

It is impossible to know what the world will be like, or what our children’s career choices will be when they are grown. The scale of change, largely driven by technology, is unprecedented in human history. And it is change itself, this reordering, this inventing of the new world that will occupy our children’s future.

We have entered a time that calls for innovation across the board. This call is already echoing through all fields. The child’s counterpart to innovation is creative thinking, and creativity is our children’s next essential literacy.

The future will belong to children with innovative minds. But where will they get the thinking skills that build effective innovators? Unfortunately, most schools are focused elsewhere. The Missing Alphabet is a practical guide that helps parents solve these problems.

This team of education experts has drawn on decades of applied research in creativity, individuality, play, and media to craft an engaging guide for parents who understand that creative thinking skills are no longer a luxury, but a necessity for success in the new, grown-up world of work.

Yes, you are invited.

OK, this is kind of ridiculous, I know. I have done nothing on this blog except ask you to stuff for a few weeks now. So, this is my life, lovely. Busy. And full of flat out get it done.

Sometimes life is like that, and we who are lucky enough to work at what we love get the benefit. I have been a bit crazy, stitching my way into a solo show, getting ready for quilt festival, trying to think about next year with that half an ear on the future. NOTHING, NOTHING,  has been done exactly the way I'd wish it to be.. but it's done (or nearly). I hope to post a link to an online gallery here in the next couple of weeks. If you can't make the opening but want to see the show, call or email me and I'll make arrangements to meet you at Don and Jacob's for lunch sometime before it all comes down in January. There will also be a couple of other parties and special events there over the holiday season.

The solo show opens on Sunday, and you are invited.

Tomorrow and Monday I prepare for the festival workshops and demos. Saturday a dear friend has asked me to "do" a special workshop with him, for a birthday gift of creativity. The book is out. The website launched.

http://www.themissingalphabet.com/

You can order here on Amazon (Kindle version, too).

Please, if you have any desire for this book -- great for kids and parents and grandparents, order it soon, so Amazon reorders! On such, books are made and lost. We have spent money, lots of time and it's kind of a legacy thing for me and my co-authors. You won't regret the purchase -this is the real thing with lots of great ideas for getting kids off to a creative thinking start.Save & Close

Moo Biz Cards on the Way

I love Moo cards, tiny small size business cards, but this time, I ordered the standard size. I have a url link here to share for a 10% discount, in case you need new cards, too. Yes, these are more expensive than the standard office superstore card, but you can put a different piece of art on the backs of your card -- or however many you want to use of your total order. I chose 5 different images, some from art quilts and some from iPad art!

Speaking of iPad, I have room for one more on the couch or sleeping porch (free beds and comfy, I promise) for the iPad workshop coming up October 5-7. Here's the info:

 

Art on the iPad 

 

If you've recently acquired an iPad, this workshop will help you take it into your world of creativity and art. I've explored dozens of sketching tools, art journaling, collage and photo apps and this workshop will take you through some hands-on work -- then into the studio to print, make thermofaxes and use what you've done on the tablet for fabric printing to use in your art quilts, mixed media or other work. If you don't have a tablet yet (and are trying to decide what or if to buy), you may still want to attend, I'll have a try-out table that one or two participants can share (yes, we are a two iPad family!).
This El Cielo workshop retreat will take place October 5-7 (optional Friday night potluck) ending about 3 pm on Sunday. The workshop fee, including most supplies, is $175. If you use the coupon below with a nonrefundable deposit of $20 before September 1, you'll save $20 on the total when you pay your total!
As usual, first come, first choice on accommodations -- there are three private bedrooms ($30 for both nights) and a couple of comfy couches (free) as well as the sleeping porch (also free)  which should be wonderful in October! The meals are great, the company inspiring and the views spectacular.

Installed in the Library

 

If I could be a book, I'd choose to be in a library, something pithy and not too popular, but the kind of book that when someone checked me out, I'd be a surprise, something to read and savor, something to share with my friends.

Well. I'm getting into the Parman Branch, but it's not as a book. Thursday, the San Antonio Library Foundation and SA Public Library will dedicate a new children's area dedicated to the memory of a young girl who died at age 16 of cancer that she had fought most of her life. The young girl, Ana Macias, became the reason for gifts from family and friends and library supporters. You are invited if you're in town or near -- 5:30-7 at Parman Branch, outside Loop 1604 on Wilderness Oak off Blanco.

I was asked to make a large art quilt "tapestry" to put on the wall in the new area. Here's what I can tell you about it. I prepared this fact sheet to leave with the librarians and to give the foundation for their records:

 

Ana’s Nook

Art Quilt “tapestry” by Susie Monday, 2012

Commissioned by the San Antonio Public Library Foundation

Materials:  Cotton, silk, rayon, cotton blend and other textiles, wooden frame, cotton batting and sound absorbing batting, paint, dye, fusible webbing and dye. 

Techniques: Fused raw-edge appliqué with free-motion quilting and hand embroidery. Fabrics created with a variety of surface design techniques including batik, screen printing, hand-painting, dye and textile painting on both new and repurposed fabrics. The art was treated with a UV light barrier chemical to help limit fading. 

This triptych was designed especially for the gridded translucent wall of the new children’s area at Parman Branch Library. The librarian Haley Holmes and the staff of the Library Foundation wanted something that would be visually interesting to children, would help absorb sound and would include “Ana’s Nook,” in honor of the memory of Ana Macias. The design was inspired by a picture Haley had of an apple tree quilt. 

Susie took off from that seed of an idea, using the colors of the library interior and those of the new Ana’s Nook furnishings. The fanciful art quilt includes two apple trees on either side and a Spanish oak in the center and depict the trees  against a nighttime constellation of stitched names of children’s book heroes and heroines. Ana’s Nook is printed on a sign that hangs from the oak and one of the apple trees (repurposed in traditional quilt fashion from a pair of worn-out trousers) has several pockets full of leaves. A quarter moon hangs in the tree branches and moon beams sparkle a path through the piece.

Each leaf is different in color, pattern and stitching, and while some of the book hero names are easy to read, others are blended into the background, so a kind of hide-and-seek of names can engage the viewer. Hand stitching adds more pattern and texture, with large cross-stitched “x”s and Long running stitches as part of the grassy hills where the trees stand.

Susie Monday is a textile artist with more than 15 years experience in the field. Her work is featured in public and private collections across the hemisphere, and has been featured in exhibits in the U.S and internationally, including at the International Quilt Festival, Gallery Nord, the Witte Museum, and the San Antonio Public Library Gallery. She works in her home studio near Pipe Creek, El Cielo Studio, where she also teaches fiber art and creativity workshops. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Southwest School of Art, and a Creative Learning Specialist for the International Programs Department of Alamo Colleges. Her new book, coauthored with Susan Marcus and Dr. Cynthia Herbert is coming out October 23 from Greenleaf Book Group, The Missing Alphabet, A Parents Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids. Susie graduated from Trinity University in 1970.

 

 Here's the invitation to the event:


 

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However, having written the darn thing on the site, I now have to figure out how to make a link here to the blog, and put it on as a downloadable pdf. I think this LINK may do the trick, but it's not exactly the format I am looking for (and whoever Charlotte is, thanks for letting me use your copy) However. Slowly, slowly is my advice for using any new computer aided process!

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Coming up at Southwest School of Art

Registration has begun for classes at the Southwest School of Art.  (210-224-1848, ext 317/334)

2349 | Finding Your Artist Voice  
Instructor:   Susie Monday 
Dates:    Mon, 10/1/2012 - 11/19/2012 | Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM 

Distinguish your work by finding a vocabulary of shapes, images, marks that are personal and explored over and over - find your artist voice by refining, repeating and elaborating a process. This course will not be technique-or media-oriented, but will help you define and focus your work though the active creation of a series (five to 10 pieces) within the parameters of your self-selected direction. 

 

Coming up at Southwest School of Art

 

Here are the next two summer classes that you might be interested in. Both are at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, and both are perfect for teachers and/or parents interested in helping kids be more creative -- the weekend course will focus on classroom fiber arts activities, including collaborative and individual projects. The parent's class will give anyone who works with kids the vocabulary of "The Missing Alphabet." a powerful tool to help kids face the future we can't predict.

2381 | Fiber Art: Fit for the Classroom

Whether you teach 4th grade or high school art classes (or just want some fiber art fun with your own kids or grandkids), there's a fiber art technique that will add texture, print, and even a bit of sparkle to your creative activities. Monday, whose experience with a wide range of classrooms and ages of students, will teach a variety of fun and manageable fiber art techniques and design approaches for use with children. Examples include mono-printed fabric art cards, easy screen-printed portrait tee-shirts, fabric paper collage, and fused fabric banners. These activities can be part of a formal art curriculum, or used by any educator to integrate the arts through new skills. Please see SSA website for a list of materials; bring a lunch each day. 

Level: All Levels 
Instructor: Susie Monday 
Dates: Sat & Sun, 7/14/2012 - 7/15/2012 | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM 
Studio: Surface Design Studio | Campus: Navarro 

 

6-9550 | Creativity and Kids

special class for parents & teachers

Susie Monday

Mon – Fri, Jul 16 – 20 | 9:00am – 12:00pm Tuition: $145 (Members: $130) | 5 sessions

Discover more about your child’s learning. Explore their world of creativity, and find ways to stimulate and enhance it. With artist-educator Monday, co-author of

New World Kids: The Parent’s Guide to Creative Thinking as your guide, find out how to support, focus and direct your child’s creative thinking at home or at school. Hands-on activities, handouts, and an interdisciplinary approach characterize this invaluable class for the parents and teachers of creative kids. 
Special Class for Parents & Teachers 
Instructor: Susie Monday 
Mon - Fri, Jul 16 - 20 | 9:00a - 12:00p

TO SIGN UP. go to http://www.swschool.org