Classes and Upcoming Exhibit of the GA SDA Members

Hi everyone,



Yes, I've started back to work as a statistician and have to cut back a bit on my artistic endeavors but I'm not letting work take over everything. I'm working hard to find a balance as I'm sure many of you have had to do over the years between family, work and your art.



I wanted to let you know that I'll be teaching a few classes very soon.



The first is Needle Felting Basics, May 16 at a fabulous yarn shop in Woodstock called The Whole Nine Yarns. It is a Saturday, 10:30, $35.00. Just a few weeks away! I'll teach you the basics and in the class we'll make a set of coasters and a small case (ipod, cell phone, eyeglasses, whatever you wish it to be for).



The other class is Saturday, June 20th at Intown Quilters, a wonderful quilt shop in the Decatur area. Never been? Oh, you must! I am very excited about this class. It is called Mixed Media Fabric Collage. We will cover as much as possible in one day! We will especially focus on transfer techniques! It is a full day class. I have to check on the times and price.



Other things happening this month are the opening for two exhibits that I have pieces in. One being Focus on Fiber II-Small Art Quilts and the other is local, the member show for the GA SDA (Surface Design Association). It is opening this Sunday at the Defoor Center. I just dropped off my pieces and saw some of the other work and it is simply stunning. Especially unique. The name of the show is Extreme Threads and it "showcases the energy and innovation of diverse professional and emerging artists working in fiber, stitch, surface, textiles.....employing unusual materials, and using timeless and radical techniques."

Collage Mania Preview is Open!

Collage Mania, the wonderful, amazing fundraiser by Virginia Spiegel, is now open for Preview. There are over 30 pages of gorgeous fiber and collage art to be purchased to raise funds for Cancer Research. You may preview now to choose the ones you hope to purchase on opening day, May 5th! Prices start at $80.00, a great deal for unique piece of artwork. For those pieces that don't sell on the first day, price goes down to $40.00 on May 6th and 7th.

Virginia hopes to hit to the $200,000 for all of her fundraising efforts and she can do it with your help!!

My contributions are on page 25 but there are so many to choose from! Something for everyone!

To preview, go to: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CM2009Collages1.html

Fairies

are always fun. I have a Creativity Party scheduled for this week and I'll be teaching 10 year old girls how to paint fairies, so I painted this one as a demo of what we will be doing. I think she is pretty cute. :)

Collage Mania-more

I received so much positive feedback on my last post. Thanks to everyone who to took the time to look and comment!

I did go ahead and send these in to Collage Mania so they will be available for purchase very soon. If you don't know about Collage Mania, it is part of a fabulous fundraiser put together by Virginia Spiegel. This is the last year and the hope is to hit the $200,000 mark. The funds go to the American Cancer Society. First day of the sale is May 5th.

I thought I'd tell you a bit about the pieces below. The ones with the my original ink drawings include watercolor paper, tissue paper, acrylic paint, alcohol ink, watercolor pencils and pastels and thread. I donated one of them in honor of Eugenia Calle, my friend who worked for the American Cancer Society for 20 years, a prominent epidemiologist in cancer research. She was murdered in February. I donated another in honor Carmen Rodriguez, another prominent cancer epidemiologist who worked at the American Cancer Society for much of her life. She lost her life to adrenal cancer last fall.

Two of the fabric pieces started with monoprinted fabrics as the background. The small pieces of fabric are a combination of painted fabrics and commercial fabrics. Another started with a screened tree background from a photograph. It's hard to see as I decided the orientation was landscape which puts the tree in the background on it's side.

I'll post more details about Collage Mania as it approaches. Preview day is April 29!

I also sent in one other piece; photo is above.

Collage Mania

These are the pieces I've been working on for Collage Mania. These are not the final photos as they are not mounted to 8 x 10 yet, and these are scans not photos. So, the color is a little off and they just don't look quite right. I'm struggling a bit with confidence and not sure I'm in love with these. Maybe the orientation is wrong on some of them. Or maybe it is basic design problems? Or they aren't done? Or they are over done? What do you think?



All artists struggle at times with confidence and maybe with every piece. What are your current struggles with your art?

She Looks So Innocent

I added a new mixed media canvas item to my Etsy shop today. She started as a mixed media background that was my example that I made during one of my Creativity Parties. I added the little girl with my favorite medium, watersoluble wax pastels. I think she turned out really cute. She has a high gloss varnish that doesn't show well in the photos (can see it a little bit as a glare in the first photo), but I think really adds to the piece.

How have you been creative today? Remember, we are all creative. You just have to decide that you are willing to play!!

Creativity Party Projects

Here are a few of the samples I have made for my Creativity Parties. These are for the creative offerings including needle-felted art canvas, mixed media canvas and storyboard canvas (one with a photo of little 'ol me). The heart piece was inspired by an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors about a year ago. This is the piece my last party used as a jumping off place for their artwork.

I finished! Submission ready, QUEEN BEE

I actually completed something, not the night before, not two days before, but THREE days before the deadline. Well, okay, it is a receive by deadline so I really needed to get it done today. For once though I won't be paying mega fees just to get it there on time.

I submitted this little lady to Focus on Fiber II, Small Art Quilts. Maybe she will bring me luck and make it into the exhibition.



Enjoy your day! Mine is going pretty good right now!

Heidi