Lovely Afternoon July 3rd at the 7th Annual Fiber Arts Stroll & Quilt Walk

A favorite event of mine is the Fiber Arts Stroll and Quilt Walk that happens the weekend before the GIANT Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. The Fiber Arts Stroll has a more mellow feel than the quilt show itself, and it allows more viewing of art in the participating shops and businesses. Saturday, July 3rd, the day of the Arts Stroll was a near perfect summer day for me.... In the morning, watched the Tour de France while getting ready for my own bike ride with the Bend Bella Cyclists. After an invigorating ride through the back roads offering up views of our beloved snow-covered Cascade mountains against bright blue skies, I was ready to be inspired to view art created by other Central Oregon artists!
Once arriving in Sisters, a lovely 40 minute drive from Bend, I grabbed a map, and quickly navigated my way to destination shops and galleries. I adore the work of Tonye Belinda Phillips, who was displaying at Clearwater Gallery and chatted with her about her creative process between all her other admirers. I told her that I am experimenting with paper collage, which are similar to the whimsy of her work. We chatted a bit on the joys of paper and fabric, her lovely hometown of Camp Sherman, and venues of displaying artwork in which we talked a bit about etsy, and I was able to mention my site to her! Gotta keep up the promoting, huh, wherever I find it! I gave Tonye my business card.... the last one in my wallet (note to self ...RESTOCK!). Later, as I moved along to Sisters ArtWorks, I delighted in seeing Kathy Deggendorf, who is Tonye's frequent collaborator. Kathy was there at her work space, showcasing it for their studio sale. Also in the building was one of my favorite shows of the day, the Wish Upon A Card show, in which artists created fabric postcards, which were on sale as a silent auction. Check out last year's submissions and you can see why I love this kind of show! I love the small scale, and within this limitation, the COLOR! the WHIMSY! the CRAFTSMANSHIP! the VISION! the JOY! the Since I was in Sisters, I also had to go to the Stichin' Post to revel in the explosion of color and patterns in this fabric/quilt shop. Even though I bought fabric exactly a year ago for throw pillows, already, I am mulling a change.... However, I held off on making any fabric decisions, continuing simply to ooh and aahh over the showcased art and quilts.

AMBUS reception was great! I'm stuck at home with TWISTED ankle.

Apparently, the reception for our AMBUS show, The Shape of Memory, at the Rogue Gallery and Art Center was well attended, and a fun time. Check out the pictures. Thanks to Di, our ever vigilant, diligent, and computer saavy president for getting those posted promptly!

Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip over the mountains for the reception and a weekend getaway. First, Plan A fell through, then so did my back-up plan.... and by then it was too late to make arrangements for this busy Father's Day weekend. What really cinched the deal was twisting my ankle during Friday morning's run! BUMMER! I was planning on a long run, and was feeling good, but 40 minutes in, over a rocky, twisty part of the trail, my left foot caught something, and I went DOWN. OUCH! Often I can shake off these twists, but this one was more severe. Pain radiated up through my leg when I tried to jog, not dissipating, so I knew my run was over....although I did half jog, half walk back home, cuz I was 3 - 4 miles from home!

Note that lovely swelling on my left ankle. This time around, I have been diligently icing, elevating, and resting my ankle! It is early summer, so I want to have a healthy body to enjoy summer running and bicycle riding! If nothing else, this time off my feet allows some computer time, reading, sketching, thinking, and dreaming.....

School is OUT for the summer. TIME for ART!

It's JUNE, and summertime! (Although, it doesn't yet feel like summer....not nearly warm enough for my taste... but that's another matter!) OBVIOUSLY, I let my blog slide! Other stuff fills up my life, and I didn't make this a priority. I have been creating some artwork all along, much of it experimenting with paper mache' collage.

This piece I call "White Holes". I began a bunch of collages using bits of decorated papers I cut up in tiny squares. As my life is constantly changing, I am enamored with visual transitions, often with color.

During Thanksgiving Break, I wanted to create a collage a day....
I started strong, inspired to have a week off, had lots of ideas floating on my brain, and thumbnail sketches all over. A collage-a-day may have been too ambitious, but I was happy with the few that I did complete.

Happy with my new experiments in collage, I decided I would show these in my AMBUS group show. Our first show, since closing our gallery and pursuing other exhibiting possibilities, was at the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Center in Hillsboro, OR during February and March of 2010. As I hadn't worried about framing for my previous work, I was in somewhat of a tizzy figuring out how to best frame my new work! Framing can be considered an artform all by itself! And, can be an expensive one at that!

I managed to artfully frame 5 pieces for the show in Hillsboro, but the time, expense, and worry of framing was not worthwhile for me, so I decided to try other surfaces on which to paste my collages.

Now, I am pasting my collages on canvas frames! So far, I am happy with the result.

I created several collages for The Shape of Memory Show now showing at the Rogue Gallery in Medford with my AMBUS group. This show will be up through June 2010.

My big goal for the summer is to list my paper mache' creations on my etsy site. Over the years, as an artist, I have created, then accumulated, a wealth of fun, whimsical, colorful paper mache' artwork. As I am not presently exhibiting on the summer art festival circuit, I want the online world to play a bigger part in exposure, and sales! This means I will be spending more time on the computer (thankfully, my desk is in front of a large picture window, so I can gaze outside....), and maybe even keep more up-to-date on this blog!

AMBUS retreat in Grants Pass

Here we all are (except for Pat, who was home with the flu)! What an awesome bunch of women! Creative, supportive, honest, funny, and wonderful!
I had a great weekend....I miss seeing my AMBUS friends/artists on a regular basis and that synergy of our group. That little bit will go a long way....

More show postings as they near....

AMBUS retreat

Friday, November 13th, my art group, AMBUS, will be having our annual retreat! (Sorry, Bob, that I will be missing your birthday!) I am excited to see my AMBUS friends, catch-up, and plan for the upcoming years! AMBUS will be showing at the Glen & Viola Walters Cultural Center in Hillsboro, OR for the months of February and March of 2010..... More details as the date approaches. As a group, we will also plan for other shows....Stay tuned for other news from AMBUS!
I am not so excited by the prospect of driving over the Cascades during a winter advisory..... 6 - 12 inches of new snow predicted to fall. Yikes! Not quite ready for winter driving... just hope all the other drivers are careful!