IT IS APRIL ALREADY?

It's April already and the rush is on. Taxes and Paperwork and Visiting Relatives and Deadlines!

Here are the pictures of the finished Feng Shui Series piece " Ochre Earth of the Southwest, Relationship Success"(right). It is 41"x 40"and I'll deliver it on Tuesday. Hope the client likes it.

To the left is a detail of the center and you can see the series of lines in the middle which is a trigram from the I Ching , Book of Changes and represents the Earth.

I managed to get a ways into the next one , a green Feng Shui piece called " Green Wood of the East, Health Augmentation" and I'll post the finished piece in the next blog so stay tuned.

Above you can see the differing sizes of the "mountains" or "bubbles " I use for the different widths of greens in the piece. I constantly adjust these as I go by making sure each warp is staying straight and not wiggling left and right along the length of the work.

On the news front I've been ask to put a show together in the gallery/office space of my local County Commissioner. That will be June 4th, reception 5-7pm through July 14th ( right before Convergence so if you are here early you could check it out) and it will be on the 10th floor of our Albuquerque/ Bernallillo County City/ County Building that connects right to the Convention Center. And also a show for my gallery in Madrid, The Tapestry Gallery that will have a Saturday opening right before Convergence begins .So back to the loom

I go.

Happy Spring!

Yes, it's spring springing up! I can't help but think, "Should'nt I be cleaning?" But luckily there is too much work to do. What with commissions ( one out of 3 done, yay!) and keeping galleries stocked and shows to come ( I'm having a solo show that will open right before Convergence, details will follow in next blog) I am chained to the loom.

Here is a spring picture, and it snowed soon after this . There are now so many gracing my studio, so bright and cheery.

Just finished these 3 for a gallery and when I called they were happy as I had just sold 2 others. Sell 2 , make 3 , perhaps I will be able to up my inventory.

Here they are finished and in making and also the 1st commission in progress (above), finished pics in the next blog.

And now its back to the loom .

IF ITS NOT ONE THING IT'S ANOTHER

Yes , it's always something that slows us down. Last week it was illness. It began in my chest and I had disastrous visions of bronchitis but then it became a head cold which laid me flat for a few days. But I was able to work on a piece I hope to finish in time for the " Eye Dazzlers" entry due date. I did make a lot of progress so we'll see.

As promised here are a few photos of the benefit Valentine Show for our local Arts Organization "Creative Albuquerque" I made 5 little tapestries and 2 mixed media pieces and they all sold!

Here are the 5 "Valentine Tapestries" in the gallery and their silent auction sheets below. On the mixed media wall my piece is on the right in the photo, a framed collage from the "Nipponiphelia Series".

Unbelievably I also finished one of my large Feng Shui Series pieces "Blue Water of the North, Career Success"

They sell for $ 2,400.00 retail and this one is 41"x40".

Here are some in progress pictures as well as done.

And of course, since it's always something I have to get back to getting ready for an installation tomorrow of one of my tapestries in the Municipal Building in the Village of Magdalena ( a two hour drive from here).

I'll try and take some photos of the installation and the final look and have it up next week? But then it's Taxes to get ready ( my daughter's college financial aide papers need filling out). Yes, as Roseanna Danna's Nana

said even at the beginning of this post, there is also the 3 new 21"x 13" new designs I started that need to get to the gallery. I'll try and post the progress of these as well .

Yikes ,what's next?

Valentines!

The valentines are finished and up at the gallery. The reception will be on the closing date , January 29th which is also the silent auction which is always exciting with people trying to out bid each other.

Here are a few pictures of them in various stages of being done , and some of the finished product before cut off and after. I always think of them as being related to each other, as little families as they were created together on my full width warp. They turned out to be 13" long by 8 ' width. ( I use the golden mean rectangle for my formats sizes)

I will post some pictures from the closing reception when it happens.

And after much Holiday distraction I've begun another large piece and will include pictures of it's progress in the next post as well . Adios for now and back to the loom I go.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I think it was very fitting that I ended the year with a finishing of an old warp (I put on 7 yards and increased my usual 39"-40" weaving width to 47" for the two commissions , see previous postings) and beginning the New Year with a new warp ( 10 yards and back to my usual width). I end a warp weaving 4-5 little pieces at a time. They are a small version of my Feng Shui series that I sell mostly in museum gift shops and some galleries, and are 9-10 inches square.
Here are some pics of them on the loom , as you can see from the pictures it looks quite chaotic but my father always said , " It is hard by the yard but it's a cinch by the inch".

I finish both sides of these " littles " and they don't sell for much but I can often use them to hook people on my work and i sell a lot of them and they are a fun little place to play with color and to keep tapestry skills honed. I did five at a time on that last warp but now I'm on the smaller width.

On this beginning of the warp , ( I always do a bunch of

small pieces at the beginning of a warp just to test it, that way if there are any major problems in the tension from a botched beaming it won't last long and I can re - wind the warp onto the back beam after they are done) I am doing five 13"x8" "Valentines" for a benefit show put on by and to raise $ for our local arts group Arts Alliance . Here are some pictures of them and they are due soon so back I go to weave away!

After Weems the commission is finished

I finished! And they loved it and picked it up. I haven't seen it in situ yet and will take pictures when I do.

Here are some in progress picture. Before I sew in all the ends and after, so my pieces are all reversible and easy to clean. And some finished pictures too!

It was interesting that they wanted a dawn sky and this was at the same time as the thread in the Tapestry on line group about dawn versus sunset. I also am not a dawn person , love those conveniently timed sunsets though. After trying unsuccessfully to capture a dawn sky, ( it's hard to aim the camera when you are asleep) the clients sent their own pictures which was the basis for the sky, and a landscape view from the deck attached to the room the piece will go in was the inspiration for the landscape. The whole circle element is only 9 inches in diameter so the scale was small, and the whole piece is 54" x 46".

many delays but much accomplished

Yes ,after the delays of getting ready for a 3 day indoor Art Show, The Weems ArtFest in mid November and then doing the show then recovering and getting the studio back into some shape I was able to finish the 2cd commission.

Here on the left is a picture of my apprentice Ruth in the booth after set up. She was such great help, not only assisting in the lugging and set up but also coming on Sunday to give me a break. My other two apprentices also came to give me breaks on Friday and Saturday. All in all it was an excellent show , met lots of people with new houses and empty walls and sold 2 big pieces, ( the one to Ruth's left on the top was one of them). It was my 6th year and as lucrative as ever not to mention the fun of pal ing around with my booth neighbors who I get to see once a year as they keep the artists in the same place year after year.

On the right ,a picture of the other side of the booth.