Books, Books, Books

Most of my friends know I have this pact with myself, to add one new book to my library every month. Some months I don't buy any new ones at all but I do love it when a shiny new book arrives in the mail. YUMMY!!!!!!!

Most of the books I buy are reference books (as opposed to those that contain how-to-do-exactly-what-I-do tutorials).

That's because I am in a learn, learn, learn phase and since going to workshops given by top artists is out of the question for me right now, I can take a lesson on some interesting technique thru their book.

So with that said you just have to check out my little library widget that I added on my sidebar! It's just way too cute.

Take Katie Pasquini's latest, "Color and Composition". Such a great book that contains a slew of exercises to help you thru the two things that can stump a new quilt artist.

My latest purchase is "Mixed-Media Collage" by Holly Harrison. Holly takes you on a fantastic in-depth journey with five mixed-media artists, going thru step by step (though not a turorial) as the artists make a particular mixed-media piece their own unique way. She then lets you sit in on her interviews with them as they reveal thier thoughts on being artists. Way cool book!

I have always wanted to share the books I'm reading with you and now I get to thru my "Little Library Book Club".

Happy reading!

What are YOU Drawn to?

Today is MONDAY!

Time for a post (bet you thought I forgot...HA!).

My FAB group met recently and I posed a question to them. I showed them 4 pieces of work that I had recently finished and asked them to tell me what was the common factor in all of them.

My thinking is that with their input I would get some more feedback on the direction my artwork was taking.

I see myself gravitating in a new direction. Don't misunderstand, I will keep designing quilt patterns because I still love making traditional quilts with a contemporary twist, but I think I'm defining, in a singular way, what kind of artwork really inspires me to create.

I've mentioned here already that I'm drawn to colour, line, shape and, more recently, texture (as opposed to pattern).

These are the art quilts that draw me in, that speak to my core, the ones that can suggest realism but does not convey a specific image; the ones that use colour as it's main tool and informs the piece with line and shape.

It got me to thinking about how each of us defines our art. Have you formerly thought about how and why you produce the things that you do?

What draws you to a textile piece in a show or gallery? What about it speaks to YOU?

Are you a person who prefers realistic images, pieces that tell a story and gives you images to respond to or do you prefer pieces that you interpret as you see it, where you get to inform the piece with your own thoughts and feelings?

BTW, the pomagranite piece at left is unquilted. The design you see is done in a dry erase pen on a piece of plexiglass, my way of auditioning quilting patterns.

I take pictures of each one as I draw them and can then refer back to see which one works best. This is not the pattern I have chosen to machine quilt it with.

If you've been reading my blog you've probably seen some of the things I've been producing . What feedback do you have? Any concise thoughts on the direction you see me taking?

No worries on me being offended. I say if you ask the questions then you must be okay with the answers you get.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What's Coming up on My Schedule

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be speaking to Foothill Quilter's Guild in Shelby, NC tomorrow night. I'll be giving my presentation "The Evolution of a Fiber Artist", a tongue in cheek look at my life as a quilt addict turned fiber artist.

Also this Sat, May 24th, I will be teaching a class "All About Bindings" at Quilter's Loft in Moorseville for all those who need a refresher on how to put on those pesky bindings.

Keep checking my website RedBarn-Studios to see other classes and workshop I will be offering. Check out the shop's blog to see other classes they offer.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What Do You Call Yourself?

capturing ourselves

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about Sharon B's TIF challlenge for this month. I think it's a great question but it's a hard one to answer succinctly AND make a small piece to capture the essence of it.

If I've answered the question of "what do I call myself" (a fiber artist) then why is it so hard to create that expression in a piece of artwork? That then prompts another question...have I fully answered the question?

For a while there, in the last couple of months, I wavered back and forth about the "label" I give myself to be placed out there everywhere to describe what I do but, now that I'm really thinking about it, deep down I don't really like labels for me or anyone else. Why can't I just make artwork and be done with it?

Ya like it or ya don't. End of story!

It's only now that I realize that the label is not for me...no, not at all....it's so that others can recognize me in some way to help them SEE ME better, put me in some subjective category and file me away in some recess of their brain..."oh yeh..Grace, the FIBER artist" (whatever the heck that means they think to themselves).

So if I am to label myself to inform others of who I am and what I do, how do I express that in a quilted piece effetcively? More thoughts to ponder.

May TIF might just not get made in May.


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Time & MONDAYS

"Time is the quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once....lately it doesn't seem to be working." --Anonymous


You may have noticed that I haven't posted lately.

It's not that I don't want to cause I do. I regularly make a mental list of the things I want to post about then things....finishing artwork....dealing one or another family "crisis".....feeling ill or just uninspired...any number of things get in the way and, frankly, I don't like that.

So I'm gonna try a new thing (yeh right you say?) I'm gonna try an experiment for the next month--to have one day a week for posts and I'll make that a Monday. Monday is my wash/clean day and now I'm adding blog post day to it.

Let's see how far I get.

Oh no!...another goal to add the never-ending saturated list. I'll need to take pics of the things I've been working on for this coming Monday's post. How's that for staying on task?


See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

April TIF

I have actually been working on my TIF challenge for April, just haven't posted about it. I'm also thinking it might be a stepping stone to a bigger piece (probably why I haven't finished it yet) but wanted to let you in on what I was doing.

My thinking with this one was to portray a woman who is shedding the old (don't know if you can see the coat she's dropping) to ascend into the new...the new phase...the new thinking...the new (art)work...the new way of life.

I don't use the word ascend lightly because I truly believe we come into a certain greater wisdom on the other side of all this change we go thru, if we are willing to see pass the pain and conflict that might occur...be willing to walk the path that will lead us to a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

I am a firm believer that change, and all that manifests itself thru change is good. We'll see where this one leads.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",