And I'm A Year Older

Who knew being 85 years old would be such a happy time? I just turned 86 and am amazed to recall the number of causes for celebration in spite of some serious concerns. But I find joy every day and feel blessed to have another year to enjoy. 

There have been puzzles with friends (and cats), flowers in my yard, USM student recitals, Senior Readers Theatre, and art shows. I got to rehearse and sing the music of Christmas with the Meistersingers. A new gallery in Flowood, Pacesetter, asked to show some of my fiber art. I won ribbons in South Mississippi Art Association's invitational show at Lucile Parker Gallery at William Carey and their 45th annual show at the Hattiesburg Train Depot. I was honored with a solo exhibition of my fiber art, and got to spend a week in Gatlinburg in a class with Paula Kovarik and four other awesome artists. 

Losing my beloved cat Tarbaby was sad, but he left me with wonderful memories of his unique personality, and I am grateful I could provide him excellent care and comfort during his brief illness. I made lots of fabric postcards and finished The Conversation, a quilt of my three cats, Tarbaby, Rahrah, and Elizabeth from a photo I took a couple of years ago. 

I look forward to making more fiber art, gathering with friends, and caring for this beautiful world in 2022. 

Tarbaby demanding my attention

Elizabeth helping Peg Hightower 

Blue Ghost-quilted Flowers

Fabric Postcards

Fabric Postcards

Wisdom, cheesecloth picture

Arrowmont at Gatlinburg

The Apothecary Shop, 18" x 18"

Tarbaby at the Vet

The Conversation, 24" x 24"
Tarbaby, Rahrah, Elizabeth

August Happenings

South Mississippi Art Association has a juried exhibition at the Lucile Parker Gallery at William Carey University August 24-September 23, 2021. I am honored to have one of my entries pictured on the invitation.  The Opening Reception had to be cancelled, but the exhibit will be open to the public Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 1:00-4:00 p.m.  My pieces accepted in the show are Bronze Sunflower and Blue Ghost-Quilted Flowers. 

Bronze Sunflower, 19" x 19"

Blue Ghost-Quilted Flowers, framed 17" x 17"

The most beautiful plant in my yard right now is this canna with its striped leaves. It has had two small red/orange blossoms, but I love the leaves even more than the flowers.

With Brown-Eyed Susans below

Brown-Eyed Susans recently watered

Colored pencil art has never been easy, but here is a little practice piece I did in Dana Stratton's class at OLLI. Seeing this makes me happy to get back to my thread-painting, where I feel more confident. 

Yellow, green, and striped bell peppers (colored pencil)

An Internet search for large flowers on black background resulted in these huge (24" square) specimens which I am trying to thread-paint. I have tried one on my HQ16 with satisfactory results. I'm reluctant to stitch any more closely for fear of puckering. 

Three-yard piece of huge flowers

Enlarge to see stitching

Catching Up on March Happenings

 Before getting too far past March, I should post that my Cinque Terre fabric collage won a 3rd place ribbon in the South Mississippi Art Association 44th Annual Show (postponed from December 2020) in the "Other" category.  Like many events, due to Covid this was an online virtual show, but all the pieces can be seen on the link above.

Cinque Terre, 23" x 52"

In other stitching news, I made two more leaf pieces, one for Jackie Watkins in our Southern Fiber Artists exchange group, and one as a donation to Studio Art Quilt Associates annual auction.

8" x 10" for Jackie Watkins

12" x 12" for SAQA auction

I enjoyed participating in Nanette S Zeller's thread-painting virtual class. She is a fiber artist in North Carolina and has been teaching this class in person but has transitioned to an online version. She provided excellent instruction and video demonstrations as we stitched her sunflower design in our own fabric choices.

Nanette S. Zeller's sunflower design

Update on my kitchen remodeling: When the width of this countertop was extended and the height changed, we thought a weight-bearing support was needed under the upper cabinets. We stained and inserted a wooden post but realized that the upper cabinets began to gradually sink from the ceiling. My friend Doc Anna Wan saw the problem and suggested a solution and brought a guy to do the work. The resulting "fix" in the attic eliminated the need for the post, leaving a beautiful open space. 

He also agreed to replace a weathered section of my front porch railing. He removed the section and built and inserted a replacement. He will come back and paint it all. It is great to find a guy who can do the fix-up jobs that need to be done.  

Kitties Win Best of Show in Art Show

Tonight was the Awards Reception for our 43rd Annual South Mississippi Art Association Show on 

Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, at the Historic Hattiesburg Train Depot. It is a beautiful show with watercolor, oil, sculpture, mixed media, photography, and other. "Other" includes fiber art, and my "The Window Watchers" won a blue ribbon and Best of Show. Quite a thrill for those kitties and me! 

The Window Watchers, 23" x 30"

 

Ireland Street, 26" x 18"

Improv Zebras, 17" x 25"

Black Swallowtail Butterfly, 34" x 26"

Interleave Symphony, 34" x 31"

I have three pieces in the Clothesline area.

Color Blocks, 8" x 10" and Improv-Blue, 10" x 16"

Improv-Pink, 8" x 10"

Butterflies, Art Exhibit, and Some Quilting

It's the first of September and I got to see my last two butterflies hatch. I hope they recognize my yard for egg laying, since all these caterpillars were brought over from Ellen Hall's yard, about five miles from mine. I felt like a third-grader getting excited about these beautiful creatures. Elizabeth, my constant companion, was fascinated at the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis. She wanted to touch but was calm as I kept her paw back. I think this one is female--with smaller yellow spots and larger blue area on back of wings (fourth picture). The fifth picture shows a male for comparison.

Elizabeth watches butterfly emerge from chrysalis

Butterfly on coleus flowers drying her wings

 

Butterfly on portulaca

Female Butterfly with wings open 

Male (larger yellow spots on open wings, smaller blue area)

I entered three fiber art pieces in the South Mississippi Art Association's exhibit at the Lucile Parker Gallery on the William Carey University campus. One was pictured on the invitation (far left), and another won an honorable mention.

Invitation to  the Exhibit

My pieces hanging with those of Jeanette Graham and Mary Judice

Improv Music, 25" x 28"

Pine Belt Quilters had a workshop for Leanne Green to teach us how to use a Bosal product to make this little bowl which can be molded into a curved shape. It's a clever project but took longer to make than it looks like it would. It's about 10" from top to bottom and 8" side to side.

Molded bowl, taught by Leanne Green

The Interleave Symphony is finished except for black binding (so named because one of the fabrics contains composers' names), and I decided it needs to hang vertical instead of horizontal.

Interleave Symphony in progress

Interleave Symphony, 31" x 34" ready for black binding

Art Exhibit at New Lucile Parker Gallery

Invitation to SMAA Exhibit

I have two fiber art pieces in the South Mississippi Art Association exhibit at the newly rebuilt Lucile Parker Art Gallery on the William Carey University campus. The beautiful gallery replaces the one destroyed in a tornado last year that did millions of dollars of damage to the campus. The opening Reception was delayed from Sept. 4 to Sept. 11 because of an approaching hurricane, which totally bypassed us. It is always a thrill for my art to be included on the invitation (Green Fish on top left).

We are on a fast countdown preparing for Pine Belt Quilters 17th Biennial Fiber Art & Quilt Show, to open October 5 for a two-day show at Lake Terrace Convention Center. We have 292 quilts entered in 16 different categories plus a special exhibit of 54 pieces by Southern Fiber Artists, a state-wide art quilting organization that meets quarterly in the central part of Mississippi. The registration process involves far more work than can be imagined unless one has been involved. We are working on the show catalog and off-site check-in materials. Lots of work has been going on in selling ads, gathering door prizes, planning the hanging and other displays, Boutique and Silent Auction items.
Our raffle quilt, Mississippi Kaleidoscope, is based on the pattern Swallows in the Window from Once Upon a Season by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece O' Cake Designs. PBQ member Susie Jackson designed the appliqué border. The quilt is 108" x 108" and difficult to photograph because of its size. The one on the poster is draped over a banister at Patio 44 Restaurant. (Sorry for the angle of this photo.)

Poster 

The Mule Barn wins 2nd place in SMAA art exhibit

It's always affirming to win a ribbon in an art show, especially when competing against several other types of work. Our South Mississippi Art Association's annual show was held this weekend, with 110 pieces entered. My work goes in the "Other" category--meaning not oil, not watercolor, not photography, not drawing, not sculpture, not wood, not pottery, not stained glass. So "Other" contains mixed media, collage, fabric art, digital art, and anything that doesn't fit elsewhere. A second place ribbon is a big win in this stiff competition. A large mixed media collage by Andrea Kostyal won 1st place.

The Mule Barn, 24" x 36"

The Mule Barn depicts a section of the Ag Museum in Jackson. Five sections will be stand-alone pieces but can be displayed together to create the entire scene. Five artists are working on the piece, pictured below. My section is second from the left.

Here is an in-progress picture while decisions were being made about how to approach the piece.

Elizabeth was my constant helper