Ok, so I'm obsessed

With grannys. Not every granny, just mine, known as Nanny. These days, I'm Nanny, too -- but I digress...

As I sit here and look at my design wall I am struck by the amount of fabric on which I have imprinted her image...and by at least three finished pieces where her once-beautiful face looks out. What am I processing? Why does her image haunt me so?
Interesting that I do not look like her adult self, but there is something in her young face that reminds me of me. If I squint.

Anyway, I was playing with my silkscreen one day and before I knew it, even without thinking, I had a piece of cloth that would make Warhol proud. I love its rhythm
and color and order and serenity. But most of all, I love the faces -- 50 years apart. But it sits on my wall and I wait for it to tell me what the next step will be.Or will there be a next step? I could put text on it or leave it alone. I'm afraid to ruin it -- but why should I be? I
can always do it again. Or can I?

Well - here's another version with text. I like that, too.


Here she is again - cut from a different piece of cloth. But I still have 4 or 5 remaining identical images. What shall I do with them?

Enough of this idle chit-chat. If you have any ideas, let me hear from you. In the meantime, I have spent far too long on this page and it is the middle of the night.
If I am to do any work tomorrow, I had better go to bed!

What if....?

The two best words in an artist's vocabulary! Yesterday afternoon's studio work yielded a new way of transferring images to a metallic background on paper, canvas, or other fabric -- and a shout (mentally, anyway) of "eureka!" Those two words "what if...?" are my mantra and probably should be yours, too. Two of my successes... isn't she cute? Somebody's granny (not mine). Back to the studio -- mostly to clean it. Does that process ever end???? Or is it a necessary prologue to more creativity?

Back from blizzard country

My friend Helene is sick of reading my one post so I figured I'd better add something to my blog. Actually, I spent last weekend in Lowell, MA teaching a workshop at Friends Fabric Art -- just before the big blizzard. (a few pix below) The low point of the weekend: me pumping gas in 27 inches of snow and nine below zero weather. Pumping your own gas is illegal in New Jersey - and now I know why! Horrible experience. The workshop itself was great! A diverse and talented group of artists: fiber artists, quilt makers, painters, collagists, mixed media artists -- all wanting to find ways to personalize their work even more. By the end of the day thay had learned to do just that -- with image transfer techniques, fabric pens, syringes, markers, and screen printing. We learned from each other and everybody found at least one new way to enrich their work.

Sunday's workshop was buried in snow but we'll reschedule in warmer weather. Back at home, catching up on paperwork and still haven't been in my studio making art. Am I the only one whose creative work takes a back seat to everything else? Overflowing with new ideas and can't seem to find the time to follow through with them. How to change this???? Please comment if you have any brilliant strategies!

Going off to teach

A quick hello before I leave for Lowell, MA to teach a workshop. Will check in later and let you know what takes place in the surface design studio at Friends Fabric Art. For now -- off to bed so I can tape myself on Simply Quilts, load the car, and get on the road.