a winding career path

In a little while I will be on my way to Seneca, South Carolina.  Admittedly, I am geographically challenged when it comes to anything outside of the northeast of the country, but it's about a two hour drive from Atlanta. Don't ask me in what direction...but when tomorrow comes and I'm in the classroom, I'll be happy to be there.  Those of you who teach know what I mean.  This was the Strips and Squares class.

                                         working on the wall

                                       doing a little design feedback

                                                  done!

I feel so lucky to be in this profession.  I've had many careers, all using the same underlying skills. I've been a writer (always) and a teacher/coach/consultant/counselor in a variety of industries and guises. Have loved them all (except for the boss from hell) but what I am doing now is the BEST!  

Started  life as a French teacher and later taught writing skills to executives, scientists, and other corporate types who wrote in long, convoluted sentences of pure gobbledygook. More or less, government speak -- you know the type.  I had a career as a corporate image consultant (though you wouldn't know it to look at me now - LOL) and communication skills coach - great fun!  Among my clients, Citibank, Chase Bank, and the Chicago Tribune. I spent two years a marketing consultant for law firms.  Finally, a decade doing one-on-one outplacement counseling, helping with interview skills, networking, resumes;and giving workshops to people who had been fired/downsized. 

When I discovered 15 years ago that life was too short, I left the outplacement business and worked at my art full time -- never thinking that I'd end up as an author and international teacher, having the most fun ever! It is such joy to help people unleash their creativity!  Just a few happy artists...

Life is an adventure and you never know where the path leads till you get there.  Mine has led to a very special place.

finally, time for a short post

With a few minutes to go till I get picked up from my hotel to go to the classroom, I am checking in.

Better late than never? Maybe.  LOL.  (omg, somebody's phone her just quacked like a duck).

I landed in Atlanta on Tuesday and my cousin Reba picked me up at the airport so I could stay with her for a few days and we could try to figure out how we are actually related.  Spent time with geneaology research and are still missing a link, but it has to be there somewhere. We'll get it eventually.  Or we won't.  Meanwhile, we had fun together. 

On Wednesday, I had lunch with some lovely and talented artists, including my old friend Barbara who moved from West Orange to Atlanta a number of years ago.  We were so happy to see each other!

Barbara photographs unusual signs and while she hasn't posted this one for fear of offending anybody, I have no such inhibitions.  I suspect this is responsible for our hysterics.

The last couple of weeks at home I started playing around with improv units, using neutrals and one color.  An experiment I don't have pictures of and hope to continue at some point when I am home near a sewing machine for a few days.    

Meantime, I am happy to be away from the weather in NJ that is 30 degrees with a freeze warning and snow flurries in some places. Here in Atlanta, it is pouring rain -- but at least it is not freezing cold. 

Oops - time to get ready for today's class.  More when I have a bit of time.

studio time:-))

Finally!!  It's been so long since I have been there that I had forgotten what chaos lives in the storage bins.  Lots of ideas going through my head, but unless I actually try them, I won't know what works.

Of course, before I can do anything, I have to sort.

The benefit of sorting is that you find things you had forgotten you had.  So this gave me the chance to look with fresh eyes at a few pieces of fabric I unearthed.  I found three of these butt-ugly nine patches

just in time to redo one and bring the other two originals to my upcoming UFO class.  What was I thinking??

On the other hand, I also came across some printed pieces I had forgotten about. Maybe I should think about doing something with them?  Quite a variety -- and this is the tip of the iceberg

This was deconstructed screen printing.

Clamped shibori.

Have no idea, but think this might have been soy wax batik that I then discharged and screeenprinted on.  It's a mystery to me.

Oh, yes. This was a demo piece from a class I did eons ago on screenprinting with freezer paper stencils and who knows what else.  

Another piece of shibori.

Maybe it will work with this fabric. Or not.  I really like this piece of cloth - screenprinted with thickened dyes using tape and then thermofax.  Since I never write down my process, I can never remember what I did.  But I see some discharge here.

It the meantime, I have my sorting/ironing/organizing work cut out for me.  And it's the best way for me to become inspired.  Today was a start.

New York, NY.

Here's what my camera managed to capture as I walked up Broadway on Tuesday.

I wasn't quite sure what the outfit was supposed to be, but it certainly was interesting.

This scene was repeated in a few places around town.  No idea who or what is letting off steam.

We are pretending that Spring is here, although it is chilly and drizzly.  I actually turned on the heat when I got home at the end of the day. Bah!

Shopping for bags that literally fell of the back of a truck.

Gotta love this truck!  It was a different one from the one at the bag market.

Finally, public art on Broadway.  

 

 

That's the end of today's 25 cent tour.

Back to Blogville

In the 10 days since I got home I have been catching up on the usual stuff: bills, laundry, and taxes, which I have to get to my accountant by the end of the week. Hahahaha.

On the other hand, I've scheduled some social activities for myself: Monday, lunch with my art group. Wednesday, a friend over for drinks and dinner.  Thursday, hopefully to the studio then to another friend's for dinner and to see the paintings she did while I was away.  

Today was a special treat: a day in New York with fellow blogger, Gunilla Borjesson from Sweden who is in New York with her two lovely daughters, seeing the sights.  We met, of course, at City Quilter, and I was astounded at how Gunilla managed to restrain herself and not buy out the whole store.  Here we are, waiting for the store to open.

I had fun looking at all the new fabrics but I, too, resisted.  I can't use what I already have:-(.  There were a couple that caught my eye, though.  Everything old is new again - this one is so mid-century modern that I expected it to be bark cloth.  Of course, there is nothing mid-century about the colors.

Here is a quilt Gunilla made recently.  I hope she won't mind if I post it here. I love the rhythm of the colors.

Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch at East of Eighth while Gunilla interviewed me for a beautiful Swedish quilt magazine.  We did quite a bit of walking and then she went to meet up with her daughters, as I headed for the bus terminal.  It was so much fun to meet Gunilla after having corresponded by email!  

On the way back to the bus, I snapped a few NY photos but they will have to wait for tomorrow.