Week in Review 2023 – 05/05

Staying Fresh

I am staying fresh. It takes focus and determination to do so, especially since I thrive on routine. How do I balance changing it up without reaching panic mode by facing the terror of newbie ineptitude? Don’t laugh, but I make challenge part of my routine. I make it a point to face up to what scares me and do it anyway. Well, not something death defying, such as bungie cord jumping off bridges.

Lola Bathed in Light is my contribution to SAQA’s Spotlight Auction. It is placed behind a white mat. The opening is 6.5″ H x 4.5″. The actual piece is 8″ H x 6″ W.

Call For Entries

There are far more call for entries than I can ever apply to. Still, that doesn’t stop me from filling out a dozen or so entries every year. Sometimes I go for opportunities I have done in the past, but I keep it fresh by trying new calls, too. What’s the worst that can happen? My work is not selected, or in the case of SAQA’s Spotlight Auction the piece I entered doesn’t garner as high a bid as I hoped. Fortunately, this year, my entry, Lola Bathed in Light, captured the attention of 4 bidders. The winner was thrilled. So, am I. Lola’s bid was the 16th highest out of 383 auction donations. Fingers crossed and Happiness is a Warm Blanket attracts similar competitive bidding when it goes on the auction block in September.

Happiness is a Warm Blanket – 12″ x 12″ is my SAQA Benefit Auction quilt.

Not Selected

The reality is that for all my acceptances, I receive an equal share of not being selected. Ask any artist who puts themselves out there and seeks opportunities to share their work and you soon learn that not being selected is extremely common, even for super stars. The trick is to dust yourself off and move on. Even my series of Lola thread paintings aren’t a guarantee of getting in. Can you believe I’m Watching You wasn’t selected for our regional Arts Festival?

I’m Watching You – 12″ x 12″

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

First of two orange flower heads made for the 2023 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Challenges are a great way to stay fresh. The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is perfect for this. Every month has a new theme color. Not only is it a great way to reduce one’s scrap stash, but it encourages one to work with all colors, not just favorites. May’s color is orange which is probably my least favorite color. I do use it, but as an accent and never as the primary color. How ironic that when I designed my 2023 Rainbow Scrap quilt, the two orange blooms are dead center.

How Does Your Garden Grow will look similar to this when it is finished.

I’m linking up to the following posts:

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By Gwyned Trefethen

I am an artist who uses fabric, thread and miscellany to create designs gifted to me by my imagination.

20 comments

  1. no laughing, I also use challenges to challenge my growth… love your work, and it’s blend of representational and improession
    LeeAnna

    1. Personally, I believe challenges are essential to growth. Otherwise it is too easy to become complacent. You are anything but complacent, LeeAnna. Your posts prove time and time again your willingness to tackle something new. Combining representational with abstraction is relatively new for me. I used to do one or the other. I’ glad you like the new direction.

  2. Oooh, your cat quilts are stunning! Hard to believe that I’m Watching You was not selected. I love that you are always striving to keep it fresh! Thanks for sharing today on TGIFF!

    1. To be fair the competition for the juried portion of the Arts Festival was stiff. 75% of the work submitted was rejected. However, I resubmitted I’m Watching You for the non juried Members exhibit, thus giving Lola her moment to shine at the Festival. It is a good local presence.

      Thank you for taking on TGIFF this week and responding so generously to my post.

    1. I first learned about thread painting from Ellen Ann Eddy back in the ’00s. However, it took until the past year to develop a system that works for me. Now I can’t get enough. Thank you, Judy for your positive feedback.

  4. Love you orange flower! It is the perfect orange, toned a bit with the yellows! Lola is spectacular! Competition must have been very stiff!

    1. One of the scrap fabrics I used was splotches of orange and yellow. So, there are areas that look as though I am using yellow scraps because of how the cutting line fell. I also made, years ago, a fabric of peach and orange strips. Hence, some of the very scrappy petals. I love the challenge of making do from my scrap bags. It produces unique and unexpected combinations. Thanks for noticing and sharing your thoughts.

  5. Lovely flowers. Orange is above pink for me, and it’s growing on me as the month goes along … for something other than Halloween! I enjoyed reading the comments about challenges and entries. Your cats would be a pick for me, every time.

    1. Well, orange does appear in a desert sky. Despite not particularly liking orange as color, I do use a pop of it in many of quilts. I don’t have many quilts with pink.

      Thanks for the positive feedback, Susan.

  6. Orange is a challenge for me to even make blocks in orange🤣I’m not a fan of orange soni try to find fabrics in softer tones which isn’t easy so I add just enough blocks to say there’s the orange 😄 luv your flowers ,they are going to make a glorious quilt!

    1. Excellent solution, Helen, to go with softer tones. If you work with value and tints vs. tones the actually hue, in this case orange, doesn’t matter. Although not sure I would want to decorate my home that way. 🙂 Thank you, for your encouraging words.

  7. I love watching Lola, such a pretty model and your thread painting is amazing. Pretty orange flowers, even if it’s not your favorite color 😉
    Thank you for sharing these week’s thoughts and art, and linking up!

    1. There is something appealing about pets. I have several fiber artist friends who routinely feature their dogs in their artwork. Whether it is a cat or dog, invariably they have their head cocked with their eyes looking right at you. Loved seeing your village piece coming together with the concentric circle quilting. It is stunning.

    1. Fun might not be adjective I would choose. However, I enjoy the challenge of designing and piecing the blocks. Also, I am loving doing a different flower head for each RSC month. Thank you for the thumbs up.

    1. I am fortunate to have a great model/muse to work from when adding to my cat series. I am grateful you enjoy them. I am having fun growing my “pieced” garden and my actual garden simultaneously. There is something uplifting about nature’s lavish display of colors.

  10. Your orange flower looks great – love that some of the outer triangles are scrappy pieced. xx

    1. I was wondering who might pick up on the scrappy outer rim of triangles. I made that scrappy fabric years ago. So far back in fact I can’t recall what I used it in. The triangles are from the trimming. I am glad you liked.

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