The current exhibit called “Peace and Justice” at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center features calligraphy and mixed media by three artists: Inga Dubay, Kanaan Kanaan, and Sara Harwin. The center is located on Capitol Highway in southwest Portland with the exhibit running through February 22, 2019. I took some photos, but many pieces are framed […]
Guest Artist as Butterfly
Saturday was my first time exhibiting in costume! When I was invited to be the guest artist at the Columbia River Piecemakers Quilt Guild Show, I was told most of the guild members would be in costume. Why? Because St. Helens is the site where Disney filmed Halloweentown, which the town celebrates during the month […]
A Final Exam! Really?
Our final lesson in Pixeladies Photoshop Elements on-line course was to select a photo we hadn’t worked with before and make at least five adjustments. I picked a photo I had taken of a wall hanging by my friend Mary Telford during our Oregon Garden exhibition. Here’s the original: As you can see I did […]
Judith Phelps–Thread Artist
I’ve been remiss to not follow up with more quilts from the Clark County Quilters Show. But I’ve been occupied getting my own quilts ready for my featured quilter exhibit at the upcoming Northwest Quilters Show May 11 and 12. In fact, I still have one wall hanging to quilt and bind/face. Nevertheless, I want […]
Artwork From Ireland
We moved into a new home mid-January and have been unpacking, organizing, storing. and hanging ever since. Today, we hung the final piece among our photos and artwork. It’s a felted and embroidered wall hanging I purchased the day we visited The Quay Gallery where all of the artwork was such high quality I wanted […]
Seoul, South Korea–More Day Ten
Day ten was so full, I split it into two posts. After the indigo dyeing workshop we went to one of the most unusual restaurants I’ve ever been to. Here’s what the tables look like before guests are seated. Note the “slot” between the raised sides. The server arrives pushing a cart. On top of […]
Seoul, South Korea–Day Ten
We had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Haneul Mulbit Indigo Workshop in Bukchon in a Hanok, a traditional Korean style home. While I have done much fabric dying using a variety of processes, from dyeing in baggies, to dyeing in large vats, and dye-painting, I have never thought to learn indigo dyeing. When I […]
Seoul, South Korea–Day 7
We had two free days out of a twelve day tour and had a number of options of places to go and things to do. On our first free day four of us went to Dongdaemun Market, a huge shopping district comprised of several buildings. One building has nothing but shoes, another clothing, and a […]
Seoul, South Korea–Bogaji
Youngmin Lee, one of our tour organizers, saw my blog post of November 18th and let me know the Bogaji artist was Dukjoo Choi. There is a wonderful video of her show which took place a few years ago in Vienna. There is an English translation that explains the history of Bogaji also called Pojagi […]
Seoul, South Korea–Day 6
We took a nearly two hour bus ride to the city of Cheongu where we spent the day at the 10th Cheongju Craft Biennale. A number of countries presented exhibitions in this two-story industrial building. We were given a personal tour as an introduction to the exhibits. I was not excited by this work. I’m […]
Seoul, South Korea–Day Two
I got up the morning after I arrived and decided to investigate the areas beyond the Insadong neighborhood. When I reached a six-lane thoroughfare and turned left, I was blown away by by the sight greeting me. Across the street was the entrance to the Jogyesa Temple, the primary Buddhist temple in Korea, whose grounds […]
Food and Fiber Lovers’ Tour of Ireland
This was my second fiber tour with Kathy Brassill of Handcrafted Holidays. My first trip was three years ago in Scotland and England. I highly recommend Kathy’s trips. She specializes in the UK and Ireland and does but one trip a year as she is employed in three other jobs. Her trips have sold out […]
Value Does All the Work
A couple weeks ago, I completed the ninth annual Master Art Series with Hollis Chatelain at The Oregon Garden. This year was all about neutrals and identifying our own style. Prior to class, we selected six pieces of our work: three that were successful and three that were not. Each day of the five days, […]
Cool Tools!
I discovered some nifty items among the vendors at my last two quilt shows and want to pass them on to you. Here are the first three. I will have two more as soon as I can find them! I bought them to use for my next big project, but I don’t know where they […]
Exhibition News: SPUN
I mentioned previously I had my piece Anasazi Roadways juried into a gallery exhibition in Connecticut. Here is the invitation, should you be local. Personally, after seeing the names of artists I’m exhibiting with, I would love to be able to go myself and see what I’m sure is wonderful work.
Finishing the Top
To finish the border, I appliquéd the red triangles with red rayon thread. Then I couched the blue triangles with a Kreinik Metallic Braid in size medium in a matching blue. I considered couching around the inner edge of the triangular border with metallic black but decided to use the same Kreinik blue. Here’s the […]
Quilt Building Doesn’t Always Go According to Plan
My next step was to construct the blocks in the four corners. I had my fabrics and needed to choose thread color and stitch. I matched the thread to the blue “four-leaf clover” under the fleur-de-lys. I know there must be a name for this motif, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I […]
How to Build a Quilt From the Ground Up–Part II
As promised, here is how my World Heritage Site quilt featuring Chartres Cathedral is progressing. The first step was sampling threads and stitches in order to embroider the cathedral. From my stash, I chose a six-strand floss in the same shade of blue to match my blue fabric. I have done a lot of embroidery […]
How to Build a Quilt From the Ground Up
As mentioned in a previous post, I’m participating in a new International Challenge. This time the subject is World Heritage Sites. Mine is Notre Dame Cathedral in Chartres. By the way, this Notre Dame is not to be confused with the more famous Notre Dame de Paris. I’ve been to Chartres twice, once during a […]
One of My Favorite Contemporary Artists: El Anatsui
Along with the nationwide traveling exhibit Native Fashion Now, the Portland Art Museum also has on exhibit a piece by El Anatsui, the Ghanian artist who works with recycled/found objects. His work is two-dimensional, organic in nature, and cascades like molten metal in mesmerizing folds and textures.
More Native Fashion Now
I returned from my Master Art Series Friday night. We spent the week exploring how the value of thread affects the fabric it’s stitched onto. One concept everyone quickly understood: to make a fabric recede into the background, stitch over it in a lighter value of its same color. Another technique: to dull a fabric […]
