TIMES A CHANGING

I know, I know...it has been a really long time since I've posted.  Life happens.  But tonite, sitting here just a little before midnight, I feel a really big urge to write.  So here goes.

It is almost a new year and things are a changing.  I am always way behind the times on change.  It is time for me to embrace more of the digital world.  My works in the last year have changed and more and more I am printing my collages onto fabric.

HOW DO I MAKE A SHADOW DANCE?

 This is one of my favorite quilts.  I based this quilt on a poem written by Susan Wooldridge.  Susan wrote a wonderful book called Poem Crazy and I love to use her poetry as inspiration.

DETAIL

 

 

 In this quilt I used all the characters that I have used in my books and other quilts.  I collaged and then printed on fabric run through my inkjet printer.  I then pieced the printed pages and stamped with different letter stamps and red paint.  I quilted the piece with simple lines so as not to distract from the pictures.

When I say that I am doing digital, I am kinda bluffing.  The only digital part is the printed fabric.  The collages are all cut and paste the old fashion way...
            WITH SCISSORS AND GLUE.

This quilt has been accepted into the AQS Phoenix Quilt Week
show.

HOW DO I MAKE A SHADOW DANCE 2

 

 This is the second quilt I made and actually I like this one better.  I did it the same way, but used stencils and rust paint to make the border look like it was discharged.  I used scrapbook paper for the backgrounds.  Again it was all printed except for the lettering and the painted hair on my he-shes.

DETAIL

 The mustaches were appliqued on the he-she.  He-She...I think maybe that is not politically correct.  But then neither am I.

So do you think this is enough change to consider myself in the digital age?...         
                                PROBABLY NOT
                                   ...REDFOX
 

ORIGINAL SIN...How Original!

Most of you know that I have been working, this past year, on a series of quilts portraying Adam and Eve and the serpent.  What you didn't know is that I have been doing altered books that match the quilts.  I have been removing the pages of the book, sewing and sometimes binding the edges of the pages, and then returning them to the book.  These books have been getting into art shows and museums along with their counterpart quilts.

This book, ORIGINAL SIN, is the first sewn book that I have sent to the SavArt Gallery.  I'll let you know how it is recieved when it
isn't a quilt show audience.  It has been really fun to see how far I can push the serpent angle.

ORIGINAL SIN

 When I started this book  I had the tv on and heard the background song from the BIG BANG THEORY, and I knew I had my hook.  

                  BIG BANG VS ADAM AND EVE

I used the lyrics from the song on my tabs and the beat pounded through the whole book.

  
 How do I fit evolution and  Adam and Eve in the same book?  It's easy..... I DON'T FOLLOW THE RULES.

"I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things.  The glass is always half empty, and cracked.  And I just cut my lip on it.  And chipped a tooth." 

I can't remember off-hand who wrote that, so you have to read the book to find out.

          I DON'T FOLLOW THE RULES
                                            ...Redfox 

ZOOLICIOUS

I am not quite sure that the spelling is right, but that's what my new altered book is, ZOOLICIOUS.  Syns: delicious, delectable, lusious, scrumptious, yummy.

Zoolicious is not it's real title, ZOO is.  It is one of the two books I sent off to Sav-Art Gallery last week .  The other book is ORIGINAL SIN and it is delicious too.  But today's blog is about ZOO.

I loved the book Zoo by Patterson and I watched all of the series on tv while doing the altered book.  "How ugly is the ape, and so like man." This quote by Cicero sums up my book.  It is a fast paced story about animals, evolution, and thrown in is a little creation with Adam and Eve.

Someone once said that it's man's ability to use language that makes him the dominant species on the planet.  That may be.  But I think there's one other thing that separates us from the animals.  We aren't afraid of the vacuum cleaner.  Well, I borrowed that quote from Jeff Stilson and I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of the vacuum.  I CERTAINLY DON'T LIKE IT!

I don't know if I should show you this next spread, after all I don't want to give the whole plot away...YOU WON'T BUY THE BOOK!  I can't help it...I need to show you...THINK PENCILS.

Throw in a little sex, well LOTS OF SEX, and you have got a BEST SELLER.  Just ask Patterson.

That is all I am going to say on the subject.  Well not quite. Here is a quote that sums up all my writing...almost.

THERE IS AN EAGLE IN ME THAT WANTS TO SOAR, AND THERE IS A HIPPOPOTAMUS IN ME THAT WANTS TO WALLOW IN THE MUD...CARL SANDBURG


                                    HAPPY WALLOWING
                                   ...REDFOX 








                H

                                         

                                       

 

JAM...NEVER SWEETER

Raspberry, strawberry, which shall I have?  I think I'll have SAQA.

Let's go back to last Thursday.  That's the day that I got the notice that I had been accepted as a JAM, Juried Artist Member, of SAQA, Studio Art Quilt Associates. A jury of my peers had voted to accept me into the fold.  And, that is not the best part, my bestie Betty Hahn also got juried in.  We are two happy girls.

Getting to be a JAM was not an easy feat.  It took me three days just to get my work together to fill out the registration.  You have to document all your awards, shows, and publications.  Mine went back to 2008, when I started art quilting.  I sat at the computer surrounded with paper files, ribbons, and magazines I had been in.  It turned out I had done much more than I thought I had...

    BUT WOULD IT BE ENOUGH?

Laying out your work, your soul, before a panel of excellent art quilters was quite daunting.  How to pick which quilts would best show your creative voice...not easy.  And then I had heard the horror stories from excellent quilters who did not get in the first time around.

     NERVOUS MUCH?

RINGTAILED PUSSYCAT

 

 

   Like this quilt, all the parts came together.  After examining my work, they proclaimed "you'll live".  Not only live, but prosper.  I took my first breath in two weeks.

        I DANCED.  I BOWED.

      NOW I WANT TO THANK THE ACADEMY...REDFOX

 

KICKED TO THE CURB

Hello to everyone.  It has been so long since I have posted.  What shall I write...

Remember when I showed you pictures of the chairs from GW? Remember , ( Goodwill )?  Well I will show you them again and then tell you a little story.

 
These are the chairs that I recovered.  Now I like those chairs, but I also like a home that is not cluttered and I have moved those zebra chairs around and tried about every room in the house and I just have too much stuff.  I have to make them go away.

I couldn't bear to take them back to GW and see them with a $4.98 price tag on them, so I decided to set them on my front curb with a sign on them...

                                 FREE.

It wasn't ten minutes later that my husband Jerry,  ( WHO BY THE WAY HATED THEM ), came in the house and told me a neighbor from up the street had scooped both of them up and hurried home.

I hope they have a nice home, and I hope that neighbor thinks I must have really great STUFF if I kicked those babies to the curb.

            Always keep them wondering
                                           ... Redfox   

OLDIE BUT GOODIE

OLDIE BUT GOODIE...REMEMBER THAT PHRASE?   TODAY I JUST ENTERED THE NEW SHOW AT THE HQ GALLERY IN SURPRISE, AZ. I DECIDED TO ENTER A QUILT THAT HAS NEVER SEEN THE LIGHT OF DAY BEFORE.  THIS IS THE FIRST QUILT THAT I EVER DID FREE MOTION QUILTING ON.  I CAN NOW DO BETTER, BUT THOUGHT THAT THIS QUILT SHOULD GET ITS DAY IN THE SUN.

CLARITY,  I THINK I AM COMING CLOSER

This is a quilt that I created when I first learned how to discharge.  Discharging is when you remove the color from the fabric.  You can buy a chemical retail or you can use bleach.  Any product containing bleach can be used.  I used dishwasher gel.  The figures were all made using a sponge stamp that was dipped in the gel and then stamped onto black fabric.  This fabric discharged and turned a rust color.   I sprayed a deluted bleach liquid onto the fabric to make the streaks.

The half circles on the quilt was made by placing a wet used coffee filter on the fabric, and letting it dry in place.  When removed it left the stain.  Rolled up dictionary pages complete the quilt. 

WHEN I QUILTED THE COFFEE FILTER STAINS I ADDED SOME BROWN PAINT AND STONE BEADS.

I WAS JUST PLAYING WHEN I STAMPED THESE FIGURES, BUT REALIZED THAT 

      CLARITY,

IS HARD TO ACHIEVE IN LEARNING A NEW TECHNIQUE...

 IN QUILTING, AND ESPECIALLY

                                   IN LIFE... REDFOX

      

BACK IN THE GAME

REMEMBER  THE SAYINGS..."GET BACK ON THE HORSE" AND "GET BACK IN THE GAME"?

I MADE SO MANY QUILTS BACK TO BACK FOR THE HOUSTON SHOW THAT I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER WANT TO ENTER ANOTHER SHOW.  WRONG!
THE CALL CAME IN FOR THE SURPRISE CITY HALL EXHIBIT AND I WAS RIGHT BACK IN THE GAME.

For this exhibition you are allowed to enter five items.  The last time I entered three quilts and three quilts got in so I thought I would do that again.  

                        ENTRY #1  POEMFISH BLUE

   
YESTERDAY I WAS VISITING MOM AND I SAW ON HER WALL A QUILT THAT I HAD GIVEN HER A FEW YEARS AGO, AND THOUGHT...THAT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD.  SO I TOOK IT RIGHT OFF HER WALL AND TOOK A PHOTO AND ENTERED IT TODAY.  I DID ASK FIRST. 

THIS QUILT HAS A LOT OF MIXED MEDIA ON IT...PAPER, SHELLS, BEADS, ORGANZA, GLASS FISH, AND METAL PIECES THAT I MADE OUT OF COPPER.  

THIS WAS THE 3RD POEMFISH QUILT THAT I HAVE MADE BASED ON A POEM BY SUSAN WOOLDRIDGE.

I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT I USED MACHINE FELTING ON THIS PIECE.  LET ME TELL YOU A STORY...WHEN I FIRST STARTED MAKING ART QUILTS WITH MY ART QUILT GROUP, ONE OF THE LADIES WAS USING A FELTING MACHINE AND OF COURSE I JUST HAD TO HAVE ONE.   SO I WENT OUT AND BOUGHT ONE.  THIS IS THE ONLY QUILT I HAVE EVER USED IT ON.  IT SITS VERY PRETTILY ON THE SHELF IN MY STUDIO.  MAYBE IT IS TIME THAT I GET IT OUT AND USE IT.  WHILE I AM AT IT I SHOULD REJOIN THE SILVER GROUP AND MAKE MORE METAL PIECES TOO.  THIS PIECE REMINDED ME OF ALL THE MUST DO THINGS THAT I DON'T DO ANYMORE.

 I STILL USE PAPER ON MY QUILTS.  THIS IS THE POEM THAT I MENTIONED.  I STILL LIKE TO ROLL UP DICTIONARY PAGES AND USE THEM ON MY QUILTS. 

 

I THINK I WILL STOP WITH THIS ENTRY AND TELL YOU ABOUT THE OTHER TWO ANOTHER DAY.  I AM IN A BIT OF A HURRY. I AM WRITING THIS AT THE LIBRARY AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME AND          

    GET OUT THE FELTING MACHINE

                                             ....REDFOX