Category Archives: Passions

The Art Quilts of Margot Lovinger

So I am looking into art groups to be a part of, especially fabric oriented ones. I want to do more with my art quilting and take it to the next level. So I was (once again) exploring the Contemporary QuiltArt Association website. I ran across Margot’s website a few years back when I was exploring the same site for the same reasons. Her work is similar to what I envision mine to be (but with my own slant.) I am sure her technique is similar to what I am doing too… except she seems to use a lot of sheer layers. I would really love to see one of them in person. For fabric the flat images on the internet rarely do them justice.

So I have printed the application to the CQA and plan to get it sent in as I continue work on my latest art quilt.

Explore some yourself and see what strikes your fancy!

http://www.contemporaryquiltart.com

http://www.margotlovinger.com

Purple Paper Quilt

purplepaperquilt01, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

Possibly for the True Colors in a Mixed-media Paper Quilt Challenge. 

This is still a work in progress. It is actually 12×12, but I scanned it and my scanner only does 10×12 so a few inches are missing. It is several layers of torn paper, many left over from my ArtErratica color tag swap including some dyed paper towels ala Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista.

I am noticing several of my common themes in personal imagery (which I will post more on later)

What do you notice?

Free scrabble words for your collage

words, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

Playing with some scrabble tiles and my scanner. Please feel free to download and use this word sheet in your collage! and be sure to share your art with me when you do!

Jen’s Challenge Week 3

monoprint1, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

This is one of the monoprints I made last night as part of Jen’s Weekly Challenge. I used the stencil resist method and went with a heart theme for upcoming V-Day. The extra heart on the left side is the cut-out that was used as the resist for the print. Basically I had some pieces of plexi-glass in my collage bin, I smeared some blue and red acrylic paint on it and moved it around with my brushes. Then I placed a cut out heart on the paint and then printed with some pieces of paper that already had images or background printing on them. I wanted a very layered look. Finally, scanned this after over 30 mins of downloading new drivers and restarting numerous times to get my old scanner to work with the new vista computer… ahhhh technology!

Charger clay sculpture drying in progress

Charger clay sculpture drying in progress, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

One of the things I love about my job is the ability to create and explore art while working with the kids. I opened up the clay center for my 7th grade classes and they wanted to make some creatures…dogs and flamingos specifically. So to demonstrate and teach I ~HAD~ to make a Charger sculpture! hmmm… does the love of my dog influence my art? or what? So it is going well and I brought it home this 3-day weekend to fiddle with it some more. Check out more pics on my Flickr. Don’t worry I will post more when it is done!

360 view of Studio Sheba

 
Why is it always so messy? Revisiting work habits!

Guiding Word

4422Still on my hunt for tips and tricks for setting SMART Goals I ran across Christine’s Blog. There are SO many wonderful and creative people out there, it is hard not to spend the whole day on the computer exploring… So anyway, she suggests a GUIDING WORD to be an alternative to resolutions. She has done this and blogged about it for a few years and I really like the idea. Here are a few of the words from her list that are grabbing me… but I will need to ponder and settle on one for the year that fits my other goals and plans as well as my overall direction.

Growth: this can cover a lot of areas… and I strive to always grow and be open to growth… but this word really was a great focus for me a few years ago when I returned to school for my masters and did a lot of mental health healing. Not that I can’t use a word just because it was a past focus, but I think I am not in this part of my life cycle right now.  

Health: This one fits my fitness goals but doesn’t really cover any of my other ones.

Action: This one could address my fitness goals and my art ones as well… so I am leaning towards it.

Adventure: My life has become so settled and kinda in a rut…so I feel like I want some adventure but I think I am too comfortable to really use it as a focus word.

Discipline: This word is a tough one for me… something I really need more of but something I hate! It has a real negative connotation in my mind, so I hesitate to use it, but If I could wrap my mind around the positive aspects and really focus on it in every area of my life it could be a good thing.

Artfulness or Creativity: I think these are such a part of my life and person that I don’t need the word to drive my actions anymore.

One word that she didn’t list that popped into my head right away is Interact. I really want to participate in art groups (both live and online) as well as my teacher community more. Plus join some fitness events, and generally get-out-more! not be such a homebody… I think this word might be in the top three of possibilities.

Jen’s Art Challenge #2

Jen Worden is one of my bloggy art friends that likes to challenge herself and others… she is offering up a new weekly Challenge and I felt like giving it a try this week.

So the challenge is “Grab one of your DIY books or magazines. Flip open to a random page and create the project. The FIRST. No flipping through to find something you WANT to do. This is an exercise in expanding your horizons coupled with making the project yours.”

This is MUCH harder than you might think… I started with an Expressions issue July/August 2005. I flipped to a random page, got an advertisement, flipped again and got a polymer clay project that requires supplies that I don’t have. I am on a supply diet, so I needed another idea. I ended up flipping through almost every project and not a one had supplies that matched my current stock. I thought, “Why the heck do I even have this magazine?” I promptly decided I need to purge my magazine and book collection to match my current focus!

So I looked in Cloth Paper Scissors fall 2005 and got some colorful pages on handmade books which reminded me of the funky signatures that are in Collage Unleashed that Eliza just finished doing. So I just decided to do that. It is actually a project that has been simmering in my mind for a while anyways. I have some much little scrappy stuff I thought I would make a bunch of little books to use as trades at artfest this year, and in the process try to purge and clean up my paper supplies. Mostly I just ended up with a ton of paper junk all over my floor! But I did locate a bunch of old tip-ins from a swap that I should get put into an altered book and more magazines that I am truely befuddled as to why they are in my studio.

So did I do some art? yes… kinda. Did I meet the challenge? me thinks not. I guess I will try again later this week after I do some more cleaning!

Actionable Items

With my desire to make SMART goals this year, I have been hunting the net for tips and tools for setting goals that fit these parameters. In January’s EBSQ Zine, Amie discusses the topic of resolutions, goals and plans for the new year and she shares a list of questions to ask yourself that she found on ArtBiz Coach. Here are a few that I feel I can tackle.

What will you do to amplify your online presence? I have had an online presence since 1999, but I can’t say that I have much of a following… So my Actional Items to improve my online presence include:

  • Updating my art blog (with images) at least twice a week. Including articles that cross reference othe blogs and artists that I admire.
  • Participate in my online groups and forums more often by making weekly posts that are interactive with the members.
  • Visiting and commenting on other art blogs that I find inspiring.

What seminars/workshops/lectures will you attend?

What galleries, exhibits, or other venues will you submit your art to?

Questions I still want to consider…

  • What is the single thing you can do in 2008 that will move your career ahead the fastest?
  • How will you improve your studio habits?

(more at ArtBizCoach.com)

WIP: Medusa Doll and Peacock

4315This is a doll I started…. let’s see right after I made my freak show doll, so that would be August-September 2005. The body all went according to plan but then I got stuck with the head. I wanted to have some really detailed and movable snakes for her hair and I bought all kinds of different thicknesses of wire to try and make it work….

I am pretty sure my intention was to enter it into the Classic Mythology Show  Depending on the prospectus, I might take a new direction with the head/hair and finish her in time enter her in the Creation Myths: An EBSQ Juried Artists Exhibit later this year.

4330

This one was started 02/2007 for the Wild Birds Show But I didn’t get very far before life, work and other projects became more important. I really have a fantastic vision for what I want this to become, I have all the proper fabrics collected, I even have many of the pieces cut-out. Each peacock feather eye is a 5 layer circle of different fabrics cut, ironed on and then sewn together. I had all these laying on my ironing board and an early Spring had me opening the windows. In a brisk breeze, all my small little circles (not yet attached to each other) blew all over the studio. This quickly discouraged anymore progress!

I have entered these both into the EBSQ WIP show… and also plan to put them at the top of my “want to finish” pile.