Studio Eye Candy

This is a photo of Yoko d'Holbachie's studio. For some her studio is too colorful too chaotic not for me. Not only colorful, but playful and fanciful like her work.



Pictured here are some of the collections in her studio which clearly inform and inspire some of the imagery she creates.



What attracts me to d'Holbachie's work is her use of color which is masterful. Her imagery is haunting with a touch of innocence mixed with the grotesque. Quoting a description in Direct Art Magazine the author describes her work as "apocolyptic Disneyland."

To see her work go to: http://www.dholbachie.com/

Kicking it up a notch

When I visited my sister in NYC she took me to her favorite flea market and I scored a book of medical illustrations. I hit pay dirt.

This is my first attempt at kicking redwork up a notch!


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Yarn Bombing

Look at what the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh is up to yarn bombers Jean Thomas, Sherri Roberts and Amanda Gross.

Amanda leads the charge as we propose to launch Thread Up PGH!

Too fun!

More I Could Just Eat Color #2

I decided on the structure of the quilt top. All the piecing Barbara and I did together. The purple corner squares are from one of Barbara's scarves.

This is what I am working on now placement of images and shells.

Making progress.

I Could Just Eat Color #2

My mother-in-law died this past March. I am making this quilt for her dear friend Peggy. It is the second in a series. The first quilt I made for her dear friend Renee.

When Barbara was still well enough to communicate and interact I cut pieces for a churn dash block in solids and one print. I would visit and place them on a table and she would move the pieces around (often with my assistance I wish I had thought of it before) until she found a design that was pleasing to her. As she moved the pieces she would tell stories about them. I didn't always understand what she said but what she did say repeatedly was "I could just eat color."

I Could Just Eat Color #1

When I think of Barbara I think of color blues in particular. She wore many shades of blue and she had the bluest eyes.

More class work

My last class is today. I feel like we are just getting started.

I had no idea how much there is to learn about an apple. This is chalk once I got the idea of how to use the medium it became a bit easier.

This is my final project. I worked from a photograph of lilies I had purchased from Costco they were the most gorgeous deep pink to blood red. My medium is marker. I have been thinking about doing a piece featuring the earth so I decided to merge the two ideas thinking about how fragile the earth is. I am pleased that the lily is weighted by the earth looks like it's about to fall. When I first began to work on the idea I had drawn a straight stem. At the suggestion of my class mates I changed I had been looking at the photograph to literally.

Also I had the dead leaf on the ground but there is no formal ground so my class mates suggested the leaf might be falling. But I didn't not think through the color change with the change from ground to in motion, perhaps it should be pinker.

Drawing really is about observation here I wanted to inject story telling I'm not sure how successful I was.

And Now Time for Something Completely Different

I signed up for Drawing 1 with Staci Offutt at the Pittsburgh Center for Arts. It is my first drawing class. Of course I am used to playing with fabric now I play with a pencil and I am learning to see for the first time. This drawing was done in class.

This drawing was a class assignment. It was torture to begin....but as Jane Burch-Cochran says patience and a vision.

Last week it was chalk pastels not sure if I am brave enough to post.