come visit me at "Open Studios" at Houston IQF!! :)

 

I just got a brand new batch of business cards. I'm a little in love with them because they feature my Remnant Collage series and its satisfying to see them all lined up in a row like that. I ordered a larger batch then I normally do. Why you ask?

Because I'll be doing a demo in Houston at the International Quilt Festival! :) Here are the details:

OPEN STUDIOS AT IQF-HOUSTON SPONSORED BY CRAFTSY

 

In case you aren't familiar with either Open Studios or Craftsy, allow me to explain.

Open Studios is a demo spectacular that happens at the International Quilt Festival. Professional artists demo a wide range of techniques and if you're attending festival, you can wander right up the table and watch and ask questions and just generally have a blast. This will be my third time doing Open Studios but first time doing them in Houston and I couldn't be more thrilled to be participating in them at the mother show of IQF.

The demoing fanfare of Open Studios is being hosted by Craftsy. Craftsy is an online host to a really impressive array of online classes. Wander on over to their site, its really awesome! Open Studios and Craftsy is a great collaboration!

I'll be at Open Studios on Saturday November 3 from 10am-noon demoing Shadow Printing. 

That's a printing technique that creates a layered facade on fabric similar to the way shadows layer themselves over things. I'll also be showing how to do layered printing on fabric and flinging paint about at random. (Don't worry, I won't get any on you.)

If you are coming to IQF-Houston, please do stop by and say hello, I'd love to meet you! Plus there are TONS of awesome demos going on the entire time, stop by Pokey Bolton's blog to read the full schedule. The demo stages are located near the food courts.

Here's a peek at what I'm taking along for samples. Hope to see you there!! :)

surrendering to the flow

I'm a planner. Its engrained in me like my fingerprints, I'm always looking for a way to plot a course and organize the direction of what I do.

But lately I'm learning to let go. I'm realizing that not knowing how everything will go may be the way things should be.

I used to think that I had an end goal, a specific place I wanted my life and my art career to end up. As I putter along, from one project to the next, I'm learning to embrace the unpredictability of it all. I'll be honest, its not easy. Its like staring at a blank page and trying not to fill it, to allow the uncertainty of the vastness to loom large.

Somehow it feels like things would be easier, less stressful if I just allowed them to take their own course. Rather then struggling against the flow, trying to control the direction of things. Because the actions I take with my art are enough to push it forward, to continue its growth.

Perhaps the surrender is what its all about.

please meet "the thursday art group"

I'm a bit behind in introducing you to the fabulous groups I write about in Quilting Arts and its something I intend to correct.



The September/October issue of QA featured the wonderful Thursday Art Group. These women are delving into art history in a truly dedicated way - meeting once a week to wander through the past and trace how art has evolved over time.

They are a fascinating and extremely talented group. They've gained a deeper understanding of the art world through their work and it has allowed them to become more confident in their own art making.

And they keep a blog to share their studies with you, its a great read if you are interested in following along - I'm a faithful reader, love what they post. Its a fantastic way to learn more about the history of art!

where i stand sunday - in love with autumn

There isn't a single thing I dislike about this season. Its rich. In color, smell, temperature. Its alive and electric and it permeates every aspect of life.

 I see it from my studio window, leaves turning dark and moody with thick color.

 

 Its in my cup, pumpkin spiced tea warm and intoxicating.

Vegetables dressed for the occassion.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

where i stand sunday

The sun seems to hang sideways, transforming true color into something electric and poetic. The sky was shrinkwrapped in grey today, everything felt altered, more intense and washed out all at the same time. Its unsettling to watch nature rush forward, the season has a mild shade of violence at the edges. An ending that comes on schedule without regard for anything else.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

a small change of plans - etsy shop notice!

I spent this past Sunday knee deep in the pile of debris I so fondly refer to as my studio and office. (I swear, if I don't tame this soon, I'll find myself on Hoarders screaming "That's still good! Put that back!")

Its thrown into sharp relief that deadlines are approaching and I need to be much more focused about where I spend my time. When this happens, I begin to ruthlessly examine things. Sort of like lining them up against the wall and firing my "You can wait!" gun at them.

Back in this post I outlined the new schedule for my etsy shop over the next few months but its pretty apparent that I need to revise that even more. Because as much as I'd like to, I've yet to find a way to cram more hours into the day (trust me, I'm working on it).

So to make things easier on Jackie and I, I'm switching things up a little bit again - but in a way that I hope you will find exciting. 'Cause I kind of like it, seems like a nifty idea.

The shop will be closed December 2012 and January 2013, reopening on February 2, 2013. During the month of November 2012, the shop will not stock any thermofax screens but will feature artwork that would make wonderful gifts for the upcoming season from myself and Jackie.

Hear that? Pay attention - NO THERMOFAX SCREENS FOR THREE MONTHS. That means get them by October 31 or pine away until next February.

Here, let me list it out to make it clear:

November 2012 - Awesome artwork by Lynn and Jackie for gift giving - no thermofax screens

December 2012 & January 2013 - CLOSED

February 2, 2013 - shop reopens with all thermofax screen options available for your screen printing pleasure.

No, this is not being done to drive you mad - but rather to keep us both sane. The project that I'm working on that has prompted this decision is a tremendous amount of work and I want to give it my full attention because I'm thinking you all will love it as much as I do once its complete.

So get the screens while the getting is good! I'll still be blogging and facebooking and online all over the place, just not selling thermofax screens duirng that time period.

Thanks!! :)

"color + stitch" at the 2012 ASE

A couple weeks ago I taught my new class, "color + stitch", at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, MI. Kate (always an incredible sport and help) and I shuffled into the expo center super early (we didn't mind too much, we had coffee) and began setting things up.

I admit, I always get a little nervous before class. Mostly because my teaching style is a little more on the relaxed size. I'll boss you around as much as you want me to but for the most part, I give you all the space you need to do your own thing.

Turns out the bunch that showed up for class embraced it with style and boy, did we have a good time. As proof to their adventurous spirits, here is the class sample that the demos were centered around:

And these are shots from class of the awesomeness that everyone made:

 (I've noticed that I make weird faces when I talk. And there always seems to be a camera around when I make them. Oh and also? I'm quite short.)

(We made a mess. Although no one got paint in their hair.)

Not a single piece made looked exactly like the class sample. It would have been totally cool if there had been but everyone watched the demos and flung paint about in a way that suited their own artistic eye. Love that! 

I had a blast. :) I slept thirteen hours the following day but still, a total blast in every way. I so enjoy teaching, I wish my schedule allowed for more of it. But rather then lament over how rarely I do it, I'm thankful for the times when I can. :)

where i stand sunday

The rain throws the colors into a riot of saturation. I can't help but loose myself in the flow of layered liquid and the discards of the slumber season. Everything so easily gives up its grip, letting things be as they should. They fall because they should. They let the life color drain away to be replaced by the burning transition because they should. They offer a beauty that only decay can offer, rich and deep and endlessly fascinating.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

odd habits

Behold - the chaos that is my studio.

I posted that picture on my facebook page and most people didn't think it was so awful. Truth be told, its not as bad as it could be. After all, you can actually see the things that the floor is made out of. I consider that a step in the right direction.

There has been some cleaning. Minor. Enough to make it look more inhabitable. (Truth be told, a friend was coming over for the first time to see it right after I shot this snap. I swear, nothing makes you clean quicker then company.)

I've realized that I have a long list of studio habits that basically converge into an all powerful series of ticks that lead the studio to look the way it does above. I wondered if maybe I'm not alone so I thought maybe I'd post a few of them here (insanity does love company).

1.  There is no need to redefine the word "floor".  Finished with that fabric? Throw it in a downward direction. Need to move that paper? Introduce it to the fabric you just finished with. Its like trying to make a mixed media piece beneath my feet. That or I'm just trying to make myself taller.

2. Two bottles of glue is plenty. Not five, not seven and certainly not ten. (We won't say where my count is at.) Its also perfectly acceptable to use up a whole bottle at a time. We aren't running a glue museum here, after all.

3. Just because its a flat surface does not mean it needs a pile. Or does it?

4. Books bearing titles such as "Declutter in 30 days" and "100 ways to stay organized" only work if they are removed from the plastic they were shipped in and read. Simply owning them does not make your organized.

5. Same goes for the twenty stacks of post-it-notes. Possession of organizational items is a mental band aid only. (See photo above.)

6. It is unacceptable to clean your paint brush on the carpet. Period.

7. The pet's fur does not count as a duster. You may not use them to rid the room of dust bunnies.

I've accepted this room is what it is. But its still curious to me how it gets so chaotic. Its like a cocoon of creative madness. Maybe not such a horrible thing after all.

Although sometimes I do feel that I need to leave a note with a rescue squad in case I need to be rescued. You never know what could be lurking in one of those piles...