I'll Be Back...

Note: I haven't vanished from the face of the earth. I WILL return. Not sure when, but it'll happen. I promise!

Hell To Pay...

Well, the worst has happened... this morning, my sad old computer wheezed its last and said, "Bye... I'm outta here," then laid down it's pore, tired haid and died. Everything's gone... over 4,000 photos, my address book, passwords file, iTunes library of hundreds of pieces of music, bookmarks, calendar, e-mails, and Goddess knows how much else. I'm in shock, and really can't even think about it right now. Of course, the proposed data transfer to the new machine never happened. In addition, we won't even mention the embarrassing fact  that I, as a former main frame computer operator who bloody damn well knows better, never did a backup on that sad, sick machine. So, even though the new machine is mine to use, I'm at ground zero as far as my important stuff is concerned. Oh well, no use whining... it's a done deal. As for how "important" it all really was... just how important is anything in the long run?

I'm facing my Armageddon, and it serves me right.

6 Months... YAY!!!

Six months ago, NOTHING you could have told me would have made me believe I'd get to this point... but here I am! Thanks to everyone who helped me get here... I love you madly!!

Words...

These words, spoken at the beginning of every AA meeting, are beginning to mean the world to me. I'd heard them at various times and places over the years, and never gave them, or the concept they represent, much thought. Until July 23... the day I attended my first AA meeting and heard them in an entirely new context. Four days before that meeting, my life had changed irrevocably. The words suddenly hit home because I realized I was no longer "in control". Had I ever been? Not a chance. Did I really want to be? Not a chance. Suddenly, control wasn't an issue any longer, and I felt immensely free. I've never been a praying woman, and I'm still not, but, somehow, it now seems okay to say these words, and these days, I even say the first word without flinching. That first word still makes me uncomfortable, but I'm working around it, and maybe one day I'll get over it. In the meantime, I feel I've reached heretofore unknown levels of serenity, acceptance, courage and wisdom... and it feels good.

Tribal Art & Textiles

I'm currently exhibiting with Cleven "Goodie" Goudeau in a wonderful show at the Umpqua Bank here in Vallejo. Curated by Goodie's wife, Jeanette McCree Goudeau, the exhibit pairs my African-influenced art quilts with some of Goodie's vibrant African paintings. The result is a colorful and visually exciting feast for the eyes! Enjoy...

The show will be up for a few more weeks, and then will be moving to another venue. Jeanette has big plans to "take it on the road", so stay tuned...

I want to extend my sincere thanks to Umpqua Bank for their support of this exhibit, and for artists in general. Every branch in this area displays art on a regular basis - I think they're awesome!

New Treasures...

I just gifted myself with two fun pieces of art from my fabulous artist friend, Cheryl Dolby, who lives a gazillion miles away in Roanoke, Virginia. Well, it seems like that far away, because I'd love to be able to get together with her and hang out and talk about art, and play around in one of her classes, and see her exciting work up close and personal. She's also an incredible cook, and I'd like to play "bake-off" with her! That all probably won't ever happen, though, so I do the next best thing... I faithfully follow her blog, and buy myself a piece of her art every once in a while. Cheryl celebrates women in her art... strong, beautiful, elegant women... in jewelry, sculpture, dolls, and paintings. I love her women... it's hard to describe because it's such a personal thing, but they really talk to me, and they empower me. I wish I could fill my house with her women... but, sigh... my tiny house is already overflowing with wonderful art from so many artist friends, not to mention my own art... there are limits I have to face!

My newest treasures are apothecary jars with tops featuring sculpted and embellished women's faces. Here's Timekeeper:

and Tree Crone Woman:

They'll be at home on the desk in my studio and will hold important-to-me family stuff like my parents' wedding rings, dad's Phi Beta Kappa tie clip, mother's nursing school pins, Grandma Willey's beautiful cameo broach, Grandma Conklin's ruby cross, and other small pieces of sentimentalia. Better to store such treasures in beautiful glass jars where I can see them instead of hidden away in boxes in a closet.

Thanks, Cheryl, for once again bringing beauty into my life!

Eternal rest grant unto them, and let perpetual light shine upon them...

Charlotte Bacon

Daniel Barden

Rachel Davino

Olivia Engel

Josephine Gay

Ana Marquez-Greene

Dylan Hockley

Dawn Hochsprung

Madeline Hsu

Catherine Hubbard

Chase Kowalski

Nancy Lanza

Jesse Lewis

James Mattioli

Grace McDonnell

Anne Marie Murphy

Emilie Parker

Jack Pinto

Noah Pozner

Caroline Previdi

Jessica Rekos

Avielle Richman

Lauren Rousseau

Mary Sherlach

Victoria Soto

Benjamin Wheeler

Allison Wyatt

Jennie Rayment - My favorite teacher from whom I've yet to take a class...

Jennie is flat out awesome! A total crazy lady, with a sense of humor that never stops, and creativity and talent that will knock your socks off. This year at PIQF, I was blown away every time I peeked into her classroom (which was right next to mine), and saw what her students were doing. My friends Dale and Lani took one of her classes, and I loved what they created. Miss Jennie captivated me as she emcee'd this year's Show & Tell event and had us all laughing until we were in pain, then late Sunday afternoon I wound up having a fun conversation with her as the festival was just about to close, and we were both headed out, dog-tired, and grateful for the chance to sit down for a few minutes.

What this woman can do with a piece of fabric, as she rolls, folds, nips, tucks, fiddles and twiddles it into a piece of art, is almost unbelievable. I could look at it for hours trying to figure out how she achieved a certain look, then realize I really don't care HOW she achieved it, only that she DID achieve it. She won't be back to teach again at PIQF until 2014, but I'll be first in line to sign up for her classes then! I WANT to add this element to my quilts! Here's a portion of her exhibit in this year's show...

"Totally Tucked", with two detail pictures...

"All Squared Up" - features eight different techniques, each block made from square or rectangular pieces of fabric...

"Tweaked and Twiddled" - a 24-section pieced square with inserted triangles flattened to form petal shapes, is surrounded by tucked and twiddled fans...

"Out of Africa" - created using African fabrics that have been manipulated into Origami hexagons, tucked-up bands, and a petal pattern with multiple Origami twists in the border...

"Embellished Tucks" - the edges of tucks can be embellished with yarn zig-zagged to the edges, or by doing a satin stitch along the edges.

More embellished tucks...

"Magnolia Dusk" - uses weaving, Origami, tucked designs, and the innovative 'Fancy Fandango' and 'Floral Fantasies' designs to create an ingenious piece of fabric manipulation...

"Melange"...

"Foldy Rolly Fireworks" - all of the designs are named after fireworks...

Impressive, eh?? It just about wore me out looking at and thinking about all of the work that went into creating these quilts. But then, she has SO many more and, in addition, she's written a boatload of books! So I'm thinking this process can't be all that difficult, or she'd never have been able to crank out so much work, plus teaching... and lecturing... and traveling all over the planet... right??? Well, I'll get my chance to find out come October 2014!

A Rant...

It's time for me to stop doing my slow burn and get back to blogging, no matter how frustrating the process may be. My computer is moribund... dying a slow death because its hard disk is almost at capacity, and performing any kind of task - e-mail, web-crawling, photo manipulation, Google searches, FaceBook, and, especially blogging, takes For. Frigging. Ever. My husband, the former Mr. Whiz-Bang Apple Guru, purchased a new iBook Pro over a year ago, and, in theory, after setting it up for himself, was to give me his current machine, reconfigured for my needs. Alas, for reasons that render me nearly homicidal, and which I have no desire to dump on my dear readers, this has never transpired. The new machine still sits in its box, and the FMWBAG is still using the machine I was supposed to get, and I'm still stumbling along using this pathetic, tired, overworked, filled to capacity, irritating, INFURIATING PIECE OF SHIT.

By not blogging, I'm saving myself a ton of frustration in dealing with a cranky computer, but, in the meantime, am amassing an equal tonnage of frustration by not being able to keep my blog updated. So, as of right now, I will, once again, stuff my irritation and begin working on my next post... no matter how long it takes. It may be several days before it appears, but I just wanted to give notice that it WILL appear, and this blog will be back in action in a day or two.

End of rant.

More from PIQF...

Here's another round of quilts... from Traditional to Ultra-Contemporary... all of them Fabuloso!! Note... you can click on any photo for a larger view, and some of them are very worth seeing in an enlarged format because of their immense detail. Enjoy!

"African Safari", by Mary O. E. Fury... (One of my favorites because it reminds me of the work of my favorite quilt artist, Nancy Crow.)

Detail...

"Baskets of Stars", by Sue Glass...

"Wild Child", by Jan Hutchison...

Detail... These detail pictures are not the true colors in the quilt. I purposely amplified the color to better display the mind-blowing amount of detail in the long-arm machine quilting... truly awesome!

"Mi Amor", by Margarete Heinisch... 

More awesome quilting detail... this one all done by hand...

"AHA" Epiphany", by Gail Sena...

"Baltimore Revisited", by Beverly Schizvoni...

"Succotash In Blue", by Ann E. Rauen...

"Dresden Flower Garden", by Nicole Pullman...

"California Missions", by Patricia Pardoen...  (Loved this quilt! The missions have been very dear to my heart since I was a very young child... their mystery and romance of the Old West, and all that stuff!)

Detail - Santa Barbara Mission...

Detail - San Francisco Mission...

"New Directions" by Vivienne Moore...

"Circles: A Study In the Round", by Pat Nelson...

"Green Cheese", by Joan Dyer...

Detail...

White Glove Lady, California Style...

Still more to come... y'all come back, now!