Flower Garden quilt

Michaela's Flower Garden quilt

City Streets quilt

Kasey's City Streets quilt

Wonky Quilt

Here is the first quilt I made here at home. It was LOTS of fun. I machine quilted each block differently.

Summer windows quilt

Here is one of the quilt tops I made for our Quilting from the Heart group. We give all of our quilts away and we use donated fabrics. I started from the donated colorful blocks inside the window frames.

Christmas mats

We are making Christmas table mats for a Christmas PW luncheon in December. The program will be about the Quilting From The Heart group. Here are two mats that I have made.

I have been working in a quilt group that makes quilts to give away. Here is the first quilt that I have ever produced. We work with donated fabrics. This one was made with 10-minute blocks. Although the picture doesn't show it very well, the base color is two shades of blue, one a denim color, the other a grayer blue.

Here is the envelope for the card.

Here is the back page of my card. The wreath pulls up and there is a continuation of the letter on that number 2 sheet.

Since this is an art journal, not just good, finished projects, I am posting the get-well card I made for my cousin who had open heart surgery in February. (Keep her in your prayers). I used pictures from our family, ones I hope will bring her a smile and some comfort in her recovery.

Apple Altered Book 1

I am taking an altered book classes through the local school district community education program. My book is titled "Apple a Day. " Here is the beginning of the book. The book cover (pix 1) is a start. I have not added the title yet. Pix 2 is the inside cover spread. I made these from the original with the white background below. Pix 3 is an apple collage. I am not sure how I will use it yet, but look for it later in the book.

Yesterday, Zane asked me to put together a graphic for the cover of a lenten devotional booklet he is publishing for the congregation. So, my art yesterday was mainly working on this.

Apple a Day

This week I will be going to my first altered book class. I am considering "an apple a day" as my focus, but I am leaving myself open to see what intuitive creative ideas come my way when I get to the class. Here are two apple-a-day pix I worked on tonight to get the juices flowing.

Part of collage work is paper prep. Here is one I did last night. Printed randomly with the ridged side of a Starbucks cup sleeve. Then I negatively painted around the area to create a large shape. I don't know how I will use this, but it will fit in somewhere. More intuitive art.

Pineapple picker

Who me? These doodles are not that creative, but they do make you think about doing something with a line that you did not create. This was pretty much a continuous line drawing.

Off and on, Connie and I have collaborated on collage pieces. Here is one which Connie created and sent it to me for enhancement. Here is the result.

Doodle a Day Feb 7 He of Scratchy Hair

Continuing my colored pencil sketches in the evening. Last night I experimented with rubbings. I used rubber bands, cut up credit card and a coaster. Not a finished work of art, but an experiment with what can happen when you just DO SOMETHING - getting you art mind in gear with intuition. After I scanned it, I used Photoshop to create a layer on top. This is a process remember. We will see where it will take me.

block print on bag

Art work is created in steps. Sometimes, it results in a completed picture. Sometimes, it is just playing. Yesterday's art time was "playing" (translated that means preparing surfaces for collage). Here is one of them. You will see this in a future picture I hope.

As I was saving After the Tree of Life to my computer, I noticed that I had created it on the back of an orange collage, and I also ran across Connie's orange collage at the same time. So here are both of them, Connie's first, then mine.

After the Tree of Life

As in life, this evolution is not where I thought I was going, but this is what I got. After the episode with A&E, the tree was still there but no longer accessible-as it isn't here. G's presence is still felt however. I tore the original picture into pieces and collaged in it onto an old watercolor. After several compositional experiments (none I liked), I negatively painted in black to form another tree, and used watercolor crayons to outline the tree and the space around the tree.

This didn't start out to be a story illustration, but there is no telling where art will take you.

Since I am just having fun with this project, here is my evolved version of the Tree of Life. I used acrylic to highlight the fanciful swirls and made the "apple" much less prominent.

After 5 months of not creating art, I have plunged back in (and I am expecting you to too :). I started with no plan, just started putting paint on an already rejected collage project. I block printed on the two ends, then turned it upside down. I painted the middle with phtalo turquoise and it looked like a tree, so I put in a trunk. I wanted more color and texture, so I added gestures with my watercolor crayons. Then I put it in Illustrator and added the title and the "apple." I didn't intend to create another tree, but I guess I seem to be into trees. And since I am reading through the Bible in 90 days, this tree came to my mind. It is sort of like a tree with every color in it - very desirable. God is the sun rays in the background, present and providing the things needed.