Cultivating Doilies...seed style

I spent a gorgeous afternoon yesterday, creating peace doilies with St. Joan of Arc Catholic School as part of their celebration of the International Day of Peace (September 21). It was a learning experience for all of us. Seeing the wide range of ages approach the project was wonderful to see. Working on the asphalt space next to the garden, the project turned out beautifully, with several doilies created by several different groups building on each other's center. Although there was some hesitation to begin, once they started handing the seed "It feels so good on your hands!" was a common response. The meditative aspect spanned ages- as they settled into forming the doilies a quiet fell over many groups. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to principal Deborah DaLay for approaching me at the opening at Good Citizen and initiating the project. Once I arrived on Tuesday, art teacher Ellen Rapp and the other faculty were a huge help in doily and student wrangling (we over 100 students take part). With a threat of thunderstorms in the forecast, the sunny day turned out beautiful in more ways than one. I will post images as soon as they arrive.

Local school doily workshop

Good News! I am planning on conducting a birdseed doilies workshop with the St. Joan of Arc Catholic School (to help commemorate their activities for the International Day of Peace). It's been great to have the artwork extend to include others in its creation and to see such a positive reaction to the work. Deborah's excitement about the project since meeting her at the Good Citizen opening has been infectious- and I look forward to seeing the birdseed doilies manifest themselves outside the gallery setting. Since my previous attempts at creating the works with children have been limited to a few participants, this should prove to be a fruitful experiment and experience.

Bonfire and bon voyage

I'm happy I came early to the opening tonight and thank those who came out in support to check out the show. I feel really good about our move to St. Louis--- it's hard to beat interesting conversations, being part of an art show you can be proud of, and roasting a late late dinner over a bonfire. I've made more art in the past few months than the past few years. Teaching has felt rewarding. Off to see the new nephew... sorry no pictures of the new dress, I left my camera in the trunk. Plenty of cameras were around, so I'll link to those images as they arrive.

Installing like the wind...

The show is nearly ready for the public. Luckily, my part is complete. I've got a doily creeping under Erin Cork's couch and will have better documentation of the work under the influence of audience participation. After two days of sliding around seed on the beautiful floors- with special thanks to the meticulous hands of surprise volunteer assistant Christine on Tuesday evening- I had enough time to purchase a new dress for the occasion. I found my black lace dress (plan A- the one I purchased to wear for Barbara Cole Peter's "Little Black Dress" vintage clothing show when directing) is torn and bagging up on the top. Not a great look--- so I brought along my trusty shopping lucky charm Heidi and found shoes AND a dress (fitting the vague requirements I was sorta kinda hoping for) for a price of a "maybe" dress. I am looking forward to the opening 6-10.

Here's some install action shots from Tuesday... (Erin fluffing the couch, and the slow growth of the doily).

Looking forward to "Citizenship"

When I checked my Google analytics this morning, I found most visitors were looking at my cv--- and it needed some updating. A complete site overhaul may be in the near future. In the updating process- I found the image on the left, posted by the talented Ms. Annie Heckman from the "For A Limited Time Only" install this past March. Ahh, lots of good memories.

As the deadline approaches for the install of "Material Studies", the anticipation of seeing the work together with some other like-minded artists builds. This past year has been a great one for shows, and I am interested in seeing the conversation of my work with Erin K. Cork, Courtney Henson, Christine A. Holtz, Jessica May, and Alicia Pigg.

Christine is the curator and friend with a similar approach to material but much more humor inserted in to the works. My tongue in cheek approach can sometimes go over as well as my facetious comments that go unnoticed as humor. On our second meeting, we discovered both had created artwork from cigarettes; Her's a pacifier, mine a stole.

Being included as part of Innovations 8 has opened my eyes to the benefits of living in a larger city. The locals have cultivated a rich legacy and vibrant community of textiles and fiber art(ist)s in the region.

Good Citizen has put on several strong shows, including Deborah McClary (some of my favorite painting I have seen since no longer including it as part of my studio practice). The space is both immaculate and full of character with a friendly owner to boot, so you feel comfortable staying to enjoy.

I am looking forward to creeping under Erin Cork's couch... with a birdseed drawing.

Work At Home and Out of Town

Things this past month have been busy- lots of out to town trips and piles of work to do to settle into the house. Here's a small sample of the goings on.


We drove back home a few weekends back to celebrate my best friend's little sister's wedding. It was great to see the family perform during the ceremony: singing, playing guitar, and belting it out on the organ.


I traveled to Chicago last week to complete a birdseed drawing as part of "Interactive" at Woman Made Gallery. This is a small detail before any audience interaction.



Bush pickles are looking good. Tasty too.


The Magnolia in front is in bloom. Most of the blooms are above head level so we are closely watching those closest to the ground.
I have finally finished up my sister's baby blanket. She's due in a few weeks, so I made it just under the wire. It is still en route, so I can't post images. That much time into a gift--- there needs to be a surprise element.

Lace in Chicago and outside the window...

I'll be making an interactive work (on a small scale) at Womanmade Gallery in Chicago in June- I just got the notification this morning.

I've been running some trials on my patio (to the pleasure of some very fat squirrels) and have been learning a few bird names in the process. I plan on making a bird garden next year, and just focus this year on composting and a small container salsa garden.