playing with images taken last week

i think there is definately a piece in here... or several.....

the lines in the pod intriqued me to no end.

enjoy!

and a few wonderful things i came home with

lucky me! not only did i have a great week, but i also got, as it was called, *pressies*:

this lovely doll from pamela:

shown here sitting in my computer chair....what

isn't visible in this image is her backside...she has her very own "plumber's crack" ;-)

and this very lovely small piece from the birthday girl, rosemary:

more snippets from the week

here are a few of the things i worked on there..

this is an example of *extreme printing*.. i did quite a few pieces on the lovely palm bark that was laying around just begging to be used.. i've coated them with matte medium since i've gotten home and look forward to using them in some future work:

the dry studio space was located in what is their dance studio,

so we had design mirrors.. kidn of weird working while looking at yourself!

we also had a thermofax machine there so i spent the first day making

screens that i hadn't had time to make before i left... the next day i printed another scroll piece... i didn't have a piece of rusted fabric that looked appropriate so i printed it on white pfd and will rust it after the fact.

also started a rust composition, which was left lanquishing after i started playing with the various embellishers that were there. i did have one more rust compostion up, that is now hanging on my design wall here..

and here are a few of the things i did with the embellisher... not only is it fun, but i have so many fabrics and fibers that are perfect for this process.. i absolutely have got to get one of these.

and this one, below, is still a work in progress

some snippets from florida

i spent a delightful week last week at the atlantic center for the arts' first annual retreat.

i almost hesitate to post about it cus once the word gets out, next year's will be filled in a heartbeat, and i didn't reserve my spot yet! (mary....write me in.....)

it was a little slice of heaven!

No Schedule. other than mealtimes, we came and went as we wanted... that alone was worth the price of admission! but we also had got to work in a beautiful location with light filled studios, good food, and even better, a really great group of women to share it all with... did i mention it was a little slice of heaven?

we had 2 studios set up: a wet one for painting, dyeing, and felting; and a dry one for composing, stitching, and hooking..... er...rug hooking that is...

they rang with the sounds of laughter from early on in the morning (so i was told...) till late at night.. we fueled ourselves with good wine, and dark chocolate, and talked and laughed as we worked.

one week was just not enough..

here a few photos of the wonderful setting:

isn't this just the coolest thing? now named the *escape pod* it's a tree house like structure hidden amongst the trees and palmetto. i want one in my back yard! it was a great place to sketch, and sit and soak in the surroundings.... and here are a few of the nuts, er.... artists, with their work: rosemary claus-gray celebrated a special birthday in style while we were there, but also got some wonderful pieces started...

and pamela allen not only kept us entertained but made several wonderful pieces as well...

sharon ahmed did wonderous things with felt, including the coolest faces:

linda mathews was extraordinarily generous and a fun table mate...unfortunately i didn't get any photos of the wonderful work she was doing....

and there were many more! to be continued

more collages

tried to add these to the last post and blogger wouldn't cooperate..
i got these in the mail today for the 9th annual international collage exhbition and exchange
you can see the last several years worth of work, and bookmark the site for the upcoming exhibit which will be up at the beginning of april.. there will be one selection from each artist for sale.
here are a few more photos...

switching gears

i'm getting ready to start teaching classes at our local quilt shop, the quilting niche, and tomorrow morning is saturday sampler...(i have to admit, i didn't even know what that was!) so i've been digging out samples of my painted fabric to bring ...and i have to say i was pretty impressed with myself! ;-)