When it rains!

After a little dry spell, things are picking up!

Just got back from the Americans for the Arts conference in Philly, and en route, when to NYC to the Garment District (tried, with my best effort, to be good!) and bought some great black trims I've been using to frame my pieces and some different colors of silk duponi that I use as a beading surface. The afternoon was spent running around Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn (whew) with my friend (an arts administrator in the know) who took me to see THREE exhibitions by the art star of the moment Olafur Eliasson (see below) at MOMA, PS 1, and a small gallery in Chelsea. Also got to go to the FIT (Fashion Institute of Tech) exhibition space. Walking out of Penn Station into the utterly lovely chaos of that city is fantastic.

Olafur Eliasson


Fabric Workshop & Museum in Philly! My "trip treat" is a Kiki Smith Lamb Bank (a multiple, cheap, versus an original!)


Philly's Chinatown, where I couldn't resist buying some glittery treats!


So the book I'm in called Creative Quilting with Beads by Lark Books is out, and I received a copy early this week! You can get it on Amazon HERE. This is the first time (not the last, hopefully) that I'm in a book, which is thrilling.



In mid-July, I'm on the road teaching again - to St. Louis's Craft Alliance for a weekend workshop, which has filled up with no trouble. Having a big image of my piece Seven for a Secret Never Told didn't hurt that, I'm sure. The weekend prior to that I'll be back in C-Bus to teach two more one-dayers at Byzantium Bead including one for their staff since they were so excited about it. That's flattery.

Exhibitions: I'll be in Cream of the Crop at the Southern Ohio Museum in Portsmouth,w which opens this Friday and runs most of the summer (?), and will also be in a small small in western KY late July. And, Kira Campbell and I are having a two person exhibition at Zen Clay Gallery in Morgantown, WV in Sept/Oct.

Currently, I'm working on finishing the Three for a Wedding piece as well as doing a new series of Roadkill Altars. Will post pics soon!

Migrating Magpie

So my move from countie to townie is pretty much complete, and the studio arrangement is working out - watch for photos soon! Since I have the run of the place to myself for now, the downstairs studio is a fascist state of "materials that only have to do with current projects" - with all the other misc supplies shunted off to the upstairs.

The art making has been a little slow, but I recently got word that I have a group show I'm participating in late July in W. KY and a two person show @ Zen Clay Gallery (www.zenclay.com) with my dear friend Kira Campbell this fall - that gallery is in Morgantown WV, which from what I remember is a fun town.

Two recently completed pieces, both off to friends.... (I love scanners - both of these pieces were "photographed" that way)




The last two weeks have been very busy with teaching - there was the class @ Byzantium in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, May 17, which was a blast and a little nostalgic for me as I used to haunt their old location on King Ave. when I was a wee art school girl. A pic from the workshop.....

The next one is scheduled for Sunday, July 13, anyone who's interested!

Besides the Byzantium workshop, for the first time ever, I taught an official textile class @ my homebase, Morehead State University. It was a lot of fun, and the first time I taught mostly traditional aged college students in my medium (I do teach the art appreciation classes here, but have never taught a studio class). A number of faculty/staff took it too, and it's a treat to get to hang out with people outside of the normal work-a-day context. The class was four hours a day, for two weeks, and we covered 3-D textile objects, knitting and crochet, fabric painting, piecing & quilting, and textile collage/assemblage. Here's some examples:

Anna Griffin:


Ryan Newberry:


Becki Alfrey:


The well-attended potluck reception!


The Bluegrass Biennial: A Kentucky Juried Exhibition opens this Saturday from 3:00 - 5:00 in the Claypool-Young Art Gallery. That's always a well-attended event, and this year it is held in conjunction with the Clack Mountain Festival featuring folk art, crafts, and music by Ralph Stanley, the Steeldrivers, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Should be a good time!

As of next week and through most of June & July, I'll either be at the new house getting stitchy with it or on the road teaching, etc. The Americans for the Arts conference in Philly is coming up in a few weeks, and I've dovetailing a day in the big city (re: NYC) with a friend so I can get my annual dose of culture. At least that facet of culture.