Halloween Pin-up Witch

I decided to make a new Halloween wall hanging since this is my favorite holiday. I found the outside skull batik this fall and the majority of the other fabrics I had in my stash. I wanted to make a pin-up girl that was a sexy witch. I love using the combination of orange, lime green and purple for Halloween. I also try to use a stripe and a polka dot in all my quilts. I could not get the correct affect of the striped stockings so I used a Pigma pen and drew them on. I raw edged fused applique the witch, pumpkin and broom and embellished with fabric paint, fabric markers, glitter and glitter glue and a few rhinestones.

Commissioned Artwork

I was approached by an area woman who say my artwork at the Old Church Gallery in Cedar River, MI where I display and sell my art. She e-mailed me and requested two fabric postcards, one was a gift and the other was for herself, in which she could choose the hair colors. I suggested she could choose different eye color as well. So the one is of warm brown hair with hazel eyes (I had to be careful not to have her look like a vampire in the "Twilight" movies!) and the other is a whitish blond with blue eyes. I embellished with fabric paint, nail polish, glitter glue and loose glitter and even a little blush on a Q-tip-it's a hairdresser thing!! It was  fun to change it up a bit and not do the normal purple, orange and yellow.

Artists Studio Tour

I was invited to participate in an Artists Studio Tour which has five artists from the Marinette, WI and Menominee, MI areas. The artists are Glenda Banta, Kathleen and Chuck Eaton, Ken Marsden and myself. Glenda is a mixed media artist, Ken does watercolor, the Eatons paint in oil and acrylic and I do fiber art. The tour is located at N1446 Autum Wood Lane in Marinette.There is an open home tomorrow from 5:30pm-8pm. The tour is on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18 from 10-3 both days. The photo above is my piece called "Purple Rain" which is on display at the tour and is for sale. An advantage of having a studio tour is that potential buyers do not have to pay the commissions that galleries change the artists to display their work in the galleries. Hope to see you there!!

The Art Garage Project

In Green Bay, WI there is a very cool art gallery/coop and I receive their weekly e-mails. They are having a "Art Meets Heart Mosoaic Project" in which up to 300 artists can receive a 6 x 6 canvas to do what ever they want on the front of the canvas. The mini canvases are then put together in one picture and displayed at the gallery. Each piece will be auctioned off in February 2011. They chose the heart theme to go with heart health month and Valentines Day and I chose a heart theme in the silhouette of the women's hair and her heart-shaped face. I painted the canvas black then glued paper neck and face pieces to the canvas and fused a piece of fabric for the hair and lips. I drew the facial feature details with Sharpie pens, colored pencils and Smooch paint on the eyelids. I can't go without glitter so the hair has two types of glitter nail polish, and the lips have a pink nail polish and the dots above the eyebrows are glitter glue and loose glitter. I finished with white paint on the eyes and highlights to the face. I was nervous to make a mistake-if I am sewing and make a mistake I get out my seam ripper or just cut another piece of fabric. Am I a mixed media artist now??

Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational

I was invited to join the Michigan Quilt Artists Invitational last fall. It is a group of fiber artists from Upper and Lower Michigan curated by Mary Andrew and Marty Calchoun. Each year there is a theme such as Italy, nature, space and sky etc. The 2011 theme is "South of the Border" and the exhibit begins this Friday, Sept. 10, 2010 in Flint MI. I live many miles from lower Michigan and will not be attending the opening reception which is sad to me. My piece is called "Frida" and I love Frida Kahlo's artwork. I chose warm tropical "mexican" colors for the background. It is embellished with fabric paint, a pendant of a cross which appeared vintagey and it was made into Frida's earring. I also have rickrack and black beads sewn around the outside on the border. I rewatched the move about her in which Salma Hayek played her to experience her life and her art. The dove in the upper lefthand corner represents the nickname her husband had for her. I have this piece up for sale as it travels through Michigan in 2010-2011. My daughter, Jordana, loved it so much I made a similar one in her apartment colors.