I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted. Wow!
I met the deadline for the auction, but with only one piece completed. There was a lot of negotiating with my husband to prevent him from making the purchase of my artwork, which I won. My friend who solicited the contribution turned around and bought it, returning it to my husband as an early Christmas gift. It resides next to the last piece he bought. Sigh.
So the piece that I didn't finish in time will simply be donated a little later, I think in February. This gives me more time to work on the concept and fine-tune the piece. We'll see what pops up.
As much as I am compelled to make these figurative pieces, I must admit that I feel an enormous amount of less-than-pleasant pressure to "perform" or produce work about which I continue to lack confidence. In the course of working on it, I picked up a couple of magazines that featured quilts and was immediately inspired. Sewing is something I can do in my sleep and a skill with which I have a terrific sense of confidence and ease, so I decided to get back into the swing of the machine. I wanted to make quilts for my friend's daughters for the holidays, but don't think I'll really have enough time. In any event, I have begun one of the two and love the time I spend on piecing. I am using one of Jan Mullen's designs that look like abstract flowers of very bright red, orange and pink. The recipient is only 5, but I tried to be sure the fabric choices would carry the quilt's use for a few years.
My beloved "old" and dearest friend since childhood will be flying in to town this week to stay with us for a while, so the studio has been converted to a guest room. While I may be too busy to post for this next week, I'll continue plotting ideas for future quilts, figurative work and sketching practice.
I'm a happy camper today.
