It’s been a wet, wet summer here. A good time to see the garden grow. And a good time for sketching. You know how much I love sketching! Here are a few scenes from my garden lately. Feel free to tell me about your garden… or your sketching!
Posted in Garden, Photography
Tagged front porch, Garden, nature, photography, Ready for sketching
Now with a newly cleaned and freshened studio, I jump back into some work! When I look at this unfinished sketch, it looks a bit sterile.
I think some texture would help. So I apply the spray starch to the stretched silk and let it dry. I cover the cat with a torn paper shape to shield it from the spray.
And since I’ve been working with painted paper lately too, I plan to save the paper for later.
Next I spray it with some dye from a misting bottle. And I like the results. 
This spurs me on! I work on another, with lots of torn paper to form a stencil. 
And the paper itself is interesting.
I’ll save it for later. The dye penetrates the brown paper, and dyes both sides.
After I started school, I’ve been away from working in my studio for far too long. Junk piled up, and my work table became a pile of unused clutter and a place to sort laundry. But- with a few days free, I cleaned it up!
And found I was ready to get back to making some art! 
Posted in Uncategorized
Walking quickly though a bookstore yesterday, to buy a magazine, I saw something amazing. There, on a bargain bookshelf, a fabulous book. Priced at less than twice the cost of the magazine.
New Book
Of course I bought it. The magazine, forgotten.
Rare to the point of being extremely unusual that I had entered the bookstore at all, I moved quickly to the magazines, but the shelf was right in my path. The book was the only one of its kind, and the only one of this subject on the shelf. Have you ever felt that something special just jumped right at you?
I realized later, that I hadn’t even really felt strongly about buying a magazine and am not sure why I had been so motivated to out out of my way to this bookstore on this particular day. I ask myself…is it impossible to believe this book was a little gift? I think it may have been…
Perusing the new book
Here is the completed project!
I had recently finished a corset with steel bones. For some reason I had ordered a number of tiny bones, and did not need them for that project. Well, turns out that they were Minnie’s size! Yes, her bodice has real steel bones…
Here is the inside of the bodice, with my trademark heart inside.
And the front view below…
So that is a bit of my sewing life lately…
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday for my dose of creative inspiration…
I did a deep hem in her gown, and left it with a soft crease, not a hard one, so the satin would look luxurious…
Posted in Bridal Gown for Minnie Mouse, Costume as Art
Minnie Mouse’s skirt was quite extensive. I created a bustle and crinoline to support it, and draped the skirt in white satin with plenty of poufs. Each pouf was held with hand stitching and hand beading. 
As I worked, I had to store it on my dress form, because Minnie couldn’t stand up by herself! She measures over three feet tall, but she does mainly sit… I am linking to Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday. I treasure her inspirations!
My most favorite project recently involved creating a bridal gown for a celebrity- Minnie Mouse! I loved creating this gown…
here is her bustle and crinoline I created.
At a crossroads…to be at a point where two or more roads meet. Or..at a point of decision or a critical juncture. And consider…Overlap, convergence, intersection…
I have found myself in school again after many years. It is a privilege and a pleasure. Now my identity as an artist is undergoing deep change. And my silk work is as well. I truly don’t know where this road will lead…
I believe there is meaning in the work itself. So- I am continuing to practice. Here is a beginning in a series of daily meditations on silk. 
Posted in Creative Process
Tagged drawing on silk, Magic Sizing, silk chiffon, silk dye, textile
Let's talk silk painting! 