in 1999 i made this quilt for one of my nephews as he was going away to college. tonight he sent me a photo of the well-loved quilt, which his two children love to snuggle under. on the bright yellow rectangles family members and friends wrote good will wishes to him, as he ventured away from home for the first time. the ink writing is still clearly visible after many washings, thanks to the fabulous micron pen and heat setting.

a drawing of a water stain on the bathroom floor in a museum i visited.

i miss my hubby.

happy. one of my paintings is in a show at the june fitzpatrick gallery in portland maine. this is a juried show of work made by staff at the maine college of art.

this is a drawing i did in 2006 when i was taking private lessons with nicole buckingham. this was an exercise in using value to show volume/shape. i loved her challenging assignments!

lots of mad sewing going on here this week at the stadium pajama company. wreaked some havoc with my studio...ha ha. hmmmm...do i really see three sewing machines in that little space? thank you oscar!

playing with old cut up linen clothes and listening to art21. such a good day.

sometimes i like to make sophisticated compositions from my doodles, so i seem like an artist. but really, i mostly like to take a sharpie and gouache and draw my alter-ego character, 'irritable.'

today i discovered an artist whose work is new to me. i love her doodling style that also looks like its a quilt. i went back to my old doodling style today to see what i could discover.

LINE WORK!

what does this make you think of?

markmaking!

this piece is hanging in a show this month at SPACE in portland maine.

finding more connections! i dug out some stitched work from a few years ago and placed it beside my current drawing work. looks like my markmaking is really similar in stitch and in ink. i like the juxtaposition.

matthew harris - textile artist

matthew harris' work (lower photo) has been on my mind this morning. i wonder if i have been channelling him all along. and how can i take my drawing work, translate it to embroidery or textiles, and make it my own...? a good thing to ponder today.

faces! i love the loose drawings i have been doing, abstracted from mechanical shapes, but i miss faces. once i took a portraiture drawing class and at the end of the semester, we had to submit a sketchbook of 100 faces (portraits). ever since then i have been 'drawn' to the face:) elizabeth layton's blind contour work has always been a favorite of mine. she captures the real essence of a person - mostly herself! so these drawings are blind contours (line work) done from a photograph using my non dominant hand, and then 'embellished' with my dominant hand.

my studio is packed and ready to go. i have had so much fun in here. now it is on to the next chapter!

this is the first painting i did in the studio - August 2010. it's gouache with paper collage on masonite - 12" square.

this is a drawing i did in 2007. i wanted to put it on the blog with some of my current drawings to see if there is a connection in my line work or other qualities. there is some stitching on the paper that i was experimenting with at the time, too.

tomorrow i move out of my beautiful studio...and on to other things.

worked with india ink today. also, spent alot of time on an old project. and we had snow!

yes! the ultimate inspiration...a mechanical sewing machine. a friend gave me an old singer sewing machine that she had been planning to incorporate into a sculpture. now i have my work cut out for me. i will be using the various mechanical shapes from the sewing machine to make my drawings. today i used a small part of the presser foot from which to abstract. thanks maddy ray!

The Art Department, is having a grand opening of their new art space this friday for our monthly first friday art walk event. as a part of the opening, there was an open call for artists to used a brown paper bag and cover a book, the old school way. i have a thing for buttons, so today i used them as a visual reference. i drew buttons with my eyes closed using a sharpie. then i opened my eyes (!) and sewed shapes of buttons on the brown paper with the sewing machine.

a few months ago i found a book: Arts of the Eskimo: Prints which i have kept open in my studio. today i noticed that there might be some connection between my drawings and the prints in this book.

my drawing habit is getting to be a regular part of my day now. it's always good for me to start a new year's resolution before the new year gets here!

i think i am exploring the nature of what might be considered blue collar work. i didn't grow up around people who work with their hands and i have had a fascination for craftspeople who make things and fix things. maybe i thought they could fix me (!) but that is a story for another blog. so it seems i am drawn to drawing and abstracting little pieces of mechanical/electrical stuff. and i love playing with all the possibilities of line work. i guess more will be revealed.