Cay Denise

Finished Piece: Above Sacrificed UFO Collage: Below Challenge: Create a quilt top and deconstruct: reconstruct into a different quilt top using principles of good design This challenge started with a UFO fabric collage that has been sitting in my closet for 2-3 years. It has been deconstructed to smithereens and is kind of difficult to see in this month's finished challenge piece (see top photo). This finished piece has ribbon, cording, and silk leaves in it. It also features strips from a fabric weave in contrasting colors. There was no plan in the design. One step just seemed to lead to another and voila!

Jobs can be distractions from making art, and I've been almost completely distracted since a job change late last year. That new work drained my energy for and interest in being creative. I worked too many hours with too much intensity and commitment, and it has taken its toll. With a beautiful studio space and plenty of excellent materials to work with, I haven't been able to get into my creative zone and work. The focus, energy and passion that had been companions in my creative adventure up to the point of that new job all but disappeared. Seven months have passed and there are only two fabric pieces to show for that span of time. Now I recognize...I have been living work, not life! Things are about to change! Again, there will be a job change, but my creative adventure will be getting back on track because I'm setting the intention that my creative work is priority. The day job will be the day job and will have limits. It will be interesting to see what new work emerges...

Clothes sewing is not part of my repertoire , but I do enjoy looking through this magazine for ideas and skill-building guidelines. In the latest issue, there were two article of particular interest. One is about costume design for Opera. To volunteer or apprentice for this type of work seems like it would be a great experience! The other article is about Cirque Productions...the brainchild of Neil Goldberg. This is the place where those incredibly unusual Cirque du Soleil costumes are developed and made. I would love to visit this place! The article also announces a competition for creating a costume design. Cirque Productions will make the winner's costume, and it will premier at an upcoming show in the winner's home city. How cool is that??!!! I'm not a costume designer, but I'd consider entering just for the fun and experience of it! This brings a couple of questions to mind. Do you try different things to establish or build new skills, or try out other discipline...

A collector recently asked what my favorites are from my body of work. Wow, what a concept to think about! I like a number of pieces -- all for different reasons. What then makes a piece of art the maker's favorite? For me, the favorites I chose are those in which there was an unplanned element of surprise in the completed project (whether via a technique used or an unconscious element that appeared and had meaning). So, I pose the question to you. From your body of work, what are your favorite pieces? Beyond that, why are they your favorites?

Golden has come up with three types of digital grounds that can be used on a variety of materials to allow printing on them via an inkjet printer. One ground is for fabric. So, I've just ordered some to experiment with. This particular product allows the color/pattern of the fabric to show through the printed image. I'll post a couple photos of experimental work with the product in about a week.

The word 'flow' has already visited me multiple times this morning. Now that I've noticed it and am paying attention, what am I going to do about it? My answer is nothing, but I will look for places in my experience today where there are blockages to flow and where it is unhindered. The goal is for all flow to be full and unfettered. Isn't that what we strive for in the midst of creative chaos? When stuck...it seems that flow has become blocked. While in the creative zone, flow seems so natural and easy. So, where is flow for you today?

My profile photo was highjacked ! For those of you who are blogging, be wary. There are some unscrupulous folks out there who may be using or about to use a photo(s) you've uploaded to an online photo-hosting site. At the time I created a blog, having a URL for a photo uploaded online was the only way to insert a photo in your profile or to create a custom header. There had been no problems for a long while. This morning, however, I did a Google image search for my name and found my photo linked to a totally different blog than my own! It is possible I didn't mark my file with the online photo-hosting site as private, but I didn't expect this to happen. I don't know whether marking it private would have actually averted the situation, but I'm not waiting to find out. I eliminated my membership to that online photo-hosting service today and caution anyone to be careful with uploading images to the internet . If you read the terms of agreement at many sites, you'...

I just watched the documentary about Marla this morning. She must be 8 years of age by now, four years after the popularity of her painting started to take root. The video is the real-life drama of the family's experience of the rise of this child artist, how media excites interest, interest builds and begets fame, media looks for scandal, and how this pressure can quell or re-ignite interest in that emerging artist's work. The video looks at Marla's rise, fall and rise again. It doesn't conclude whether the suggested scandal (that her work was not completely done by her) has merit or not. But it does capture a parent's intoxication with the success of a child artist (at least this is my impression of her father). I think the real question is whether Marla truly enjoys painting. Since she was so young at the start, I don't know if anyone will ever really know or whether she will even recall that time in her life when she gets older. Joy, though, is what many buy...