Cay Denise

It's that time of year for the Studio Art Quilt Associates' (SAQA) benefit auction!  This is an auction of art quilts made by SAQA members that are 12" x 12" in size.   As part of the auction, viewers of the quilts can create their own Dream Collection (favorites or selections based on a theme of interest).  If you would like to create one, go to the website below, look through the art quilts while recording the titles of those you like best along with the artist.  There is a form to complete, and you'll need the title to search for your selections.  In a few cases, the artist name may be helpful, since multiple pieces can have the same or similar name. Bidding for the quilts begins September 13th and runs through October 6th, and there will be more than 440 art quilts to choose from.  More information is available at the link below. Studio Art Quilt Associates - 2024 Benefit Auction Here is my Dream Collection (4 design-related and 4 texture-related favorites).  

This is a photo of six, two-page spreads in a Concertina sketchbook that I just finished.  The actual size is about 6.5" high by 36" wide.  The lovely Concertina sketchbook is a product of Seawhite, a U.K. company.  It can easily be worked on both sides.  The two-page spreads were colored in with Sharpie markers plus Posca, Sakura PenTouch and Micron pens.  My only intention was to have continuity from one spread to the next.  Overall, it definitely changes in 'feel' when looking from left to right.  That includes the shapes (from sharp to rounded), the design (more free further right), color palette (from warmer to cooler colors) and busyness.   Each spread took me about 4 hours.  The next step is to finish the other side - which will take some time especially if the work is as detailed.  Question:  Do you use your visual art as a prompt for writing?   I'm thinking of looking at this as if it were a scroll and for the story it could inspire or tell.

This book is about the flourishing of an artist who started the art oeuvre she is known for -- at age 72 -- and continued this work for nearly a decade.  She lived in the 1700s, was born into a fairly well-to-do family, was raised/trained in propriety and the social graces (for a potential court position), had a friend in Handel (yes, the composer) and in a Duchess, and would eventually befriend a King and Queen in her elder years.   The writing is well done.  That said, the author includes personal reflections at the end of each chapter about how the botanical image chosen to start each chapter and/or the narrative -- triggers certain recall of her life experiences that she believes are similar or relate in some way.  That part of each chapter could have been eliminated, in my estimation, without affecting the overall biographical portrait of her subject. That said, of the 14 chapters in this book -- I loved #1, #12, #13 and #14.  You may notice that this means there was a large porti

If you don't know what a Concertina Sketchbook is, it is folded paper (back and forth) that looks like the bellows of an accordion when done.  Concertinas can be home-made or purchased, and they are fun to work in.     The photos above are of three continuous two-page spreads from my own Concertina (the one on the right - the latest). The mark-making was done with Sharpie markers, Posca pens, Micron pens and Sakura PenTouch markers.   All the shapes and color choices in the images above were spontaneous as well as the details.  There was no plan.  What I like about these is that each two-page spread collaborates with the next one and so on (as the designs spill over from one spread to the next). As new ones are created, they  add to the wonderful visual feast. One of the things I love doing with these also -- is to crop sections and digitally mirror them to form symmetrical designs. The results are occasionally delightful.  In fact, this one was made from such a process and has a n