3/28/05

All the snow is melted, the sun is out and the colors in the garden are starting to get really good. The forsythia and the first daffodils opened yesterday. One more snow??? we'll see.
Thursday we drove up to Chico Hot Springs (near Yellowstone Park). The morning drive was not good as the roads were slushy, lots of cars and four wheel drive vehicles in the ditch. Coming home the next afternoon was totally different.
Along the way i noticed the color coming up in the osiers along the river, and the first sandhill cranes are back!
Saturday in the studio was great. i felt focused for the first time in a while and really had a good time painting.
posted below are some results, interspersed with a few finished pieces.
It is all out of sequence, sorry. [i have a lot to learn about this blogging. For example, where should i respond to comments? in the comments section, privately, or here on the "front page' of the blog? what are the protocals i need to know? TIA for any helpful hints.]
enjoy this day!

under the needle

under the needle
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

after a good long time of painting, i went back to this nebula piece. Maybe i can get it finished this week. It's way out of my comfort zone in terms of color, contrast and so forth. Using the sheers and the angelina fibers in it was fun though.

the mess

the mess
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

sometimes it's worse.

sample

sample
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

stitching on a small piece of the painted fabric. i do not like wool batts.

on the wall2

on the wall2
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

and more of the same

on the wall

on the wall
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

Saturday was the best studio day i've had in a long time. Lots of paint on fabric, experimenting with different combinations of extender, medium and pigment in order to get a consistency that leaves the hand of the fabric soft.

river morning 2

river morning 2
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

Sunrise on the Yellowstone.

spring

spring
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

About this time last year... and again, a combination of things.

winter morn2

winter morn2
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

Made last Winter, this piece combines a number of approaches to image, surface and "stuff".

"inspiring creativity"

inspiring creativity cover
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

The anthology is now at the printers! I'm hoping to have my copies before my trip East in April.

another view of the lambs

lambs
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

here they are in the studio, just before we sent them off into the world.

it's official!

Wednesday afternoon and i think, i hope, i have the code worked out on the template for this adventure. Artful Quilters Web Ring info is where it should be and seems to work. Mary, Diane, thanks for the help! (and please let me know if i still need to fix things).
It is snowing here, a good thing as we have had so much dry dry weather. Still I want sunshine too. oh well. I'll take the moisture while i can. The flowers will be so much happier. The forsythia outside the studio door is just about to flower. When i was in grad school in SouthEast Ohio there was folk wisdom that said the forsythia bloomed a week before the last snow of the season. For as long as i have kept track, that prediction has held. I'll let you know.
Tonight is the final class in a series of three that i have been teaching locally. It will be interesting to see what everyone has done in the last month. I'll try to remeber to take the camera. Then it will be a good thing if i remember to take photos.
Back to work. I have prep and packing to do for tonight, my website is in desperate need of updating and there's a small mountain of paperwork i would just as soon ignore but will not.
enjoy the afternoon.

The view

The view
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

this is one of the views from our cabin site in the Crazy Mountains, Meagher County, Montana. It's at about 6200 feet elevation, the end of the road (road? what road?) and absolutely beautiful.

Colts and sam

Colts and sam
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

In 2003 I did a pair of colts for the Horse! of Course project. Sam was not amused.

Tuesday

the donation piece is finished, shipped. i wish it well. One of the difficult issues was working with fabrics chosen by another person. It was, for me, an unlikely color and pattern combination and challenging indeed.
Between the two projects, the lambs were the more arduous and obtrusive, the wall quilt the more difficult.
But they are both done! and now i can turn my attention to other things.
I am sewing my Spring travel clothes and finishing up a large nebula piece, begun months ago i think.

3/22/05

cc full
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

crosscurrent
28.5"h x 42"w
made for the Pilgrim/Roy Challenge to benefit the MAQS

ccdetail
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

detail, crosscurrent

3/21/05

The first full day of Spring! It's a bright sunny morning. The birds are really active, doing their nesting dances and announcing to all the world that it's that time of year again . If it warms up enough, i'll clear more mulch from the perennial beds outside the studio window. The peonies are up! Last Fall i divided and trannsplanted an ancient peony that was not blooming well anymore due to change in shade patterns in the garden. I got five plantings from it, put it in a sunnier spot and have high hopes for the blooms this year.
This morning I am catching up on loose ends, paperwork and so forth. Will take the MAQS piece to FedEx after a bit and then, therapy sewing the rest of the morning. In process is a loose jacket from a Kayla Kennington pattern. Her modular pieces allow for fun combinations of fabrics and stitches (and beads!) The garments travel well and layer beautifully. I'll be in DC and Maryland this time next month; it will be fun to have something new to wear.

L3
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

Sam and the lambs

flight path

flight path
Originally uploaded by lauracw.

an example of studio work from the past two years. This is Flight Path, currently touring with Bernina, and featured on the cover of Quilting Arts Magazine, Fall 2003

saturday

Saturday, and finally feeling a sense of relief. Major deadlines have been met or are about to. The lambs are out of here, finished, delivered, accepted. I have my studio space back! hoooray. This was my third project involving life size fiberglass animals. Two years ago it was a pair of colts for the Horse! of course project, the next year was one colt for Easter Seals in Sheridan WY. This year, a pair of lambs for Bighorn Magic. I think I'm done for a while.
I'm actually sewing a binding and sleeve on a wall piece for the 2006 Pilgrim/Roy MAQS Challenge ( an auction fundraiser for the MAQS, organized by Gerald Roy). i don't remember the last time i actually put a binding on a quilt - all the work has been very small the last months. It's time to start working large again I think.
Maybe I can figure out how to get photos on the blog in the next few days.
meanwhile, the recent colder weather hasn't hurt the early blooms in the gardens. still, i'd like some warm temperatures again soon.

March 16

A blog. oh my. among the things i never anticipated choosing to do - and here we are .
It's a windy day but not cold. The crocus survived the snow that began Saturday . It never amounted to much, but the radical drop in temperatures might have caused damage to blossoms and leaves. That does not appear to have happened. The forsythia outside the studio door is making buds as is the ancient crabapple tree the woodpeckers nest in. The color when it shows will be so welcome!
The public art project is due to be delivered tomorrow and the MAQS donation piece is nearly done. A sigh of relief is in order. I am looking forward to getting back to my own work. Three more weeks in studio then a teaching trip to the DC area.