A WILD RIDE!

A WILD RIDE & MORE!

EXCITING NEWS!  I was recently interviewed for 3 1/2 hours by a writer for the magazine 'LOCAL culture'  The article will appear in their December issue.  Carolyn, who works for LOCAL found my work in the Maye River Gallery and became enthralled with my felt-making.  This magazine is top quality and is based in Hilton Head and distributed all over the low country. I am extremely fortunate and appreciative to be included in such a top-quality publication.

Oh, it's been a wonderful wild ride, moving from Habersham to Harbor Island for three months and then our little dream carriage house that is everything we want and need.  We were supposed to stay there until January, but I wasn't paying attention and tripped and ended up with a broken left kneecap and a broken bone in my right hand a few days before Christmas - so that was the end of the beach as there were stairs leading up to the elevator that made it difficult to manage.  Jenni and Dean to the rescue once again and we ended up in their downstairs master bedroom!  The carriage house wasn't finished yet but by Valentine's Day - we moved in!

Living right adjacent to our youngest daughter and family is so very special with our youngest grandsons so nearby.  The littlest just drops in to spend time with his granddad to show him his experiments - at 7 he is quite the scientist and Win the eldest is so grown up now, so smart, and loves conversations with granddad too!

We are so fortunate to enjoy our family so close.  Our eldest daughter and husband just moved here a few weeks ago and are only a short ride away.  Now we are hoping to see our son and daughter-in-law and the other grands in a few weeks, it has been too long because of the pandemic.

Now that we are pretty much settled, I've been taking a couple of online classes - felted jewelry which was very inspirational and something new for me; in addition, since I love botanical printing, I decided to take a class using the heat press.  With the heat press, there are no guarantees and there is quite the learning curve but the possibilities for creativity are endless so that has kept me more than occupied!  In fact, my felt-making has taken a back seat for a while but since it is my first love, getting back to it is quite thrilling. 

STUDIO:  My studio makes it so easy and enjoyable because I can see everything at hand in 'rainbow' form! On the top (which doesn't show in this picture) there are bins of yarns, on the next cubby down there are silks and velvets, everything from hand-dyed to hand-dyed (by me), and on the bottom cubby is the wool (and if course, there is more wool and silk in the adjacent drawers.  It is such a pleasure to see it all at once without having to get it out of the attic.  On the main shelf are a few of my machines - Babylock Embellisher and Imagine serger behind it, and my Brother PQ 1500 for free-motion stitching. Under my table is another Embellisher and my Pfaff 1475 that I just love because I can input text and stitch it out which I used for our grandchildren's baby quilts- it is way beyond even embroidery machines as it doesn't need a hoop.  My embroidery machine, Elegante, is over at Jenni's and I can access it whenever I want to use it.  Then there are a wide variety of white silks, and fine types of cotton folded under the main shelf which is also easily accessed for felting, dyeing, or botanical printing.

FELTING:  I really had a hard time getting my inspiration back but I did just plunge in and make a couple of felted pieces - a vest and a wrap.  Now I need to make many more!

I adored using thrift store finds for my wrap - every time I find something for my collection, it feels like I have found treasure and it makes me think of who had this piece of beautiful silk before it came to me - what a better way to help save the planet by reusing such beauty!

DYEING:  In Habersham, I had a dedicated dye shed that I don't have here; however, I now have a dye tent set up with my stove across the way- no picture yet but I will post one soon! It has tables and space under for all of my tools and chemicals.  I have an outdoor closet for those things that need to be kept dry and out of the elements. I was too busy playing with my heat press to use it yet!  One thing I learned, I had some synthetic dye made up before we moved and they have been in storage - I made the mistake of just shaking the dyes before using but I found out that over time that they got old and didn't realize that they had gotten dregs on the bottom - I ruined some silk which got splotches.  I have already discarded most and need to make up new batches.  Always a learning experience.

FELTED JEWELRY:  During the past few months, I have taken a few online courses, I've not been happy with Vimeo as I  had a difficult time accessing a paid workshop and the instructor wasn't much help so I won't be doing that again; however, I did take a marvelous creative felted jewelry workshop from Deb Koesters - I really enjoyed - Deb was so inspiring!  

Lately, I took Jane Dunnewold's botanical printing workshop this time using the heat press!  Wow is all I can say!  I became so enamored and played every day with a variety of paper and leaves - a whole new learning experience for me.  Leaves that I learned worked with steaming did not necessarily work with the press but flowers were another story!  I loved it so much that I got nothing else done and now have a variety of paper sizes to play with.  Jane's mixed-media approach is fabulous and she delves into spackle, gold leaf, stenciling and the possibilities for enhancement are endless.  To save myself, I had to sell my printer to a dear friend - I felt like I was parting with a favorite family member BUT after the show in early December that I will be part of, I will buy another; it will be a smaller version so I can store it more easily since extra space here is at a premium.  Here are just a few examples with embellishments yet to come. To make things even better, I was invited by Jane to be part of her book!  How exciting is that!  So honored!

CARRIAGE HOUSE

Slowly getting it all together.  I have no new work to show at the moment, but I hope to change that very soon.   My studio has not been set up - everything is stored in plastic containers waiting for the built-ins and then . . . . !!!

My muse has been like a butterfly - hibernating but getting ready to burst open!!!  I truly do better with a challenge but all the creative energy has gone into decisions about decorating and how fun that has been.  There are still a few finishes to be done on the outside - the overhang is waiting for its metal roof to be completed next weekend and the decks need to be stained. The amount of light in the house is incredible.  It has been such fun to watch the progress from the ground up - truly a dream come true.  We loved, loved our cottage in Habersham but the yard was quite large and as my husband was getting older, it was time to make a change.  When this idea of a carriage house built next to our daughter and family came up, we jumped at the chance to be close to them and it is not too far from all of our wonderful friends.  It is the perfect solution - it is small but it is just size for us and has a room for my studio - when we are finished with this - a dye shed will be next!  How I miss my dyeing and leaf printing.

The front looks on to Jenni and Dean's courtyard and fire pit.

Our bedroom has two french doors leading out into what will become our bird and butterfly garden!

For the bathroom I used an old silk chiffon shawl that I dearly love but had developed a few holes so it was a perfect candidate for nuno felting the center - it turned out well and I enjoy looking at the soft peach with African violets

 

My favorite pot!  Purchased for an indoor olive tree. I named her Olivia; she is adjusting to her new space!

The main room with vaulted ceilings and beams (not showing in this shot)

And then - there are the boys!  such a joy to be around them every day and watch them grow!

VIRUS

Since the virus has descended on us, I have had more time; however, I get less done.  Not sure why other than just thinking about what our new normal is, makes me feel like I am in a dream that we are living in.  Nothing in our lifetime has affected our total way of life like this has and it takes a bit to get used to it.  Especially for folk like me that do well in a challenge or a deadline.  For a while there, having all the time in the world has made me less creative although I was working on a few new things outside in undercover of the overhand in my dye shed.  I do love working out there - it is my happy place for sure.  Surrounded by the fragrance of the garden, smells of the pluff mud when it is low tide, and watching the birds dart in and out give me such pleasure, not to mention "Steve" our resident skink who scurries around from time to time - I scare him as much as he scares me. When I hear the little pitter-patter, I know he (or she???) is around.  This skink is a reptile, - he has a colorful coat at times and a longish tail.  I think he either lives under the shed or in the stone wall we built but even though I would never want to touch him, he is harmless enough and I'm sure joyfully consumes bugs so that is a good thing.

In the meantime, I have decided to withdraw as a member of the Maye River Gallery at least temporarily because of virus safety concerns.  The gracious ladies of the gallery agreed to have me there as a guest so I'm happy for that, as I really admire and appreciate them all.