eBay and Etsy

I'm clearing my studio of past accumulations. I have already given away some of the larger items but I have put some items on eBay that I'm selling very reasonably and I have listed some of my dyed ribbons and fiber/fabric kits that I call "treasure bags" on my Etsy shop. Please take a look and bid if you see something you are interested in!

Home from Art & Soul

Driving through Shasta I snapped pictures as I drove. The guy behind me gave a puzzled look as he passed me, seeing me stick my camera out the window as I went along the highway. On the way home Mount Shasta was dusted with new snow but my camera was packed in the back of the car so I only have these photos of it on the way up.

I was away for ten days and it is always such a wonderful yet intense experience! I went early this year so I could take Albie Smith's class. I haven't taken pictures of my work in her class and will save that for the next post. I drove the 700 miles (two days up and two days home). I took Albie's class on Wed. and Jennifer Campbell's on Thursday evening. I set up for vendor day late Saturday afternoon, after Jennifer and I went exploring the Alberta area of Portland and then onto N. Mississippi. We were informed by the owner of Collage to check out a cool vintage type shop called Flutter. We found the most wonderful deconstructed and recycled garments and jewelry by local artist, Julia Barbee. We each had to have one of her slip dresses! You can see us wearing them at vendor night.





My classes I taught were fabulous. It's always such a challenge to get all the dye equipment I need there and set up but at the end of the day seeing what is created in the classes and meeting all the wonderful people is all worth it. I did not get any photos of classes. I am bad about that so I have nothing to post. If any students are reading this and took pictures please let me know!!

I unloaded my car yesterday but all the boxes and tubs are waiting in my studio for me to unpack them so I'm off to do that now.

Hittin' the Road

My car is jammed pack and ready to hit the road to Portland, Or. I plan to make it to at least Medford to spend the night or hopefully Roseburg. Then into Portland on Tuesday for Art & Soul. I won't be posting until I return after Oct. 8th. I am looking forward to the retreat and seeing new friends and rooming with my long time friend Jennifer. Jennifer and I have been scheming to create a hat making workshop and we are applying for future art retreats so hopefully that will work out for us. I'm really excited about the prospect and being able to work together! I'll have more of that in future posts when things develop a little further on.

The first part of my journey takes me out my front door to see the ocean shrouded in fog that has crept up through the hills.



then down my drive




And here is my Subaru loaded to the gills.

“To Autumn”

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

John Keats

"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."
- Edwin Way Teale



Here is some of my bounty. Canned tomatoes and salsa. I have already frozen bags of green beans and peppers. My friend Joanne was visiting and helped me clear the garden beds. I know it was a little early, that the tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers were still producing but they were on the last hurrah and I knew I would be leaving town soon and unable to tend them. I left the squash, peppers, cantaloupe, herbs, and flower, but many of the beds are now barren so I'll cover them for the coming winter waiting to be planted next spring.

I always feel nostalgic during "Indian Summers" and "Autumn". I'm not sure why that is? The cool nights when the extra quilt comes out and covers the sheet and lone bedspread of summer. When the windows start getting closed and the fog drifts up the mountain.

"Touch of Autumn"

Morning dawns overcast on my world.
Forlorn doves cry as the Indian Summer slips away.
Autumn leaves shiver like plastic flags in a used car lot.
Drifting fog hides my view of the bay.

Soon I'll smell of woodsmoke and nostalgia,
wishing for warmer days and abundant sunshine.
Snuggling under blankets of comfort
as I stoke the fire and sip red wine.

Dreams of far away, exotic places,
tropical paradise and saunas of you,
to warm my desperate, desolate soul
with the brighter times I knew.

© l.a.s.words 1999

2008 Quiltings Arts Gift issue now out!

The Quilting Arts Gift issue is now out for sale. I have an article published on creating a "wayward threads" scarf using shibori dyed silk ribbons. This is the class I will be teaching at Art & Soul in Portland a few weeks from now. There are still some openings for this class if you want to join us! Here is a picture of a stole I create using this technique.

It's Just Work

I have been busy getting items ready for Art & Soul to sell and for teaching classes and also for the upcoming St. Louis Weavers' Guild show Oct. 30, 31, and Nov. 1, 2008. As the weather has become cooler I have found a tendency to want to clean up and get rid of the junk I seem to accumulate, well my family accumulates. Where does it all come from and why? I'm also busy readying applications to teach at next years events and this takes time to write it all up, make samples, take pictures of the samples, etc. So I have no cool photos to post of new works of art or such.

I got to visit with my friends Karen and Bill last week who were here visiting from Austin and now I'm on my way to the San Francisco airport to pick up another long time friend from Austin, Joanne.

I'll be back next week with pictures of things I've been working on and plan to have for sale at upcoming events.

New "wayward threads" using sari ribbon

My friend Joanne took my "wayward threads" class at Art Unraveled and had brought some sari ribbon I was very attracted too. She was able to give me the contact info where I could purchase some and I did so immediately after I got back home from the conference. So here is my version and you can see Joanne's version here.

Would love to hear what you think of this!

My sister and I have a joke about this. When I first met Nina Bagley at Art & Soul at Asilomar she was interested in some of my dyed fabrics. She wanted pieces that she could tear into strips. I proceeded to show her pieces that were "tearable" , insuring her they were "tearable" but she was laughing at me saying "Listen to yourself, are they really "terrible"? I don't think so" And now I'm making these stoles using "sari" (read sorry) ribbons" that are "tearable" (read terrible). Now I ask is this a good marketing scheme? LOL!

BTW I have ordered some vintage saris that I plan to tear into strips myself , if I can bring myself to do so after I get them.