Big Muddy

I've been wanting to do a few more pieces in the New Orleans series. And so I did. Then the pile of scraps kept calling out to me. "Just do a couple more," the scraps begged. And so I did.

Once again, I put some motivational music in the CD player. New Orleans and southern Louisiana tunes. Plus the Be Good Tanyas, naturally. They NEVER leave the CD player. The CD on the bottom right is hard to read. My fave: Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas "Hang it High, Hang it Low". Never fails to light a fire under my kettle.



Those begging, pleading scraps:



Looks like I just don't have enough of the window material in brown. Will have to make more. I'm quite fond of making simple stamps. Sometimes, just a rectangle is all that is needed.



And a white paint pen.



Now to lay out some ideas:



Need some more of the white letters on black and white swirls:



Time to sketch out some ideas:



Making progress:



Final layout (?) with some beading ideas:


Now the real work will begin. Sewing the pieces together. Quilting. More quilting. Applying beads and other embellishments.

Big Muddy is named after the Mississippi River. I'm also working on a smaller version of this piece.

I'm still thinking of a plan to have these auctioned off for a charitable organization in New Orleans. Lots of planning to do there. I have NO idea where to start. Maybe I'll contact the new mayor!

Many of the other pieces can be seen on my website.

New Orleans Series Continues

New Orleans: Homecoming III 16 x 16"
For sale on Etsy.

After taking a break and making loads of little birds quilts, I have returned to the New Orleans post-Katrina series. Seems there are a few more in me. The one above is number 11. Number 12, in progress, is shown below.



I'm sure there's more tweaking to be done. I could be doing some tweaking right now, but since I had yet another nosebleed this morning, I'm a bit reluctant to lean over this thing and quilt it today. However, I'm not going to get much of a chance to get into the studio over the next week or so. This weekend, we have company. Next week, there is no summer camp, so I will be the entertainment committee. I guess I'll be having a forced vacation. A vacation where I will be able to do little as I apparently can't do a whole lot of bending and lifting, according to that nose doctor. I guess yesterday's five hours of rigorous housecleaning and caffeine may have brought on the nosebleed recurrance.

Oh well, I'll do my best to enjoy it. My daughter and I will cruise the library and have "ladies lunches" together. Of course, there will be plenty of time for blog surfing. And perhaps I can spend some time figuring out how to add photos in blogger. Way frustrating. I had to delete my entire post earlier because I could not get any of the photos in order. For my second attempt, I added all photos in reverse order, then did my typing. What do the rest of you bloggers do?

My Nose, a Bird, a Book

Born a Poet, 6.5 x 4.5", on Etsy.

Thank you everyone for your comments of concern on my recent nose issues. Or should I say issues from my nose? What fun! After two visits to two doctors yesterday, I had a blood vessel cauterized and am now, for the most part, retaining my blood. I was told all the fun would be over by today. I do plan on venturing out later on today. Yesterday, I refused to leave the house (except to visit said doctors) out of the fear of scarring children who might see a horror movie they hadn't planned on seeing.

So, as far as I know, there is no brain tumor. One thinks all kinds of things when one's head is being emptied of blood.

Sorry if I made anyone twitchy.

Thanks to Susan who purchased my bird piece, Better World, the other day. I do intend on getting that out in the mail today, provided my nose cooperates.

On a non-related subject, I have just finished a great book, Nine Lives by Dan Baum. A "fictionalized" account of the lives of nine New Orleanians from the time of Hurricane Betsy to after Hurricane Katrina. The stories and people are true. Highly recommended for those who have an interest in New Orleans. Reading this book reminded me of an earlier intent, or promise, to have proceeds of my series of New Orleans quilts donated to a New Orleans charitable organization. I have not put that idea out of my mind, just postponed it for a while. First, I would like the economy to perk up a bit. Second, I would like to add at least four more pieces to the series. Third, I need to select an appropriate organization. Fourth, I need to make some sort of contacts to get this idea out there. So the idea is still brewing -- it has not been abandoned.

So, I'm always looking for:

nosebleed info
good books to read
charitable organizations in New Orleans.

If anybody can combine all of that, all the better.

New Orleans Art - Website Update

Finally, the website has been updated with my New Orleans Series. This one is New Orleans: Longing for Home.

I now have to update my prices for commissioned work. I have yet to have a commission since I started blogging.

Do you think there could be a connection?

Blah, Blah, Blah

This is New Orleans: Languishing Muses II.
24 x 24"
$425.00

I have to do some blah, blah, blah about my work today. I like doing that less than I like putting hangers on the backs of my pieces. I do not hate it as much as speaking in public, but it comes close. Perhaps I would feel better about the whole idea if I called it writing rather than blah, blah, blah.

If I write about my work, I'm writing about myself. And then I will be judged. It makes me weak in the knees. Suppose I sound stupid. Ignorant. Mean and nasty.

I've made 11 pieces in this series so far. I feel I must do 12. I really wanted to do more when I first started, but now other fabrics and colors are creeping out and I'm not sure what to do next. But I know I must write about what I have already done.

Anybody who has tolerated reading this blog for a while, knows that I am a huge fan of New Orleans. I do not live there. Probably never will. But, I really don't like to say "never" if it limits my options too much.

I have lost count of the number of visits I have made. I believe it is 16. It is very unlikely I will get to visit this year, but I am planning on a visit next spring. The crime rate is definitely a deterrent. From what I have been reading, 1994 was one of the worst years for violent crime. Chances are good that I was there in 1994. However, I did not have a child then. I do feel more concerned about visiting now.

There are many places in the city that I have not visited. Like it or not, I am a tourist when I visit. No, I don't go and get drunk on Bourbon Street. But I do ride the streetcars and look at the big pretty houses. I visit the zoo and City Park. I shop on Magazine Street and stay in the Quarter. There is a lot of the city I have never seen. However, I do feel I have seen more than the average tourist.

So, now I must explain why I have made these 11 quilts. Why are these things relevant? Who would really care? How many Central Pennsylvanians would be interested? We're far too worried about the chicken zoning ordinance than the problems in the greatest city in the US. Well, we do have a New Orleans-style restaurant in town. I ate there once.

Hopefully, these pieces will appear on my website very soon. With some kind of explanation. I want to move people to think about New Orleans. I want something good to come out of what I have created.

Naturally, I would love these pieces to sell like hotcakes. I'm going to feel very positive about that. That will make it happen. Meanwhile, if anyone knows of an organization who is doing a lot of good in New Orleans, I'm looking to donate a percentage of my sales from the New Orleans series.

Now, off to write. Ha. Ha. Some of you will receive a comment from me on your blogs in the next few minutes. And hey, the sun is out. The snow (yes really) has stopped. It looks so nice outside.

I've Got Style!

Well, not the type of style associated with those Sex and the City characters.

No, I hobble around in black orthopedic shoes (has to do with my bad ankle, not my sexual orientation), old blue jeans and semi-lumpy sweaters. I do get dolled up on occasion, but my style has nothing to do with attitude, clothing or a $30,00o handbag.

I'm talking about art. Up until this point, I felt my work was not cohesive. I went through the watercolor quilt phase, the (very brief) painterly phase, the Asian phase, etc. The stages overlapped. I didn't know what direction I was going in. I tried to force myself to go into a certain direction, but then, almost immediately felt a wall was in front of me.

With my last few series of quilts, I finally see my style. I am it, and it is me. And I am quite happy with it.

I just finished quilt #10 in my series on New Orleans. I have them completed and named. Finished!!!! Uh, except for the hangers. I never do that until I have to. So. . . finished!!! I have been listening to music from New Orleans and Southern Louisiana while working on this series. I expected I would be sick of this music by now. Far from it. After I had written the name on the back of the last piece, I closed my eyes, listened to the music, and new ideas swam into my head.

From what I can tell so far, the closer I stick to "my style", the more ideas I get.

I feel like I've left the faucet on. Gotta get a bucket.

(p.s. this phase could come to a unforeseeable halt)

Another One

I seem to be on a roll. This one is "New Orleans: Languishing Muses." It is 24"x 24". Soon to appear on my Website and Ebay. My hubby and I are reworking my pricing and tons of updates need to be made, so in a few days, these will start appearing, ready for sale.

I almost finished the last one yesterday. Not the last of the series, but the last of the ones I had already started. But, I have been forced into a vacation. It is Spring Break! Woohoo.

So another forced vacation. I really don't like those. But schools are closed, and what can I do. Set up playdates! Unfortunately I owe the other parents around here so playdates are at my house for the duration of spring break. I guess this will allow me to do all sorts of computer "work" instead of going into the studio.

Or perhaps I could join up with those college students. We could go drink ourselves senseless, or perhaps go even further than that. At least our closest neighbors will be gone for the next week. We have a fine group living next to us this year. I don't know how a teeny tiny ranch house could be the home to 7 or 8 cars. I'm anxious for them to take their drinking and puking somewhere else for a few days.

At Last

Finally, absolutely completed. And so much time wasted trying to come up with a name. And then to have it not be profound. But anyway. . . this is

New Orleans: Regaining Ground I. It is 16 x 16" and is up for auction on Ebay this week.

I hope you can see the stitching in the detail view of houses, doors, and windows. I think I have given an explanation of the components of these pieces in an earlier post, so I'm not sure I'll bore anybody with it now. I would be more interested in hearing your own interpretations.

Over the month of March, there will be changes in my prices on the website, Ebay, and Etsy. Since I do not have a magic wand, I cannot update every price at once, so if there is something you have been considering purchasing, now might be a good time.

Yes, I hate to raise prices during this time of great economic prosperity. I know we all have loads of mad money to throw around. After I recently "completed" one of my larger pieces, I asked myself what I thought it was worth. Then I went to my inventory list to see what the price would be for a piece the same size. I was shocked. Very few people, in this country at least, work for such a low wage. So a change is going to come.