Literature as Quilts - Mystery

I'm participating in the Literature as Quilts challenge in the Art Quilt Forum on about.com. This challenge was a mystery and I chose Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. I painted lutrador (a non-woven interfacing) for the background then fuse the 2 divers and the boat. The boat is black netting fused with black misty fuse. The whole piece was then fused to a blue and gold piece of fabric before fusing it to fusible fleece for the batting.

I really had a lot of fun doing this challenge as I used a lot of techniques that I rarely use. I can't wait to see some of the other quilts.

Walking in this World Week 3

Very productive week, I'd say. Morning pages went well. I loved my 'Blessings Walk'. Many times when I walk, I recount my blessings so this was something I enjoy. Artist's Date was terrific. I went to an art gallery that is at a local art college. I was stunned to realize one of the artists featured likes to display his art on a visible grid. (warning: it's hard to see the grid aspect on his website; and his work is in the 'portfolio' section) Tom Nakashima also likes to use other material in his paintings like newspaper and magazine pictures. (also difficult to see) I've been trying to get my art focused in a direction and this art really narrowed my path for me. It's not linear, but it's kind of 'collage, mixed media, photographs and quilting.' I don't have anything concrete but the direction is exhilarating.

I also enjoyed the tasks this week. It's funny. When I started the 'anger' list I thought, "I really am not angry about much." But I got to 50.

And the collage I made is related to my best friend. She has had a lot of medical problems and is really stuck as a victim. I made it my goal this week to help her change her perspective. I can't fix the medical problems, but I can help her feel better about it.

p.s. anyone know how to take better photos of small items? mine are always blurry.

Walking in this World Week 2

I'm posting this quite reluctantly. I think I was delaying the post hoping I would complete the standard assignment for week 2. But, alas, that is not going to happen. I did my morning pages faithfully... and even noted how easy they were to do. Artist Date? nope. 20 minute walk? nope. What does that mean? Maybe I'm avoiding my inner artist? Hope to do better this week as I am enjoying chapter 3.

Walking in this World Week 1

I'm reading Julia Cameron's book Walking in this World and participating in an online study group. The tasks for each week are to do Morning Pages each day, (three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing) go on an Artist's Date (someplace you enjoy that feeds the artist), and a twenty minute walk. Progress update: Did morning pages every day. The one thing I noticed was there wasn't much whining. I did the Julia's first book, The Artist's Way about 10 years ago, and there was a lot of whining in those morning pages. Feels good not to whine (or have anything to whine about, yet).

My Artist's Date was to Staples. I looked for non-traditional items to use in my quilts. The upper left is electrical tape. The upper right are staples. And the lower center is decorative tape. I really enjoyed the date and look forward to next week.