My Friend Joanell

I met Joanell many years ago in a week-long workshop at Asilomar. Among all of the class members, Joanell and I clicked and our friendship has only gained momentum over the years. I love Joanell’s outlook on life and how well she handles what is dealt to her. Her fortitude and perseverance make me feel like a bit of a whiner.

Joanell’s story quilts are the most wonderful works of art. They will usually make you smile but for sure will have you pondering the message within. Her self-portrait “ideal” block is just an example of how her mind grasps a subject with her own brand of humor. You can view her wonderful work here: http://www.joanell.com.

Her secret desire, says Joanell, is to “live in a really urban setting – like NY or Paris – with the money that is needed to live the life style.  Or take flying lessons. Or be prepared.”

Now you know why I like her so much.

My Friend Pam

Pam happens to be one of those people who makes art look easy. She produces the most original and interesting works, from garments made of recycled sweaters to dolls that knock your socks off. I bought a doll of her making long before I actually met her and it’s still a favorite in my many collections.

Pam and her husband like to travel to exotic places, like The Galapagos Islands and Cuba. She tells me that her secret goal is “to live on a ranch with goats and make cheese. Really! My husband thinks we are a little late in life for that but who knows,” says Pam.

I say, go for it! But never stop making your art, Pam. It’s what makes the world smile.

My Friend Anne

Anne is an extraordinary ceramics artist. Much of her work features local flora and fauna, from eucalyptus leaves and pods to small crabs. Her style is unique and sophisticated. Anne also makes beautiful silver jewelry and everyone wants one of her silver crab pins!

When Anne got wind of Carol’s Airstream fantasy, she thought she might adopt it as her own. She says she’s always liked the look of an Airstream trailer and finds, as the years go by, she needs and wants less “things”. More than anything, she values her health and time. Wherever you are, Anne, and in whatever mode of transport, keep producing your beautiful work.

My Friend Marie

Marie, Marie, my fashionista friend! Always decked out and ready to party. She makes fabulous jewelry but doesn’t know it. That is, she doesn’t think it is ready to sell. Trust me, IT IS!

Marie would like to restore an old farm with her husband and have lots of animals. She already has a houseful! Always thinking big, she would also like to “own property somewhere in Europe so we can just go there whenever we feel like it.” Wouldn’t we all? Then there’s that little thing called air fare.

And, one more thing..…Marie believes in faeries.

My Friend Carol

Carol is a very accomplished graphic designer who sketches on her iPad like she was born with it in her hand. (I’m still trying to master Etch-a-Sketch.) She is also a jewelry artist who seems to thrive on engineering challenges. If there’s a problem, she will stick with it until it’s perfect!

When I asked her to tell me what she dreams of doing, she was hesitant at first. I said, “This is one of those if-you-were-a-tree kind of questions.” Here is her reply:

“Well if I were a tree I’d be an olive because of how they reach up all optimistically. But speaking as a human, I like the idea of becoming a digital gypsy and traveling with my computer and a hotspot to stay connected to my people. I could go anywhere and I could continue to do my graphic design work. I just need an Airstream and a gasoline credit card. And solar panels.”

Go Carol!

My Friend Linda

Linda has a true love for dancing and could make Dancing With The Stars if only they took “real” people. In her self-portrait, she is dancing while balancing a glass of wine. I have seen her do this and she’s good at it! Throughout her years of employment, she was known for having happy face stickers all over her desk. Hmmm….there’s something funny about that face you’ve drawn, Linda.

Linda retired a couple of years ago and moved to Temecula where she is able to fully enjoy her favorite things – dancing, wine tasting and sun, sun, sun.  She is also able to spend lots of time with her beautiful granddaughter and can’t wait for the next grandchild due in September.  She and her husband love to travel and are looking forward to their next trip.

My Friend Jody

Jody is an accomplished artist with lofty goals. She is passionate about painting and hopes someday to have her work shown at LACMA.

Traveling around Europe in the ‘60s, she found Rome to be her favorite city. She stayed in a convent there and enjoyed room, board and the use of a garage for less than $4 per day. Try that today, Jody!

Jody’s life revolves around her husband and their grandchildren. She hopes someday they can take a trip together to Bora Bora and enjoy snorkeling and the beautiful beaches of the Polynesian Motus. Continued good health to accomplish this mission is her goal.

Yes, Jody has red hair, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wearing pearls!

The Great Self-Portrait Project

OH MY! What made me think I had time to create another project? What I’ve learned from this is, when you are stretched to the max and think you can’t handle another thing, it is occassionally a delightful diversion to do something entirely out of your realm. Once a full-time fiber artist, I haven’t worked with fabric and thread for several years now. Making jewelry, and teaching jewelry classes, has become my current passion. To my delight, I found that returning to the design board and sewing machine was surprisingly comfortable. It was like going home.

I have, thus far, received thirteen wonderful self-portraits from friends and family to include on my Friends Quilt, with the promise of more to come. I can’t wait for everyone to see them and have decided to show them one at a time with a little background on the creator of each block. I hope you will come along for this fabulous show-and-tell.

Don’t Panic!

So….I could have worked on this until perfected before showing it, but I wanted you to know that there is hope even when things don’t look so rosy in the beginning. I use a stitch, clip, evaluate approach and sometimes circle through this process many times before getting it right. The little bits of fabric and thread are so inexpensive that there’s really no need to panic. I don’t want to sound too negative because these eyes, despite their  imperfections, are workable. I do free motion stitching on the machine with the work in a hoop (flat side down) and the feed dog dropped so that I’m able to “drive” the whole works on my own. I wanted dark thread to represent my sometimes too dark eye makeup, but that created a risk in that there’s no hiding out-of-place stitching. One very quick fix is to cut the eyes off the background, keeping what you like and scrapping the rest. I do like one of these eyes more than the other, so that may (or may not) be the route I end up taking.  Meanwhile, keep in mind that the worst case scenario is that you scrap the project and start over, wasting very little. But don’t worry too much as every self-portrait I’ve seen ends up with a very special and unique look and always draws compliments. Remember, this is not a Picasso. Uh, or perhaps it is if those eyes end up askew. Which is absolutely fine with me!

Adding Eyelids

So, I looked in the mirror and what did I see? There’s a definite look to those many 39th birthday eyelids……we’ll call it “sexy” (read droopy). What you see here is exaggerated (ahem), but I think you can get the gist. There is a lower lid and an upper lid. The upper lid will, for some, cover more of the lower lid at the outside corner. It’s a matter of sleep….or excess wine or something else, maybe genes, I don’t know. When I look straight ahead, my upper lid covers a bit more of the top of my pupil than my bottom lid covers the bottom of the pupil. I also see a little pink thingy in the inside corner of my eye that, without a doubt, makes the whole thing look a bit more real. At the end, I decided to add some blue eye shadow. Haven’t worn that since…..well, I’m not saying. Now, truly, this is a bit exaggerated, but I want to make sure I have enough fabric there in the beginning so I can trim it as I go along. I will begin stitching soon and that will give the features some defining lines.
I think this whole process may scare some people, so I am going to attempt a more simplified eye (help me!) and try to get that posted soon. Please don’t fret over this. I truly just want YOU on my party quilt and I don’t care whether it is a realistic portrait or something totally off the wall, as long as it’s signed.
I’ve had the question from many friends about why I am doing a project in fabric when I am a jewelry artist. Well…..in my former life, I was a fiber artist. There was a time when I sewed every single day and, as some of you know, I taught quilting classes for about fifteen years. It’s been a very long time since my quilting days, but it feels good to get into that stash once again. I’ve always loved working quilts as collage and this portrait style is very much the same. In the future, I do see a jewelry project coming from this.
Now, take a deep breath and keep going!