Bermuda Fiber Festival Registration Begins!

Good morning!

One of my major projects of the year is well under way as the registration for the 2nd annual Bermuda Fiber Festival (or Fibre if you are Bermudian or Brit :-) opens with the unveiling of our informational website! Wow, I never would have guessed a few years ago that I would be helping to bringing fiber education to Bermuda! But then again, there are many things that life has brought me that I never would have guessed about.... I am grateful as well as blessed...

After spending the last month in intensive work, the program is looking great! We have put together a nice mix of various felting and weaving classes being taught by three US teachers. In addition, it has been one of my goals for this event to bring out the local Fiber Artists so that they too would have a venue for sharing their passion for various Fiber Arts and we are succeeding at doing so with the addition of classes being taught by at least two locals and we continue to work at bringing two more into the harbor.

This years program will offer nearly 50 workshops for ages 2 through adult and includes special programs for school groups. Last year's event brought us more than 200 children and nearly 100 adults for fiber education workshops. We hope to bust that number this year with a terrific program and registration beginning well in advance of last year. I will keep you posted on it's progress....

Please take a moment to visit the Bermuda Fiber link and see what my excitement is all about. It is especially gratifying to me that we are unveiling this now, as I prepare to leave for the US for the Fiber Center event at Fryeburg Fair in Fryeburg Maine which begins on Sunday September 28th. This event was the inspiration that helped to create what the Bermuda Fiber Festival has become. This eight day event brings Maine the largest Fiber Exhibition Hall in New England devoted entirely to Fiber and Fiber Education. Each day from 9am - 9pm fair goers are able to experience a myriad of fiber, fiber art, and educational fiber demonstrations. A list of Fiber Center Events is posted on my website.

I will be away from the computer for about three weeks while I prepare for this event and then reconcile it afterwards. I will have some of my Hairlock Paintings on display and my newest fiber earring creation in addition to the usual Alpaca sweaters, and accessories that I always have there.

I hope that some of you will drop by the Fiber Center to say hello......

Commission Accomplished!

First I need to appologize for my lack of postings over the last weeks! I appreciate those of you who continue to visit in spote of my short commings.... I will explain, but first things first...


I have completed the "Bingo" commission and have pleased the client as well as myself with the finished painting. The photo at left was the original that I used to create my rendering of him in preperation for the work. This black & white photo is about 2" x 2" in real life but was of good clarity so that detail showed up quite nicely on it.





This next photo is the drawing I did to use as a pattern or template of Bingo which helps me to plan the placement of fiber which ultimately gives the depth, texture and dimension that I am after in the final piece.







Please accept my appology in advance for the quality of the finished Bingo photo! If you read on you will learn why this is.

Next came the actual painting! I was challenged by this piece because the final size of this canvas is only 11" x 10". To give you prespective, the hair on his chin is only 1/4" long. How was I to manage fibers so short and keep them in line so that they give the appearance of life like hairs coming away from his lower lip, combed perfectly straight? It worked in the end and I am always amazed at how I seem to find a way to move through the challenges that present themselves while doing this work.


I really love this medium.... It offers so much flexibility, so many options, so much depth and a richness that I never tire of looking at it or creating with it. I sometimes feel the need to pinch myself to prove that it is real; that I created this artform, and that it has become a part of my life!


I'm glad to be able to finally share this with you but I am not happy about the quality of the final photo of Bingo. One of the reasons for not adding a post in the last weeks is that I have been having problems with my computer. In my constant need to improve things, I decided that I would like to download the upgrade to my Olympus camera program so that I could take advantage of creating slide shows. Easy to do right? Have you ever heard the phrase "if it ain't broke?" Well let me tell you that if I could turn the clock back I would never have attempted it! Something happened in the download process that has rendered my Quick Time program unreadable to the Olympus program even when I have removed the upgrade and re-installed the original program. Not only do I not have access to the hundreds of photos on my computer with a program that I know and love, I have lost a program that gave me incredibly professional looking photos that I could use on my site. I am currently using Picasa in it's place but it is a poor replacement. I find the cropped photos are grainy and the editing software gives me no where near the qaulity that I had. I am beside myself with grief over this loss. It is only because I have finally accepted that Picasa, for now, is my only choice and that I felt I had neglected this blog for long enough that I am now posting.

I promise to write more frequently now as long as you promise to not judge my photos too harshly until I can find resolution for this photo problem :-)

Until then......

The month of August took me to New England earlier than planned to celebrate a death in the family. Since I was due to travel a week later, it made no sense to return to Bermuda, only to find myself back on a plane in a weeks time.

I used the extra time wisely spending some quality time with the new babies in my family and had a blast! I got peed on, puked on, and even pooped on, and loved every minute of these precious moments with the boys; Henry, Jackson and Owen. I will return to Maine in a week for the big event of my year, Fryeburg Fair, and once it has passed will have a few days to reaquaint myself with them again. I will have to soak up as much of them as I can this trip since my travles will not take me near them again til I'm not sure when next year! They will have grown so much by then!

Audubon Show Report

After months of anxiously awaiting the arrival of my participation in the Audubon Show, it has finally come and gone so quickly, it seems like it must certainly have been a dream! Susan Mills shared a booth with me for this event. Not only was it a blessing to be sharing the workload for set up and tear down for both of us, but she is a dear friend and you ALL know how important quality time is with the people who are important in your life!
Maine finally experienced a few days in a row of good weather and
though we had a shower late in the day on Saturday it was late
enough that it had no grave effect on the event. This Audubon event's presenters, Jim & Holly Gallante do a fine job. Not only is the setting for this show terrific, they run a class act! A few details make such a difference. Exhibitors were welcomed with a little goodie bag, and all attendees had access to coolers of FREE ice cold water, and very nice catered food. Doing shows is always tiring and getting good food and easy hydration is a big deal.

Our booth looked terrific! Susan and I spent hours designing our space in hopes of being able to create the best presentation possible for each of our work. I believe that the pictures I have included will convince you that we succeeded.
Traffic seemed light to me but considering this was the first sunny weekend in Maine for weeks, and summer coming to a close I was not surprised. Having never done this show before, it is impossible for me to judge how attendance compared to other years.

Most pleasing to me when showing my work is the reaction I get from the audience. It is very heartening for me, a new artist, and creator of a new art form to hear people say such things as:

" Your work is beautiful!"
"I have never seen anything like it before"
" How do you do this!"
"This is amazing work!"

These are the things that re-enforce that I am onto something, that I need to continue.... It is validation that the time I have spent in research and development and creating the bodies of work that I have has been worth it.

Now, the work as I go forward, is about sharing it with the public and finding the best venues in which to do that. I welcome all comments and suggestions that you have to share. Feel free to post comments to this posting or contact me with any advise or information that I might find useful. "It takes a village" as one famous woman has said. And whether you like the famous woman who said this or not, it is fact that we can not do it alone. In all parts of life it is the individual with our family, friends and supporters who make it happen for us!

In the end, I learned lots about the show circuit, met some fabulous people and had a great time. Susan's and my work seemed to represent the more Artful side of the show as compared to craft and because of that, I am not convinced that I will pursue this venue next year but in everything, we have the opportunity to seek, learn, and evolve! And so it was....
Until next time!

Owen Finally Arrives!

Sorry for the lapse in postings! I have had a busy past few weeks. My husband's mother passed after a long illness and brought me to New England unexpectedly sooner than originally planned. Though it was a hectic departure from Bermuda, it has given me an opportunity to spend some quality family time that I would not have otherwise had.....
Owen finally decided to come into the world on July 23 and weighed in at a whopping 6# 9 oz! Mom and baby are doing great! I had the good fortune of being able to alter my travel plans to Maine so that I could spend a few days with my niece, baby Owen and his proud dad in Massachusettes. What a treat! It had been a long time since I had spent time with a baby, never having had any of my own, not to mention some quality time with his mom who I don't get to see very often anymore.

This photo was taken of Owen in great grandma's arms wearing the first sweater that I knitted for him. It's a bit big on him but the weather here has been cool so he was glad to have it on this day. He's been an easy baby so far on a good schedule, sleeping and eating well, and packing on the groceries like a champ!

Of course I have since had time with the other two additions to the family, Henry and Jackson which has renewed my interest in knitting for them all! I had been anxiously awaiting my arrival to the US to find some new yarns to make a few more sweaters for them. I especially love to shop Marden's, a local discounter who always has fun yarns that are very well priced. It only takes a few skeins and a few days to make up one of these tiny gems, so since arriving I have found a new pattern for a hoodie and made one for Owen which Henry is modeling for us in this next photo, and I am just finishing up a red one for Henry.

Henry is a good model showing off Owen's new sweater! His will be finished today but in a larger size. In spite of the cool summer that Maine has been experiencing, we have hope that since it is still August, that Henry won't need his new hoodie for a few months so I have made his red one in a larger size.

Now that all of the babies have arrived, and I have had my baby fix, I need to get moving and prepare for the Audubon show this weekend! Hope to see you there!
I will be sure to take some photos to share and give a full show report next week. Stay tuned......

New Commission....

AND BINGO WAS HIS NAAAMOoooooo.......

Summer is keeping my mind busy with the upcomming show at Audubon, Fryeburg Fair Fiber Center planning, and planning the Bermuda Fiber Festival! BUT, I have been commissioned to do a piece which will be given as a surprise birthday gift. The images I'm sharing with you are the original photo that I used and the
drawing that I did which will serve as my pattern or template for creating the actual Hairlock Painting.

The finished piece will be small for a commission at approximately 8 x 10" so will provide some challenges in manageing the details with very small sections of hair. Keeping them in check, seperate and not moving until they are adhered to the canvas will take time and patience.

Working on a commission is very different than creating an imagined image even if that imagined image has been drawn in advance since it makes no real difference in the end, if the final piece is different from the imagined one. There is no one to please but myself. When rendering a likeness of a pet, or of an approved drawing for a client, being on target with the drawing is important. It's what the client expects and what they are paying for. As a result, I do my best to re-create the drawing. I am considering this small piece an experiment which may determine if I choose to do something this small again on commission.

The delivery date for the piece is not until the end of October which gives me lots of breathing space so that I can choose to work on the piece when I am in the right frame of mind. This will offer the best possible environment to successfully complete the piece. I don't expect to take that long so keep an eye out. I will publish it when it is complete!

Don't forget to come and find me at the Audubon Show on August 16th & 17th in Falmouth, Maine! Until next time....

Home Again Home Again jigiddy jog....

Well I'm back from my trip to Maine & Boston after a one day delay. The Bermuda Airport was closed down due to Bertha but we were lucky and got home the following day. Fortunately, there was no serious damage on Bermuda. Bertha had lost most of it's power once it hit with 60 MPH winds which down graded it to a tropical storm.
I had a great, though very busy trip! I visited family and friends, met the two newest additions to our family, Henry & Jackson, and attended a family wedding in Boston. I was able to spend 4 of my vacation days with my sister, and nieces at a lovely camp on a small pond in Maine. We ate, played games, swam, walked and slept to the cries of the loons, chickadees and the infamous Maine mosquitos and horse flies :-) A good time was had by all...
Susan Mills and I are sharing a space at the 12th Annual Audubon Art & Fine Crafts Show on August 16th & 17th so we got together to plan out our booth display and mentor each other regarding the exhibit, display & each other's work. It was exciting to see the display unfold and get a sneak preview of how it will come together. Susan has a show two weeks earlier in Bar Harbor at the dimensions show so we were able to design her solo booth space at the same time.
The body of artwork that will be shown at the Audubon show was taken to John the Framer in Topsham for framing so that it will be ready for the show when I return to Maine in August.

Now that I am back home, I have 4 weeks to see to final preperations for the show, continue to work on the Bermuda Fiber Festival and Fryeburg Fair Fiber Center schedule. I like to mix things up a bit in life ( I may be ADD :-) so I will also begin working on some R&D for creating jewelry made with wire, fiber & sea glass. I was able to do some research at Border's while in Boston and came home with lots of inspiration to get me started again. But first I have some personal stuff to tend to... pay bills, car maintainance and other fun stuff :-)
I'll be back with more later! Enjoy the summer.....

New Work!

Well here it is! In one of my last posts I described that I would be moving onto a different color palette and I have completed a sample painting on both the off white and black felted wool boucle .


The Hummingbird was the first and is done on the off white boucle wool felt. I decided to make a few pieces in the round which is often found in Sumi-e. This piece is not quite finished though. I will add a silk braid or cording around the perimeter of the paper in a coordinating color to frame out the piece. I love this little guy and I can't wait to see him completed!


This is the second piece done in black. The photo doesn't do it justice. I am very pleased with the way this piece turned out. I have always been drawn to the black Sumi-e paintings using color density to create the depth of the image. There's something very intriguing to me about the simplicity which depicts a subject. Although I have achieved success with the brown color way in the past, I was anxious to see how the black would translate in this medium. I feel I was able to achieve a sense of depth in the painting using various thickness of fiber to create tonal variation which is done with different dilutions of black ink in Sumi-e. I did add a bit of magic green in the center of the flower and yellow for stamens to help create a bit of interest in the piece. I expect to frame this piece out with a braid or cording of some kind also. I will be visiting the states soon and will look forward to shopping for an appropriate option.
Bermuda has many fine points but shopping is not one of them! I drool thinking about spending some quality time in Michael's, Joanne Fabrics, Marden's, Walmart, Sam's club and grocery stores when I get home! I run the gauntlet of stores and malls in search of things that I either can not find here or are too expensive to consider. I shop for clothes only when I need something and prefer to fill my baskets with art supplies :-)


To learn more about Sumi-e visit the Sumi-e Society of America's website at http://www.sumiesociety.org/frame.htm