We are now home from a month in Arizona... where I had the neatest experience. I've made two quilts that were inspired by the art of Bob Coonts. By email, he gave me permission to do this. Since he lives in Colorado, we had never met.
Every January, the large art shows start in Scottsdale. We have gone to them a couple times and decided to go again. I took my daughter and her hubby with the intention of buying them a small art piece for their new home, and for her birthday (which I did).
We parked, got inside and paid at the desk and I turned around toward the first booth/display... it was Bob Coonts! I introduced myself and he remembered me. We talked for a long time. He is a very nice man and pleased that his work was inspiration for my work. I was so delighted to meet him. I would love one of his pieces, so am planning to give him a commission for a size/subject I can afford. The show lasts until the end of March, so if he works on site, who knows... maybe my hubby can pick it up on his annual golf trip.
Here are the two quilts inspired by his paintings. Bob's originals are on his website.
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| Paint Chip Pony |
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| Horseplay |
Yesterday I began quilting the sky in this quilt, a landscape with a lighthouse. It is sort of a scribble pattern. The example in my book is even and regular, but my mind can't seem to do repetition. I think more like jazz than chords or toe-tapping. Anyway, it is started.
It seems that my biggest procrastination is not so much picking a quilting motif as the fear that my lack of skill will mess it up. Translation: I need more practice. That seems to be impossible right now. I should have a practice sandwich on the long arm all the time. For this, I mounted the quilt a bit to the right and put a practice piece on the left to try my threads, etc. so maybe that will help.
Another project is on the wall. This one is for a competition, so I'm not going to reveal all of it, only enough to say that the photo on the right is one front leg of a horse. You can see the pattern for the other front leg to the left of it. I'm making it in a combination of foundation paper-piecing and applique. So far, this is lots of fun! The pattern is my own design, sort of. I have permission from a wonderful artist to use his paintings as design ideas for my quilts.
We had a month holiday in SC and that was a good rest. Now I'm back at full-time studies and trying to squeeze in time to quilt and other artistic endeavors. Actually, this changes concentration from one side of the brain to the other and works well as a break... beats cleaning and other housework. My reasoning? How can the house get dirty when I'm on the computer all day?!