Here I Am. Looking Back, Looking Forward.

I am back.  I'm not sure what to blog about today!  It was a whirlwind putting together art for Gardenscape... and then it was Gardenscape!  : )  It was wonderful this year, as always.  I had some of the most memorable conversations I will ever have while standing near my art board.  Gosh.  I wish I was better with names.  I met an older gentleman.  As he studied my threadpaintings, he used the word, 'emotional' to describe them.  I looked at him and asked, 'are you an artist?'  That was a term that certainly not everyone uses.  He told me that he does quilting, tatting, tapestry, and Jacobean (sp?) embroidery.  And then we got talking.  We talked for a long, long time.  I asked him questions and listened to his wonderful stories.  He was fascinating.  I was so enlightened listing to him that I asked if we could get in touch to have him as a guest speaker.  He looked embarrassed, but I said, 'just show a few things and tell a story'.  I made it sound simple, and I think he opened up to the idea.  And now ACK! I forget his name!  He has my name & contact info so we shall see.  I really hope I get to talk with him more.  I did tell him I was bad with names, so if he ever contacted me he should say he is 'the man with the beautiful scarf'.  I will know exactly who he is. : )

I also had someone from the past say hello.  The woman who bought my very first fibre art ever - a set of four dollar-store-framed prairie seasons nearly 5 years ago reintroduced herself to me!  It was so nice for her to say hello.  I totally remember that day.  It was such a surprise!  A week later, someone asked if I could make a winter one for her.  (My first commission.)  And that is how it all started.  I jokingly said, 'Hold on to them.  They might be worth something some day.'  She looked at me, smiled, and said, 'I will hold on to them because they make me happy.'  And she really sounded like she meant it.  : )  Awe : )  Here they are below.

about five years ago...

In retrospect it was a good experience to see how far I have come.  I shock myself at how much I have produced in that time.  Did you know I keep track?  I have written down each person that owns my threadpaintings, along with the titles of the pieces and the countries where they reside.  There are pages, and pages, and pages.  It's unreal.

Sometimes it makes me wonder where I will go next with all this that I have dedicated myself to building.



April has many teaching & talking days, which I look forward to.  Public elementary schools (I love teaching kids!!), the Modern Quilt Guild, and then a fun class in Edmonton.  Every year at Gardenscape I seem to have ongoing conversations with teachers who never thought about introducing fibre & stitch to their art classes.  That excites me!  Always has, always will.

I've thought about opening a shop, many, many times!   However, I know being a store owner means I would become a store owner.  Being a practicing artist would need to sit on the back burner.  I want to keep stitching prairies.  It just never gets old for me.  I have beautiful, beautiful ideas floating around in my head and in my heart.  Time and space to produce them is so important to me.  My creative space however?  Well.  That continues to magically shrink.  Next up - room to grow.  I need room to grow.  : ) 

I wonder what will happen next?

Hey, thanks for listening. : )