It's Been a Long Time!

Tonight is the 'Little Gems' small works group show and sale at The Mix downtown.  It's been a LONG time since I've shown my work.  (April I think?).  I'm really looking forward to this evening.  The little white gallery house is right off of Spadina Avenue at 24th street.  It has several rooms on the mail floor that are packed with beautiful art.  There is such a range with over forty artists involved!   Everyone was asked to limit their entries to five.  I submitted these three pieces.  Everything else I have was just a couple inches too big.

The Meewasin River Valley, 2012   3x9" framed (click to enlarge)

Lakewood 2, 2012  4x6 framed (this photo is pretty close to the actual size)

The above piece is framed in a brown washed barnwood frame.  The one below is in blue barnwood.  The photo is dark.

A Perfect Summer Day, 2012   4x6" framed

I framed these ones myself because I needed them right away.  Oh!  I have a little Prairie Rug there too.  All unsold work will go into my show at The Centre Galleries the following weekend until the end of the year.  (!! Can you believe 2012 is coming to a close!??)  If you need one last peek at the ad for the show, here it is:

I plan to be there Friday 6-9 and Sunday afternoon 1-4.

What to wear?  What to wear?  ...  : )

Lakewood Revisited

Busy busy!  I thought my next show had to be up the first weekend of December.  I was wrong.  It has to be up one week earlier than that!  It's all good though.  I've been plugging away and things have been coming together quite nicely.  I spent the weekend working on the Lakewood scene again.  That was the one with all the Birdsfoot Trefoil - which I thought were Buffalo Beans.  I took the first piece out to the lake to show my mom (who does not have internet).  She took one look at it and nabbed it!  It's now hanging on her walls.  I really liked it too, so I figured I would make one for the show.  It's small and full of Sorbello stitches done in thread and embroidery floss.

Lakewood #2, work in progress

Imagine that!  I snapped that photo in my living room at night, without a flash.  I had my Ott light next to me.  It's incredible!  Love that light...

I had already forgotten this stitch that Margot showed me, so I had to look it up.  It's here if you want to see how it's done.

the Sorbello stitch in yellow

Back to stitching, and awaiting the snow!

Summer Sales

Wow, it's the last day of August.  Can you believe it?  I hope you all had a good summer.  It's been a busy one for me, even without embroidering anything.  I was full time mom, housewife, gardener, and part time quilter.  That is all.  Thanks for bearing with me as I took July & August off from my fibre art.  I have loads and loads of new photo inspirations for upcoming pieces.

I was about to make a new page that would showcase, 'available works', but then this week saw three of my pieces being sold privately to 2 women while I was vacationing at my old stomping grounds.  I brought some of my art out to the lake with me to show my mom (she has no internet), and they all sold while I was out there!  Incredible!  So here are the ones that now have new homes.  First, On Floral Road.

On Floral Road, 7x9" framed 2012 - SOLD

I don't think I got a final photo of that piece!  I finished it just in time for our local Showcase of the Arts, and now it's gone.  I wasn't sure I was ready to part with this one, but when I saw the reaction of the person who bought it when she first laid eyes on it, I was MORE than happy to pass it over to her.  I'm very proud that my work made someone react so strongly.  ; )  What a feeling!  My prairie signature piece Canola Summer was sold as well.

Canola Summer, 3x9" framed 2012 - SOLD

Finally, Lakewood has been sold.  The woman who bought this took one look at it and said, "I want it."  lol  It's now hanging in her kitchen.

Lakewood, 4x6 framed 2012 - SOLD

THANK YOU!  Wow, wow, and wow.  I was not expecting to come home without bringing my art back with me.  School starts for my kids next week.  This is the first time in 13 years that I will have all of them in school from 9-3:30.  This next school year is very busy for me, but I'm excited to see how much I can get done with five 5 hr days per week (they still come home for lunch).  Maybe I can manage art AND a clean house?  lol  Wouldn't that be nice!?  First up will be 2 threadpainting commissions that have been waiting since before the summer.  Thank you to both of you for waiting.  Stay tuned!  I'll likely have lots of work in progress next week.

Friday (the 13th) Finish

I added the final touches to the Lakewood piece, and it is now it seems to be complete!

Lakewood, 2012

I'm having a tough time getting a good photo of this one.  It looks like the contrast is too high, but when I reduce it, the yellows fade drastically in the Trefoil.  The tree tops and sky should appear a tad more muted.  The colors are pretty true to the real thing though.  It's small at 4x6 inches.  It will be double matted and framed to 8x10.  In this one, I did Sorbello stitches with floss and hand dyed weaver's string, french knots with silk, and seed stitches as well.  I chose not to stitch into the sky, as it was a clear day.  I'll finish the edges and sign it in thread.

So now we talk about weather?  It's HOT.  Still hot.  Like - gross...  and terribly muggy.  Today, the forecast added 'smokey'.  There's a lot of forest fires burning!  Oh my - it must have been the dry conditions and then all the lightening a couple nights ago.  You couldn't even see the color blue when you looked up today. 

Look what happened to me on my way home from the Silverspring Prairie last week!

I kid you not.  A black cat crossed my path.  Out of town!?  Unbelievable.  Happy Friday the 13th!  Lucky or unlucky?

Threadpainting - Loving Every Stitch

I went through a bit of a funk.  It lasted about 24 hrs, and it felt terrible.  (Blame it on the weather.)  I got up, dusted myself off and put together another new piece.  And WOAH do I ever love it!  I can't even explain my excitement when the right threads go in the right places.

7x9"  On Floral Road, 2012  (work in progress)

I worked a little differently on this one.  I did the land before the sky.  It doesn't much matter since the trees on the horizon will go on last.  I was interested in stitching out the grasses because two of my variegated spools were JUST the right color. My source photo has lots of wonderful reeds and white puffs to stitch into it by hand.  I will LOVE that. : )  (Do I use a lot of capitals??)

In the mean time, I got those Bird's Foot Trefoil flowers stitched in to the Lakewood Park scene.  I was feeling like another hundred French Knots would be quite lazy of me.  I can do them with my eyes closed after 5 flax fields and 3 Canola fields.  Plus - these buffalo-bean-looking flowers would not be well represented by spots or loops.  They have a funny, lumpy shape.  I decided to scroll back to my Saturday Stitches posts (see in tutorials at the top of my blog) to find the Sorbello Stitch that Margot taught me.  It is perfect!!  Check it out...

Lakewood, 2012 (4x6) in progress

I have just a few more little white details to stitch in and then this piece is done.  I am still so thrilled that I made the right choice for these flowers, I emailed Margot with a huge thank you!

The Sorbello Stitch : )

Happy, I am!  : )  Talk soon,

Work in Progress. It's Wednesday Again!

Yes I do have more work started!  The trip to Lakewood Park left me with so many inspirational photos.  Having such a range of greens from Jane Evans makes my work much easier.  I have the right colors!

small backdrop ready for handstitching

close up of the Birdsfoot Trefoil flowers that will be stitched into my threadpainting

I have two other large pieces started as well as another small one. Here's a backdrop that I can't wait to start.  That gorgeous sky fabric was hand dyed and gifted to me by Heather Lair from Manitoba.  It's it sweet!?  Thank you Heather.

stormy sky

That will have a scene from a photo I took out at Grasswood after a tornado warning was lifted.

One last show & tell.  I'm multitasking here.  I need to work on samples - one for a Dresden class I'm teaching, and two for a guild presentation on a Thread class & the Hand Quilting class I took.  So here it is all in one!  : )  I love it.  I think it's turning out to be a fine sampler that will meet the needs of all three!

: )
I'm linking to The Needle And Thread Network, as well as WIP Wednesday at Lee's / Freshly Pieced.  Have a great day!

Lakewood Lush

Here they are... some sweet eye-candy for you!  fyi: Lakewood is a park in Saskatoon, just blocks from my house.  It's true.  The prairies have EXPLODED with color.

Lush, lush lush!  And humming with honey bees.

Gorgeous Wolf Willow growing behind the rose bushes.

Buffalo Beans (oops - corrected) Birds Foot Trefoil and bumble bees!  : )  I like this composition...  I'd stitch it!

We collected a tulle satchel of wild rose petals so we could take that smell home with us.  There is no smell more beautiful!

Look at the gorgeous curls and the blue!  Can anyone i.d. this next plant for me??  It was climbing into the rosebushes.

mmmm...  aaaaahh....

Buffalo Beans (oops! correction) Birds Foot Trefoil in the prairie grasses.  (Thank you Margot!)

My baby had so much fun too!  There were giant Monarchs fluttering around.  (None were harmed during the making of this post ; ).

Enjoy!  I will be back in one week.  The kids finish school tomorrow, and we are off for some family time.  Happy Summer and have a FABULOUS CANADA DAY on July 1st!! : )