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This little logo represents a lifetime of creative processes for me. I’ve not succeeded monetarily, nor in popularity, but I love what I’ve created, so I keep on dreaming, envisioning and going through a progression. I’ve changed mediums several times; crewel embroidery, weaving, wood painted in acrylics with folk and tole-art, watercolor on paper, painting through Corel Draw and now fabric collage.
Writing poured out concurrent with the tactile creations, emerging as rich and diversified as my favorite crazy-quilt style.
All my various endeavors have come together in the pages of the book, Wishwood, Tales From the Gate Cottage. No publisher yet; knock on wood. It’s hard to give up on THE BOOK. It’s not just that I’ve twenty years invested in the project, but I love the stories, the characters. I own them all. If I didn’t purchase a teddy, I made them, plus the wood dwarf dolls. Heck, I made Aunt Jane. Then I illustrated the scenes in pencil, pen & ink, watercolor and through Corel Draw. Now I’m going to make quilts that come right out of the Gate Cottage, the one I live in.
I enjoy church and the accompanying choir. My writer’s groups are precious and many long time friends are in the art society. Looks like there will be new friends within the quilting world. All of this is good; however, THE DREAM emanating from the Dragon Isles has raised it’s head again. So what do I do ? 

My dreams are on the fringes of paradise. A couple of weeks ago I had another sleepless night that spent itself meandering. While falling in and off the edge of sleep I saw a new concept quilt. This quilted wall hanging has two panels, one hanging freely behind the other. It’s title is “Tree of Life,” and it has a theme song - “Morning Has Broken.” The background is simply the sunrise, a sun lit sky from the clean yellows of the hidden orb up through pure Cobalt blues plaited in cloudy wisps. The foreground is the Tree of Life. I’ve chosen the sycamore tree for it’s variegated, multicolored bark and giant dinner plate sized leaves. I’ll put a hole in the trunk where baby squirrels are born each spring. In the canopy I’ll blend landscapes; a sea-scape, city-scape, meadow and mountain.
And the dream goes on. Wish me luck, and ask a couple Angels to whisper in my ear to help me keep my balance.
    

If you haven’t noticed by now, I have many interests and I tend to try to indulge them all; jack-of-all-trades and master of none . . . well in some respects that’s true. Even though I’ve had some marvelous successes in watercolor, like the painting to the left, consistency in that medium has eluded me. The more I tried different techniques for texture, the more rapidly the paintings slipped into the mud.

The above floral is one of three that hang in two homes just outside of Boston; my sister’s dining room and her friend’s family room. In addition, my Dad has the Irises I displayed back a couple blogs (check Gallery on this website too), and my sons claimed other paintings that came out quite well. I couldn’t stand to let the good ones go, so I’ve pretty much kept them in the family.

As I’ve said, I’ve set watercolor aside to jump feet first into art quilts. One of my hopes is to re-create this particular geranium painting in fabric. There’s also all those works that didn’t turn out so well that are fodder for the new medium . . . or mediums. That’s one of the attractions of fabric collage = all mediums are welcome; hand painted silks, photo transfers onto fabric or paper, extending to embellishments of every type (button and bows, lace keys, spoons?). A virtual smorgasbord of visual treats await my implementation. It’s kind of heady stuff.

The quilting world has experienced a surge of “fabric-collage” that has produced many works chuck full of embellishments and techniques, many of which have sadly lacked good composition. The eye candy of the smorgasbord can be quite a temptation. I too am affected by the plethora of ideas and Hope that having seen some very junkie quilts that I’ll hold myself back from the junk-yard syndrome.   

KISS = Keep it Simple, Sweetie. I pray that maturity has calmed my ardor for flash, however, I’m not into mellow, so we shall see what pop up. 

The Sweat Retreat, a grand 48 hr quilting weekend at a posh country resort southern Ohio, was quite nice. I met many interesting people and saw how traditional quilters create. My young teacher (40something) was chockfull of remarkable information. Kim has manipulated fabric in all kinds of ways, and is very willing to share. I may want to go back next year to pick her brain some more and enjoy her company. I Hope to see her somewhere in the world from time to time.

I saw what I already knew about traditional quilters. They love pattern and color; in their quilts, and in their fabrics. I also learned an interesting thing about myself while trying to construct my blocks. I prefer less dramatic value changes in the traditional quilts.  Many of the gals that I watched over the weekend did a breathtaking job blending their fabrics. One of the young women worked on a quilt that she was going to use to teach a class with, later in the month.

Basically, I got mine all wrong. It’s hard to tell you what I did wrong, for I’m just beginning to understand it. The choosing of fabric for repetitive patterns needs practice as well as personal preferences and intuition. So I learned not what I setout to learn, but what I needed to know.

I’m wondering if some of my troubles in watercolor were related to an overly dramatic value system. I’ll have to work with this idea as I build my next art quilt.

I snapped this amaryllis in front of an unfinished painting a few years ago. Since I first took its photo, the composition has been clamoring to be described in fabric.

In this opening graphic I’ve safety-pin-basted the back-ground, and stuck on the rocks of the wall and the falling leaves with straight pins. Eventually they will be affixed with small dots of “hook’n loops.”

A SMALL BLURB on functioning as a partially computer literate being. Lets make up a name for this category =  parcomlit, parcompulit, parcompulator . . . got it ! 

Parcompulator; the scientific term meaning a partially computer literate individual. Okay, now I need a nick name; a handle  - a parcom . . nay!   A pal,   . . .  aaahhh yes.

I am a PAL. This is a very important assessment to arrive at. I enjoy writing and I enjoy creating with my hands. When combining these two attributes I find I want to share my creations. The WorldWideWeb is the PR mode of this new millennium. To nail down a “DOT” com and to exploit this digitized tool is the goal. But I’m only a lowly PAL.

Thank goodness for the computer literate younger generation that put the WWW on tap.  I went through this long winded explanation to encourage other senior citizens, other PALS, to step up and try it. You might just enjoy where a wee bit of local adult education might take you. Or you might have a generous relative or young friend who will set you up with your own blog and plenty of encouragement. So we need a little help. That’s okay.

Yes, yes, I’m still a little anxious about putting my words and images out there for the world to pick on, but even before I knew anything about blogs, I wanted to share my creative life. I don’t win any prizes, but I have my fan club of friends and family. It turns out that these feelings of exhibitionism are totally human, and so I add my blog to cyberspace and wonder if anybody out there is listening or watching.

THE INFANCY OF JANE’S ART QUILTS ERA

The last few images show the birth of my first art quilt; the first seen through to it’s finish. I have made so many mistakes. I’ve learned never to make a square design. That should be interesting. The quilting stitches (machine) are my first and are quite tentative and wobbly in many places. I made the decision near the beginning of the construction process that I wasn’t going to tear out or redo much of anything. Way back in my juvenile sewing days I remember terribly frustrating times tearing seams apart, picking at over sewn stitches and tearing the fabric, all while weeping uncontrollably. I can learn from my mistakes without all that drama. I’ll proudly display my first efforts. I like the ideas I came up with and will be able to use them again in future endeavors.
Tally Ho . . .

I apologize to myself and any who may have initially checked out my blog in hopes that I’d not be one of those who ignored the site for months on end. It surprised me that I did just that, but I think I have a handle on it now. I participate in two writer’s groups, and feared launching any non- critically assessed piece. However, both groups have encouraged me saying that personal journals are not usually critiqued. The nature of these writings is to show the individual’s voice and sentiments; me, keeper of the blog. On one hand I feared making gramitical and spelling mistakes, but I want a discourse with other creators and/or appreciators. So I step out onto the soft sandy soil of the world wide web, make my marks and invite others to walk with me.

This photo shows my workspace. It’s a good time to comment on creating one’s life. There are many outside (people) and inside (health) forces that come to bear on any one’s plans, but keeping a clear view of one’s passions is essential. Occasionally my sight blurs and I’m forced to reassess.

I resigned from the Kent Chorus. I’m relieved, but sad that I’m in such poor health that it was too much for me. We were required to stand, when signing, in an over heated windowless room for 2½ hours. The room was big enough so I don’t think I suffered from the mild claustrophobia that can effect me. And we could sit if the directore was talking. I use to make myself go through extensive trials in unpleasant situations before I gave up. This time I decided I didn’t need to do that. The situation wasn’t going to get any better.

I backed out. Maybe the windowless room did impinge on me.

On the day I quit the chorus, two Quilting Arts publications came in the mail. I’m still reading them. Ah yes, I do want to make wonderful quilts. It amazes me, but the silly Black&White+PinkAllOver small wall hanging in progress, is actually in my style. I have spent some time looking at several quilt artist’s work through the Studio Arts Quilts Association website (http://www.saqa.com/ ). I came to the conclusion that even with a lighthearted project, the work reflected my artistic style. I can hear my readers saying, “Duh !”

I had thought since I was being blithe, and trying to get this project out of the way, that it didn’t really reflect the true me. But it does. On the other hand, I have a dark and somber side that is strongly showing in the design and fabric choices for a quilt design of a Ark of the Covenant. I may not get back to that project for some time. There is so much of interest developing to experiment with in this new medium.

This last picture shows the pieces and parts waiting to come together in the B&W+Pink quilt. The first picture in today’s post is the design I put together in Corel Draw. I do hope to have the small quilt done before the mid Oct weekend workshop and retreat I’m going to with the Cotton Candy Quilt Shoppe Guild.

I sit here marveling at how swiftly life can change in a blink or a nod, leaving one sitting in the mud. My husband, OldeLar, passed-on five and a half years ago. I paid off all the bills, sold the farm and a fleet of vehicles, held two giant garage sales and finally put the large house in the four-acre wood lot on the market. That represents the period where I slugged through the mud. Two years ago, I moved into a cute little cape on a quarter acre. I’ve been sitting in the mud since then. I was 58 when OldeLar died, which means that I am now 62. Time is flying by over my head, and I can’t catch it. I’m so tired of this mud hole. I’ve prayed, cried, eaten, gone to doctors, and finally decided to stand up. You can hear the mud sucking on my hind end as I pull it out of the mire.

Today I’m on a new diet, starting a new blog website, joined a new young church, jumping into art quilts and looking for a house that meets my need for open space. I kept asking God, what am I here for . . . what am doing here ? Why am I alive ? The only answer that came to mind is something my middle son, Tim, told me. He said that I should enjoy the life that God gave me. From that I realized I could move. I’m in charge of me. No one else is telling me what I can or cannot do. 

Something else surfaced. I have done so many things to elicit praise and acceptance from others. Some of those efforts have been quite fruitful, but even so, I need to move into a place and space where I simply express myself for no other purpose than to please myself. This may sounds very selfish, but in a deeper spiritual sense, I need to create for the simple joy of the process. In doing that, I will be fulfilling my God given mission and be a boon to the world around me.

And you’re here at the beginning of this new effort. Hang on, I’m sure it will be rollercoaster ride. Life has never failed me in that respect.

   Jane

Here is a picture of Sarah, at the Leper King temple in Cambodia.  She had the whole place to herself, for a little while.

Good morning world. I’m so happy to be out and about in the great big world of blogs. First, thank you Matthew (my son) for setting this all up for me. I know it will take me some time to learn how to use my new toy, but I shall perservere. I’m looking forward to posting my dreams as well as what I’m able to accomplish. Some projects are in flux, or in process for long periods of time, but there’s always something in progress. That translates into, half baked, kneading it or allowing it to rise. Maybe that’s not much of a translation, but if you’ll stick with me I Hope that we can exchange cheerful recipes for life.  

Most small photos will display an enlargement when clicked. (There is more where this came from … )