Last week I drove 1281 miles to San Diego (from No. California) and back for a 3 day art conference. Hubs rode along as extra set of eyes, as he no longer drives. It might seem silly to some to drive 4 days to stay 3, but I counted on all 7 days being an […]
travel
where have i been, part deux…
Earlier this month I was blessed with a 7 day respite in No. Carolina. As we rounded the bend of what was 2021, and three years of not traveling, I recognized that I was fast approaching lala land if I did not get out of town, or at the very least get a caregivers respite. […]
musings in the night, part 47…
The other night’s musings brought me some awesome titles for new work. Not the work itself, just the title! I particularly love ‘the writing on the wall was in invisible ink.” Or “how I became an activist on my way to becoming an old woman.” The funny thing about night musing which most often follows […]
revisiting…
Nearly two weeks ago, we took a quick trip through four states (UT, WY, MT, ID) in 6 days! It was a fly-drive revisit of two national parks, a creamery at the college I attended (priorities!) and to see five ex-pat Californians. We’d visited both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Park as young marrieds. The […]
to Ireland and back…
As part of my research for the Defining Moments series, I poked through my ancestry online. My DNA revealed all those Irish & Welsh ancestors added up to 67%, while the expected Russian came in at less than 25% (explain that to the 100% Russian great-grandparents!) So it seemed only fitting to make one more […]
resetting priorities…
We recently returned from a fabulous two week vacation to New York, Montreal and points in between. It was exceptionally good timing as I had been pedal to the metal for months making art for new exhibits and causes. Before leaving I submitted entries to four fine art exhibits. The one I was most excited about […]
North to Alaska and back…
Eleven days ago I flew to Anchorage, Alaska for the weekend! It really was a crazy idea but I have been known to fly over 2000 miles for a weekend before. In fact this was my fourth such weekend trip in the past 4 years. Two were for art receptions both in OH, one to […]
what I learned on my summer vacation…
We chose the perfect week to take an Alaska cruise as it was hotter than hell in the SF Bay Area the first week of September. We were instead basking in the autumnal glow of the Inside Passage and Gulf of Alaska. Normally autumn in the Bay Area is my favorite time of year, but […]
my Quilt National 17 experience…
I have just returned from a quick weekend trip to OH for the opening of the 20th biennial exhibit of Quilt National. My work Defining Moments 12: NO Means NO was juried into this prestigious venue, one of 85 chosen from a pool of nearly 800 entries. My brain feels a bit like that spinning […]
NOLA
Last week we jetted down to New Orleans for a five-day Road Scholar program on the culture, music, food, mystique and more food. It was great fun and other than six freaky tornadoes hitting the state mid-week the weather was sublime. I was my usual aerial photography fool coming and going with the best results […]
lessons learned…
In my last post I eluded to being away from the computer for awhile…We made a trek to Norway to cruise the coast and see the fjords, which has been a long time dream of hubs. Originally we were to go in May but had to postpone the trip to fall so we chose these particular dates […]
field trip
Today hubs and I took a field trip to see Earth Stories at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. The stars aligned with a dry forecast, moderate weekend traffic as opposed to heavier weekday traffic and best of all no Super Bowl festivities! We returned through San Francisco on a gorgeous clear, sunny winter’s day. It was […]
…on documentation and dawgs
A few years ago I added an important form of documentation to the categorization of my work. I put together a 3″ thick binder, in chronological order, of all the work I have made since 1998. Initially resistant to the idea as I already have a website and hardcopy portfolio; the reasoning behind this was posterity. […]
life stories…
It has been nearly a month since I posted. I used to be so good at this! Well I do have my list of excuses… As a wizen woman once told me, what good are excuses if we don’t use them? I continue to work on and enjoy the process of the collaborative series. I […]
quick trip to Cincinnati…
Last weekend I made a quick trip to Cincinnati for an art opening. My work Currents #13 was juried into Art Comes Alive 2015 sponsored by Art Design Consultants of Cincinnati. There was one direct flight from the Bay Area to Cincinnati so I jumped on it, flew all night and arrived none the worse for […]
this and that…
Last week I traveled with a friend for a mixed media art class in Santa Fe, NM. Anyone who knows me well knows I am a total NM junkie. It takes little to convince me to go to NM, and this my 14th trip was no exception. This time I spent no time in galleries, the cooking […]
where i have been…
Holy Smokes…what happened to March?! I can’t believe it has been over a month since I have blogged. To come up to speed, I continue on with the collaborative series, as I am now designing #7 of the twenty five. I am so enjoying this experience and the ever changing challenges of construction, technique, materials, […]
sometimes my work gets out more than i do…
Last year I was presented with an opportunity to submit work to an international exhibit. Ségolène Diamant-Berger had recently returned home to France after living in Louisiana and was curating an exhibit on the theme of freedom. She had personally invited several members of African-American quilt guilds, one of whom sent me the prospectus. At first I […]
unexpected nirvana…
I just returned from a fabulous five-day art retreat on the shores of Lake Tahoe. What could have been a disastrous turn of events actually turned into nirvana for me. The classroom I was assigned to was midway up on billy goat mountain. I traversed it slowly with cane and friend in tow four times […]
another day, another art class…
I am just back from my 2nd trip in two weeks…a short two-nighter to the Pacific Northwest. It all started with an air credit on Alaska Air, and where could I go for $120? I decided to take a one day class at the Pacific Northwest Art Center in Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island. This was my […]
out and about…
I just had the great opportunity to visit the East Coast for 9 days. There were many special aspects of this trip including my first solo trip in many moons. And I had not been to CT since my folks lived there in the ’80’s. It took me 17 hours door to door to get there […]
installing new exhibit…
I drove down to San Jose Sunday afternoon to be in position for a Monday exhibit install at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Sadly traffic patterns control my schedule in this part of the world so I knew it wise to position myself outside of my commute zone. I stayed at a wonderful Air BnB place which […]
where i’ve been…
Where have I been you might ask? Good question! We have been in kitchen chaos for over a month now as we update our mid-century ‘heart of the house.’ It is difficult, anyone will tell you that. I think it is most likely the chaos and unpredictability of many factors that create the stress. Yet […]
on the road again…
Last week hubs and I flew to San Diego to use up a trip credit and ‘relax’ for a few days. I didn’t take a camera as my phone takes such great shots. I did however become a shooting fool, taking over 200 images, few of which are going to have any art value. Here’s […]
passive creativity…
In the past week more art and design have entered my brain than in months! I have been to Portland and back, taken three art classes, shared lunches with longtime art friends, visited an art studio, read two design magazines, unpacked and put away class samples and materials, drafted and sent my quarterly email blast, […]
done, done and done…
It is now official. I have finished not only the two large pieces for Earth Stories, but also the smaller lead in-piece and the accompanying journal so it is soup! I am so glad I did not wait any later to start as it took me nearly 4 months and the deadline of Nov 1 […]
a taste of santa fe…
A few years ago I celebrated my 60th birthday in Santa Fe, NM and declared then that it was my last trip to the Land of Enchantment. Truth be told it was my 13th trip and I felt I had been there/done that. That is until SAQA announced their annual conference would be held in […]
we interrupt this drive…
Yesterday I had a full day in the East Bay. I worked 5 of my co-op hours at ACCI Gallery in Berkeley where I show my work. It was a most rare and unusual chance for me to just unwind, smell the roses, talk to customers & staff and just be. Afterwards I met a good […]
lessons learned on vacation…
In July as I was headed into surgery for my 2nd knee replacement I booked a trip to Phoenix for New Years. My theory was the trip would serve as a goal and it did. Up until three weeks before departure I was still pondering if I was strong enough yet to travel. Finally I […]
hitting the road…
This weekend two pieces from my Upheaval series are headed off on an exciting trip around the globe to Corsica, an island off the coast of France for an international invitational exhibit. The exhibit theme “Connexions: California-Corsica is curated and installed by Lisah Horner, executive director of ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, CA, of which I […]
