Posts filed under 'meetings'
At last week’s meeting, I led an exercise to help reinforce creativity in each of us. I had been reading a book called Living the Creative Life by Rice Freeman-Zachery, and one of her suggestions inspired this exercise that I adapted for the group.
I passed around blank 3″x 5″ index cards, and asked everyone to spend some time thinking about and writing down times, places, or situations where they seemed to get the most ideas. Then we went around the room and each read off a few.
- Lily - sometimes takes notes on steno pad, with necessary information on one side, fantastic ideas on the other
- Carol - often writes notes on bank deposit slips during sermons an found her students needed “incubation time” for new ideas, so would introduce a new project BEFORE the finish of the old one
- Emmie - likes isolation for thinking
- Lettie - finds inspiration in colors and designs
- Cathy - must have order and tidiness to create
- Dianna - if she sketches before working directly with a material, she has many more ideas
- Diane - doesn’t mind clutter, but needs absolute quiet for creating and looking at photos, but only in color, not black and white
- Donna - inspired by travel, old ruins and primitive art
These are just a few tidbits that I remember, but there were many more reveals and interesting discussions about ideas, creativity, and work habits. We can all be distracted by the difference of our lifestyles and art styles, but this was a great way to reconnect with what brought us together in the first place — the desire to create and to support each other in this endeavor.
April 20th, 2008
This meeting was mostly about photographing art quilts, some old and some new, that might be used on the invitation for our upcoming exhibit at Waverly House, Feb. 1-29, 2008.
Carol Borman Route 66
Cathy Jeffery Southwestern Night
Christine Marcum Fractured Aspens
Christine Marcum work in progress
Dianna Challahan Night of Many Moons
Lucy Sillman A River Runs Through
Lucy Sillman Sentinal
Maureen Ashlock Art Speak
Susan Leslie Lumsden back of work in progress
I’m don’t have a photo of the front of Susan’s piece. There were a couple of corrupted files on my camera. You can see how I think I’ve resolved the problem on my blog. Go to Susan’s blog to see the front and all four panels as she works on them. Because of the camera, I also missed Arleta’s piece, so we’ll get it next month, along with more work to be photographed.
November 21st, 2007
Some photos from the Uncommon Threads’ August meeting: Carol Borman showed lots of stages of experimentation with a cropped photo from the summer retreat. This variation is made of cut out solid-colored fabrics fused to a black background.
Diana Callahan shared several framed pieces that she will be exhibiting at the Waverly House this fall.
This powerful eagle is a work-in-progress by Merrilee Tieche, inspired by a photo she took with abstracted trees in the background.
Another wowser by Diana Steffen — fuschia flowers. We made her turn it upside-down just for the heck of it and to satisfy the non-gardners in the group. But it wasn’t the same!
And Lucy Silliman show several new pieces where she’s been experimenting with the Line as a core element….inspired maybe by the upcoming 2008 show that will be hosted by Uncommon Threads called “ThreadLines.” More on that soon!!
August 30th, 2007
Our May meeting was short, but sweet. Following are a few photos of work shown by members. Most sizes are approximate.
Computer manipulated image printed on fabric, 11″x8 1/2″, Carol Borman
SUMMER GREEN, 20″x30″, Dianna Callahan
EMMA WITH GREEN EYES, 16″x16″, Donna Fairbanks
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SOUTHWESTERN NIGHTS, 22″X23″, Cathy Jeffery
HIGH STEPPER, 30″x54″, Diane Steffen
TEARS FOR ARDEN, 24″x19″, Emmie Seaman
BROKEN PROMISES, 35″x47″, Merrilee Tieche
May 20th, 2007
Donna is the hostess with the mostest…. she invited Uncommon Threads to have our monthly meeting at her house, and cooked us a fabulous lunch, and let us tour her fabulous art collection. And let us sneak a peek at her very orderly studio with fabulous Mola collection on display….
Not to mention those wonderful windows that run throughout the house. What do you see out those windows?
Ozark hills and trees galore. Needless to say, Lettie was snapping photos right and left.
It was a rainy spring day, but that only make the subtle colors of the still-leafless trees more vibrant.
And, someone’s in the kitchen with Donna, someone’s in the kitchen, I know…
Actually once again the roving camera has missed the elusive Donna, but we did capture Christine, Merrilee, Arleta, and Lily chatting it up in Donna’s kitchen.
After lunch and more chatting about a top-secret project concerning a show in a wonderful gallery juried by a famous person yet-to-be-announced, the meeting came to our favorite part - show and tell.
Cathy Jeffery showed her newest project. She’s very productive and always surprising us with new directions for her art.
Donna Fairbanks shared her newest project and tales of woe regarding the struggle of creative process. Looks like she pulled out okay, don’t you think?
Lucy Silliman had a particularly interesting display of inspiration to product. She showed the original photograph she took in Ireland on the left, and the finished art quilt on the right.
Check out her hand-painted fabric, wonderful machine-quilting, and the accomplished manner that she finished the irregular edges of the piece.
This little gem is one of Susan Leslie Lumsden’s newest series — small framed pieces for the beginning collector — a way for her collectors to start small, later to progress to acquiring her larger art quilts.
And here’s Susan herself, presenting her latest masterpiece which you can see more of on her blog Rebel Quilter. Maybe she’s smiling so big because she just won the Niche Award at American Craft.com.
Or maybe she’s smiling because she was chosen as the cover artist for the Missouri Art Awards poster and invitation. Whatever she has up her sleeve, you know it’s going to be good!
Maureen rhymes with jean, and that’s what she did. Showed up in these “to-die-for” custom embroideried jeans. How’d she do it?
Don’t tell I told, but she opened the inside seams, embellished with her own embroidery design, then sewed the inside up. How clever is that? And how can I get some?
March 26th, 2007
Thursday at noon, our local PBS station ran the documentary The Art of Quilting, so Uncommon Threads members were invited to Christine’s house for lunch and a wide screen viewing party. Cathy Jeffery brought some work in progress to share, there’s a detail photo above. As always, Cathy’s work shows skill with color.
For lunch Christine cooked up all kinds of wonderful things, including Okonomoyaki, a kind of family style Japanese pancake with mayonaise, sauce, and seaweed on top.
Christine serves up the sauce, and Emmie and Kathy enjoy it!
Christine lived in Japan for several years, so her home is filled with all kinds of wonderful Japanese dishes, arts and crafts. We’ll have to go back sometime to get more photos, but wait, look at those great spring rolls Christine has laid out on a hand-made platter!
And finally, there a few moments between show segments to run upstairs and take a peek at Christine’s studio…
March 10th, 2007
This is Lettie Blackburn’s new quilt that she showed at the Uncommon Threads meeting today. We met at Arleta Johnson’s house, and she fixed us all a yummy lunch of cucumber sandwiches, brownies and other goodies. There was lots of discussion and lots of catch-up since last month’s meeting was cancelled due to the ice storms.
Two members, Susan Leslie Lumsden and Emmie Seaman, used the winter months to start blogs, so the idea came up to create a group blog for everyone in the Uncommon Threads group to participate. So this is the blog!
After meeting, and lots of show and tell, Arleta treated us to a tour of her upstairs studio. She has an ingenius design/pin wall that slides out from a cubby space on rollers attached to a barn-door slider.
The unusual roof-lines create a cozy workspace that Artleta keeps neat and fresh looking. Her husband installed daylight bulbs that light the space very well.
Arleta is showing the back of her new quilt (which is just as designed and complex as the front) to Susan, Maureen, and Christina. Hey look, Maureen and Susan match the cutting board!
Here’s the front which uses lots of Japanese fabrics.
February 21st, 2007
