Artists Unite for Haiti

I just realized yesterday was the three year anniversary of starting this blog. Wow. That's hard to believe!

This weekend is the "Artists Unite for Haiti" art sale at the LoDi Project here in Raleigh. I just got home from dropping off some artwork - mine, my daughter's, and a stack from my daughter's middle school (she share the info with the art teacher and it kind of took off).

It's an "anonymous" sale, in that the pieces are not to be signed on the front. If you purchase a piece, you won't know who the artist is until after the purchase. I am going to give you a sneak peek of our pieces! All art is $25 and all proceeds will be donated to the Mercy Corps to help in Haiti.

This first piece is 5x7. It is an older dryer sheet piece, matted to 8x10. I call it "me encanta".

This is a larger piece (12x16) and also made from recycled dryer sheets. The background is new, I made it this week. The three panels on top were made as one 8x10 piece a few years ago. I split it into three, and finished off the edges. I call it "harlequin triptych". A detail of the piece is below.

The next photo is a portion of a piece I completed last week. I can't share the whole thing just yet as I am waiting to hear if it is accepted into a show. My daughter saw this, though, and it inspired her idea for the piece that she donated to "Artists Unite for Haiti" ...

And here she is with "turtle love". I thought it was such a great idea ... I told her I wish I had thought of it!

The background is an acrylic wash, the turtle is built up layers of tissue paper, and the shell is made from recycled CDs. I just love it!

We are both hopeful that our pieces will sell, and that the sale is a great success. They had hundreds of pieces of artwork there when we dropped off our things. It was humbling to see such a tremendous outpouring from the artistic community throughout the world. If you are on facebook, you can become a fan of "Artists Unite for Haiti" and follow the progress!

Infusing Color

I am tired of brown, green, gray. No offense to those lovely colors, but the bleak winter landscape has been weighing on me. Maybe it was the cold spell we had, I don't really know. I decided what I needed was some color - bright, vibrant, and warm - to bring me some enthusiasm.
I hadn't painted dryer sheets in a while,so I decided this was a good place to start. Look at these beautiful colors! An instant mood lift.

But then, what to do? I decided to take a stab at making coffee cuffs ... you know, those cardboard sleeves you get with your hot beverage-of-choice so you don't burn your hand? I have a fabric one that my friend Carolyn made for me a couple of years ago and I use it every time.

This is actually the second one I made. The outside is painted dryer sheets, free motion quilting and some beads. The inside is hand dyed cotton. This one is laced up with yarn to keep it closed.

This next one is the first one I did. I had a little trouble with getting the shape right and had to re-do it a few times. Still, I think it came out nice. An unconventional nod to Valentine's Day...

I satin stitched this one closed, which was no easy feat on my machine. I love my machine, but it lacks a free arm ... and stitching inside a small circular shape without one is a trick!

Now I need to test them out ... coffee with a friend sounds like just the ticket! Then I will make more and put them in my etsy shop.

I wonder if maybe I am missing the Caribbean? Spring will be here soon! In the meantime I'll enjoy my soft sweaters and warm socks and get my color fix through paint.