Art Aceos

This lovely collection is from Jeannine.  She has a project over at her site, to help families of the armed forces.  She did a great collage class last week at the gallery.  Z was able to sit in on the class and really learned some new techniques and came away with some interesting pieces of art.   Head over and check out her art work and help out a good cause.

The Red Thread Print Show

Our local arts group is having the spring show in April based around the theme
“Beyond Reading Books as Art“  this is a multi-venue show that brings in a lot of regional people to town.  It is so important for us since we are in a redevelopment area and regular foot traffic is very sporadic.
The Gallery’s part of the show this time is “The Art of Print Making.” I have invited several, new to the area, artists and it is so great to have such a positive response, for participation.  I will have more as we get closer the the event.
I want to also thanks Leanne for her lovely blog post.

Printed Fabric

Shop Update Printed fabric

I finally have some new items in my shop.  I have not had as much time as needed to keep it updated.  After the next few weeks, I am changing my schedule and it should make things a little smoother.  I am getting ready for a presentation tomorrow, this is the third one I have had to do in the last six weeks and I will be glad to be finished.  We really have to juggle many jobs when we work as independent designers.

It is good to be sorting and organizing my studio.  I found this print fabric and it goes well with my own printed designs.  This color palette is working so well for me.  I still have several designs on the cutting/drawing board.  It looks like another busy week.

Travel Wallet

Modern Pot Holder

Studio Organization

Claire-Mag-3

I am still in working on my new studio. I have so much going on right now, and the boys have been sick ,so I am a little behind.
This photo has such a great look, it inspires me to get back to the layout and making a new place for my creative work.  Lately it seems the “business” part has been using a lot of time. I hope my space will be finished soon, I have so many ideas in my head.
As I have been going through my stash of fabrics, yarns, notions and such, I have made decided to open and new Etsy shop for my supplies. My style has changed a lot over the years, and I have collected a lot from friends and others that I know I will never use. It is just going to be ruined, so I will have an announcement up soon with the new set up and all kinds of interesting supplies for everyone to create some wonderful things.

Architecture and Design

On the trip to Richmond we visited some areas we had not seen in a while.  It is a very Southern town, but a lot of redevolopment is going on in many areas.  We usually see the old colonial homes with the live oaks and crepe myrtles trees. 

We found this interesting building off Broad Street. 

This is the Markel Building, built in 1962.  Richmond native architect Haig Jamgochain was inspired by a bake potato wraped in foil.  Each floor section of aluminum is 555 feet long, with sledge hammered crinkles.

Inspiration

Angelia*A

I just received my copy of Marie Claire Idees. It is in French and I can not read much but the visuals are so good it is all you need. When I see things like this photo, I so wish I were a better knitter. I can do a knit and pearl stitch in straight rows, that is about it.
I love this bag, the color, the shape, the design. It is inspirted by simple vegetables, even better.
Even more plant inspiration on the other pages.

Weekend Trip

We are going on a little trip tomorrow.  Richmond is a couple hours away, and some museum, fabric and book store inspiration is in order at this time.  Please take a look at some of the great blogs in the side bar.  

A chance to visit Anthropologie as well.

Organization and Storage

Since my last post about organizing my studio, I have made real effort to find/collect together all my materials and supplies that are scattered in several different places.  Many things were packed and moved to the working studio from my home studio, and not marked or sorted. I am now going to have separate wet and dry areas, that should help with work flow. I am doing more planning than usual, lets hope it shows in productivity in the end of this process. I have been looking at different types of storage, I love the style of this
shelving unit that Holly of Decor8 posted. I think a combination of open and closed storage areas will work best. I get really cranky with a lot of clutter around.

My current goals with the new space:
-Sort and get rid of old things that do not work with my current design style. (Possible collage packs, de-stash).
-Store items that are used together in the same location, near its use area.
-Use coordinating storage containers, label/tag everything. (No matter how much we sort, the locations are hard to remember).

I have several types of containers around here, I like to use similar style for different items. It is really frustrating when you find a favorite and they are no longer available. I know it is a marketing game, but I usually have a budget and purchase a few at a time, by the time I need new containers, the design has completely changed no longer works with my originals.

It seems a lot of designers were organizing and setting up new studio earlier in the new year.  Anyone else have some new goals or ideas?  Studio photos are always good.

These are two storage units I thrifted, the vintage one on the right has been with me for a long time.