Painting

I have been really excited lately because I have been learning to watercolor. That's right, I found a WONDERFUL teacher named Lynn Diamente from Columbia City IN who shows her paintings at the Orchard Gallery in Ft Wayne In.I don't think she has a web site. She is a wonderful artist and shares all her info so well. I'm very excited. My Mr Ken and I went to Chicago over the weekend and I was very excited to see the modern wing of the Chicago Art Institute. It was almost blinding! It was so white and light. Beautiful. Before we came home we walked to the Navy Pier where there was a small obscure gallery of Tiffany glass windows. I thought how like watercolor they were with their glowing properties. The next thought I had was "Gee, wouldn't I be good practice for me to draw and paint these? Well, we'll see. I guess they sell the designs in Dover books for people to make windows and transoms, so why not paint them? It would be good practice without the worry of composition. We'll see. This painting obsession is not new. I have been painting quilts for sometime. I guess I just need to take the leap of faith that painting traditionally is possible for me. Here is a picture of a painted quilt from a few years ago.

I painted sections of musical instruments on raw canvas and pieced them together. It won an award at an art show. I was floored to say the least. I will be posting more since I am now retired and this will be a diary of my progress. Wish me luck!

Quirky Quilt

Here's the quilt that I made a breakthrough with. I finally posted it on facebook and it is getting a positive response. But so is the kitty photo. But it's all good.

New kitties and clay

Ken and I are new parents to two kitties! The tiger is Allie and the tuxedo kitty is Wally! I have been working on more clay as well.

Retirement and what happens next

Not long ago I made the big decision to retire from public school teaching, which will happen at the end of the year. I promised my husband that I would continue to work part time and I hope to do this on my own terms. While teaching piano lessons will be involved at some point, I have always dreamed of being a craft artist. I have collected and experimented with many art supplies and taken many classes (mostly from quilt artists). I have found that while I love painting, I love quilts and all things geometric. I also found that I enjoy polymer clay, and this medium seems to be the only thing I could make many of and not be bored. SOoooo I have figured out how to marry all of my passions. I have been making polymer clay pins and charms in simple quilt patterns by painting on the clay. So far the clay is in the shape of little houses. Quilt houses in clay are born!

I have some technical issues to resolve, but I think I may be on to something. Tell me what you think!