Category: art quilts

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New Year, New Art, New Exhibit!

There is nothing like the feeling that we are getting a chance to begin something anew! Just like when we were children, the beginning of the school year held a promise (or at least the possibility!) of a change in positive ways. So with the New Year, I am posting new art pieces, as I am preparing for my first solo art exhibit in February!  Hope you will enjoy viewing these and please visit my website Art Gallery to see the new pieces as they are finished!

One series is Child’s Play~based on the idea that for children their play is actually their work.  The first piece is Playtime Games, which you can view in the Art Gallery.

The new second piece of this series is titled ~~Meow, Mr. Whiskers!

Meow, Mr. Whiskers, rayon on cotton, 7 1/4" x 10", © 2013 Joni Beach.
Meow, Mr. Whiskers, rayon on cotton, 7 1/4″ x 10″, © 2013 Joni Beach.

Children love many things, but the family pet can become more than just an animal, and become a friend….While they learn about animals, children also learn  about relationships and caring for others besides themselves. Sometimes they even talk to their pets in their own language! ~ Meow, Mr. Whiskers!

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Back to the Studio~ Reflection in a Soap Bubble.

Postcard New Years Resolution Soap Bubbles 1909
Postcard New Years Resolution Soap Bubbles 1909, Public Domain via Wikipedia

Today it’s back to the studio…Beginning a new calendar always gives me a feeling of a new start–sense of closure to the previous year and a chance to make changes, adjustments, and achieve new goals. This reminds me of being a child beginning a new school year after a  carefree summer break. One time ends, a new time begins, and a transition occurs. With the holidays over and the start of the new year 2012, my schedule returns to a more normal pace. The workspace is organized and ready-to-go. There are a few art quilts to finish, some new ideas to explore, and a plan to re-shoot photographs for my Portfolio and the website’s Gallery page. Spring also brings deadlines for various juried exhibits.

This week Peach Farm Studio nominated my blog for a Versatile Blogger Award and I want to say thank-you to them. I appreciate having Lifeweavings considered. This award is to help bloggers find new blogs. So, while I can’t do all the criteria to pass along this award right now, here is a quick list of some of my favorite blogs to read. You might like them too… (And, this reminds me to update my blogroll/inspiration sites!)

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As in the photo above of the vintage English postcard, I may not reach all of my resolutions, or goals, made for the new year, but envisioning things we desire to achieve  helps the creative process…

  and just perhaps some of those soap bubbles will soar and float in the air!

Reflection in a Soap Bubble, Mila Zinkova via Wikipedia.

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Image Credit: Postcard New Year’s Resolutions, Public Domain via Wikipedia.                     Image Credit: Reflection in a Soap Bubble, Mila Zinkova via Wikipedia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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In the Studio…Reorganization

It’s a wonder how reorganizing a studio space can give a different perspective and encourage creativity. I guess it gives a sense of newness, of new possibilities, or a realization that there is more than one way to do things. I have been out of my studio for a while and as things are moved back in, I am rethinking the use of each area and what it is used for.

For example, the design area now has a table that is handy to spread out fabrics, books, and sketching supplies or it is great to use as a temporary office with the laptop and a lamp.

Design Area
Design Area

Across the room, by the design wall is a good place for the cutting table with patterns, rulers, scissors, and the pressing station is nearby. On the other side of the design wall is the construction area with machines, reference books, threads, and notions.

Perhaps, most important to reorganizing is de-cluttering the space and rearranging books, fabrics, and tools. I’m trying to decide how to store my quilting fabrics…folded on the shelves by color?… loose in wire mesh baskets? Katie Pasquini Masopust in her book, Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter, suggests sorting fabrics by color–yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green–then sorting each into 7 values, in a range from lightest to darkest. This will take some more thought and experimentation to discover what works best for me…

Of course no one says a studio has to stay neat and organized! But sometimes it feels good to begin with a blank slate of sorts…In returning to the studio, I have a new commitment to the goals made earlier in the year.

I have a new perspective and am ready to work!

*Happy Thanksgiving this week to everyone!*

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