Art Soup: 2016

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Hound-Dogs Aplenty

September 2016

Hound-Dogs Aplenty!

My Pack of Hounds, my litter of puppies, my dear little doggies...
This series of pups was created for a few art shows that I've been in and most all have been adopted. I shall miss my furry friends.

Monday, October 10, 2016

My Quirky Little Watercolor Flowers

September 6, 2016

Quirky Flowers: Sketching and Watercolor

In addition to all of my other art loves, I enjoy sketching and water color painting.

Odd and wonky, these silly flowers melt my heart.

Doodling in my sketchbook while letting my mind wander often results in Magic.

Working rapidly while drifting off, I love the spontaneous nature of these sketches.

Thank you for stopping by.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Lion King, Harlem-Style

May 2015

Looking Back...

Democracy Prep

Harlem NYC

Katie, the cute kid on the left, my mom "Mimi", and me at the opening night of the Lion King.

Katie is the principal at a middle school in Harlem and my mom has volunteered to be costume designer and maker and doer and everything else for several of the plays.

She is just about the best volunteer and mom to ever walk the planet. This was a challenge to create the Lion King costumes for the whole school cast and it took my mom about six months working nonstop to sew these amazing costumes. Those giant animal heads were no easy task.

By luck, my cousin is married to one of the percussion musicians with the Broadway production. Robert was able to score tickets for the entire sixth grade and the rest of the cast.

My mom got to go along as well.

In addition to attending the matinee Broadway production, about eight of the Katie's student cast members and my mother we're invited backstage to meet the Broadway cast and the costume director.

Kind of an incredible experience!

They got up close and personal and were able to touch the incredible costumes,

appreciate the behind the scenes activities and were shown how the costumes work.

I'm so very proud of my mom and my kid!

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Apron for Sallianne

August 22, 2016

Apron for Sallianne

My friend, Sallianne McClelland, who owns the fabulous International 'Art Is You' retreats, lives in Australia and is soliciting handmade art aprons for her Apron Project, which supports The Hornsby Kuringgai Women's Shelter in St. Ives, NSW Australia.

I made a canvas apron and began covering it with loads and loads of hand stitched

and painted pockets.

Each pocket represented a potted succulent or flowering plant.

Some of the pockets had the roots of the plants deep inside the pockets.

I used my hand painted fabrics and free motion stitching and appliqué to create all of the images.

I felt humbled and grateful to be able to contribute to this worthy cause.

Visit "TheApronProject.com" for more information.

Monday, August 15, 2016

American Girl Doll Fashion Camp

August 2016

During my summers when kids are out of school, I teach a girls sewing camp which incorporate 5 days of hand and machine sewing. We make outfits and create jewelry and accessories based on the theme of each camp. We've had Birthday Party Camp, Sleepover Camp, Mexican Fiesta Camp, and most recently a Girl Scout Camp-out.

These camps are less about how to sew meticulously and more about playing with the sewing machine to make fabulous creative costumes for the dolls. The grand finale is a fashion show on our red carpet runway!

I condensed this class into a three hour birthday party as well. Always a hit!

These camps that top the list for my summer fun, are held in my studio at the Dragonfly in Old Towne Orange, CA

Monday, August 8, 2016

Visiting Frances- Grafton, Vermont

August 7, 2016. Visiting Frances

My niece, Katie Zerega, (who we referred to as "Katie Maine", so as to avoid confusion with MY Katie, "Katie California") was married, in upstate New York at the top of a ski resort. It was a spectacular weekend; the entire wedding party rode a chairlift up to the top of the mountain for a beautiful ceremony and a spectacular view.

Heading home to Connecticut, Mom and I detoured through Vermont. My great Uncle Dick owned a house in Weston, VT, a charming village where we spent every winter weekend of my childhood. (Free lodging, a father obsessed with skiing, and $6.00 lift tickets in those days made for non-optional ski weekends).

We drove up to the old house finding no one was home. That didn't stop us from trespassing and circling the house, reminiscing about all of our times snowshoeing in the meadows and visiting the Vermont Country Store.

Our final stop in Vermont was to duck into the charming yellow farmhouse in Grafton Vermont, owned by my sweet friend, Frances Holliday Alford.
Her home has been completely remodeled to include an elevator to her third floor studio. With more sewing supplies than any art studio, this creative space is jaw-dropping. After promising to return for an art weekend, we wrapped up our travels and return to Fairfield.
Thank you, my sweet friend, for a wonderful visit.😘