New goal: Create an art portfolio of the Archaeology Series to use in proposals for solo exhibitions

December 2010

December 6: Yesterday, my husband and I drove into NYC with an 8 foot ladder strapped to the top of the car. We needed it to hang 6 of my pieces from the very high ceilings in ArtsEcho Galleria. I also have 7 framed pieces. I'm very pleased with the way the hanging went and am excited about the opening on Wednesday night. I didn't get the black acrylic I needed to do the small pieces, so I tried printing in shades of brown on cream raw silk. Ugh, a disaster. I got very anxious about it and had thoughts in my head about never being able to have the 'magic' again. So I slept on it and the next day went back to a tried and true color scheme and the rhythm I get into when I'm printing well. It worked perfectly. The gallery owner is very pleased with the pieces that I made special for her store. They feature my new lace screen images. I snapped photos of them just before I put them in their 8x10 black shadow boxes. Just have to get them out of the camera and into the computer to show you.

Since I'm up at our apartment all this week, I'm taking advantage of going into the city for my Artist's Dates. Today, I went to the Guggenhiem for their Chaos and Classicism show of European art between WWI and WWII. I saw a lot of Picasso's that I haven't seen before and learned that he was a "master of multiple styles". There was one Picasso from a side exhibition of Justin Thannhauser's collection that reminded me of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's "At the Moulin Rouge"http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/paintings-by-henri-de-toulouse-lautrec2.htm, I also saw many paintings by Cezanne, Rousseau, Manet, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Gauguin, Degas, and Van Gogh that I had never seen before. It was so exciting to be exposed to new images. One Picasso that I fell in love with is "Woman in White" http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/53.140.4 that he painted in 1923. It's done in oil, water-based paint, and crayon on canvas. After he painted it he put a film of white paint over it and it gave me the idea that I could do that with my imagery.

This afternoon, I went shopping for the perfect brown boots to go with the perfect brown dress that goes with the amazing brown jacket that I bought at ArtsEcho Galleria - they also sell vintage clothing - only to get back to our apartment to find out I left the dress in our coat closet 2 hours away at our house. So plan B, I'll wear a black dress and not look as spectacular for my opening as I had wanted to.

Tomorrow, I have to decide what Artist's Date I want to go on before meeting my husband for dinner and then going dancing. I'm thinking I'll go to Black Swan with Natalie Portman where she plays a ballerina. It's supposed to be a dark, pyschological thriller. Wednesday, I'll rest up at the apartment before the opening. Thursday, I plan to visit more galleries in Chelsea before meeting Peter for a dinner party. Friday, I might try to make it to the Museum of Art and Design for the Global Africa Project. Rita Hannafan and I have been trying to convince the curators of MAD that they need a SAQA exhibition. No luck yet.

December 13: The ArtsEcho Galleria opening was wonderful. So many people came and the gallery was packed from 7-10pm. Here are some of the SAQA members who were at the opening:

Sandra Bendor (Owner of ArtsEcho Galleria) and me

Jeri Riggs, Kevan Lunney, Peter Gottlieb

Rita Hannafin and me

Archaeology series Black Sheath, White Sheath, Mind Over Matter

Archaeology series Gray Matter and Roots

November 2010

November 10: Remember how I've been talking about making cold calls for SAQA to book the Creative Force and Sightlines traveling exhibitions? Well a lead came in from a brand new New York City gallery that wants to feature fiber art, but their venue is too small for the large SAQA shows. So I got to talk to the owner about Fiber Revolution and my own work and she was interested enough for me to visit her yesterday.

The end result is I'm going to be her featured artist in December when she has her grand opening. So mark down Wednesday, December 8th 6-10 pm at ArtsEcho Galleria 455 West 43rd between 9th & 10th on your calendar. AND Fiber Revolution is going to have our Botswana Collection there during April & May. Exact dates to be nailed down later.

She was also VERY interested in Lisa Chipetine's work from the poster and books I brought for show and tell. What she's looking for is 'edgy' artwork. Definitely not landscapes, botanicals, photo realism, patchwork, traditional patterns 'with a twist', etc. To quote her, she doesn't want 'pretty'. I think what she's looking for is artwork that challenges the viewer. She's also very interested in artists who use recycled materials in their work so I told her about Libby and Jim Mijanovich who exclusively work in used clothing. So if you use recycled fabrics, speak up and I'll give you an intro.


November 15: This week I received 2 more declines from art quilt exhibitions - the Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2011 and SAQA's Beyond Comfort. While I've been able to get large groups of my quilts in galleries, I just haven't been able to get accepted to art quilt shows this year. Thank goodness I'm in this group, or my work would not be along side quilts by other artists.

My cousin Rachel B. Collins is a watercolor artist. (http://www.rachelcollinsart.com) When I saw her at my uncle's funeral a few weeks ago, I showed her my brain quilts and told her about the six month show I'm having next year at the Princeton Brain and Spine Institute. She then told me she has 30 paintings of vertebra. So I told the curator about her work and Rachel's now going to be in the show with me. The curator is looking for 1 more artist who works in brains or spines in a medium other than quilts or paintings to complete the show. If you know an artist that fits that narrow profile, let me know. My hope is that after the curator sees how easy it is to hang quilts and how well they're received, that she'll give us a FR show there.

In getting ready for my ArtsEcho Galleria show in December,I took Archaeology 14: On My Mind which is ~13"x11" to the frame shop to have it done up in a shadow box like the AC's. Today, I tried to quilt again on the quilt (Archaeology 27: Day Dream ~19" x 42") I brought to the retreat but didn't touch. And I ended up after two hours frustrated with my Bernina. It's shredding the silky thread from the top. I've tried replacing the needle, rethreading the top, cleaning everything I can get to, changing the tension. No luck.

Tomorrow, I'm going to switch to a different quilt that uses non-silky thread and see if I have any issues. I really don't want to put my machine in for service so close to an art opening. I'm hoping to make a few more pieces by December 4th. Two new ProFab acrylic paints arrive for the new work I want to do and Lyric Kinard has mailed me the new silk screens I ordered. I'm going to incorporate images of lace into my new Archaeology pieces specifically for this gallery. Also, I received a chocolate brown dress I ordered to go with the vintage brown jacket I bought last week at ArtsEcho Galleria. After I polish up my brown shoes, I'll be all set for the opening on Wednesday Dec 8th. I'm hoping some of you can make it into the city to the reception.

Today, I made a LinkedIn contact with the curator of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, CA and sent him a Botswana Collection proposal for Fiber Revolution. I did get a no from Museum of West Baton Rouge Parish in LA and another no from University of Alaska Museum of the North, in Fairbanks, AK. Still waiting to hear from the Textile Center in Minneapolis, MN, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, in AZ, the Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ, the Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont, CA, and the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Melbourne, FL.

November 22: Press Release

ArtsEcho Galleria
455 West 43rd Street * New York, NY 10036 
646 692 6277 * www.artsechogalleria.com 

ARTSECHO GALLERIA'S GRAND OPENING FEATURES FIBER ARTIST CAROLYN LEE VEHSLAGE

and PAPER SCULPTOR GERARDO LATINO

On View from December 8th through January 31st
Reception and Grand Opening Party, December 8, 7 - 10pm 

NEW YORK:  ArtsEcho Galleria, a new fiber art gallery and vintage apparel boutique located at 455 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, will hold a meet-the-artists reception at their Grand Opening on December 8th from 7 - 10pm.  

ArtsEcho Galleria is dedicated to presenting national and international fiber artists who work in paper sculpture, quilting, textile surface design, basketry, weaving, and wearable art.  For the Galleria's premiere exhibition, the work of contemporary quilter Carolyn Lee Vehslage and paper sculptor Gerardo Latino will be presented.  

Carolyn Lee Vehslage is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates and Fiber Revolution.  Her work is in museums and collections throughout the United States, France, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, and South America.  The quilts featured in the ArtsEcho exhibition are from her "Archaeology Series", in which Vehslage uses images of brain scans and thought patterns.  Her layers of multiple silk screened fabrics represent moments in time that mutate as the images are recognized.  

Gerardo Latino creates intricate and dramatic paper sculptures for which he has developed methods of bending paper in addition to the extreme cutting techniques that characterize his three-dimensional work.  Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Latino's work reflects deep influences of both the Mayan and Aztec cultures.  His paper sculptures are featured in collections throughout the United States, Japan and Australia and can be seen in New York for the first time at ArtsEcho Galleria.

ArtsEcho Galleria is part of ArtsEcho, a non-profit arts organization founded in 1987. The profits from the sales of vintage clothing and jewelry in the gallery help ArtsEcho support and further the work of fiber artists.  ArtsEcho Galleria also features an in-house line of sustainable couture.  By providing existing fabric to designers, ArtsEcho Galleria promotes environmentally-minded fashion.  Currently featured and available for purchase is the work of designers Aileen Lowe, JiYoung Song, and Babatunde.  

ArtsEcho Galleria is located at 455 West 43rd Street, New York, and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 - 8 and Sunday from 12 - 6.  For more information, please call 646 692 6277.

November 26: I've started reading The Artist's Way by Julie Camaron. It seems to focus mostly on unblocking creativity and has exercises that must be completed each week for 12 weeks. One of the daily tasks is to write 3 morning pages. This morning I ended up writing 7. I described how I was blocked for 3 years not being able to create work. It all started in November 2006 after a solo show that was well attended but only produced one sale of a small, inexpensive quilted painting. I felt deflated. To prepare for the exhibition, I created several pieces in both my quilted paintings and computer collages series. But the work I produced was in the same vein - I did not stretch to create these works. It was as if I was on automatic pilot. I was uninspired. I was completely finished with all I had to say about the Computer Collages - I had run my emotional gammit on them. And I couldn't get excited about creating a lanscape or seascape that would take several months to execute due to all the hand work. 

I just stopped creating. The only quilt I made in 2007 was a small crazy quilt of moons and stars for my friend's daughter. It was creative, but I certainly didn't think it was artistic. And I had no intentions of exhibiting it. In 2008, I made only one quilt for Fiber Revolution's Botswana exhibition. It also was a crazy quilt - this time of African Fabrics with a big AIDs ribbon appliqued on top. During 2009, I made nothing and for the first time since 2000, I showed nothing as well.

In 2007 or 2008 my lifetime disability policy was cancelled because they found my website and various article that I had written about art quilting and determined that I could handle a full time job in several industries. I hired a lawyer, spent $4,000 and appealed their internal process. I went to their doctors and were evaluated that yes I did have a debilitating disorder. It took about a year to go through the process and as expected they held to their decision to terminate my contract. I then spent a year deciding if I should pursue a lawsuit in court. It was a hard decision to make because the loss of the income had made it financially difficult for us especially since my husband was either unemployed or underemployed for nearly 3 years. I was definitely depressed and couldn't concentrate on making art. Part of my reluctance to pursue the lawsuit was because I would have to give up selling my artwork. And that had always been a very important thing for me. It validated me as an artist that some one was willing to pay money for my work. In my next post, I'll talk about how I came out of this prolonged blocked period of my life. 

November 28: I finally made the decision in the fall of 2009 not to pursue the lawsuit. It had taken a long time to make the decision, but once made, I never wavered about it. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was finally freed up to pursue other things. I felt I could make art and sell it again. My creativity was back. But I didn't know what my art would look like. So I started to view other artists work. I found some that abstract pieces that I really liked how colors were blocked out in them. I also remembered how much I was intriqued by Eszter B.'s work that was in Martha Sielman's The Masters book. I liked how she was layering imagery with slight variations in color and how she worked in a single color palette. I really studied her work for a long time - looking at the images, looking at the quilting, looking at the piecing, looking at the colors. Then I wrote to her and started asking questions about how she works and that eventually became the profile piece in the Fall 2010 SAQA Journal.

By December 2009, I knew where I wanted to go with my art. I knew I wanted to work in layered silk screens. I knew I wanted to work in Earth tones and Grayscale. I knew what images I wanted to create. I knew I wanted the series to be called Archaeology. And I knew I wanted to write about my experience, so I joined the Visioning Project and stated that my goal was to make 3 pieces that were worthy of entering into Quilt National, which I had never entered before. 

So I spend the last two weeks of December modifying images on my computer and sending them out to be made into silk screens. I ordered fabric paint from ProChem and bought base fabric from Joann's. And I spend many hours just thinking about how I wanted my work to look. How I was going to use the silk screens, stamps, and stencils I collected. I was primed. 

The day after New Year's Day I came home and starting printing. It was just as I had thought it would be. I loved the process and the results. And I became very productive, making 28 pieces to date. If you're interesting in reading the journey I took to create those pieces, go to my 2010 pages.

November 30: Today, I took myself on an "Artist's Date" - a weekly assignment from The Artist's Way workbook by Julie Cameron. I went to most of the Chelsea galleries on 23rd street and the south side of 24th street. My plan is to visit as many as I can to get a feel for which ones I'd eventually like to approach. There's a great map of them at http://chelseagallerymap.com/ Surprisingly, I actually saw some art that I liked along with one exhibit that was actually junk. Charlie Hewitthttp://www.charliehewitt.com has 5"x7" "works on paper' that he collages, pen & inks, paints, and machine stitches. He's selling them for $1800 before framing.

Tonight, I went to mix up some more gray acrylic only to find that the Black PROfab acrylic paint I thought I ordered was 'color concentrate". I'll have to call them tomorrow morning and see what this product is and if I can use it. Otherwise, I might have to have them overnight the right type so I can make some more small quilts by Saturday for my opening on Wednesday. 

October 2010

Oct 1: I've been working hard finishing up several quilts to take with me to Tappan Z Gallery in Tarrytown, NY on Oct 6th. I'm going to switch them out with the ones that have been there since June. I'll also be able to take two of my favorites that didn't make it into Quilt National. They are now up on my website at http://www.clvquilts.com along with the third entry. Since my new work didn't get into to QN or QAQ, I'm going to look outside of the quilt arena to find places to show my work. It just might be too 'artsy' for the art quilt world.

Also, I've really been cultivating connects with curators, gallery directors, museum directors, and art center directors through LinkedIn in preparation for this year's goal of getting a solo show or two.

Oct 2: Today, I send off an introductory email to a curator of a health care company that specializes in brain and spine treatment. This is my first step toward my goal of getting a venue to exhibit my Archaeology series as a group.

Also, I photographed Hand of the Artist, Brain Waves, and Brain Scans today and posted them on my website. I've modified the layout of my quilts so the important ones show larger. Right now, I have them in order of completion so people can see my progression. Maybe later, I'll regroup them by themes within the Archaeology Series.

I'm half way done quilting Day Dream with the spiral pattern, but I'm disappointed that the quilting seems distracting from the quietness of the piece. Too much is done to rip it out, plus the holes would show.

Archaeology 27: Day Dream ~19"h x 42"w

detail of quilting on Day Dream

Oct 5: Over the past two days, I've called 20+ venues about the SAQA traveling exhibition Sigtlines. Still also looking for more venues for Fiber Revolution's Botswana Collection. Tomorrow, I'm traveling up to Tarrytown, NY to exchange artwork at the Tappan Z Gallery. I'm bringing everything I've made since June, which turns out to be 8 quilts plus one I made in February. It was a very productive summer. Then I'm off to visit my brother in CT for several days, so I'm taking my sewing machine so I can work if the mood strikes me.

On Tuesday, I have a meeting at the Princeton Brain & Spine Institute to discuss an exhibition of my brain quilts. The gallery director only has 2 shows a year, so it will be a six month commitment to loaning the quilts. I don't know yet if she's thinking she'll show mine in six months or a year from now. Either way, it will give me time to complete some more of the brain imagery I did during the workshop this summer.

Fiber Revolution is having a retreat next weekend. I have to get in touch with Kim LaPolla to see what the space is like to see if I'll be printing or sewing next weekend. Really looking forward to it.

October 9: The gallery visit went very well and the director took 5 new pieces. My SAQA auction quilt Archaeology 13: Time was bought at a high price, so I'm happy about that. I started another piece that doesn't quite fit the Archaeology theme of layered images, but was printed in the workshop with imagery from the series.
October 12 Had a great meeting today with the gallery director at the Princeton Brain & Spine Institute and she's going to take 10 pieces from me for a three person show next October which will run through March 2012. Really looking forward to the retreat this weekend. I'm bringing my sewing machine and hope to finish the quilting on Day Dream and start on two more brain quilts. For hand work at night, I have a long, narrow piece that I'm hand stitching. On the way up to the retreat in NY State, Kevan Lunney and I are going to stop in at Storm King Art Center which mainly exhibits sculpture Looking forward to seeing Maya Lin's Storm King Wavefield. 

I'll be making more calls trying to secure venues for SAQA's Sightlines exhibition tomorrow. Leaving a lot of voice mails and emails with not much positive response. Had a lot more interest in the Creative Force exhibition with was twice as large.

October 19: I'm at what I'm hoping is my last night of babysitting and I forgot to bring my glasses so I can't thread my needle to hand quilt the piece I'm working on. 

This past weekend was Fiber Revolution's retreat at the Greenville Arms Inn which hosts the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops http://www.artworkshops.com/and http://www.fiberartworkshops.com. It was a great time to really see in detail the artwork of the eight Fiber Revolution members and 2 guests who attended. Our show and tell took up all the daylight hours on Saturday because we really explained what is going on in our art, how we do it, and where we want to take it. It was great to have feedback on my Archaeology series and receive suggestions for what to do next. SAQA member Kim LaPolla and her husband Mark do a marvelous job as hosts of their bed and breakfast and workshop studio.

September 2010

Notes: September 7: I've been working on Arch 24: Brain Waves and Arch 25: Brain Scans for the past two weeks.

working on Arch 24: Brain Waves on our sailboat Fandango

Archaeology 24: Brain Waves ~33"h x ~17"w The fabric for Arch 24 was created in the fabric dye 5 day workshop that I took in August. After I got it home and washed out the chemicals in it, the color in some sections faded so I hand painted them back in in dark brown acrylic. Because the fabric dyes don't change the 'hand' of the fabric, I was able to hand quilt this piece. At first I was happy to be hand quilting again, but then the novelty wore off and I wished I had machine quilted it to speed up the process.

Archaeology 24: Brain Waves detail

Archaeology 25: Brain Scans ~33"h x ~39"w The fabric of the brains was created in the workshop and the background fabric I printed last week at home using my acrylic paints. Each of the 12 brains is hand appliqued. My fingers are worn out from all the needle pricks. I still want to go back in and silk screen some more imagery on this piece. Seeing it on the computer screen really helps me think about what I want to do with it.

Archaeology 25: Brain Scans detail

This weekend I took a friend out sailing on my Hobie Wave and found out that she does MRI imaging. She's going to collect up brain scans and X-Rays of spines for me so I'll have great images to design from. So excited!

I've got two quilt designs in my head and I plan to start printing the background fabric for them this week. Maybe even today. One will be like Brain Chemistry, only with an image of a large hand. The other will be about sailing with a large bell bouy over top the ocean waves, sailboat blueprints, and mariner's compass images.

September 8: Today, I went with my housemate to the Apple store while he needed to get his Mac fixed. Got to spend quality time with an IPad. They are smaller then I had hoped. I want a larger screen to show off my artwork as a portable portfolio. Don't know what the plans are for future versions. Also, I'd like it to have a USB port so I can port my files over easily. True, I could hook it up to our wireless network and email the files to myself. Just seems to be a slower method of porting. Didn't do any art today. But found a great text book on the human brain at BJ's. Lots of good reference material for my current obsession with brain imagery. Yesterday, I did print more brains on Brain Scans and worked on the one with images of my hand print and thumb print. I used the fingerprinting kit from my Census Bureau work and then scanned the prints in. Enlarged some and sent them to Lyric to make silk screens out of them. I'm really pleased how they came out.

September 14: Set up 2011 Visioning Project. New goal: Create an art portfolio of the Archaeology Series to use in proposals for solo exhibitions.

September 17: Yesterday, I took a free motion quilting class with Carol Taylor at a Mancuso show. She taught me to sit on an elevated chair, use my left foot for the presser, use my right knee for the foot lift, use a 90/14 needle, use YLI invisible thread in the bobbin, and use 30 weight thread on top. All these variables together greatly improved my free motion quilting. She taught 12 different patterns, none of which will lend themselves to my quilts, but it was great to learn and I will practice them more. I found a great blog with tons of quilting patterns at http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/ and http://www.daystyledesigns.com with videos on how to do the patterns by Leah Day. Very good blog.

Today, I received the decline letter for both Gray Matter and Brain Chemistry from Quilts=Art=Quilts. There were 358 entries and 93 accepted. That's a high ratio of acceptance. I think I need to start entering fine art exhibits to get accepted.

September 21: I've been making calls on behalf of SAQA to museums to propose the Creative Force and Sightlines exhibitions. I'm getting a high rate of requests for proposals and even secured a venue for Creative Force at Ohio Designer Craftsman in Columbus, OH. If the museum is to small for CF or SL, then Martha's letting me pitch Fiber Revolution's Botswana Collection which only needs 70 linear feet. The Museum of West Baton Rouge agreed to a proposal today.

Also, I've been really working my LinkedIn contacts to make connections with curators and executive directors of galleries, museums, and art centers to have those contacts ready when I'm ready to propose a solo exhibition.

September 23: I've decided to organize another traveling exhibition for Fiber Revolution. It will be called Fragmentations and I need at least 15 FR members to commit to making a quilt for it. I'll give them 6 months to make it. Then Cindy Friedman will make a PDF poster of the images and I will start calling venues.

Tonight I watch Leah Day's Spiral Quilting video 3 times and then practiced it using Carol Taylor's system of free motion quilting. I'm still having a little trouble with tension and I've decided I don't like the look of the YLI invisible thread nor the large holes that the 90/14 needle makes. I've got to practice more and switch up bobbin thread, needle size, and thread weight. Archaeology: Day Dreams has been on one of my design walls for over 6 months waiting until I had the skill set to free motion quilt it. I still need to practice much more, but I've decided that I will quilt spirals on it. I need to get much more consistent with the shape of the spirals and make them much bigger. I seem to start out medium sized and then get smaller and smaller as I go along. Just time with the machine will improve my form.

Archaeology 27: Day Dreams ~19"h x 41"w

free motion quilting practice

September 25: I'm really rocking to complete several quilts to bring to the Tappan Z Gallery on Oct 6th. They haven't sold anything of mine since I gave them 10 pieces in June. I want to trade some out.

Really enjoying making the cold calls to galleries and museums about SAQA's traveling exhibitions. Great practice for when I'll be doing it for myself.

After reading Martha Wolfe's 2011 post that announces her Dirty Dozen Exposed 2010 exhibition, I'm wondering if the concept of banding together to create exhibitions is unique to quilt artists or do other artists in different mediums also do it?

Scroll down for previous blog posts

Goal for the year 2010: Make 3 quilts for Quilt National ’11 entry

Archaeology 9: Origin 16.5" x 16.5" © 1/2010 CLV "Tappan Z Gallery" Tarrytown, NY

The 4"x6" Archaeologies are mounted in a black shadow box. Feedback on Origin: love the color on the reddish piece! The spiral "shell-fossil" image is so defining isn't it? Really a nice focus for your work and I like very much how you've echoed the circular swirl of it with the other shapes on the ochre 15 by 15 piece. Music screen is very good texture--amazing that it reads both soothing and stable at the same time as giving a kind of scratchy texture. You are on your way! -Linda Colsh www.lindacolsh.com

Archaeology 1 - 4"x6" © 1/2010 CLV "Tappan Z Gallery" Tarrytown, NY	Archaeology 3 - 6"x4" © 1/2010 CLV "Tappan Z Gallery" Tarrytown, NY
Archaeology 4 - 4"x6" © 1/2010 CLV in the Fiber Revolution Art Concentrated Collection	Archaeology 5 - 4"x6" © 1/2010 CLV
Archaeology 6 - 4"x6" © 1/2010 CLV	Archaeology 7 - 4"x6" © 1/2010 CLV "Tappan Z Gallery" Tarrytown, NY

1/27 - I'm almost done with the 1st of the 3 QN pieces. I can't believe how quickly I've been able to make the quilt by machine quilting (about 6 hours of quilting) verses months of hand quilting my Quilted Paintings. Today, I bought the fabric for my next piece. I got the inspiration from a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Gabriel Oroczo has a solo retrospective and he has a very, very long, narrow piece that looks like a Japanese scroll. My piece is going to be 10 feet by 1 foot. It will mostly be white with shades of gray.

Obstacles: I've got to learn how to maintain a constant speed with my presser foot. I wish there was a visual indicator of the rpm's instead of having to listen to the hum of the machine.

Solutions: More practice

February 2010
Notes: 2/1 It's just after midnight so it's officially February. Yesterday, we hung Archaeology 10: Shades of Gray over the fireplace in the family room. I'm thrilled to be surrounded by my best abstract pieces after going for 2 years with nothing on the walls of that room. I'm not posting Arch 10 because I want to enter it in Quilt National '11. The top 1/3 is white fabric, the bottom 2/3 is gray and there are 3 vertical black squares to the right of center.

Also yesterday, I sandwiched Archaeology 11: Roots which is for the SAQA Regional Roots exhibition for NY, NJ, & CT members. (Update - exhibition got cancelled) The 3 fabrics for Arch X are printed and on the design wall. I'm going to have them critiqued by Sandra Sider to help me decide how to cut them up and piece them back together.

Archaeology 11: Roots 45.5"x35.25" © 4/2010 CLV "Tappan Z Gallery" Tarrytown, NY	I view Archaeology 11: Roots as symbolic of my life and my interests. It is my personal cultural lineage. I call the series Archaeology because the viewer has to look carefully between the layers and the obscuring of the quilting to discern what the images are. The imagery is diverse and layered as life experiences are laid one upon another. As the images are built up on the cloth, changes occur to how the shapes relate to one another. A single image that may represent a moment in time is mutated by the images that are layered upon it. As life goes on, the past affects the present which influences thoughts of the future. There is an evolution in thinking and a change in what becomes more important over time. Feedback: Wonderful! I love these images and am so pleased that you have found gallery representation. That always helps to keep the inner fires burning. I particularly respond to the brain images superimposed on the other elements. Again, Congratulations. - Hugs, Jason Pollen
	Detail of Archaeology 11: Roots Notice that the silkscreened and stamped images overlap each other as I build up my designs. The quilting in some cases shadows the shapes and in other cases obscures the images.When looking at the piece, you don't notice the quilting, because I used gray thread. It blends into the background. The reason I am still quilting my work is that I like the textural undulations. It gives a slight rippled effect to the artwork. That way the overall work is not just a piece of printed fabric, but a finished piece of art.
Archaeology 14: On My Mind 11.5"x9.5" © 5/2010 CLV	When I sent Archaeology 11: Roots to two of my art critics, they both said I should re-make the detail shot of the brain as its own quilt. So I did. Because it's so small, I'm thinking of framing it up in a black shadow box like Archaeology 1 through 8 are done. Feedback: By the way, I love your new work I think you use your markings a little bit like I do – that is as a metaphor rather than a direct representation (markings that remind and associate in our conscious, and perhaps subconscious, of archetypal images, events, and relationships). I like it! - Regina Benson
Archaeology 20: Gray Matter 35"x29.5" © 6/2010 CLV	One of my art critics recomended that I scale the brain up quite large as a third quilt. So I did by creating a 28"x24" freezer paper stencil of the brain. Now they want me to go even bigger! I'll have to get Kinko's involved to blow up my original computer drawing. I'll also have to work out the logistics of printing that large on my kitchen table. I'll have to put in 2 more leaves and print the bottom half and then the top half. But first I have to find appropriate fabric. Joann's of course is out of the charcoal gray linen with the interesting weave texture. I'm planning on entering Gray Matters into Art Ability at the Brym Mawr Rehabilition Hospital that specializes in brain injuries. Wish me luck! (Update 8/6 Art Ability turned down all six pieces I made for that exhibition.) Feedback: Your work is stunning, Carolyn. Abstract work is fascinating, and difficult, I think. I'll keep checking in on your work. Like it very much. - Felisa Lyons

In addition, I've signed up for Melanie Testa's Freeze Paper, Paint, Oh My! online class and hope to make more fabric for future Arch's. Today, I printed the fabric for both my 10 foot x 1 foot scroll (Archaeology 12: Scroll) and my SAQA Auction (Archaeology 13: Time) piece. My husband's so excited about the scroll, he's already figuring out how to install special lighting in our stairwell to spotlight it. He's thinking 3 spots hung from the ceiling angled at the 8 foot high by 3 foot wide wall will do it.

Archaeology 13: Time 11.5"x11.5" © 2/2010 CLV is my entry into the SAQA Auction. Follow the link to the YouTube video where I talk about this piece. YouTube video

2010 SAQA BENEFIT AUCTION There are 288 Auction pieces, and they're spectacular! There's something for every taste...and with price points from $75 to $750, there's something for every budget. The 2010 SAQA Benefit Auction will start September 20th at 2:00 Eastern with the pieces on pages 1a and 1b and a bid price of $750. The price will drop to $550 at 2:00 Eastern on September 21st. Then it will go to $350 on September 22nd; $250 on September 23rd; $150 on September 24th; and a final bid price of $75 on September 25th. The auction pieces on pages 2a and 2b will begin their auction on September 27th. Pages 3a and 3b will begin on October 4th. Full details: http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1186 Last year we raised $47,325 -- This year, with your help, we're hoping to do even better! Feedback: Thank you for your donation to the 2010 SAQA Benefit Auction. What a great combination of images - I love the mixture of music, chemical formulae, clocks, puzzle pieces, circuitry boards, etc. The more you look at it, the more you see - a true reflection of personal archaeology. – Martha Sielman

2/2/10 Sandra Sider spent an hour discussing my new direction. Her comments were invaluable and I would encourage people to hire her and Lisa Chipetine and get a QuiltCritique done of their art quilts. http://www.threadplay.com/critiquing.htm

2/4/10 Finished hemming 22 feet of facing on Archaeology 12: Scroll. Still can't believe how quickly I'm turning out this new series. If you're keeping track of my numbering system for the Archaeology series, you may be wondering were Archaeology 10: Shades of Gray and Archaeology 12: Scroll are. Well, I'm planning on entering them in Quilt National '11 that has strict rules about not publishing the images before the opening of the show. So I'm not jinxing my luck by posting them on my website, blog, or Facebook.

Archaeology 10: Shades of Gray currently hangs over my fireplace and is my favorite piece to date with Brain Chemistry being a close second.

Archaeology 12: Scroll is similar to White Scroll, only much whiter (no dark gray images) and much bigger at 120"h x 12"w. I still have to work out how to make the scrolling occur. Peter's got some ideas using dowels and I'm thinking of using fabric strips that I could tie. I made these two new ones so I could experiment with the various methods without working on my QN "11 entry until I'm sure of what I'm doing.

2/14/10 Most of the quilting on Arch 11 is done, I need to add some light gray circular fabric to it to balance out the charcoal on black. Started another printing for a quilt (Archaeology 14: Elements ?) for an exhibition for Fiber Revolution (http://www.FiberRevolution.com) in gray tones. If I like it enough, I'll use it for the committee section of ArtQuilt Elements. (Update - this idea didn't come to fruition, so Archaeology 14 became On My Mind)

This week I worked in ochres for my homework for the Freeze Paper class. The fabric rippled from ironing the freezer paper to the fabric over top a vinyl table cloth. Next time need to use a pressing cloth and the ironing board. Learned about getting fabric printed at http://ww.Spoonflower.com after reading Linda Wyatt's Visioning page. Might have to try it out.

April 2010 Notes: 4/24 It's been over six weeks since I worked on my artwork. I had to clean the kitchen table so we could have friends eat dinner and I never go back to it. Also, I was stimied when my two attempts to print on raw silk didn't work out like I had envisioned them. The fabric just soaked in the ink and made it look dull. I'm bummed because the silk was the perfect shade of gray and I have a big bolt of it. But now I'm under the deadline of the SAQA: Roots exhibition entry and I started printing this morning what will be a whitish appliqued shape to cover up too much charcoal on black.

On Friday night, April 16th before the SAQA Symposium and ArtQuilt Elements opening on Saturday at the Wayne Art Center, Cindy Friedman had some of our Fiber Revolution members over for dinner and a meeting. She also invited AQE Juror Jason Pollen. During our show and tell time, he was gracious enough to critique our work. I had my SAQA Auction piece and my Scroll as well as some printed fabric that I am still debating how to cut up and sew back together. Jason's comment where invaluable to me and I'm waiting patiently for Lisa Chipetine to send me the Flip videos she took while I was presenting my artwork and then when Jason was talking about it. I posted the one where I'm talking about my art on Facebook and YouTube.. I really want to hear Jason's comments again so I can focus on some of the points he made - like why should I embellish the SAQA Auction piece and why am I still quilting. I think I have an answer to the second question because even though you don't really see the heavy machine quilting I'm doing when you look front on to the pieces, I like the subtle texture it brings to them. In some instances, the quilting also obscures the images and I like how that relates to Archaeology and how things get hidden over time. I think Jason may have also talked about how my printing is reflective of time passing - but I may be confusing that with the conversation he had with Kevan Lunney's Archaeology series.

Also, Archaeology 9: Origin is hanging in the ArtQuilt Elements committee section and is in the hard copy catalog so it will be seen by several thousand viewers over the next month. I priced it at my new rate which is $3 per square inch. At 16.5" x 16.5" it worked out to be around $800. I still haven't done the math on my other pieces yet. There is a tremendous article on pricing in the upcoming SAQA Summer Journal. It will really help out a lot of our members.

Obstacles: I'm working full time for the Census Bureau for the next 2 months while still have my two part-time jobs of babysitting 10 hours a week and editing the SAQA Journal. May 1st I've got to start on the Fall issue.

Solutions: schedule time to do art.

Artist Statement for Archaeology 11: Roots
45.5"h x 35.25"w
Linen, cotton, thread, cotton batting
Silk screened, stamped, pieced, appliqued, free motion quilted

I view Archaeology 11: Roots as symbolic of my life and my interests. It is my personal cultural lineage. I call the series Archaeology because the viewer has to look carefully between the layers and the obscuring of the quilting to discern what the images are. The imagery is diverse and layered as life experiences are laid one upon another. As the images are built up on the cloth, changes occur to how the shapes relate to one another. A single image that may represent a moment in time is mutated by the images that are layered upon it. As life goes on, the past affects the present which influences thoughts of the future. There is an evolution in thinking and a change in what becomes more important over time.

Since I LOVE to show everyone every thing, I sent out an email to some of my friends showing them the full and details before I posted them on my web site.

My friend Kevan Lunney is great at critiquing. Here's what she emailed back: "!!!!!!!!!!!! the brain is the detail shot that should be a large finished work, just as photographed.!!!!!!!!!! The black square that fits at the top of the crack is so perfect!. Enlarge it and hand paint it if you have to. It would be fantastic enough to get you into quilt national."

So today, I got out the left over gray linen and printed the detail at the same size as it's own piece. When I crop it, it will be about 13"h x 11"w. Since I took Melanie Testa's online class on Stenciling, Freezer Paper, Oh My class I might take Kevan's advice and make a really big stencil of the brain and do it a third time.

Kevan also critiqued the whole quilt, "the white parallelograms- I get why you put them there and the placement is perfect but they are too white and too different. they are also very directional. Watch the arrow problem. One way to create a focal point is to provide an area of greatest contrast. You did this and more with the 2 white shapes. You also created tension between them. This tension, while interesting does not relate to the rest of the quilt. My eye wants to stay in the dark space between the white shapes. I would have chosen one of the large circle shapes or brain and printed over the black stripe in the same spot. The contrast of the white paint on the darker background would have been enough to create contrast and a focal point."

My response was, "I was thinking of doing a circular white shape in that area, but I thought it might be too repetitious so Peter (my husband) suggested a parallelogram. I tried it with one and liked it better with two. My mind was stuck on doing it as an applique instead of overprinting on the black stripe and gray sections." So she's given me great advice on how to compose a future piece. I've also sent the images off to Sandra Sider and Lisa Chipetine for a future QuiltCritique. (All part of my Visioning plan!)

I'm ready to talk about the critique Jason Pollen, juror of ArtQuilt Elements, did of my Archaeology 12: Scroll. I'm still waiting to get the Flip video that Lisa Chipetine took when he was talking about it so I can hear again all the good things he said about my new work, I remember him saying my work has a lot of depth, but the rest of the time it was like the teacher talking on the Charlie Brown specials - I was so excited that he was critiquing, I had trouble concentrating! Darn.

The main two points I remember him asking is why I am still quilting it and why do I feel the need to embellish Archaeology 13: Time. I've had time to think about those two questions and reexamine my artwork. The other day I emailed him, "I have given quite a bit of thought to your question to me of why am I still quilting my work. (Remember I had the 10 foot x 1 foot scroll that was silk screened and stamped in light grays and whites with a touch of black, in images that are personally important to me.)

"The quilting in some cases shadows the shapes and in other cases obscures the images. When looking at the piece, you don't notice the quilting, because I used gray thread. It blends into the background. The reason I am still quilting my work is that I like the textural undulations. It gives a slight rippled effect to the artwork. That way the overall work is not just a piece of printed fabric, but a finished piece of art. I really liked that you posed the question in such a manner that it really made me think why I feel compelled to quilt the surface.

"For my small 12"x12" piece called Archaeology 13: Time I had said that I didn't think it was finished and that I wanted to embellish it with white, gray, and black metal items that would be reminiscent of clock gears. Again, you simply asked if I really needed to do that. At the time I said that I was compelled to do so. After thinking it over, my desire to so is a hold over from my previous work on my Computer Collages (see http://www.clvquilts.com) that are heavily embellished with computer components, wires, metal objects, and lots of metallic dangling threads. After stepping back and reevaluating Arch: Time, I now believe it is done. But I still expect in the future of this series to have some clock and watch parts. I want to bring in the third dimension beyond the quilting to portray depth and layers."

Obstacles: I really need to learn how to square up bigger pieces better and I've got to work on my facings to make them more professional.

Solutions: Keep making art and my skill set will improve.

5/17 Jason Pollen emailed me the following that Archaeology 11: Roots, "is exciting, engaging, complex, intriguing, poses lots of questions and feels deeply human." Pretty cool, huh? Like Kevan, he also suggested I create the detail shot of the single brain as a quilt. So I did and finished the facing & sleeve today, just need to screen up a label. Its called Archaeology 14: On My Mind, 11.5"h x 9.5"w. I was able to square it up well since it's so small. Still not 100% pleased with the corners of my facing. When I make the bigger version, I'll sub title it Gray Matter.

Feedback: Carolyn, I learned so much from your journal entry with critique info included. Very thoughtful and constructive comments. Your Archeology series is wonderful - and the way you explain it, layers of life, works strongly for me. I sometimes ask myself, why does this piece need quilting? Is that what gives it more substance? Personally, I like the way the stitching can help lead a viewer's eye, or add the depth it does, or create a contrast dye or paint can't. Your work certainly deserves it's own solo showing. Perhaps with some actual archeological artifacts from places that you, and previous generations of your family, have lived. - Chimo, Jennifer Cooper

In other news, a high school classmate that's been following my work on my Facebook page call Saturday to discuss commissioning a piece vs. buying one I've already created. He knows my pricing is $3 a square inch, and just has to figure out how big a piece he wants. So that will be my first Social Networking sale - Lisa Chipetine will be proud!

One of our 3 housemates moved out a week and a half ago, so the very next day I moved all my art supplies and materials that were in just about every other room into that bedroom and declared it my studio. Need to get new pics of it up on my website. (Update see Studio Page) This is third time I've set up a studio space in a different location in this house. Hopefully, my husband will find a job soon and we won't have to take in another renter to pay the mortgage...

In early June, I plan to reveal my really big news about my art career. So check back in.

Obstacles: Right now I'm juggling working for the Census Bureau full time and 3 part-time jobs (SAQA Journal Editor, artwork, & 10 hours of babysitting a week) It feels like I'm just running from job to job.

Solutions: Census job should be over in two weeks, Fall Journal is 1/2 way edited, I've been stopping in my studio for 15 minute increments and actually making progress!

5/22 Woke up at 6 am and immediately set up to print the background of the large brain quilt. I'm back to printing on the kitchen table instead of in my new studio because the table surface is bigger and better and the kitchen sink is better for clean up than the upstairs vanity sink in the bathroom. The background printing went well and now I have to finish cutting out the large brain freezer paper stencil. I've cut half of the 28" high stencil. Need to flip it over and trace on a second piece of freezer paper to get a whole brain.

Most people who know me personally, know that I'm on Social Security Disability for schizoaffective disorder with bipolar features. Brain chemistry and how it effects our moods has always fascinated me. My Computer Collage series is all about my mental/emotional relationship with technology. A few years back, I wrote an article the SAQA Journal and some other publications about how my illness is portrayed in the collages. You can read it at http://www.saqau.wikispaces.net/Art+Biography+Carolyn+Lee+Vehslage

In the past, I have participated several times in an exhibition call Art Ability for artist with disabilities at the Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital that mainly handles head injuries. Motherboard Meltdown Nine Patch even won a cash prize one year. I've just added to my list of goals to create one or two brain based pieces and enter them in their juried exhibition this year. I also have a screen that has the chemical equations for brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin - things my own brain has trouble regulating. I'm thinking I might need to add a screen about left and right brain differences. Two articles Jean M. Judd wrote on the topic of left/right brain and the effects on artwork creation is my inspiration.

5/23 The last two days I've really been on a roll and have printed two more quilt tops. The large brain stencil came out great and I'll post in-progress photos soon.

I'm really hoping I can find a way to afford the 5 day workshop call Working in a Series with Kerr Gabrowski http://www.kerrgrabowski.com at Peter's Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ. She does Deconstructed Screen Printing and comes highly recommended as a teacher. Lisa Chipetine read my post and recommends that I get her DVD instead. Just have to sell $900 in artwork and I can afford it!

In an attempt to quilt a print I made back in January, I've set my sewing machine up with the right thread for the project. I seem to be holding myself back from free motion quilting it because I'm unsure how I want to do it. So it's sitting all sandwiched on my studio table. I've temporarily named it Day Dream.

5/27 Yesterday, I was hyped up on 2 Venti Iced Coffees from Starbucks. So it made a great afternoon and evening to print up Black Scroll and White Scroll. I'll want to add Gray Scroll to the mix. I made them mainly so I would have a completed quilt that I could experiment with creating the rolling dowel mechanism instead of having to do trial and error on Archaeology 12: Scroll which is for QN '11.

A gallon of white PROfab acrylic paint and 32 ounces of black arrived the other day. Just in time on the white. I'm really going through the paint - it's my third order and it's expensive. I've been keeping track of my expenses - up to $1650 to date.

Today, I'm driving up to Kevan's to pick up 6 4"x6" Archs in 8"x10" frames and hand her 2 replacements. Will be showing her Arch 11, Arch 12, Arch 14, the 2 brain prints for Art Ability and the 2 new scroll prints. She's excellent at critique. Then I'll help her with some of her computer troubles.

5/30 Kevan Lunney’s comments on my newest work:

Archaeology 11: Roots. Eye goes right to the white arrows then off the page. Vertical black pieced is a strong element. Things to improve composition: Dull down the white parallelograms. Mid gray horizontal strip 1/4 from bottom about 2-3” wide. (Note: try watered down PROfab versus adding PROfab transparency to light gray paint, use scraps of parallelogram fabric.)

Archaeology 14: On My Mind. (the little brain) Perfectly cropped.

Archaeology 20: Gray Matter. Crop it to same ratio as small piece. Whiten up the brain. Add a rectangular shape on either side. Make the top block solid and square. Add a black shape near the center of the brain. Add circular shapes near the top. It’s hard not to put a circular shape in the middle of a square, but the oval shape works off center. You like the structure of the background print vs. the organic/fluid shapes of the brain. Looks like branching, growing shapes. Subway map looks like the brain stem. Pathway leading up to the top square shape.
Make it much bigger – go to Kinkos with original .jpeg or drawing. Acetate stencil. Cardboard stencil might be best. (I will see if I can find the SKU of that deep gray linen and see if I can order it from Joann's)

Archaeology 19: Brain Chemistry. Good foreground/background. Good proportions. Tiny chemical equations mimic shape of half brain. Doesn’t strike you immediately that it’s half a brain. Looks like a pod, or a cat lying down. Raw silk softens it. Best piece yet.

Archaeology 19: Brain Chemistry 32"x24.5" © 6/2010 CLV

Here's my first piece working with raw silk. It seems to soften the imagery a bit. Those little squiggles are the chemical equations of dopamine, serotonin, and other brain chemicals. Feedback: Good foreground/background. Good proportions. Tiny chemical equations mimic shape of half brain. Doesn’t strike you immediately that it’s half a brain. Looks like a pod, or a cat lying down. Raw silk softens it. Best piece yet. - Kevan Lunney

Archaeology 15: Black Scroll & Archaeology 16: White Scroll – will look good in the collection.

I've just put the facings on 15 & 16 and will hand sew them to the backside this weekend. Getting all my artwork ready for a big trip to New York on Wednesday. I'll be staying over at my good friend Jeri Riggs' house and will take her with me to drop my artwork off at the soon to be disclosed location...

I've been visualizing my third piece for QN '11. Need to go shopping for more fabric! Plus I've got to make the Botswana piece by the beginning of July and I'd like to have a few more pieces to enter into Art Ability by the end of June.

Kevan gave me a tip for how to handle my bulky corners and I did it on both White Scroll & Black Scroll and they came out much better.

I'm thinking of framing On My Mind in a black shadow box because it's so small. I think it will make it more impressive.

Obstacles: None at the moment. Everything is clicking into place. I'm working less hours each week for the Census Bureau which allows for more art making time. Nearly done with the editing cycle of the Fall SAQA Journal. Oh, I just thought of one issue I'm having - I'm not 100% satisfied with how my stamps are coming out.

Solutions: Turn my favorite stamps into silk screens.

Feedback: Love your journal! I just finished reading your journal pages, and I have to tell you that I learned a great deal from what you wrote. Thanks so much for sharing so many things with us — your trials, the comments made on your artwork, your thoughts as you worked were all illuminating. I enjoyed the pages immensely. - Diane Evans

6/4 - Here's my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: I now have gallery representation by the Tappan Z Gallery in Tarrytown, NY http://tappanzgallery.com I drove up the 3 hours from south Jersey near Philly to Westchester County on Wednesday and delivered 10 pieces including Arch 9: Origin, Arch 11: Roots, Arch 15: Black Scroll, Arch 16: White Scroll, 4 4"x6" mini quilts mounted in black framed shadow boxes, and 2 of my Computer Collages. The gallery is beautiful. I like the work of the other artists. The gallery director couldn't be nicer.

6/6/10 - today I printed Black Sheath and White Sheath that are both 84"x12" for my Art Ability entry. They are similar to Black Scroll and White Scroll. I'm hoping they'll be very popular as narrow vertical pieces.

On the 3 hour drive home, I thought a lot about what I want my Botswana quilt to look like. It might not be off the Archaeology Series, but it will uses the techniques and earth tone color palette. Now I have to research what trees look like in Botswana.

Last night I sent a personal message to all 400 of my Facebook friends and several of them are going to make the trip to see my work in the Tappan Z Gallery.

Here's what they look like hanging in the "Tappan Z Gallery" 51 Main Street, Tarrytown, NY 914-332-8800 open Wednesday - Sunday Noon to 8 PM

I have a whole wall in the gallery. I really like how the pieces float a good inch away from the gallery wall. I like the shadow the work creates. The whole gallery is hung salon style, which some artists don't like, but I'm fine with it.

This morning, I started printing up two more black and white scrolls so I can enter them in Art Ability. I think they will be very popular because people can always find a narrow vertical space in their house.

6/10 Today was 'sign up with the masters' and take classes to improve my skill set. I'm going to take Carol Taylor's free motion quilting patterns in September at the Mancuso show in north Philly. In August, I'm spending 5 days up at Peter Valley Craft Center in north west NJ and taking a workshop with Kerr Grabowski on working in a series. I think I should put a portfolio of my new series together before I go so she can see what I'm working on.

When I was up at Jeri Riggs' last week, she gave me a demonstration of her facing technique and I videoed it. Today, I successfully did it. My corners are soooo much better. To read about it and see photos, go to http://jeririggs.blogspot.com/2008/02/facings-for-quilts.html

Also, today was my last day working for the Census Bureau. That will really free me up to spend more time on my new series. And, I'll be able to sleep when I need to during the day to catch up when I have insomnia at night. Looking forward to being in better mental balance.

I've found I really like journalling about my process and progress and am working on setting up a blog so I can be more public about it rather than only viewed by a handful of loyal Visioning Project readers.

The sub Visioning Project group "Visioning Voice" http://visioningvoice.wordpress.com/ has been a good one to join. The posting are very interesting and everyone is participating with their comments.

6/11 Obstacles: I'm having difficulty achieving a standard stitch length with my free motion quilting. I wish my machine had a visual RPM for the presser foot so I could better gauge when I'm in the sweet spot. I can tell that it sounds different at different speeds, but I'm not good audio-ly so I'm not able to say to myself - ah that's the sound it needs to make. Also, I don't know how fast or slow I should be moving the fabric.

6/15 Archaeology 17: Black Sheath and Archaeology 18: White Sheath were finished in the cockpit of my sailboat this weekend. Now I'm quilting Archaeology 19: Brain Chemistry. I've shadowed quilted the squiggly lines of the half brain with thread that blends with the background and have echo quilted those shapes in black on the background sections so you just see a hint of thread. I ended up with about a hundred threads to bury doing the outline quilting, but I like the look. I'm liking how the texture of the raw silk quilts. It has much more of an indentation then the cotton and linens I've been working with. Number 20, Gray Matter, is up on one of my design walls directly in front of my sewing machine. So I've had some time to look at it and decide how I want to quilt it.

For my FMQ problem, my husband suggests he make me a 'governor' for my presser foot so I can step down on it to just the right speed. Unfortunately, I don't know what that speed is yet. I remember Caryl Bryer Fallert wrote that it takes 200 hours of quilting to train each sewing machine to free motion quilt properly. I've probably only have about 10-15 hours in so far on the 19 pieces I've worked on. Nancy Cook and Judy Warner left good suggestions on my Discussion page of what I should be doing.

Today, I bought the fabric for my Botswana piece. I have till mid-July to get it photographed and Oct 5th to deliver it. This week, I want to cut the stencil for the tree that will dominate the piece. I bought enough fabric so if I don't like how the first printing turns out, I can always redo it. The earth is a reddish color in Botswana. There's a slide show at http://www.upenn.edu/botswana/ that shows the earth, trees, and city life of Gaborone as well as Cindy Friedman's piece for our original exhibition there. It's call Tswana Hope and has dozens of male Tswana dancers in the shape of a red AIDS ribbon.

I'm also thinking I could whip out two shorter, narrower scroll/sheaths for the Art Ability entries. I can have a total of 6 and it's free to enter, so why not? Just have to have them photographed and online entered by 6/28. Plenty of time at the rate of speed I've been making these.

6/18 Gray Matter & Brain Chemistry are faced and ready for hand sewing on the boat this weekend. Today, I printed up two 8"x36" pieces for Art Ability that I'm temporarily subtitled Black Casing and White Casing, but not thrilled with the names. I'm keeping track of the actual time I spend creating them. Of course, since I'm making them two at a time, there is an economy of scale. What I've been telling people is it takes 4 days to make my pieces - a day to shop for fabric, a day to print, a day to quilt, and a day to finish. But, it's really much shorter than that since it only takes me an hour round trip to the fabric store, maybe 4 hours to print including drying time, half a day to quilt, and half a day to face, sleeve, label, and hand sew. Such a difference from my months long process of my Quilted Paintings that were all by hand. If you scroll toward the bottom of this specific page on my website, http://clvquilts.com/WC_pictorials, you can see the various steps in my process.

Today, I send another order for 15 silk screens to Lyric Kinard (http://www.lyrickinard.com/thermofax.html). (The money I've spent ordering them through her probably adds up to the cost of a $700 thermofax, before the supplies.) I printed my favorite stamps on card stock, scanned them into the computer, sized them in Photoshop, so I could have them as screens. I've been unhappy with the way the stamps work on fabric even through I'm coating them thoroughly with acrylic paint. They just don't leave a crisp image like the silk screens. Also, I printed my palm prints and thumb print. I think it will be fun to have the 'hand of the artist' printed in my work.

One task on my to do list is to print on paper the 5 or 6 screens of old walls and trees that I had Lyric make several months ago. I haven't used them yet since I'm not sure how they will look.

What I've got to get going on next is my Botswana piece. Every day I put a small task for it on my to do list, but it doesn't get done. Another 'goal' that just popped into my head is to make something to enter into Houston. I thought the entry deadline was some time in July, but I can't find for form on the Quilt, Inc. website. I also don't see it on Lyric's show entry list (http://www.lyrickinard.com/enter_shows.html) so I must have missed it. Maybe I'll shoot for Quilts=Art=Quilts. Never applied for that one before. Depending how my Botswana piece comes out, I think I'll enter it in SAQA's Beyond Comfort because it's a brand new way for me to do landscapes. So my 'small' goal of making 3 quilts for QN has really exploded into a whole new round of exhibiting artwork.

Another 'to do' is to start writing about the Archaeology Series like I did for the Computer Collages. I certainly have enough that I've written here in this Visioning Journal to get a good start. I also have been logging all the tasks as I do them and have kept track of people's comments. I emailed the Tappan Z Gallery owner to find out how my work has been received and he says there have been positive comment, and of course, people want to touch them - I had warned him that would happen. So, I told him that's an opportunity to show off the quilting on the backside since it doesn't show that much on the front. Certainly would be a conversation starter.

6/30 Finally started "Botswana Courtyard at Dawn". Last week I cut the stencil for the Botswana tree. It looks so cool and I'm planning to print it sideways as kelp and feathers. Today, I painted the sunrise sky and the background color for the wall. Tonight, I finally opened the box of new silk screens and I'm thrilled with them. Now, I'm off to sponge print the orange dirt of the Botswana courtyard and silk screen in the wall. The blooming tree will be in the foreground.

July 2010
Notes: 7/10 Botswana Courtyard at Dawn is coming along well. Next, I'll be making a ton of 3D yellow blossoms. My plan is to enter this piece in SAQA's Beyond Comfort since almost all the techniques are new to me.

Botswana Courtyard at Dawn 23.5"h x 31"w © 7/2010 CLV Feedback: Wow that is really exceptional - wishing you continued inspiration and success. - Jean Rispoli ONeill

Obstacles: On the wall section, I had a lot of tension issues when I tried to make square shapes. After a long telephone conversation with the store that sold me the Bernina Artista 180, I relearned that there is a tension button that takes me to a menu screen where I can scroll up and down on the needle tension. She strongly recommended that I do not try to adjust the bobbin tension by turning the screw on it. I will experiment with the menu driven needle tension as soon as it's a little cooler in my upstairs studio. Unfortunately, I can't just rip out the stitches and start over because the acrylic is so thick from silk screening that the needle holes don't come out. Even if I wet the fabric and try to manipulate the fabric threads.

July 15 Finished my piece for the Fiber Revolution exhibition in Botswana, Africa. Sewed over a hundred silk flower blossoms on the tree. Not sure if I prefer it barren or in bloom. Started printing my 3rd piece for the QN entry. I cut the fabric to be as big as my dinning room table with both leave in. ~45 wide by ~79 high. I'm trying to recreate the patterning of a smaller piece I did, but it might not translate well full size. Time will tell.

July 16 I decided to do another brain quilt for my 3rd QN piece. It will be called Mind over Matter. So far I've used my big brain stencil and printed in very light gray in the upper left hand corner over several layers of silk screen prints. I'm thinking of doing another big brain in black in the lower right corner. I might cut down the great height of the piece.

Tonight's my opening at the Tappan Z Gallery! I'm very excited about it. I hope the people who come will understand my work. It will be interesting to get feedback from potential patrons.

July 19 I've finished printing, heat setting, and sandwiching Archaeology 23: Mind over Matter. Deciding whether to quilt with gray, white, or black thread. Probably gray. It's the biggest quilt I've made at 75"h x 38w after I trimmed off the edges. It will be a challenge for me to quilt it. Probably will take a few days rather than a few hours that my other quilts have been taking.

The gallery opening was wonderful and I'll have to post some photos from it.

Beth Carney and me

me and Jeri Riggs

Teresa Guaragno and me

Here I am with my parents in front of some of my art.

On Friday, I posted to http://visioningvoice.wordpress.com/ about Gwedolyn A. Magee's Narrative Series and how they have both a very distinct style and a strong message so therefore a very pronounced 'voice'.

7/25 Very early this morning when I couldn't sleep on the sailboat due to the oppressive heat, I finished sewing the sleeves and label onto Archaeology 23: Mind Over Matter in the cockpit where there at least was a warm breeze if not a cool one. So I'm 95% of the way to my Visioning goal of entering 3 quilts in Quilt National. Next, I need to get them photographed by Deidre Adams and then fill out and mail my entry form. Will definitely have it all done before the deadline of September 10th.

Along the way, I completed 2 long range goals of making 15+ large quilts and getting gallery representation. So tonight I added more long range goals of 1) Prepare portfolio for solo exhibition proposals 2) Create postcard of new work 3) Seek out fine art exhibitions to enter and 4) Find more gallery representation. Maybe they can be my goals for year 2 of the Visioning Project. I'm very happy with all that I've achieved during these past 7 months even with a six week break I took in March and April, and I have so many ideas for more work in the series, plus I might even make another landscape (or rather seascape since it will be a water scene.)

On Thursday afternoon, I leave for a 5 day workshop on "Working in a Series" with Kerr Garbowski at the Peters Valley Craft Center in northern NJ. I have a lot to do this week in preparation for the class - lots of materials and supplies to gather up.

Feedback: Carolyn, I very much enjoyed reading your blog -- it was quite long and I read every word! A fascinating glimpse into ideas and process. regards, Clairan Ferrono

August 2010
Notes:August 4: I'm back from 5 fabulous days of total art immersion at Peter's Valley Craft Center in the Delaware Water Gap National Park, NJ and it was wonderful. The teacher was Kerr Grabowski and the class was focused on working in a series and learning her deconstruction techniques. I was able to product A LOT of work that has potential of becoming finished pieces that will fit within my Archaeology series. There are at least six quilts that I'll be able to make from it, maybe more.

Kerr over the course of the 5 days truly teach us every technique that she uses. Some I'll be able to incorporate. Others I will not.
She had us focus on an object that we brought. Mind was my brain silk screen so lots of brain imagery came out of that. Most everyone had decent enough objects to work with.

She had us do what she called warm up aerobics, without the exercising and music - just design problems to solve, mainly centered around our object. Contour drawing, drawing with small sticks, drawing standing up with big sticks, riping out object out of black construction paper, building it out of magazine images, writing a list of 60 ways to use our object.

What I really learned was that I am not equipped in my household to work with dyes which is a requirement for her deconstruction silkscreen. It can't be done with the textile acrylic paints that I use with my screens. 1st the dyes are toxic, and I'm not in to taking all the health precautions, 2nd it is too water intensive for my tiny kitchen especially when I consider that we have 2 other housemates living with us, 3rd there's no white which is a big part of my work, 4th there's little control over the outcome and it's difficult to repeat, 5th the dyes wash out more then I like them to.

So, I've decided that if I want to work with dyes again, I'll take a class and do my production work in it instead of the exercises that go with it.

Peter's Valley is a lovely artist community and it was great to meet the people taking the work working, jewelry making, and ceramics classes. It was great to be cut off from Internet, TV, and even cell coverage for 5.5 days.

Because of this experience, I'm sooo looking forward to our Fiber Revolution retreat in October.

Obstacles: August 4: afternoon update: MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. None of my 6 pieces that I made specifically for Art Ability were selected. There was a hand written note at the bottom of the form letter that stated - Very Nice Work. Our Concerns: Size exceeds our limits. Also your prices are over our expected market. Please keep in touch.

So I emailed them back: Thank you for your hand written note to explain why my work wasn't considered for this year's exhibition. I had made all six of the pieces specifically for the show and am very disappointed not to be included this time. In the past, my work that was much bigger was accepted and even won prizes, so size wasn't a concern when I designed them. Two of them I even made smaller at 36"h x 8.5"w in case there was an issue. Also, I understand about price point and made work at three different levels. Perhaps, I should have entered my framed 8"x10" pieces that go for $125. Was the subject matter of some of my pieces with the brain imagery that was at issue? I thought it would be perfect for a hospital that specializes in head trauma, but maybe it's too sensitive? I want to be supportive of your fund raiser and to provide artwork that is suitable for your patrons. Is there a possibility you'd consider my smaller, less costly work?

Maybe they'll find room for my work.

August 6: I've been feeling for a while that my website needed a overhaul, so this morning I went at it. My Gallery Page was out of control with all 3 of my series on it. They are now broken up into Archaeology Series, Computer Collages, and Landscapes and Seascapes. Much more orderly. Also, put Archaeology 19: Brain Chemistry on the Home Page and created a Archaeology Blog page to let the public read through this Journal if they want to. I've always considered my website to be half blog because I often write about the individual pieces.

Solutions: for the disappointment of not getting into Art Ability - I now have a lead on a venue that will take all of my brain imagery pieces. Just waiting to work out the details.

August 7: Photographed all of the pieces I made in Kerr Grabowski's Working in a Series Workshop.

Pieced quilt top 1st washing (photographed in doors)

Pieced quilt top 2nd washing after over dye of half brains. (Photographed outdoors in direct sunlight - truer color.) Much of the imagery from the 1st batch washed out in the second washing. I'm also disappointed at how much color washed out of the half brains. I need to go back in and replace the imagery that washed out and add a darker brown to give the piece more contrast.

The lightest text washed out, but it's still workable.

The lightest text and the 2nd lightest clocks washed out. Needs a large stencil of a timepiece over it.

Seeing my work laid out on this blog really helps me to decide what to do with each piece. I'm amazed at how much work I was able to get done. Now I need to hunt for commercial fabrics that are the right shades of midnight blue and the copper/brown. I may have some of the brown in my stash for my earth tone pallate of the Archaeology Series.

The house I stayed in.	Thunder Mountain Fiber Studio
Class getting a demo	Kerr Grabowski demoing

I'm not satisfied with this mock up. Too symetrical. Not enough interest.

This is the layout I think I'll go with. The brains will be appliqued onto a patterned background that may be several repeats of the tiny brains.

design for a new silk screen - I've wanted brains of different sizes - these being about 1 inch wide.

design for a new silk screen - Here's the image I've been trying to create for weeks.

August 17: After a 3 year absence of not entering shows beyond those organized by Fiber Revolution, because I wasn't making any art, I'm starting again to enter shows. The entry fees and the shipping back and forth weigh heavily on me due to my husband's continued unemployment.

One show I'm considering entering this week is Quilts=Art=Quilts for the first time. They say they take 85-100 quilts, so it seems like a large number. SAQA Member Valerie emailed me that, "The Schweinfurth is a beautiful space. Nancy Crow had a large solo exhibit of her work there this summer. I had a quilt juried in last year and I thought the show was hung beautifully. The piece sold. I was called the same day to let me know. They said a number of quilts sold during the show. Good luck if you do submit."

Then SAQA Member Holly wrote, "I live near the Schweinfurth but haven’t entered that show in a few yrs. First, because I was rejected twice so I gave up, but second because I just don’t have the disposable income to do shows like that anymore when a chance for a sale is slim. I’m now focused on trying to sell my work in other ways, and haven’t entered a juried show like that in a few years. I miss doing that, tho!

"They have a really nice exhibit space, everything is always nicely laid out (tho I’m not picky that way at all), and they advertise it really well including radio ads on NPR. I’m not sure how many sales they have. Last I heard was a few yrs ago they sold 2 or 3. This isn’t a great area to sell fine art despite the fact that the Finger Lakes is full of tourists from all over the world. Auburn, where Q=A=Q is held, is a rather blue collar town whose main industry is a maximum security prison. The downtown has a lot of closed storefronts. It’s sad."

Another show I'm considering is Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2011 in the Netherlands with a deadline of August 30 to get international exposure for my new work, should it get in. There doesn't seem to be an entry fee for it or a limitation of how many fiber pieces you can enter. Requirements are just a CD of artwork plus a resume.

I did get into Infinity Art Gallery's Printmaking Exhibit. Only 16 prints were selected from a larger pool. Linda Colsh also got in. You can see it at http://www.infinityartgallery.com/PM10/gallery/

Feedback: Wow, Carolyn , this is really great. The image is so strong, even when it is really small on the screen. how exciting! Kevan Lunney - Kudos on getting into that print making exhibit. Now I know what they mean by a cohesive show. Yours was such a good fit. - Norma Schlager - Carolyn, congratulations. The show looks excellent and I love your piece and Linda's. -
Nancy G Cook - Congratulations! Your work is beautiful. - Jayne Gaskins

I have to start looking into more non-art quilt venues to showcase my work.

My CretaColor Aqua Briques and Navy acrylic paint arrived so I can get back in the studio and work on some of the prints from the workshop. The new screens I ordered from Lyric won't come until the end of the month because she's traveling.

Peter photographed my QN and QAQ entries and I processed the images. Now I have to save them to CDs.

August 18: After two full weeks of not touching any fabric, I started working on my 'pieced' piece again from the workshop I took. The brown of the CretaColor Aqua Briques I just received turned out to be terra cotta and did not go with the bronze color of the fabric dyes. So I'm hand painting in the brains and ocean waves that got washed out in the seconded washing. I think it must have been my own fault in that I must have missed the steps of coating the Aqua Brique rubbings with ProFab transparency and then heat setting it. Later today, I will rerub the images onto the fabric using a yellow brique and then paint over it with dark brown acrylic.

The way I created the images to be rubbed was by printing the brain on cardboard and then using a hot glue gun to follow the lines. For the ocean waves, I free formed it. I learned this technique in Kerr Grabowski's workshop and will definitely do it again. As I was working on the piece I was thinking ahead to next year where I could take Kerr's workshop again and just go in and use the dyes while she teaches design principle exercises. I would come prepared with more screens, acrylics, hot glue gunned images, tons of white on white fabrics, and my sewing machine.

Today's goal is to create the CDs for the 3 shows I want to enter. I need Peter to burn the CDs, so I've gotten all the content for each show ready for him and have reread the instructions thoroughly.

August 20: Kathleen Dawson of The Dairy Barn confirmed receipt of my QN entries. I let her know it's my first time.

Feedback: Carolyn, it is a HUGE accomplishment to have work to enter in both QAQ and QN after a three year freeze.
You must have tapped into a huge vein of inspiration to have created 25 new works already this year; that is a tribute to the Visioning project but most especially to your intention and focus. I wish you much success with your new body of work and am sure that you already feel like a huge winner for actively expressing yourself artistically again. I am excited for you! - Jeanne Beck

Finished painting in what was washed out on Archaeology 24: Brain Waves. Need to research what brain waves look like so I can use them as a quilt pattern.

I'm thinking that my VP 2 goal will be to produce a portfolio. I want to make a lot more work so I can be selective of what goes in it.

Here's the line up of shows I've entered and the ones I'm considering .

Botswanacraft Gallery November 2010 entered
Botswana Courtyard at Dawn

Quilt National ’11 – May 2011 entered
Arch 10, Arch 12, Arch 23

Quilts=Art=Quilts Oct 30-Jan ? entered
Arch 19, Arch 20

Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2011 Summer entered
Arch 9, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Craftforms $40 Sept 16 Juried Art Services Dec 4-Jan 22 considering
Arch 17, Arch 18 (1400 X 2200 pixels) – Jpeg file format.

Holiday Show at Hunter, NY considering
November 27, 2010-January 9, 2010

Beyond Comfort September 10 - October 10, 2010, August 2011 considering
BCAD, Arch 24 Brain Waves

Blue Door Gallery enter by December 10, 2010, March-May 2011 considering
(Arch 19, Arch 20, Arch 10?) no wider than 40 no higher than 70

"This is a Quilt!" -- SAQA's 2011-2012 Traveling Trunk Show considering
Make a 10”x10” piece and mail by Dec 31st.

SDA Merge & Flow enter by Feb 1 juried art services, June 2011considering
12-28”

SAQA Showcase March 1 - March 13, 2011. July –Oct 2012 considering
4 best pieces

August 22 a friend who's a graphic artist came to my house and viewed my work. He had several suggestions of where I can show my work. He's got a few NYC galleries in mind. Definitely got to work toward getting a professional portfolio together. Talking to Deidre Adams about doing it.

August 27 I'm slowly working on piece 24 in the Archaeology series because it's mostly screen printed with fabric dyes then hand painted with textile acrylics and I can finally hand quilt a piece. I made the fabric in the workshop, but had to go back in with paint after some of the images faded to almost nothing in the wash out cycle.

But my really big news is that after 20 very long and financially difficult months of unemployment, Peter accepted a job offer this week. He'll be working in NYC again, so we'll have to get an apartment up there again. (He doesn't want to stay on the sailboat in NY Harbor again - it was just too cold last time.) I'm going to be picky about where he chooses to live so that I can relatively easily park and visit him. It's going to be a six day a week job, so I definitely will have to do some traveling to see him. In the mean time, he's going to be staying with his sister in North Jersey. And taking a few trains to get into NYC.

My plan is to continue to babysit part-time to earn the cash to support my art quilt obsession. I've kept track of every dollar I've spent on paints, screens, stamps, fabric, workshop, travel to the gallery, mailing, entry fees and I'm over $4,000 to date with no sales of the new work. But, I've gotten such good feedback about it that I have to believe if I can just get it shown in the right place, it will sell.

I've joined 3 professional fine art groups on LinkedIn and have taken part in their topic discussions. Continuing to look to ways to promote my artwork.

Deidre Adams told me about the pen tool in Photoshop and I'm learning to use it to clip away the backgrounds of my artwork so I can get better entry images. I've asked her to create a portfolio cover page and a standard page as a template for me.

August 31: Started on Archaeology Brain Scans today by cutting out 12 brains I made in Kerr Grabowski's workshop. They'll be appliqued on a background I'm printing up today. I'm using a brand new jar of Navy acrylic from ProChem and it's consistency is a lot more liquid than the other colors I have. Making it a bit messy to work with. Also, my fabric wasn't completely dry and some of the ink ran. I liked the effect so I sprayed water all over the background piece so that it would run more.

I'm very slowly hand quilting Brain Waves. I should have machine quilted it, cause I'd be long done with it by now. I was initially excited to be able to hand quilt through the fabric dyes, but the novelty has worn off.

Now that Peter's about to start a new job, I can start to dream of things I would like to do and acquire. For a long time I've wanted a Kindle, but now that the iPad has that function, I'd really like it instead. I've been following my friend Cindy Friedman's reports from Botswana about how she's using her iPad out in the non-electricity villages to help teach people to quilt. She's able to show them her whole portfolio. I could certainly use that to show friends and members of my yacht club who have been very supportive of my art.

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