Isn't this yummy? It is a flat-back papier mâché ornament I painted with a faux raku technique developed by Barbara Matthiessen for Earth Safe Finishes.

The rich serendipitous colors of raku fascinate me and I'm thinking of a holiday tree covered in "fauku" stars and balls.

Hopefully, this technique will work on fabric, as well as stiff surfaces!! Wouldn't it be KEWL to wear a garment with the look of raku? Oh yeah!

On the off chance you haven't seen the notice about the blog giveaway, here is a photo of the silk wrap dyed with Earth Safe Finishes. This will be a gift to someone chosen at random from comments left on the ESF fabric blog.

Here is the link http://artofgreenfabricmedia.blogspot.com/

Just leave a comment, or e-mail me directly if there is a problem posting a comment.

Good luck!

The images today are of two quilties made for Art Now For Autism. Here is a link to the site for more information http://artnowforautism.com/

I have interested in the phenomenon of autism for some years, as a friend of the family has a grandchild with autism. DH and I have watched as this child and his mother have worked through the diagnosis and treatment. My admiration and respect for the mother have grown every time we've seen photos of the boy and his obvious progress.

This summer he was in a local production of Peter Pan, in which he played two different parts!! How heartwarming to know he has become so socially successful.

These two quilties have been donated to Art Now For autism in honor of our friendship with the grandparents. I wish it could be more!

You can help, too! Please preview the exhibit October 1-4 and consider bidding on one of the art pieces October 5-10.

Days 1 and 2 all art is $90. Days 3 and 4 all remaining art is $60. Days 5 and 6, any remaining art is $30!

This is a great opportunity to make a difference—and acquire some fun art at the same time!

The angel piece is called Peaceful Presence and is a photograph printed on rust-dyed fabric. The blended-color flourishes are stenciled on top with Earth Safe Finishes Translucent Shimmers, then quilted for texture.

The abstract piece is titled Intersecting Lives. It is surface design on rusted-and-tanning treated fabric with shards of rust-only fabric stitched on top.

Many of you asked about seeing some inside detail of my new book. C&T Publishing has granted special permission to share the Table Of Contents and several pages with you. Not even Amazon has this advance information!!

It is a pdf file, so just click on the button to the left of this post and you can enjoy this special treat.

Please let me know what you think.

I have a project in the new issue of Totally Creative! You can see a tiny portion of the needle-felted purse in the lower left-hand corner of the cover below.

All the fibers in the purse (above) started out as plain white or "natural" and were dyed with Earth Safe Finishes Colorants + Fabric Magic. Kewl Stuff!

Totally Creative is a new online magazine from publisher Patti Ryan.

It is one of the few real crafting magazines still available! Those of us who love the art of craft AND the craft of art are excited about this magazine and hope you will be, too!

FYI: you can get a FREE excerpt from the current issue of Totally-Creative Magazine. Just signup for our email list at: http://www.site.totally-creative.com/Sign-up_Page.html. Instantly download a Free Excerpt from the new issue of Totally-Creative Magazine!

You can pass this offer on to your crafty friends, as well. Enjoy!

Get a good look at this beautiful water tower in an old neighborhood of Minneapolis, because it may very well be the last photo you see from me for a while!

The camera was in the console of the rental car. I KNOW it came into the house—didn't it? It's missing in action. DH, Lori, and I have looked in all the usual places and many unusual places (Don't ask about the dust bunnies under the living room couch!), but it's nowhere to be found.

It was a faithful companion, a true workhorse. It's been with me for years. Lately, I've been dreaming of a 10 mega-pixel model but never dreaming Old Faithful would go missing and I'd actually have to consider replacing it.

Maybe it is in hiding. If you see it, please send it home!!

Isn't this a fabulous bench? We passed it while browsing the Grand Ave. shopping district last Thursday.

OK, that's just a buffer for what I am compelled to say about the visit to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis last Friday. I've spent hours agonizing over this, trying to express what's heavy on my heart without being disrespectful to the artist. Here goes:

I learned something important about respect for artistic expression and vision—and myself during a visit to the Walker Art Center last week.

The center is an amazing venue for contemporary art and I was looking forward to a healthy dose of my current favorite, abstract expressionism.

Gallery after gallery fed my hunger, until my companion and I encountered a piece that totally baffled me. In the center of the room, carefully roped off, was a drain (set into the terazzo, I might add), a child's plastic chair, and a box of facial tissues. Try as I might, I couldn't find anything about the composition that spoke to me (other than the horror of cutting out the terazzo)

"Why is this art?" I asked. "Because it makes you think," replied my very wise companion Shay Sargenti.

After two days of pondering her remark, while we were sitting with our DHs in a wonderful jazz concert, it occurred to me why I had such trouble reconciling the little installation as art: There was no technique, no technical facility, no technical challenge.

It was not obvious that the artist has sweated a color combination, or drafted and redrafted the design to achieve a composition that expressed a thought, idea, or feeling. Watching the hands of the pianist in the jazz group magnified the difference between the two artists. She move skillfully, confidently, and with a practiced facility that expressed (in my opinion) the ability to think in music, sidestepping the need to think it out and then execute the thought—it merely flowed from her.

Apparently I cannot or choose not to separate the art from the craft of art. Does that make me an art snob? No, it makes me a person who recognizes limitation in my view of art. Now, I can change my definition of art to include that which requires no technical aspect, or admit my definition of art has boundaries.

I can respect the artist of the installation for his or her vision, even if I don't understand it or relate to it. However, my respect for artists with skills evident in the composition, such as the jazz pianist or any of a thousand painters and quilt artists are easier to define.

What do you think?