May was a busy month! In addition to the 12 new digital collage pieces for Whispers On The Wind exhibition, I also made 12 new Threadography® pieces for Johnsons of Madrid (in Madrid New Mexico)!

Free-range Spiderwort (above) is one of them. DH and I came across these growing along a highway outside of Denver, Colorado. We were following a trail of dinosaur tracks and found several lovely wildflowers along the path.

The highlights and shadows made it fun to stitch.

Warm Heart (above and detail below) was taken in a public park in my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The digital manipulation of the photograph really brings out the texture, doesn't it?

Tulip Tranquility (above and below) began as a photo of a white tulip. Its petals were limp, allowing a good view of the anatomy.

Working on flower images makes me remember the question I answered incorrectly on the final exam of Taxonomy of Flowering Plants (botany) in college. The question was about the two classifications of flowering plants. We had studied this all tri-mester, but my mind went blank. All these years later I thunk myself on the head and say "Monocots and dicots, you ding-dong!"

Trop-i-Canna (above and detail below) was also photographed in a park in Fort Wayne—in the rose garden, but don't let the name fool you. The gardeners have an ever-changing array of botanical specimens throughout the growing season.

Orange is one of my favorite colors and I love adding detail in the highlights and shadows!
Sunbright (above and detail below) was taken on a farm located near Auburn, Indiana. The owner has bees and planted more than an acre of sunflowers to supply nectar for his bees that year.
DH and I bought big bunches of sunflowers from them at the farmer's market AND snagged an invitation to photo the field. I was a little nervous, since I'm allergic to bee stings, but we got some great shots without incident.
Shades of Hibiscus (above and detail below) was especially fun to stitch because the petals are easy to outline, and the shadows and pistil/stamen of the blossom provided plenty of interesting stitching challenges.

The low-contrast variegated red cotton thread provided lovely depth within the petals.Another of my favorite Amish poppies (above and detail below). The poppies the Amish lady dug for my garden didn't survive the winter, but her poppy bed was beautiful again this spring.

Every time I stitch the center of a poppy flower I learn something more about the structure!

Peppermint Climbers (above and detail below) was also photographed in Lakeside Rose Garden. All the pillars in the huge pergolas are surrounded by these climbing beauties!

Each blossom is unique, with different arrangements of the red/pink/and white colorations.

Iris spotlight was photographed in my own garden. I really know very little about iris varieties, other than to stick them in the ground with a little of the root above the dirt level—and water. The beds were beautiful this year and I look forward to adding more yellow to the color mixture.

Gerbera Destiny (above and below) was also photographed in my garden. It must have been early in the season, before the heat and humidity had a chance to fry the plants.

This year I paid attention to the location of shade from the tree and planted the Gerberas so they'd receive only partial sun. Hopefully, that will keep them from baking in July and August.

Definitely Daffodils (actually, they might be jonquils; I don't remember how to tell them apart) is another photo taken in one of Fort Wayne's beautiful gardens. Foster Park is one of the oldest parks in town, and is located in an historic residential area.

This park is a favorite place for golfing, tennis, jogging, walking—and tiptoeing through the tulips!

All Is At Peace (above and detail below). The peace rose has to be my favorite. The way the colors mesh and separate remind me of a dance—and the way the colors change from the bud stage to fading beauty just fascinates me.

Well, this concludes what I actually finished in May. There are others in various stages on my work table, of course.

Tomorrow is the first of my studio workshops. We'll be doing rust dyeing—and there's a space left in class, if you'd like to join us!! Just let me know. :-)

Wow! I'm posting two days in a row. I must be avoiding something. Let's see, paid the bills, took dogs out, worked on Earth Safe Finishes dry cleaning test, answered almost all the morning e-mails, and am on target for shipping 12 pieces out early next week.

But, I digress! The team at CraftEdu has been working non-stop for months to get ready for the official launch of craftedu.com on June 1.

Here is a link to a new You Tube video. It's a quick overview of sample art from faculty members. Enjoy! (I have no idea where the cat photos came from.)

One of the goodies on the coffee bar was a plate of "tea eggs." Don't they look like marble?

Of course, I had to look up the recipe the next day. Interesting! They are hardboiled eggs that are soaked in a solution of tea, soy sauce, anise, and other spices I wouldn't have thought of putting together.

Don't think they'll become a family favorite, but they were really interesting.

Saturday the 15th was perfect! The sun was shining, it was slightly cool, and other than the migraine that drove me crazy, it was perfect for the 10th annual garden party at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fort Wayne.

Guests began arriving shortly after 8:00 am and were greeted with a friendly smile and a name tag.

There were booths of beautiful flowers. A gorgeous salmon-color lupine and a crimson gloxinia went home with me.

The display of yard art was wonderful!

This is one end of the fabulous coffee bar—and you can see a bit of my Threadography in the background!

The day was filled with speakers, mini workshops, laughter, and a wonderful awareness of conservation and environmental responsibility.

The ladies of the church, dressed in floral aprons, kept the activities on schedule. Susan Wenger coordinated the desserts, and did a wonderful job—as did everyone on the team!

Sue Ellen's talent at the keyboard enriched the experience for everyone.

Lunch included homemade quiche. Can you imagine baking quiche for about 100 people? Wow!

Gentlemen of the church served lunch in a light-filled fellowship room.

To my delight, there were quilts on almost all the walls.

Can you see the goodie bags? They are re-usable shopping bags filled with information about resources in the Fort Wayne area for casual and serious gardeners.

One of the last events of the day was a silent auction.

On behalf of all participants, I'd like to thank the efficient and gracious team of workers at the Unitarian Universalist Church for a job well done! Thank you for including me in the incredible experience.

Whispers On The Wind

After months of work, the new series debuted yesterday evening at the Langhenrich Gallery in the Unitarian Universalist church in Fort Wayne! The series is a tribute to my mother, who passed away May 23, 2009.

The piece above is Voices in the Forest, a digital collage on rust-dyed fabric. The backing is also rust-dyed fabric and includes the quotation: "How quiet the forest would be if only he with the best voice sang!"

These digital collages, such as Secrets of the Butterfly Fairy, above, combine vintage artwork and photographs I have taken.

There are 12 pieces in the series. They all, including Naptime Escape (above) have cold-forged copper "frames" that have been flashed with a propane torch (takes longer than it sounds) and sealed with Earth Safe Finishes Sealer to prevent color change.

You can see the stencil layer in most of the photos, including Mushroom Girl (above)

All collages were printing in black and white, even Invitation to Tea (above) and then color was added with Earth Safe Finishes watercolor recipe for fabric.

How High The Moon is a particular favorite! The delicate rusted tie-dye background enriches the moonscape with texture. The moon is highlighted with a shimmering gold metallic paint, the stars are white metallic, and the tree is heavily textured with free-motion stitching.

Guarding the Gerberas is on heavily rusted fabric. It was one of the original two compositions that led to this series. I learned a lot about printing on rust-dyed fabric!

The background fabric for Flight Lessons (above) was rusted with springs from the seat of an old chair.

Morning of the Unicorn features distressed mylar wrapping paper cut into shapes and then stitched to the background.

Studio Tour

I can't figure out how to move the photo of the cupcake tree to the proper place, but here they are. Aren't they beautiful? Arlette made scads of mini champagne cupcake with champagne icing, orange (my favorite color) sugar, and tiny edible pearls. How elegant!

It stormed in the night and I had visions of an empty studio and sad artists—but no! The rain stopped shortly before the Studio Tour opened and held off until shortly after the tour closed. What a blessing!

This display has Dixie Landis Bradley's beautiful paintings and collages. Notice the waterfall jacket on the dress form on the right. Dixie's husband Norman shaped a coat hanger into the profile of a woman. Isn't it perfect?

The waterfall jacket is an example of a finished Make-it/Take-it. Guests selected a blank silk scarf, rayon waterfall jacket, or poncho and dyed it in the back yard with Earth Safe Finishes spray dyes. The pieces were beautiful and each quite different from the other!

Rosie's gourd and glass pins were a hit. Only one was left at the end of the day.

Amy's raku (on the right) was very popular! She now has her own raku kiln and we're begging for raku classes.

The table at the end held the blank scarves and jackets.

Rust-dyed silk scarves, T-shirts and sweatshirts shared a rack with blank purses. There were requests for a class to make the painted purse—and we'll be glad to oblige. If you have a group of at least four people interested in a class, we'll schedule one at the group's convenience.

The Make-it/Take-it table was busy all day! Amy did a MITI of a pin/magnet made from two slide mounts framing a tiny photo and April jumped right in and guided guests through making a needle-felted pin.

Rust-dyed cotton fabrics were available in fat quarters, half-yard, and full-yard cuts.

Samples of upcoming class projects were displayed on this table, and Rosie kept the area humming with explanations of the classes and passing out workshop brochures.

We sold the last two copies of Altered Photo Artistry from TWO printings! The book is now available as a Print-on-Demand product and will soon be offered as an e-book.

PhotoFabric really needed a demonstration going to show how it's used, but Lori had massage clients until after noon.

We've come full circle in the studio. I really wish there were photos of Arlette's refreshments. She made the most incredible champagne cupcakes and fruit slush punch!

There were five studios on the tour. If you were able to attend, you'll have to tell us how wonderful the other studios were. Thanks for stopping by my studio!