Coming in April- Making Wire and Fabric Flowers Studio Class!!

Create your own indoor garden

I would LOVE it if you would join me at The Studio at Rush Creek on April 22nd, 6:30-8:30 pm for a class exploring the how-to's of my wire and fabric flowers.

Here's what you'll learn:

• How to form steel wire to create wire flowers of varied shapes and sizes.
• How to make the most of your stash of fabric scraps.
• How to stitch fabric to the wire forms to create 3D fabric art.
• How to stabilize the fabric.
• How to create bases for your sculptures with recycled corks and hardware store elements.
• All the different applications for these flowers- including standing sculptures, keychains, even jewelry!

Use your favorite fabrics

This is a hands-on class so you will be leaving with your own little versions of these playful and whimsical blooms- ready to give or display in your home or office!

The class costs $24 plus another $10 for supplies. You will receive your own coil of wire, needles, floss, and fabric to work with and then take home. If you have a favorite fabric you would like to use- bring it with! To register either call The Studio at 763.315.3001 or reserve the class online at The Studio at Rush Creek.

WIP: Blooms Sculpted Wire Lamp

Been working on a few new things for the etsy shop lately. One of which is this new lamp. The inspiration of this was a pillow I found when flipping through the latest Better Homes and Gardens. They were showing some different bedroom ideas and on one of the beds was a pillow with blooms that looked EXACTLY like my little wire blooms from my photo holders and garden trio's. I'm guessing they were silk screened on.

The image percolated for a few days and then on Thursday I went to my extras bin and pulled out 8 or 9 of these wire blooms that I had made up and stashed previously. To attach them to the lampshade (fanta by IKEA) I used an awl to poke a few holes through the fabric shade along the length of the wire flower. Then using a needle and embroidery floss, I stitched the wire flowers to the shade. Each flower only takes a few stitches to hold it in position. The end result is easy, cute and had that lovely graphic bloom look I love. I've had the shade on a lamp base that was wrapped with wire and sitting in my living room for a few days now. I love it. Although I love big bright and beautiful color, there's just something about black and white that is soooo attractive to me.

I plan on using this as my example and making another to post in the shop in another week. I'd love to know what you all think of it. ;) Should I offer it with the base or separately? What would you do?

BTW- the little scribble bowl beneath the lamp is something else I've been playing with. The acrylic painting is one I did when we got back from Venice in 2003, and the little birdcage to the far right is another idea I've been playing around with. It's base is a collaged plastic lid to a long-gone jar of marshmallow dip. Have a great weekend!!!

On the Road

I'm posting today from Great Falls, Montana. So named for the Great Falls of Lewis and Clark fame. It's been a fun but busy vacation so far but I've thought of all of you often and would like to share some of what we've seen and what I've been thinking about.

The first really cool thing was a roadside sculpture called "Geese in Flight" that was created by a high school teacher turned sculptor over a decade ago. It marks the beginning of the "Enchanted Highway" a 30 mile stretch of roadside sculptures that winds through grassland. The artist's goal was to lead the visitor to a small, struggling, rural town as a way of revitalizing the town's economy. Unfortunately our timetable only let us view this first amazing sculpture but I would love to return and travel the "Enchanted Highway" for myself.
We stopped at a Interstate rest area that had a beatiful view of the surrounding grasslands. The sky was a brilliant blue, the grass glowed viridian and had lovely organic crop lines criss crossing the land. Usually the roadside rests are there to mark some historic landmark as well as provide a little relief for the traveler. Some are perched amid the mountains, others on a lake, they really can be lovely. I loved that this one had a balcony created so that people could stand and admire the land. There was nothing unusual about the sight but it truly was beautiful. So sometime someone with the soul of an artist saw beauty in farmland and decided to create a platform from which visitors could stand and absorb the loveliness of the ordinary. Because for miles and miles in any direction the view was grassland.

Later I wrote in my journal. "Changing terrain" Here's an excerpt-

"As I'm writing this we're driving through a beautiful "badlands" area. It is so different from the prairie and lakes regions I'm familiar with. I see a rugged beauty in the rocky landscape. It is so different and unfamiliar that I am awed by the size of this land. It stirs me to contemplate my perspective on life. Would it be different if I were to have lived here my whole life? Would the rocks and the amazing distance from everything have made me different?" "If I were to live here would the changing terrain change me? OR would it lose it's beauty as it grew to be the familiar?" Just a passing thought I wonder about.