Happy Birthday to me . . .

   Two years ago I made these Breast Pockets when Melanie Testa put out a call for them. And this month the bottom right one was published in "Quilting Arts" magazine. At that time I had just finished 4 grueling rounds of chemo and was about to start 33 days of Radiation. Fast forward and today I'm celebrating a birthday that I've always had doubts I would live to see. Too many health issues.
    Melanie received hundreds of pockets so to say the least I'm thrilled that the one I made for mom was published. I might make one or two more to send into QA for their challenge.
   The one in QA was made from fabric that I created using a glue resist and paint. The two hearts are copper that was soaked in vinegar until the patina developed.

 The Spread in QA.

 Close-up.

And mine was even chosen for the contributors page.

In the studio. Pouring paint experiments.

Simply, black and white acrylic paints. . . the bottom painting was tweaked with

an app. to achieve the red tones. 

In The Studio

 In 10 days I will celebrate my birthday. It's a number I'm in awe in for more reasons

than I can share. For one thing I remember like it was yesterday when my mother turned

this age and retired! She was so alive and full of dreams about what the rest of her

life would be like. Fast forward 23 years and she no longer knows who I am and only

one of those dreams came true. With that in mind I feel like I don't have a day to waste

and then a tiny Mosquito bite attempted to side-rail me. No details necessary, but suffice

it to say that it's been one Hell of week! 

 This fabric collage took forever to come together. But I was determined to 

use the rust dyed fabric that was inkjet printed with a photo of grasses that I

photographed 3 summers ago. And somehow incorporate the deconstructed screen print

at the bottom of the collage. It wasn't until I created a design

from a photo of a Jungle Geranium and printed it out that

the collage finally worked. At least I think it does.

Details: digital image printed on rust dyed fabric.
Deconstructed screen print. Digital image of
Jungle Geranium printed onto fabric. Machine stitched
and attached to a black stretched canvas.

This piece is still a work-in-progress. Coffee dyed sun print, painted fabric on

a deconstructed screen print background. Hand-stitched.