I am participating in our annual invitational art show this fall at the Clausen Museum.  This year's theme involves using a door as the basis for whatever we create.  I had a vision for using a louvered door, and presto! - they appeared at the Salvation Army thrift store the next day!  They needed a little prep work...

I spent all day Thursday sanding - whew!

On Friday I was able to get the primer on one pair.

A Sunny Sunday Walk

Just a quick post to show off the wild flowers I saw on my walk this afternoon.

Results of Beach Rocks Dyeing Project

I was very pleased with the results of Thursday's work, tying beach rocks into silk scarves to use up old Procion dye concentrates left over from a month or so ago. 

Detail of the scarf above.

See the previous post for photos of these two scarves in their dye baths.  (This scarf sold immediately to a woman from the San Fransisco Bay area, visiting Petersburg on a vacation cruise).

Vacation Over, Back to Work

Back in the studio after a considerable hiatus, I spent yesterday happily putting things away and then set up the table for dyeing.  My goal was to use up the left-over dye concentrates I had stored from the last big run.  This is a silk scarf tied around beach stones with artificial sinew from Dharma Trading Co.

More silk-wrapped wrapped stones, soaking up the Procion. 

Visiting Denver

After the American Craft Retailers Expo in Las Vegas, I flew to Denver for a relaxing time hanging out with my parents. 

The roses were in bloom and abundant in the neighborhood.

While I was there, I enjoyed the thrill of thunder storms, so rare in Petersburg.

The High Line Canal trail is very close to my parents home, and I walked there every afternoon, soaking up sunshine and relishing the smells of summer which took me back to childhood in the area.

The Russian Olive trees were so fragrant.  My mother grew them in our old back yard.

Iris are my favorite flower, and another plant my mom grew along the side of the old house on Chenango.

Beautiful Russian Olive trees among the cottonwoods along the High Line Canal trail.

Looking at Las Vegas Part 2 - ACRE

The American Craft Retailers Expo was held the first weekend in June at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall.   

I was there with my wall hangings, scarves, and two prototype bugs. 

 

Setting up my booth (5'x10') took a day.  I was so grateful for the help of my friends Chris and Sue.

The South Hall was absolutely huge.  There was no air conditioning as we set up and temps were over 100 degrees.  Everyone was in good spirits and helpful to each other, however, so things went very well.

Here is my finished booth.  Although I was expecting large crowds of potential buyers, the show was not as well-attended as usual, which was somewhat disappointing.

 

Finished booth, left wall.  I got a great education through this experience although not the volume of orders I had hoped for.

Finished booth, right wall.  One thing I learned is that my wall-hangings are not what I want to wholesale.  If I were to continue in the wholesale world I would design a product line(s) specifically with that end in mind.

Finished booth, detail back wall.  All in all, it was a challenging experience, but one I am glad I endured.  Probably would always have wondered "what if..." had I not participated.  Now I know a lot more about myself and my preferred direction and am excited to put my new knowledge to work at the studio this week.

Looking at Las Vegas Part 1

Some of the sites of Las Vegas, pre-show.  Tomorrow I will post about my ACRE experience. 

Balloons decorating the Bellagio ceiling.

Inside the Miracle Mile.

Claus Oldenburg sculpture.

Stretch limos abound.

Inside the Casino, always lots of cigarette smoke and neon.

The Blue Men show at the Venetian was absolutely fabulous.

Savage communing with one of the Blue Men.

This is the most iconic image of the whole hellatious place.

From the rediculous to the sublime, there is no place like Vegas (for which I am grateful).