After the Open Studio Tour was over, we went for a short trip to Mt. Rushmore. I had never been there, though my husband had seen it several times. Seeing the monument was one of just a few things on my ‘bucket list.’  When I first saw the monument, I admit it brought tears to my eyes. I thought of what these great leaders would think of our political scene today, and how disappointed and perhaps disgusted they would be. But I also was in awe of the artistic feat - the finding and bringing out of these faces from the mountain. This sketch was done on site, standing and sketching with in ..read more

  In the dining room I hung Autumn leaning pieces. This Calendar Series tapestry is ‘November.’ It was inspired by a full moon through the trees at our cabin. Across from ‘November’ on the other side of a wall of windows is ‘March.’  Hanging over the coat closet is ‘Aspen Autumn,’ an early tapestry, but still one of my favorites. Next to it is ‘Prairie Polka’ from the Heritage Series. The lighting in the dining room is difficult, with a wall of windows that have deep eaves over them. On this wall opposite from the windows is the Fall tapestry from the Seasons Series, the S ..read more

   As you enter the front door, there are 3 tapestries in the entry way; the May tapestry from the Calendar Series, the ‘Tapestry Arch’ tapestry, and ‘Hope and Despair.’ Above the sofa are 3 more tapestries (I know! They just keep coming!) The large tapestry is the Summer tapestry from the Four Seasons series. It is ‘Tending Peace’ and includes a number of symbols for peace. The Calendar Series piece to the left is the April piece from that series. Below it is a small tapestry called ‘When She Could Fly.’ Over the living room fireplace and in the nearby corner are tapestries ..read more

Yes, I even have tapestries in the hallways! As you leave the studio or sitting room, there are tapestries on the landing. Above the radiator is one of the few walls in the house where I usually do hang a tapestry. For the tour, there are 3 there; ‘Northern Lights,’ and two of the Calendar Series pieces, ‘January’ and ‘February.’ One of our cats, Poe, became obsessed with the bird in the February tapestry, so much so, in fact, that I had to take it down until just before tour time. He was determined to climb up to check it out more closely. In the corner space is another Calendar Serie ..read more

My sitting room is next to the studio. It is the brightest room in the house, so is where I usually have my morning coffee, write in my journal, catch up with social media, and do a quick sketch. The French doors lead to a summer sleeping porch. For the studio tour, I’ve hung one of the large Heritage Series tapestries (‘Croquet Coquette’) over the doors. I generally do this in the winter as well, as the sleeping porch is not heated and has a lot of windows. Above the fireplace is the ‘Graffiti’ tapestry, and the ‘Graffiti Garden’ tapestry is to the left of it. On the wall beh ..read more

I was planning to add some videos of my participation in the local Open Studios Tour this coming weekend. However, I can’t seem to get my videos to fit the format here, so I’ll just add photos. I’m starting in the studio, which is probably the last place visitors will be, as my studio is upstairs in my home, and I have work through a good bit of the house, as well as in the studio. As you go in, there are a few small tapestries hanging together. These are each about 8x10” or less. The pastel sketch on the easel is a ‘maquette’ or a design for a tapestry. The tapestry itself will be se ..read more

This is Ringo The American Tapestry Alliance hosts an unjuried exhibition every two years, in conjunction with the Handweavers Convergence conference. It will be held in Wichita, Kansas this summer in a gallery that is mostly aimed at sight impaired visitors. So the challenge for the small tapestries is that they need to be highly textured, as visitors will be allowed to see them by touch. A sketchbook version of Ringo So, I looked through my sketchbooks for something that would inspire me to weave textural, as well as visual interest. I decided this sketch of Ringo would be my m ..read more

It seemed that Thanksgiving snuck up on us this year, with summer easing quietly into a warm fall. And you don’t even have Thanksgiving dishes done and the National Dog Show watched, before being slammed into the Christmas season, via ads and watching your social media follows decking their halls. As I always confess at this time of year, I have a very hard time getting into the ‘Christmas spirit;’ the one that includes decorating, shopping, and parties. My Christmas includes advent readings, candle lighting, reading by the fire with hot chocolate, avoiding malls, and doing what I d ..read more

I have participated in Inktober each October since 2016, but I forgot to post the ink sketches here this year. So here they are. They were all done in a large sketchbook that has paper that won’t take paint, so just ink, Inktense pencils, and ballpoint pens. Each day in Inktober has a prompt, which I pretty much stuck to, but I think I’ll just let you guess the prompts this year! I enjoyed sketching with ink this year, even more than in previous years. The sketchbook I used is a larger format one, and I have grown to like that ..read more

 I previously added a few pages from my travel journal from a trip we took to New England. I used the same small sketchbook for our trip a few weeks later to Bryce Canyon National Park, and to view the recent solar eclipse in nearby Utah. We stayed in a VRBO ranch just beyond Hatch, which was secluded and very nice. My favorite activity was while my husband was biking through Bryce, I sat and did a small (5x7”) oil painting. The resulting painting was not great Art, but it was great Fun!  I did a few little watercolors in the sketchbook on site, as well. And I also sketch ..read more