Houston, Houston

Here I am in the heart of the big time quilter's world, feeling, occasionally, like I'm in junior high on the first day and everyone else knows everyone else, except me. Silly. And then the next moment I'm meeting and actually talking to someone who has just been a name on the quiltarts list or in a magazine byline and having a ball. With my tribe, as Seth Godin's new book puts it. And this tribe gathers at the International Quilt Festival.

I'm taking baby steps with teaching here, and learning what and how to teach in such a setting. Then, I'm taking some classes with some of the artists whose work I have long admired: Hollis Chatelain and Libby Lehman, for example. My intent was to post daily with all the news, awards and photos, but here I am, three days later and finally having internet connection (paid for extra) at the hotel. So, no doubt if you care about such things, you already know that Sharon Schamber won the big $10,000 prize for Best of Show with an ornate, patterned and quite breathtaking quilt.

I don't even aim at this kind of quilting, in fact, I suspect that many of the quilters here would not even consider me a quilter. And I'm not, but my work, like that of many fiber artists, still connects my heartstrings to the traditional work of women quilters through time. I suspect we have been piecing small scraps together for much of our human history. And, with the notion of adding personal meaning and style, the art quilt came along and added an entire other dimension to the field.

This afternoon, the art quilt tribe will be at the SAQA booth to meet the "Masters," artists whose work has just been published in a beautiful collection of quilts published by the Studio Art Quilt Association. Many of the artists will be on hand to sign the book, and I want my copy -- and to meet more of these amazing artists.

Earlier, 2:00 to 4:00, I'll be demonstating making an inspiration deck in the mixed media sampler. This is less a technique than an approach, and just so you don't feel like you're missing this little piece of Festival, here's my handout:

Mixed Media Sampler
International Quilt Festival 2008
Instructor: Susie Monday
El Cielo Studio, Pipe Creek, Texas
susiemonday@gmail.com http://susiemonday.squarespace.com

A Personal Inspiration Deck
One suggestion: Make a card a day until your personal deck is complete. 52 is the traditional number for a deck of cards (13 cards in 4 suits) but you can make a deck as large or as small as you wish.

1. Make your own version of the Tarot deck, with your take on each of the archetypes in the major arcana and suits that refer to cups, swords, rods and coins (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades).

2. Invent your own set with your own categories (think AIR,FIRE, EARTH, WATER or MIND, BODY, SPIRIT,) and personal archetypes (see Caroline Myss book, THE SACRED CONTRACT, for ideas)

3. Simply make cards with images, quotes, colors, etc that are meaningful to you.

4. Make a deck picturing
13 people/ roles/archetypes (judge, seamstress, lover, etc)
13 actions (dance, sing, jump,etc)
13 mental approaches (brainstorm, make a list, blow up the idea, etc)
13 emotions (calm, enegetic, dreamy, determined)

5. Make a deck picturing
13 verbs
13 adjectives, adverbs
13 nouns
13 preposistions,conjunctions

6. Make a deck with mixed media techniques on paper or use an actual deck of cards as the base for each collage.

7. Make a deck of micro art quilts, using interfacing or Tivek as the base for fused and/or sewn cards.

Use your cards for:
Finding a focus or direction when you begin creative work.
To suggest a direction when you feel stuck
As a reminder to include personal meaning and imagery in your work
To add a thoughful or emotional dimension to the work at hand
As the subject for journaling and self-discovery

StumbleUpon Rewards

StumbleUpon is my daily reward of choice lately for certain tasks, doing things I ought to but don't, the inevitable shoulds that creep into the schedule. The whole concept of behavior changing by incremental baby steps relies on daily rewards, and I find that my inner 7-year-old (or maybe its the inner 12-year-old) really needs them.

I've been reminded of the power of little steps and little rewards by picking up Martha Beck's The Four Day Win. It's a non-diet diet book (something calling to me as some one who lives in my clothes is finding them way too tight). Food is not one of my major issues, but I think most American woman over a certain age find the inevitable battle going on between the desire to eat everything yummy in sight and a rather realistic concern over health, if not appearance (of course, not me, never, I really don't...)

So, past the dietary sidebar, the real purpose of this post is to reccommend Stumble Upon as a lovely timewaster. Download the little desktop toolbar widget (mine's on Firefox) and you'll have this toy at easy hand. Click on StumbleUpon and you get a random web page that has been reccommended to Stumbleupon by at least one other human webbrowsing person. (we think they are human, anyway.) You can get to StumbleUpon by clicking the big logo above, register and enjoy.

P.S. You can review my blog on StumbleUpon by clicking on the logo on the righthand sidebar. You'll also find some of the sites I've liked on my elcielo page. (Commercial announcement)

P.P.S. Here's the Amazon link to the Beck book: (another commercial announcement).

The Four-Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace

Fiber Artist Wins Genius Grant

My friend (and sister art quilter) Martha Grant sent me this notice last week and I finally had a few minutes to look into the story:

from the CBS News website: Mary Jackson is an African American basketmaker whose work exemplifies the way that fine craft can preserve and extend our personal and family stories and our world views. “This woman was awarded one of the 25 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grants worth $500,000. Yaaay for fiber artists everywhere!

"Mary Jackson, 63, fiber artist, Charleston, S.C. Jackson has preserved the craft of sweetgrass basketry.--"

There is also a video about Jackson's work on the Craft in America website. Here's more of what that source has to say about her:

Mary Jackson (b. 1945) is a basket maker who lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, Stoney. She makes sweetgrass baskets that come out of a tradition that has been passed down to her from her ancestors. It originated in West Africa, and then was brought to America by slaves.

This kind of basket making is an identifying cultural practice for people who were cut off from their own history, and has been a part of Charleston and Mt. Pleasant communities for more than 300 years. Jackson uses sweetgrass, palmetto, pine needles, and bulrush in her work, which is innovative, but always mindful of its past. Her baskets are represented in many collections including the American Craft Museum, White House Collection of Arts and Crafts, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Museum of African American History, Detroit.

According to the CBS website, other visual artists who won this prestigious grant this year are:

Tara Donovan, 38, sculptor, Brooklyn, N.Y. As an artist, Donovan transforms ordinary materials into sculptures that mirror geological and biological forms.

Jennifer Tipton, 71, stage lighting designer, New York, N.Y. Tipton uses lighting to evoke mood and accompany dance, drama and opera.

It's heartening to see the range of ages represented and, simply by the fact that two of these visual artists, and 7 of the 25, are over the age of 55. This age-span tells me that Malcomb Gladwell is onto something in his New Yorker magazine article, one that has deservedly been making the rounds on the fiber art lists. Read more here: "Late Bloomers - Why do we equate genius with precocity"

Fall Newsletter is "in the mail"

I hope. I seemed to have spent an inordinate amount of time NOT sending my newsletter -- making stupid technology errors. Every time I do this I swear I'm going to get a service that handles it -- and then another quarter rolls around and I haven't made the transition. I know that keeping my email list up to date and clean is an essential part of doing business these days, but it sure is boring.

Anyhow, that's the back story whine (whoops, switch that bracelet around) and here's the link to the newsletter up in cyberspace. If you'd like a subscription all your own (and didn't already get the mailing), just send me an email with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. susiemonday@gmail.com.

P.S. I am taking Lily Kern's Quilt University on-line course on Digital Photos on Fabric, in preparation for some workshops and to experience the online teaching and learning environment. I'm learning a lot, and mostly, having fun playing in Photoshop with some of the images I've collected over the years. The pomegranate images in this blog are the results of a few hours of fiddling around with different effects. I've been printing them out on fabric, so don't be surprised to see them on one of my textile paintings in the future. I'll be sharing some of Lily's tips (as well as a lot more garnered in other research) at my Southwest School of Art course next weekend -- Photos to Fabric, October 11-12, from 10-4 daily. There's still room for a few more participants if you are interested in learning more about using photos in your fiber art. Go to the SWSchool website to register online. We'll be preparing fabric with Bubble Jetset, using various transfer methods, playing with software (bring a laptop if you have one), trying out repeat designs and tiling photos to poster size images, and turning a photo into a good image for thermofax printing. Email me if you have questions.

And, don't forget about the El Cielo workshop on Oct. 17-19: Altares, Dias de los Muertos.

Recommended: Rayna's Book

What I've been reading lately. And using a lot for inspiration. I think Rayna's book is great for small, medium and large artists. Even if you think you know a lot about printing on fabric, I bet you'll find some fresh approaches and new ideas in her colorful book.

And true confessions. This is a test to see if I could figure out the affiliate marketing links with Amazon. If someone buys a book after clicking on the link from my site, I receive a small percentage of the sales price. (I don't even know what it is.) I don't want to clutter my site with advertising or sales links, but this is a very real part of the web environment, and though I will only ever recommend books that I endorse, I see no reason not to take advantage of this aspect of marketing technology, miniscule as it is. If you are interested in doing the same on your blog, and if you make it a habit to recommend books or other Amazon products, the affiliate site and very simple instructions can be found on this Amazon link.

Still experimenting, I think I like the linking with the image only -- in theory all the info is still available to a potential buyer, but it's a cleaner look. But, hey, simple instructions or not, I can't figure out how to link the code with the image.

Of course, in the case of Rayna's book, I'd rather just send you to her website and let you buy directly from her. So this is an exercise in potential future market opportunity. That is, if we end up with any economy left operating. I am an optimist, after all,  or I couldn't be an artist.

Seasonal Palette

There is a hint of fall in the air, even here in deep South Texas. We opened the windows last night and slept with a cool northwest breeze -- at least until the neighbor's dog cornered a raccoon or armadillo or whatever under his porch. Ah, the peaceful country life. Nevertheless, like a chef in a big city kitchen, i find my color sense turning to autumnal hues, longing for the leaf turning rusts and reds and golds that are at least a month away from the hillside!

So here's a little visual inspiration, no matter what colors your actual geography is gifting you with today. For me, it's a tiny little look into the future. 

Above: Beautiful rusted fabric -- a great way to get autumn hues --  by artist Adrian Highsmith. She used this fabric in a series of textile collages for a recent art exhibit in New Braunfels.

Pomegranates are among the early signs of autumn here. This photo has found its way into a couple of new textile pieces -- one will be part of the faculty donations at the Houston International Quilt Show -- and I just realized that I forgot to photograph it before shipping! But, the piece above, finished just today, uses a similar color scheme and another print from the photo above. Look for the companion piece in Houston.

(P.S. I hope the leaves will at least have a tiny bit of russet by the time of my next El Cielo workshop, October 17, 18, 19. The topic -- Altares: Dias de los Muertes. You'll choose the memory or experience to honor;  a person, place, former self, even the birth/life/death cycle of an idea, creating personal symbols and meaningful imagery. The techniques: constructing a art cloth altar with fusing, machine quilting, hand-stitching and embellishing of fabrics you've created with photo transfer, flour paste resist and hand-painting. If interested, email me at susiemonday@gmail.com.)

Above, Not yet, but coming. This photo was taken a couple of years ago, when our fall produced some lovely hues. That's not always the case, but these early cool fronts bode well for color on the hillsides.

On-line, On-board, Textile Teaching

Stop Fear, journal quilt, 2007

As those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know, I sometimes float ideas that want exploring for my art business or my teaching practice -- even sometimes my art work. Sometimes something comes of it, sometimes, not.

One of those tracks, coaching, seems to have run its course without much action on my part. After quite a bit of research on the topic, being a coach and making that business works seems to embody the same challenges and work load that teaching art and making art do -- it's a highly competitive field, with many practitioners and many approaches even within the niche of creativity coaching. I am pretty sure that what I was thinking about doing is being done by many people with more skills, credentials, and who see that as their primary passion and gift to the world. Then, too, I didn't find long lines of people clamoring for this service! The best way for me to guide artists and would-be artists in their creative work and their creative processes is to improve my teaching, expand and formalize the materials I use for my workshops, and to keep being a maker, living the maker's life. (By the way, one of my favorite bloggers Merlin Mann, has a lot to say about productivity and the maker's life on his redesigned blog.)

One idea that I've toyed with in the past and that I, here, publicly state as a goal for the next 4 months, is to produce an on-line course. Hold me to it. I will offer the course at a highly-discounted rate  (maybe even free) for 10 to 15 of you who read this blog  -- beta testing, as it were. I will include photos and video demos, an e-book workbook and how-to materials. Get your name on the invitation list by leaving a comment or sending an email with suggestions!

Thus said, I need a little market research, and I hope you will help me with that -- whether or not you have taken an on-line course before or not. Leave comments here on the blog, or send a personal email to susiemonday@gmail.com. In the textile art world, there seem to be two distinct approaches to on-line offerings: 1. short -- 6 lessons or so -- courses that deal with a fairly specific technique, approach, tool or medium, costing about $40 to $80 per course. Some of these are hosted on sites like Joggles, Quilters Keep Learning or Quilt University, others on the artist's own website. Most have some feedback option, but it may or may not be used by the participating student.

The second type of offering is longer, more expansive and cohesive courses with design, often taking several months and costing quite a bit more -- Jane Dunnewold's correspondence course on Complex Cloth fits this. And I know some of the other "big name" fiber art teachers do some similar programs, and they cost usually about $300 or more for a season or a year's course. I don't think I'm ready for this!

In the interest of starting small, the first type of course seems most do-able. Here are a few ideas I have thought about, do any of these sound interesting to you -- or do you think one or the other might find an audience?

• How to make an altered jean jacket using fusible webbing, fabric collage, stitching and original design ideas
  
• 7 Scarves -- new surface design techniques on silk scarves
• An on-line version of my Calling All Archetypes workshop  (this might be a slightly longer one, culminating in making an art quilt to an archetype important in one's life)
• An on-line version of my workshop Words on the Surface, using text on fabric in various media and a variety of techniques
  

Any others come to mind? What price would you be willing to pay for a 6 lesson series? A 10 lesson series? Would it be important to have a shared photo file of student work -- that's easy enough to set up and could be a great place to see the diversity of work. How about a blog to discuss the class assignments? Or do you think these interactive elements are too difficult for most people to use and would make the class less marketable? Hoping to hear from you!

Catching Up or Starting Fresh?

I find myself getting back into the blog after nearly a month away. Not even an intentional vacation from the page, rather a retreat from on-line life in favor of a packed August -- between exhibits, deadlines, workshops, and designing several new web-based projects, my calendar suffered a meltdown.

Perhaps more to the point, I've taken a vow to leave the computer in the studio -- or packed up in its tidy little briefcase -- during early morning and post "work hours," in the interest of sanity and domestic harmony. If this (blogging, et al) is important as part of my work, of my bigger picture of self in the studio, of the business of being the artist and teacher I want to be, then its worth doing as part of my work day. Frankly, the laptop was taking over my living room -- even the bedroom --  at all kinds of inappropriate hours. Inappropriate, because, well, live people deserve my undivided attention when I am in the same room with them. In order to step back from the brink, it seemed necessary to just shut it off for a bit, and decide how and when and what was most important to continue.

So we will see what that means. Exactly.

One issue, as I've come back online with the new month, was whether to try to catch up the record and my readers with all that's gone on -- two shows, three workshops, two trips, new art cloth projects and techniques, new classes planned and promoted. Yikes. No way. So we start fresh with today. With what's right now, as I sit here in the University Inn at Rutgers, a day early into town (New Brunswick, N.J.) for the Art Cloth Network meeting.

I have a visceral "new year" reaction to the first week after Labor Day, from 16 years of school calendars (back when schools still started after LD). The month has that new pencil, new notebook, new box of crayons feel and energy, so what better time to start on a virtual new slate. I've always considered myself lucky to have this second fresh start during one calendar year, don't you?

So here, besides the blog, are my fresh starts:

1. More time for just doing nothing. Letting quiet and peace make a space for what's new.

2. Saying "I'll think about it. Let me tell you tomorrow" before I automatically say "yes," to a request, no matter how important or  how much fun it intimates.

3. Take a yoga or NIA class weekly -- I need the class structure to move myself into fitness. The sweets of summer have gone to my waistline.

4. At least two "no drive days" each week. With planning, I can do that. Without planning I spend way too many hours in the car.

That's enough. See number 1. And number 2, even when I am the one doing the asking.

Textile Painting vs. Art Quilt

"Dreaming: The Beach" detail, 2008

We artists in this world of textiles, fiber art, quilting go round and round about terms. Is what I do textile painting, fiber art, art quilts, studio art quilts? Why is it important? For one thing, if we are to ever have a broader understanding (perhaps, demand or desire) for our chosen medium, we want that broader public to "get it." Some of us making what have become known as "art quilts" as opposed to "bed quilts" come from traditional quilting backgrounds. Others, like me, have never tried such a project, and, while respecting the tradition and while borrowing, stealing and emulating some of the technical aspects, feel that our work is more akin to a painting than a bed cover.

Then, when one adds the aspect of surface design -- actually "making" some or all of the fabrics used in the artwork -- things get even a bit more complicated.

I am taking a free internet marketing course - The Thirty Day Challenge -- that has presented a whole new set of information that relates to taking this work to the web and what words one uses to describe art. What do people "look for" and how many searches does a particular set of words engender in a day. I won't go into it indepth -- still too much to digest --but its interesting to hear how an outside perspective looks at this "content." In the rubric of this course, if one wants to actually sell something via internet, one is looking for search terms (keywords) that have at least 80 searches a day, and fewer than 30,000 competing sites that include those keywords, as well as a whole lot of other search engine criteria that put one at the top of a google page, since that is how most of the people "out there" are looking for items and topics on the web. What's really interesting is that there are a whole lot of people inventing sites for marketing purposes that have very little to do with the actual making of content or product. So how do these terms measure up? Art quilt has relatively more searches but way more competing sites. Textile painting has less competition, but not many searches either.

Meanwhile, I am thinking about the artist talk I will make tomorrow (Saturday at 4:30 p.m.) at my solo exhibit of new (and recent) work at the Rockport Center for the Arts. Here's a bit from the artist statement booklet I made for the show:

This work continues my lifelong exploration of fabric as an art medium, as I pursue a vision as expressive and personal as that of any artist who uses watercolor, oil paint, or acrylics, albeit informed by the traditional craft of the quilter. Some of the fabrics I use began as vintage table linens rescued from estate sales, or embroidered Mexican dresses that have seen one too many fiestas. I keep my eye, like the raven, attuned to things shiny and intricately patterned. The selection of ethnic textiles from Africa, Mexico, Guatemala honors the work of those anonymous hands, no doubt many of them women’s. When the fabrics come together on the design table, color and pattern are the voices that speak to me, with stories inspired by the icons, images and natural beauty of these South Texas Borderlands. Stitched lines add another visual element, tying together the tales and textures.

The techniques used to create the fabrics and the art work include hand-dyeing, screen-printing with dyes and textile paints, soy and traditional wax batik, foil and metal leaf embellishment, hand and machine embroidery and stitching. One of the appeals of this work for me is its variety of scope, scale, precision and improvisation, and its connection to both the past and the future through craft and skill.

Notice that I kind of sidestepped the terminology issue -- the mention of the "quilt" is a bit oblique. (ironically, the piece above  incorporates more machine stitching and a more regular "quilting" pattern than anything I've done before.) What's your take on this? While I don't really expect to sell large works from my website -- I think art of any kind is hard to fall in love with on a screen -- I am toying with making my altered jean jackets available, maybe doing some cards, and the idea of an online workshop or course is still floating around in my large scheme of trying to make a living as an artist.

P.S. There's a preview of 2009 dates and topics for El Cielo workshops on the Workshop page now.

Newsletter, finally: Fiber Arts Exhibits, Workshops & More

I set a goal last spring to start a quarterly newsletter to send to workshop participants, collectors, friends and family -- an emailed summary of the events and activities of my art life, and a few articles about the images, stories, natural history and materials that inspire my work. You may have received it if you're on my mailing list (or not, my list is still a mysterious and unwieldy thing) and if you didn't you can either check it out today by clicking on the link above for a downloaded pdf.

I will be repeating some of the information about shows and events, with more detail, here on the blog, so if this is your preferred window into El Cielo Studio, read early, read often!

Some reflections on the process:

The new tools available for work like this are nothing short of astounding. As a young woman, my first job was as a paste-up artist for a shopper/neighborhood publication -- Suffolk Life -- out on the end of Long Island during a brief residency after college. Each morning I took long strips of headlines and shorter sections of shiny column width text and built pages, ads, etc. It was tedious, exacting and challenging for one whose acqaintence with a ruler is tenuous, but I suppose to those who had once set metal rows of  type for newspapers, it was its own miracle of technology. Now, not only do I not need hot wax and strips of type, I don't even need paper. The photos float in; the type face changes with a whim. The choices seem overwhelming.

Publishing a newsletter takes bravery, chuzpah, ganas. As artists we who intend to sell our work (or teaching skills) must come to terms with shameless self-promotion. That little voice (well, not so little) announces with regularity, "Who the heck cares about your shows, work, ideas, blah, blah, blah." And then, get an "UNSUBSCRIBE" notice and it's immediately confirmed. (No matter that its only a few out of the several hundred sent.)

It's never going to be good enough. Just like making a piece of  art work, doing something printish (or electronicish) is prone to its own learning curve. I hope the next one will be more interesting, helpful, compelling, intriguing. I'd like to get all of my work into a more consistent style and spend a little more graphic designer mindset on it. The choices seem mindboggling, so its quite easy to let the template designers do all the work for you. By the way, the software I used was PAGES, part of Apple's iWork suite of tools. If you're on a Mac I highly reccommend the modest investment for this software. It's taken time to get a hint of its capacity, but its been well worth the learning curve.

Intermission: How Cool is This!

 

In the mailbox today: a copy of July/August issue of Art Calendar; the business magazine for visual artists. Alyson B. Stanfield included some pictures of one of my workshops that Linda took in an article about promoting one's workshops.

10 Planning and Promoting Workshops
By Alyson B. Stanfield
Find the students, and fill your classes.

And the editor's used two photos: one with a nice picture too of Diane Sanfield, and another with two pretty indistinguishable images of Robin Early and Stephanie Stokes (they are both in dust masks, the worlds' most unflattering workshop gear). OK, here's the pictures -- you asked!

 

Alyson has also just finished a redo of her website that makes an easy link to her blog -- a great improvement I think, I love her site, but often found myself a bit lost in all the links and the navigation seems a bit easier now.

The Art Calendar's website seems to include some interesting features, too. It's worth a look! 

Update: After Photos

Here it is. Six photos worth a thousand words. (See post before last for the BEFORE pics.)

 

 You can see examples of the kinds of projects we'll be tackling in this weekend's Text on the Surface Workshop.

Note: I had a note that the comment section of my blog was acting up earlier. If you had trouble posting, sorry. I think its fixed now.  

Getting on Top of the Studio: Organization for Organizationally Challenged

  

Or is the studio on top of me. Feels that way right now. Those of you who have attended one of my workshops may be under the mistaken assumption that I am a neat and well-organized artist.

Oh, how wrong.

One of the unexpected benefits of teaching in my studio is that I am forced to clean, tidy and organize at least once a month. Pride and necessity coalesce to motivate me before the participants arrive. Truth is, I work with piles of stuff, large piles, scary piles. When I am in the art-making mode, I just can't be neat and tidy. All those mountains of material must magically return to their bottles before anyone else can fit in the space, as large as it is. Having a large studio has been a mixed blessing -- I have room to continue working without cleaning as I go. Great for flow. Not so great for organization. This is not a plea to the universe for downsizing, BTW. I LOVE my studio. But it does look like Vesuvius after the erruption at times (like now).

What does work:

Keeping items in like categories, no matter their end results or techniques. ie all the batik materials together. All the scissors together. All the textile paints together. If I get too fussy about my sorting, I'll spend all my time trying to keep it together. Big lumps of categories work best for me, no alphabetized sortings of dye colors -- though I do write the colors large on the lids, so I don't spend all my time squinting.

The art drawer cabinet is filled with "roughly" sorted colors of smallish pieces of fabric. So if I need a green I know where to go. If I need all the green, I can dump the drawer out on the design table. I don't spend time folding or neatening up these drawers, they are the surprise grab bags of the studio. Larger pieces of fabric are folded (sometimes) and stored in large plastic bins by type -- silks and silky stuff here, florals there, dyed pieces in progress in another,  white linens in yet another, clothing to cut up in another. These are a bit unwieldy, but the best system I've found so far. When the lids are down and the bins stacked, the studio returns to visual calm.

I'm lucky, since the space was once a full kitchen, bath and studio apartment to have lots of shelves and drawers for supplies like scissors, dye and paints. The quality of these fixtures is lousy -- drawers are falling apart, hinges are dodgy, and someday I'll have to do a remodel, but for now, it works well enough. 

Moving things around as a motivational factor. I don't like things to stay the same forever spacially. I like my desk in different places, the design tables moved around and reconfigures. Some stuff is too heavy to move, but it works for me to rearrange as part of the neatening it all up process. 

Paper work also tends to pile up, no matter what "system" I try. A few methods have stuck, but maintanence still takes me longer than I wish it would, and when I'm busy with a production deadline, my "inbox" becomes a nightmare. Here's my paper system for now:

Open file box with hanging folders for my 43 folders. Also three hanging folders  for "Read and Review," "Errands," "Dreams and Goals." Anything dated (deadlines, maps, supply lists, appointment papers, etc) goes into the proper day or month folder. And, even if I get behind on sorting -- my May  folder items are still waiting to go into the proper days -- this system has been a godsend, saving me hours and hours of looking for lost stuff.

Three small file cabinets that fit under the bar for a.) business paperwork, including workshops and exhibits, b.) household bills and important papers, c.) everything else in alphabetical order,  also modeled on David Allen's  Getting Things Done.

In the virtual world, I aim for INBOX Zero. That keeps me relatively mindful of what's coming in and going out via email and gets me to tend to little wiggly stuff as it happens.  Not that I always achieve it -- but the days are over of finding myself with 478 items in my inbox. I also keep my calendar (one calendar only) on my computer (ical) and copy email dates, appointments, deadlines into it, printing it out about once every two weeks so I also have a hard copy. I now have an iphone and that has helped enormously, because I can carry synced versions of my calendar, my contacts and email along with me.

PS. This whole thing depends on a BIG inbox (a card table actually) where papers, supplies, art etc. coming into the studio lands until I take time to sort it out. At least if it lands in one place, I have a halfway decent chance at finding it if I need something BEFORE I get it back in its home.

Having so nicely listed my  ideal, it's time to tackle the actuality.  Time  to put on HGTV, read a few inspirational organization blogs*, have my Diet Rite cola iced up and ready to go, sset a timer for 1 hour increments (as a reward for each hour of cleaning, I spend 15 minutes doing something more fun) and visualize how nice it will be to have everything back in its place. As additional motivation, I will post some follow-up AFTER photos.

And, if you have any suggestions that might help me tame the beast, please post a comment.  I'd also like to hear how other artist's organize materials and supplies. What works for paper, doesn't always transfer to stuff -- and what works for linear thinkers, doesn't always work for us spacial/visual thinkers.

*No time to list more of these now, but I'll add them to tomorrow's AFTER post. 

Teaching and Learning

 

This piece of art cloth was made in Kerr Grabowski's Deconstructed Screenprinting weekend workshop. 

 

The pondering that is going on in my morning pages today goes something like this: Who am I learning from? What do I want to learn? What is mastery? Where do I need to stretch, how do I need to polish?

As an artist, especially if one is past the earliest stages of one's education, this can be a tricky place to land. While I relish the role of teacher, I have a longing for the path of the learner, the student. I haven't taken a formal class longer than a weekend workshop for several years now -- the workshops provide great infusions of new techniques and new energy but I seem to have a need for something more sustained ... I enjoyed and profited from the 28-day Artist Breakthrough Program offered by Alyson Stanfield, but this longing is for  something directly related to my work as an artist.

Where will it show up? Who do I need to be learning from? What would take me to the next level in my work, without just being a "technique  of the momemt." I suspect it might take me deeper into the world of precision, or sewing, or traditional quilting. I'd like something demanding and stretching, something that challenges but contributes validly to my path and work. It will take a bit more meandering, I think ,for me to answer this question.

Meanwhile, I challenge you to the same inquiry. What would you like to end the summer with that you don't know now? Is it  a new skill or a new work habit? Is it more precision or more determination? Is it fluency of idea or better drawing skills? Do you really need a new technique -- or do you need to spend more time in your studio or at your desk? If you could pick any (teaching) artist alive to apprentice with this summer, whom would it be? Can you create a virtual version or that apprenticeship by setting your own learning goals for the next three months? Cobble together a plan that includes self-study, time with books, a couple of short-term workshops or classes, a once-a-week drawing salon, a monthly gallery crawl or museum day?

P.S. If you think a weekend at El Cielo might answer one of these questions for you, check out the schedule on the workshop page -- next weekend's Text on the Surface still has a couple of openings! 

The Blog Tour: Alyson B. Stanfield says...

 

Today I’m hosting Alyson B. Stanfield, author of I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion. Alyson is here as part of the blog tour to help promote the book and is also giving away a free copy. She’s given me the opportunity to ask a question related to the book, so here goes . . .

A: Susie, thanks for inviting me to El Cielo! I would so love to be there in person. I know you live in a beautiful area.

S: Thanks Alyson,  the next time you get to Texas, I hope you'll stop by in person!

I've been reading your blog and taking classes with you for a couple of years now, and I know the importance of "branding" for an artist -- but what if I essentially have two businesses, one about making and selling art and one focused on teaching, both in my studio, and increasingly, in other venues. As an artist who teaches (both in other places and regularly in my own studio with retreat formats) I wonder if I should have a separate blog, website and newsletter for the teaching/coaching side of my business, or do I keep it all together. Which is less confusing?

A: Susie, you’re quite right to be concerned about confusing people. When people visit a website and they’re confused, they leave. If confusion is your primary concern, I wouldn’t worry too much about having them combined as long as what you teach can be seen in the work that you do. In other words, that the teaching is an extension of your art.
If you teach one thing, but your work looks quite different from the thing you teach, there will be a disconnect. I don’t see that as a problem for you at all, but it could be at some point.
There might also be a need to separate the two if in the future you seek high-end galleries and museums. Having your teaching with your art (especially if it overpowers the art itself) could be a deterrent to curators and gallerists. But I don’t believe it is when you’re marketing to the general public. Having said that, you can always tailor your blog, newsletter or site to ensure that the art doesn’t get lost in the teaching.

Thanks for the advice! I'm getting ready to add the WORKSHOP link to my website, so this is timely information. Alyson's book is a wonderful addition to your artist's tool. If you'd like to win a book, click here for instructions. Visit this site, read the instructions, and enter. Your odds are good as she’s giving away a free copy on most of the blog tour stops. You can increase your odds by visiting the other blog tour stops and entering on those sites as well.

And speaking of workshops -- the next one up in a couple of weeks here at El Cielo: "Words on the Surface," a hands-on extravaganza of all things typed and written as elements for your art cloth, art quilt or mixed media work . We'll be making sun prints with Setacolor, experimenting with different ways to do photo transfers, adding text with batik scrafitto and a myriad of other fun techniques. On Friday evening, May 9, early arrivals will have have the chance to do some creative writing with some new exercises. For more information, check out the Coming Up: Workshops page.

 

Reminder: Art Biz Coach is Coming Tomorrow

 

The photos above show my "booth" just before the Fiesta Arts Fair at Southwest School of Art and Craft opened for business. I think I had the best spot in the entire fair -- shade, historical ambiance, music, margaritas within a shout, lots of traffic, memories (I was once actually married right here in this very courtyard) and friends happily tripping through opening Fiesta weekend.

Just a reminder -- while I take my breath, count my blessings and get it together for a full report on the Fiesta Arts Fair.
 Art Biz Coach Alyson Stanfield is stopping by tomorrow on her Blog Tour to promote her new and VERY helpful book: I'd Rather Be in the Studio.

 In case I don't get back to this space later this afternoon, I wanted to make sure you all knew about the tour, and tomorrow will check out her answer to my art business question: Should I have a separate (from my new Gallery website), dedicated website for my teaching and workshops? (And what do you think, loyal readers? Would a separate site make sense? Should I beef up the link on my blog site or develop a separate set of pages within the new Gallery site -- www.susiemonday.com)

Tomorrow, you will also find out how to win a free copy of Alyson's book, and find some links to some of my favorites of the many  blogs, podcasts and other resources that she offers through her on-line teaching and coaching.

Here's the view during the Fair, in a rare quietish moment! Thanks to all of you who stopped in the browse, to Jennifer who took some great professional photos for me, to all of you who purchased aart work rom me or from another artist -- the most direct way to support the arts -- feed an artist! We know you have many choices about how to spend your time, money and energy. Buying art, while certainly not a survival necessity, is, I think,  both a financial and spiritual investment in the future of the planet.
 

New Web Site -- in Progress

 

Help! I earnestly request that my  subscribers and readers click this link

NEW GALLERY WEB SITE 

and give me feedback, suggestions, corrections, ideas for what's missing, and any other critique you'd like to contribute to my new gallery site-in-progress. Since I am designing the site with iweb and publishing it on .mac, I particularly want to know how it works on PC platforms and on browsers other than Firefox. I won't switch my public domain, www.susiemonday.com until I've done a bit more work, but it's ready for some outside eyes.

There is still an enormous amount to do to get the site where I want it to be, but with this much done and published, I feel like I have met my Artist Breakthrough Program goal of developing the site by April 1. With your help, I can take the next steps to  fatten it out with more content, better edited photos, and additional pages during the next 3 weeks leading up to my sale at Fiesta Arts Fair, April 19-20.

A few specific questions:

Do the live hyperLINKS need to be a more distinct color?

Is it too weird to have the tense go from third to first person (home page to gallery pages)? And if so, which should it be ?

Should I have a more formal bio/resume page?

Should I have more or fewer pictures on each of the galleries? Should I subdivide more or combine them? Do I include prices? Size? Media? More description for each photo on the gallery page and then NOT include it on the slideshow?

What other pages do you think I should include?

Does the design and format look enough like my blog to have a consistent style? Any suggestions on visual "branding"?

Any other ideas? Really, I need them. If you don't want to leave a personal comment, email me by sending a message to susiemonday@gmail.com (you do have my new email, right?). 

I'd Rather Be in the Studio

 

No kidding.

Wouldn't we all? The teetertotter between marketing and making is yet another of those dicotomies, those dualities, that I am working to embrace.

One of the best resources I have found is Alyson Stanfield -- Art Biz Coach, extraordinare. As

I mentioned a few weeks ago, I signed up for her first Artist Breakthrough Program. The results were both helpful and surprising. I intended to work on a plan for launching a coaching aspect to my work -- mainly because I know that I am called to mentoring other people's journeys to their deepest creative work. In working through the process with 11 other wonderful artists (see links to their sites at the end of this post), my first breakthrough was that I was nuts to try and start ANOTHER "business," which even a deep calling becomes when one decides to market it or make it part of one's profession. I do have my hands full. Instead, with the rest of the 28-day program, I focused on putting together a do-able promotion plan for the exhibits and shows that I am committed to the rest of the year: Fiesta Arts Fair on April 19-20, a group show at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery in August, a solo show at the Rockport Art, also in August, and a presence in the regional quilt shows in the Dallas area, September through December at the Arlington Art Museum. This blog will play a part in keeping my focus on making the most of these opportunities, and I hope all of you that are reading will help me stay on track! My goal is to show exceptional work, to invite friends and interested audiences, to sell work and find opportunities for commissions. All of these exhibitions mean that I must be both in the studio, and on my best business behavior -- with organization, optimism and confidence -- and good promotional materials, as well. As much as we artists would like to live in our little bubble studios, those of us who must pay for groceries, shelter and the ever-rising gasoline bill, have to face the entrepreneurial realities of the marketplace.

The ABP is just the latest of the courses and resources that I've had from my connection to Alyson's web-based work, and everyone of them has been helpful -- her's is one of the blogs that I read every week; I play her podcasts on my iphone; I  refer to her materials, and now, I dip into her book -- I'd Rather Be in the Studio -- for answers to specific marketing and business  questions. And I'm scheduled for a virtual book tour when Alyson stops by this blog on April 22. I am in great company I realize, now that the blog tour has begun. The first stop was with Cynthis Morris, a wonderfully inspirational coach and writer; today's stop was at Christine Hellmuth's blog. I can't wait to read who's next, and I encourage all of you to follow along. Here's the blurb from Alyson's promotion:

I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion is for artists of all kinds. Painters, sculptors, ceramist, jewelers, photographers, and others will benefit from the easy-to-follow self-promotion practices in this book.

Author and art-marketing consultant Alyson B. Stanfield, of ArtBizCoach.com, focuses on sharing the artwork directly with potential buyers through electronic and traditional communication outlets—in a manner that is comfortable, not artificial. Artists match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of their art careers.

The book includes online worksheets and downloads.

Meanwhile, what's up for MY promotional materials?  A new website for my gallery/art work home-away-from-home  is coming soon. This blog, at least for the foreseeable future, will stay on Squarespace, but I hope to move my gallery site to .mac within the next couple of weeks, with new images, updated navigation, a more professional appearance and an easier interface that will help me keep it updated!

P.S. Here is a list and links to 5 of the artists who were partners in the Artist Breakthrough Program (in no particular order, the others will be in the next post):

Patricia Scarborough, painter 

Lyn Bishop, digital fine art 

William H. Miller, fellow Texan (Houston), photographer, digitalist, painter 

Lynne Oakes, painter and teacher 

Karine Swenson, painter, abstracts, lives in the desert 

Mavis Penney, painter, photographer, lives in Labrador

Be sure to click the links to these artist's blogs (those who have them) -- a wonderful way to catch a glimpse of the creative life in a wide world of media, locations and situations -- like studio open house visits without the travel.  

Under the Big Quilt

 

The Wanderer/The Dreamer, Susie Monday, 2007 

 

I just filled in my faculty contract for the Houston International Quilt Festival. For those of you reading who are not in the quilter's world, this is an annual journey to Mecca for many a quilt-hearted soul, from traditional to fringe element. Or bead element. Or doll or wearable or art quilty edgy element.  Acres of quilts, acres of quilt-related items, hundreds of classes and workshops.

I was asked to submit a proposal earlier this year for the Mixed Media room, was accepted as a teacher, and so will join a 147-member faculty for the 2008 International Quilt Festival in Houston, October 27-November 2. I'll be teaching a three-hour workshop that is a short.sweet version of my Artists Journey/Artist's Journal workshop on Monday, 6-9 p.m. -- this is at the VERY START of the conference before many have arrived, but I am thrilled to be on the schedule at all. I also will be demo-ing an Inspiration card deck project in the Mixed Media Miscellany Ampler on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2-4 pm abd again on Saturday, 10-noon. I have also submitted a proposal for another demo of my art quilt artist altars. It will be a full week for me, and, judging from my previous visits to the Quilt Festival, quite an inspirational time.

The catalog comes out in July I believe, and at that time you can register for these (and other!) great workshops. If you've never been to festival and like fiber art of any sort, try to make it part of your travel plans this year. My first visit completely shook my understanding and comprehension of the world of the quilt, and subsequent visits continue to do so.

• International
  Quilt Festival/Houston
  October 30-November 2, 2008
  Houston, Texas
  George R. Brown Convention Center
  Order the class catalogue
  

Meanwhile, due to a couple of people changing their plans, I have two openings for the March "Calling All Archetypes" workshop. There is only room left for sleepover participants for one of the studio beds  ($15)  or for the sofa in the living room (free bed), so if you are interested contact me soon. The workshop is March 7,8,9 beginning with a potluck on Friday night. Here's the plan:

Explore the inner team that keeps you going, makes a difference and sometimes holds you back from your best life. Working with exercises inspired by Julia Cameron, Caroline Myss and  the Tarot. Create a unique fiber art quilt altar to one of your personal archetypes, learning fusing techniques, sun-printing with dye and soy milk (weather permitting), photo transfer and machine quilting. Suitable for all levels,  and inspiring for those  beginning an art journey in fiber. Note: Friday night is an optional evening potluck and stayover. $150 if payment is received before March 1, $160 thereafter.

(The photos in the post are examples of a small archetype piece of mine --above-- and participant work in progrss from a recent Archetypes workshop in Arizona.)