Lesley Riley | Fabricologie

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I know I’m way overdue on my blog posts. By the end of this week, I will have been away teaching for 4 of the last 8 weeks. Does that get me off the hook? 

This is a short note to let you know that I will be a featured guest on Inspired at Home Radio tomorrow, Sunday, February 28th at 7 PM EST. My topic is TAP, Transfer Artist Paper. It’s a live show tomorrow and you can interact and chat with me if you are online during the hour. If you miss the show, no worries – it’s also available anytime on host, Tiffany Windsor’s website.

I hope you can make it and I look forward to chatting with you.

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (16) Right Brain Dominance: (16) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

I am constantly struggling between my two selves – the whimsical, playful, artist and the oh-so logical, organizing, information junkie, flow-chart loving geek. There’s a constant dialogue going on in my head: Artist: Stop being so logical & literal.” Geek: “But will they understand it? Will it make sense to them?” I’m sure you’ve noticed how structured my work is.

Another way to look at it is I guess you could say I’m really well-balanced. Do I need to be one or the other? I’ve done pretty well being both, so I would say the answer is no, I don’t have to choose. Or play favorites. I just wish those 2 inner voices would stop vying for power and take turns nicely.

And no, I’m not spending my record-setting-DC-blizzard- afternoon taking silly quizzes on the internet. I was doing some scientific research on left/right brain. But who can resist a quiz? Can you? Which one are you? Anyone out there as well balanced as I am?

PS More New Zealand photos & stories still to come.

UPDATE:  So many people wrote to me saying they had the same score, so I took it again and purposely skewed it to try and come out left-brained. And I got the same answer! The test is either bogus or broken. So this time went in search of other tests on purpose and found one that seems accurate.

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being:

I’ll take that answer. I’m still pretty close and I know some days I’m even closer, or I take turns being one or the other. If you’re game, you can take the better test here .  

Red Shoe Installation "Townie" by Lauren Lysaght

Walk with me through the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail, located at the Brick Bay Winery in Warkworth, NZ. See, that’s what I love about NZ. In one place you can enjoy three pleasures, nature, art and wine. A feast for the eyes, heart and soul. Come on, there’s lots to see, over 50 art installations, native flora and fauna. You walk a mile that doesn’t seem like one, through meadow and forest, up hill and down and play hide & seek looking for the art.

Bottle Run by Judy Darragh. "Planted" empty wine bottles with red painted bases

Sometimes it was right under your feet:

Meteorol by Mary-Louise Browne. Bluestone steps play the game of changing one letter of each word per step - Mist to Rain. Can you figure it out?

Buddha Bell by Phil Neary (cedar, bronze, stainless steel)

I loved the Buddha Bell, probably because so many of my friends call me the Buddha – (no, not because of the belly, silly,  but because they think I am wise)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flotsam by Jeff Thomson. Colorful corrugated iron floating in the lily pond

By far my favorite were the colorful, discarded pieces of corrugated iron, a common roofing material in NZ. The curled iron floats gracefully at the whim of wind and water and is an hypnotic sight. I could have lingered there all day.

The beauty in the contrast of hard and soft.

This walk through the sculpture garden and my trip to New Zealand was brought to you by Leanne Rogerson. She had a dream and she made it happen. Never underestimate the power of an artist seeking techniques!

Leanne reflected in the beautiful tiled cafe wall

She made it happen, not just for herself but also for the 22 students who were also looking for inspiration and ideas. US magazines are 3x the cost there – the same for books (+ high shipping), if they can even get them. Art conferences like Art & Soul and Artfest are few and far between, if at all. Their small country and wee population (4.2 million, compared to 8.3 million in NYC alone!) are what attracts me to this beautiful island, but it can be quite a disadvantage when you hunger for new things. It does make for some beautiful art though, as seen above. And NZ is a mecca for independant clothing designers. It seems as if there is at least one in every town as well as some with shops all over NZ.  But I digress.

My students. Each one brought her own talents and sensibility to the table. All were a joy. I hope I gave them as much as they gave me. The fun atmophere in the class was heightened by the bright, sunny classroom with windowed walls on both sides, color and art and well-used supplies hiding in every corner. Leanne had found was an intermediate school art classroom for us to play in for the 4 days. (NZ schools were on summer break.)

How to Grow Wings class

Sew What???? class

Fragment Fabric Collage class

Quilted Memories class

 

There are still more NZ stories to come. And I am still snowbound by the 27″ of snow dropped on us. We’re all beginning to dig out and many are without power, including my in-laws, who were rescued by my brother-in-law with a big honkin’ 4-wheel drive – the only thing getting around right now.  I have been jumping between art and blogging, reading and washing. How’s that for a snow day? Schools have already announced they will be closed Mon & Tues, but wait! There’s 2-6 more inches on the way Tuesday night! Yes, this is a record snowfall.  If another 1/2″ falls, we will move to #2 of all-time snowiest winters in DC. We are not aiming for #1 – that was 54″ in the winter of 1898/99.

Contrast this scene, taken 3 weeks ago:

Orewa Beach, Auckland, New Zealand 1/13/10

with this one, taken this morning:

The view from my front door, Bethesda, MD 2/6/10

And tell me – where would you rather be? I love the contrast. I love being snowbound here with my family. I love the warm summer days of New Zealand and the friends there who feel like family. I won’t choose between the two. I am just blessed that I have a life in which I can experience these extremes, the best of both worlds.

New Zealand~ where do I begin? How much do you care to hear, want to see? There are things that can only be experienced first hand, feelings that words do not do justice to. How can I convey the thrill I felt at seeing the biggest rainbow of my life, arcing miles across the open landscape, end to end, brilliant and clear, unlike any I have ever seen. With the weather we had driving back from Hawkes Bay to Morrinsville, I knew there had to be one somewhere. The sky ahead looked like this:

Foreboding sky near Morrinsville, NZ

Glorious rainbow in the Waikato Valley.

I turned my head and there it was, behind me. We were anxious to get home, so figuring out how to capture in a photo a rainbow from end-to-end didn’t even cross my mind. I don’t need it anyway. It’s burned into my memory, never to be forgotten. Some experiences are best kept that way.

New Zealand is known as the land of the long white clouds, thanks to its early Polynesian settlers. The air there is so clear, the landscape so majestic and wide open, from mountain to valley and back to maountains again.  And you are never far from water. Coming from the city, where views are obsructed and the air is not so pure, I am particularly drawn to the sky in this beautiful country. It changes more often than you change your clothes.

Long white cloud view from my hotel (The Spencer on Byron) balcony in Takapuna the day I arrived in New Zealand.

Pink dusk sky days later. Hauraki Gulf

And this - the morning mist rising above Te Mata Peak - "The Sleeping Giant"

That photo was taken at Raratu Lodge in Hawkes Bay,  an idyllic setting in the hills above the Tuki Tuki River, not far from the historic art-deco town of Napier, on the eastern Pacific coast of the north island. I spent 2 nights there with the best hostess and tour guide in New Zealand, Wendy Cooper (more about her later – I’m talking skies now.)

Sunset at Raratu Lodge. See the thumbnail moon?

The beach at Napier, where the color of the ocean almost matches the sky.

Tomorrow I’ll still be snowed in and will continue my travelogue from a more “down-to-earth” point of view and introduce you to the woman that made all of this possible as well as my wonderful students.

I have to make this short & sweet – it’s taking me a while to get up to speed after my blissful trip to New Zealand.

I want to offer a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to take my survey, and to those of you who promoted it on Facebook or your blogs.  I am just now beginning to go over the responses and will be sharing my findings and my project with you soon.

Based on 3 randomly generated numbers at Random.org:

Grand prize winner is Lynne in the UK (@jord4.freeserve.co.uk) #344

Winners of the 2 Amazon Gift Certificates are:
Marlene (aka forsure) #580
Cindy Shake #1024

Congratulations! And if you did not win this time, do not despair. There will be more chances to win other goodies and lots of free and helpful info coming your way in the future. If you don’t want to miss out and have not already done so, please sign up for my *free* newsletter here. There are exciting announcements and more in the weeks to come.

I’ll be back soon with a New Zealand report (the photos are downloading now). Stay tuned!

 

Remember when your teacher was going to be out for a day and she made up a few worksheets for the substitute to hand out while she was gone? (Life was so simple back then, wasn’t it?)

So since I’m going to be away teaching and exploring in New Zealand for two weeks, I thought I would give you an “assignment” to complete while I’m gone. But unlike a sheet of long division problems, sentences to diagram or maps to color in, this will be a fun assignment because there is a chance to win a reward for doing your work.  Gold stars for everyone! No, really, everyone who completes this assignment will be entered to win this BONANZA of 3 prizes:

This could be yours!

1. This glorious and unique handmade (by me), expandable Travel Journal. What makes it so special? The pages are hand-painted and removable so you need only carry around a few pages each day, not the whole journal. (A $200 value)

What's a journal without pencils?

2. A brand new set of 18 Caran D’Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle Pencils (a $40 value)

Great for transfering onto paper as well as fabric.

3. A 10 sheet package of TAP (a $22 value)

Is that enough? Are you willing to help me for a chance to win? But what if you don’t win this mega-prize? I’ve got that covered too! I’m also going to give away 2 – $20 Amazon gift certificates.

So there you have it. Three chances to win. And all I am asking you to do is to fill out a short, 9 question survey. It should only take you 1 or 2 minutes. Are you game?  Actually, there are only 8 questions, because question #9 is your name and email so I can notifiy you if you are one of the winners. It’s even an optional question – you don’t have to provide your name or email. But if you don’t, then I can’t contact you. And you know you’re going to win, right? This is your lucky year, isn’t it?

I want to thank you in advance. This will really be helpful to me in taking the next step in my as yet unveilednew project. I’ll be back Sunday night January 24th and will announce the winners on the blog on Tuesday, January 26th -  after I recover from jet lag. Anyone who completes the survey by noon January 26 (EST) is eligible. Please feel free to pass this along to your friends. I’d love it if you would Tweet it, announce it on Facebook, link to it on your blog. The more responses I get the better. Thank you, thank you.

Are you ready? Click here to take survey

Juicy colored journal pages

Blue Moon December 31, 2009

New Years Day is a good day for lists, usually in the form of resolutions and goals. I’ve got those too, but I thought it would be fun to create this list. Reason #1 comes easily, but let’s see what else I spontaneously come up with…

1. It’s the day I first kissed my husband. 41 years ago today at precisely 12:00:14 am. I know that because we were on our first date and were nervously staring at his watch as the new year struck, me wondering if he would kiss me and him? well I guess he was working up nerve. It took him 14 seconds. The rest is history.

2. It’s a day that signifies beginnings and I am beginning a new venture – one conceived and birthed at Ali Brown’s SHINE conference in November. I’ve been doing work I love  and am looking forward to sharing it with you real soon. I haven’t been this excited in years. *

3. It’s a holiday, which means you are free to do whatever you please. And for those of you that are working today – THANK YOU for keeping whatever organization you’re with up and running.

Wedding, September 12, 2009

4. This is a particularly cool New Year because we get to say 20-10. Rolls off the tongue nicely.

5. It’s the day after the Blue Moon. Did you see it last night? I didn’t because we were under clouds and rain all day and night.

6. Because now there are only 9 days until I leave for New Zealand!!!!

7. It’s a day of looking back over the highlights of last year – a wedding, a new granddaughter, starting a successful business, the new and the long-time friends I have, and so much more.

New Granddaughter, November 16, 2009

 I want to thank you for continuing to read this blog, even though I disappear for weeks on end and lately have very little art to show you. I want to thank all of my students for continuing to invest in themselves by way of my classes. A special thanks to my customers for supporting and purchasing TAP. Thank you for being a part of this community of artists, readers and writers of blogland. Just knowing you all are out there makes each day, this year all the much brighter. Here’s to 2010 – May it be your best year yet!

*If you’re curious about the magic spell she put me under, then you’ll want to sign up for and listen to her free call on January 6. Here’s the link – “Your 11 Best No-Cost to Low-Cost Marketing & Business Strategies for 2010″.  I’m really not the kind of person that does this, it’s a big turn-off to me and probably you, but there’s something about Ali that just makes me happy listening to her so I feel compelled to share her with you. She’s so positive and empowering to women.

First Snow

The snow
began here
this morning and all day
continued, its white
rhetoric everywhere
calling us back to why, how,
whence such beauty and what
the meaning; such
an aracular fever! flowing
past windows, an energy it seemed
would never ebb, never settle
less than lovely! and only now,
deep into night,
it has finally ended.
The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles; nowhere
the familiar things:
stars, the moon
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
that have assailed us all day
remain– not a single
answer has been found–
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fields,
feels like one.

Mary Oliver 1983

Caressable photos made with TAP stored in a handmade box. As seen in Quilting Arts Gifts.

Will you be present for the holidays? Fully present? I have a habit of being so busy doing that I am not being. The shopping, the presents, the meals, the decorating, the last minute things to do – my mind is aswirl (and sometimes my body), thinking of all the things I must do, and worrying if the things I did do are good enough.

This year I am going to make a conscious effort to slow down and be fully present. I can give up feeling the need to control every outcome. It’s hard to switch gears after years of doing, but let me tell you, I’m looking forward to my Christmas presence. So if you are feeling just a wee bit stressed (or more), remember, be present this holiday. It is a lovely present to give yourself.

I would be feeling less than holiday jolly if I did not give you all the opportunity to share in my Holiday Event next week. It’s a special sale for my Newsletter subscribers. So if you haven’t yet signed up, please do so that you too will receive the Special Announcement newsletter on Sunday.