The Red House Quilt

I've had the red house picture hanging in my studio for over a year now. I love it; something about the strange colors juxtaposed with the red house. It seemed so "quilt-like", and I was waiting for an opportunity to use this idea in a fiber project.

I got my chance last night. I needed to make an 8 x 8-inch "quiltlet" for a round robin I am doing with some ladies from Art Fiber Fest last year. The theme for this one is "inspirational quotes."

As I was puttering around my studio last night I came across the Emily Dickinson line, "I dwell in Possibility- a fairer House than Prose. More numerous for Windows -- Superior -- for Doors." (I can't remember her exact capitalization and dash use, but this is close.) I've always loved this line and it seemed to go with the red house by Russian painter Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, whom I have never heard of, but whose primitive little image made in 1932 I adore. The fact that it is nearly a perfect square helped me make my decision to use it for my contribution to the quilt project. The colors I found from my scrap stash are not perfectly matched, but they are pretty close.

My favorite part of the composition is the pink strip at the bottom.

League Studio

My friend and neighbor Martha League Calhoun is a working artist in Spicewood, TX. Her work includes very large water scenes and abstracts like the one above. Recently, she kindly asked me to display some of my dolls at her place. I brought over a ton of stuff and she managed to find space in her tiny studio at the corner of Bee creek and Highway 71 west of Austin, TX.

I have been long away from the days when I made dolls; it's been almost two years! Some days I almost hope for a small disaster to take them all from me because I can't seem to get rid of them in an elegant way. Art that strangles and haunts is not good anymore.

I can learn a lot from Martha. Here is Martha's style: she has a deep discount sale that says "This is the way it is; if I can't move this stuff I can't make more art...and art is all I do. Please take it off my hands so I can create." I'm paraphrasing; if you want to see what she says about it, visit Martha's website.

I love Martha's style. She is not afraid to abandon what she has done before and try new things. And more importantly she is easy-going about letting go of her work and forge ahead into a new creative stage in her life.