Natalya Aikens - Pleasantville, NY

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  An artist.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?   Go out for an art date by myself or with a friend. See an exciting new exhibit at a museum or a gallery, or even an oldie but goodie. And preferably not an art quilt exhibit, although I do enjoy those too.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   Cover the walls of my home, my friends homes and possibly a few strangers...LOL!
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   Several actually. My working horse sketchbook for notes and sketches and doodles is always in my purse. And others more dedicated to exploring different techniques and materials in the studio.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc
In the next (3rd) issue of the the new Quilting Arts emag In Stitches, and at the SAQA Beyond Comfort exhibit debuting at the Birmingham Quilt Festival.
6.  Do you teach?  where?  I'll be teaching two workshops this year at the Create Retreats in Costa Mesa and Chicago. One is Mix Your Media with Photoshop ( learning to play in Photoshop and print on fabric) and the other is Hand Stitched Jewels (transforming your small art quilts with hand stitches)
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?  I cannot pin point just one artist. My art life has been influenced by an incredible amount of artist past and present. I am always inspired by work of famous artists, little known artists and pioneering women artists who have paved the way. Some favorites are Mary Cassatt, Judy Chicago, Victor Vasnetzov, Ivan Aivazovsky, Sonya Delaunay.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?  Why Quilt National of course... but a prestigious NYC gallery will do also! (this is tongue-in-cheek by the way!)
9.  Describe your studio workspace.  Basement room, with two large windows into the front and side yard and a door to the outside (convenient when I have to run outside with some wet dripping fabric that needs to be spread on the grass). Painted a lovely butter yellow!
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?  My thimble, my Epson printer and my Bernina 1000
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  Sounds corny...but...it's in my soul. It's my life that is the inspiration, my heritage, my family.
12.  How do you balance your life?   That's a hard job and I try to do my best. I have two small daughters, so my creative time is limited to school hours and after bed time.

http://www.artbynatalya.com/
http://artbynatalya.blogspot.com/

Astrid Hilger Bennett - Iowa City, IA

1. What do you call yourself - art wise? I am an artist. I bring the same concerns, perceptions, skills and vision to my art work, whether I am using fiber, or paper, printing or painting, drawing or dyeing. For painting and printing, I prefer fabric to any other surface, including paper. I love the drag of the brush on fabric.
2. How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump? Getting started is sometimes the hardest part, but once I’m in my studio, music going, I can find plenty of busy work to do until my need to work takes over. Sometimes I just paint stripes or backing fabrics, using older dyes. My big issue is time.
3. If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art? I would spend lots more time! I would not keep my part time job as a marketing director. But I’d need to feed the people part of me, too, which paid work is good for.
4. Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.? Yes. I have always wanted to be better at this- it takes being an observer, not so much a participant, to be good at recording one’s days. I recently finished one of the Sketchbook Project moleskine journal books- a good incentive that’s helped a great deal.
5. Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc. I have been overly busy with a big Surface Design Association website re-design, my way of giving back to an organization I’ve belonged to since 1977. I am just now arranging shows, etc.
6. Do you teach?  where?  I teach locally and at guilds. I enjoy teaching immensely but am very mindful of using time wisely to be more productive in the studio.
7. Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?  
German expressionism allowed me to think boldly and was the aesthetic backdrop of my childhood. Abstract expressionism allowed me to think large and with large arm movements. Andy Goldsworthy helped me to connect art and the natural world.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday? I have been in some good ones and hope that I can continue to provide exciting work for future venues. I especially enjoyed being chosen for Quilt Nihon in Japan.
9. Describe your studio workspace. My home has always been my studio. My wet area is in the basement. I piece & stitch works on the main level, and at one time, with more family members around, upstairs. I use all my table surfaces. I hang pieces on walls that I pass by regularly. For a mental picture of my current studio and the changes it’s undergone in recent years, read my blog post,
http://midwestprintworks.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-years-story-embracing-creativity.html
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without? My eyeglasses, my laptop and a pencil!
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do? I love the tactile quality of fabric and use it as an expressive surface for my ideas. The piece in this show, Anticipation, is restrained in image and size when compared with my usual work, mostly due to trying to accommodate a theme.
12.  How do you balance your life? Quiet with Action, listening with expression, living well (exercise, healthy living, biking, yoga), music, gardening, and above all, family and loved ones.

http://www.astridhilgerbennett.com/

http://midwestprintworks.blogspot.com/

Jeannie Palmer Moore - Escondido, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise? A painter and mixed media artist who loves texture.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump? I will refer to a notebook where I’ve written down or sketched new ideas I want to try.  I’m constantly observing everything around me in my daily life. Looking at anything that could create a texture.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?  I’d build a large gallery and studios for all of my artist friends.
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.? I keep a sketchbook when I travel but are more sporadic about sketching at home.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  I show at my local gallery in Escondido, Quilting Arts TV Series 700 and Quilting Arts Magazine.
6.  Do you teach?  where?  I’ll be teaching at CREATE in Costa Mesa in May, as well as, CREATE in Chicago again this August.
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why? I admire so many artists but the painter; Edward Hopper has influenced me on how he creates solitude and introspection in his paintings.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday? I would love to show in Quilt National but do need to make the quilt and enter first.
9.  Describe your studio workspace.  My studio is in my home with 3 big work tables, a design wall, storage and lots of light. My 2 cats reside there too.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without? I couldn’t be without a paintbrush, my Bernina and my thermo faxes.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do? I just love to create. I think I have a lifetime full of ideas but am just trying to find time to produce all of them.
12.  How do you balance your life? Balance is pretty easy for me because my husband is very supportive and independent. I guess being happily married for 35 years helps. And I make time for Pilates 3 days a week!

http://jpmartist.com/

http://jeanniemooresblog.blogspot.com/

Susan Fletcher King - Houston, TX

1. What do you call yourself - art wise? I think of myself as an artist first and foremost.  Many years ago I was a graphic designer and illustrator, but even with those titles, I always thought of myself as simply an "artist". 
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump? If it's a bad slump, sometimes I just have to go with it.  I will actually leave my studio, close the door and give myself permission not to return for a few days.  That is usually all it takes, and when I finally "allow" myself to return, I'm excited and ready to create once more.     
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?  I would probably experiment a lot more and not look at producing my art with quite as much of a "commercial" eye.
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?  No.  I haven't ever been very good or faithful with a sketchbook or journal.  I haven't kept one since I was required to when I was in art school.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc.
I show my work at The Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas.
6.  Do you teach?   I used to teach graphic design at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts  in Houston.  But now I'm too busy, and very protective of my limited free time.
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?
There are so many artists that have influenced me but the one who comes to mind right now is Velda Newman.   Ever since I started with fabric and sewing, I have been amazed and ecstatic whenever I see anything by her.  Each of her pieces is truly stunning.  The scope, size, detail, colors, composition -   all breathtaking.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?  Visions and Quilt National, of course.  But ultimately, I'd really love to say that my work is hanging in a museum.
9.  Describe your studio workspace.  I have a room in our house that we originally called the "Bonus Room". When my husband and I bought the house, we had forgotten about this small  room in the back of the house.  When we moved in, it was an extra or "bonus" space which I originally claimed as a storage area for all my old unused art supplies.  It is now a totally remodeled space with large north-facing windows, excellent storage... and not a square inch to spare!
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?  I can't live without my Bernina sewing machine, a ruler, rotary cutter and paint brushes.  That's more than three, but in my mind these are a single unit.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  The voices in my head.  Truly!  I constantly have so many ideas filling my brain that many nights I can't sleep!
12.  How do you balance your life?   It is all about priorities.  My family comes first and then my art.  Sometimes I can overlap, but most of the time, I just try to find a few minutes here and there to get to the studio.  Late at night after everyone is asleep is my most creative time.
 
http://www.susanfletcherking.com/

Pamela Price Klebaum - Ventura, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  Since the art world is generally still in the Pleistocene Era regarding the value of contemporary quilts, I avoid the "q" word. "Textile artist" sounds good to me!
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?  A good credo: "step away from the design wall!" Distance works wonders -- both physical and temporal. Another fresh look comes with photographing my work-in-progress and studying the image anew.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art? Nothing different, but I would have a whoopdeedoo midarm sewing machine! I do like the feeling that comes with donating my art -- and someone buys it!
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.? My sketchbook has drawings and magazine clippings, and I have a large digital journal with oodles of inspirational photos.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc
I had a piece that toured the country in SAQA's "No Place to Call Home" exhibit on homelessness. Some of my work was in a Ventura County Arts Council show, and two of those are now on semi-permanent loan to the Ventura County Government Center. My last Dinner at Eight exhibit piece was featured in Quilting Arts magazine. I'll have a piece at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in October, and some in the second annual Extreme Quilters exhibit at the Thousand Oaks Municipal Gallery in October.  I have an article in the spring issue of the SAQA Journal, which features a piece I mounted on Plexiglas.
6.  Do you teach?  where?  I am a perpetual student!
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?  My art professors at the local college influenced me deeply. Hiroko Yoshimoto taught me of the nuances and grace of the human form, and Carlyle Cooper instilled in me what I hope is a keen aesthetic sense of the head and all its complexities.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?   I think we all would be over-the-moon if our work were selected for Visions or Quilt National. I need to have the courage to enter, though.
9.  Describe your studio workspace.  My studio has a view of the Pacific. What more could I want? We are building a detached workshop in the backyard, and I will have space for my fused glass pursuits there. I often combine fused glass with textiles, so this new space will allow me to experiment more with combining those enterprises.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?  My iPod,  digital software, and my #6 pencil.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  It's definitely something internal and very basic. My mom was quite artistic, and we are eternally trying to please our moms, eh?
12.  How do you balance your life?  Balance is not really an effort. I married really really well.

http://pamprice.blogspot.com/

Linda Minton - San Antonio, TX

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  I started out calling myself a “quilt artist”, followed by “fiber artist”, and now I just say “artist”.  There are too many variations on what I do to pin it down to one narrow definition.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?   Ideally, I like to visit art galleries and museums, but if I need a quick “fix”, I’ll go back to some of my old art books and just thumb through them for both inspiration and a review of the basics.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   Travel abroad … anywhere and everywhere … to broaden my horizons, gain insight and inspiration, and to make art “on the road”.
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   I keep many of them.  Mostly because I can never lay my hands on the one I want, and so will start another one.  I like to make some of my own sketchbooks, too.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc. 
I occasionally show and sell my work at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas.  If you want to look back at Virginia Spiegel's ONE Collage Fundraiser from earlier this year, my 5 mixed media collages are on page 9 of the website.  http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/ONEFundraiser9.html
6.  Do you teach?  where?   I recently read and loved this answer by another artist to a similar question:  “No, I’m too busy learning”.
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?   The artist I always think of in terms of philosophical and emotional influence is Susan “Lucky” Shie.  I took a workshop with her at QSDS many years ago, and her sunny and determined outlook on life and art is still an inspiration to me.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?   Quilt National.  I’ve never entered … yet.
9.  Describe your studio workspace.   I actually have two separate workspaces.  One is a large “game room” that has been taken over by my fabrics, sewing machines, and storage.  The other is an adjoining small bedroom/office that has become my wet-work room.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?   Now that I have purchased a small machine-quilting frame for my mid-arm Juki sewing machine, I don’t think I could ever again live without the long-arm quilting experience … even though this is a “shorter” version.  My little Janome Gem machine goes everywhere with me, and Photoshop Elements on my computer is an absolute necessity.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?    Sheer love of creation … I often wake up with my heart pounding with excitement over a new idea that has come to me.  Thank goodness for the little journal book I keep by my bed, because if I don’t write it down, it’s gone!
12.  How do you balance your life?   This is the hardest question of all.  I’m not sure I do balance it successfully.  Some days the “necessities of life” take precedence, and other days I can concentrate on nothing but my art.  It seems to be quite out of my control, and I feel like Alice in Wonderland … “I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”

http://fiberreflections.blogspot.com/

Teresa Shippy - Santa Ana, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  I'm a fiber artist, I use acrylic paints as my medium to create portraits and landscapes.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?  Honestly, my creative juices are always flowing. Coming from a large family I'm filled with thoughts of creative works many times based on family members and I always like adding a touch of whimsy along the way.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   I love to donate to promote excellent organizations. I have contributed my art to great causes and wonderful organizations including Precious Life Shelter, Dana Point Ocean Institute, and Kaiser Permanente, all of which are on display in Southern California.
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   Yes, I often will pen to paper sketches of potential ideas. I love to create unique faces and shapes while doodling in my journal.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?   I have three pieces in "Featured Artists” Vol II, an international publication available through Amazon Books, I'm the only fiber artist included out of 60 artists. I will also be returning to Tustin CA Fine Art Walk this year, in addition I'm delighted to have designed a book for "The Sketchbook Project" currently on tour. 
6.  Do you teach?   I've been teaching my dye workshops at my home in Santa Ana, CA for eight years. I have a large side yard to accommodate many guests who love to create original painted fabrics from cottons, silks, etc.
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life?    Without doubt both of my parents, especially my father who painted with acrylics and oils on canvas. From my father I learned patience and how to focus on clarity and realism.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?   I have been very fortunate to have my work displayed in many prestigious venues, with that being said, I would love to have my work in a nearby fine art gallery in which I am the featured artist.
9.  Describe your studio workspace.   I design and create most of my work in my art room in my home, it is filled with my life's memories including my father's ballerina paintings from 1968 and my works in progress. Also did I mention the painted fabrics that hangs down from the ceiling, another story!
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?   Paint brush, jars for mixing paints, Gingher scissors.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?   I love to capture the visions of my imagination in my art.  I incorporate the flavors of vintage, rustic and whimsical in my work, it’s those everyday simple things with just a pinch of imagination that makes my art unique pieces.
12.  How do you balance your life?  I'm blessed to have a wonderful and supportive husband, friends, and family. Now in my 50's, art is one of my passions in life along with my husband and my personal well being. My life is intertwined with a routine that provides my balance and allows me the time to do my art work.  

http://blog.teresashippy.com/

http://www.teresashippy.com/

Terry Waldron - Anaheim, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  I consider myself a representational artist, but I represent the world as I see it... and, hopefully, that is not like anyone else sees it.  I've been called "quirky," too.  I'm not sure what that means.. but I do like the sound of it!  
  2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?  Truly, I'm rarely, if ever, in a slump.  I jump- start every single day by going outside and looking at the trees and the flowers and birds that surround me... and I sing!  Nearly every single day of my life I sing... but not in front of people, mind you!
  3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?  Because I'm retired now, money isn't really a big issue to me.  Of course, I dearly love to sell my work, and I love having them in large buildings' permanent installations because I can go visit those pieces that way!  But I have given pieces to special people who love them and will give them good homes.  And recently, I swapped pieces with an artist whose work I greatly admire and who I love as a person.  That's really special.  I've also donated many pieces over the years to worthy causes for their auctions to raise money, and that makes me happy, too.     
  4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?  No, I don't do either one.  Actually, I guess I do, but it's an invisible thing because it's inside my head!  When an idea comes to me, I start designing it in my mind's eye...  it comes bit by bit until I "see" enough to begin the real thing.  Like any sketchbook, this is only a rough draft and not a finished thing, though.  I drew so much in advanced drawing classes at university and then as I taught high school art that drawing has never left me.  I do love to draw, and occasionally when I'm not sure of how to cut a shape, I do draw it first.
  5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc.  As a member of the California Fiber Artists, I will have my work hanging in many museums and galleries throughout California for the next two years.  I just co-curated a show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art for CFA with Sherry Kleinman, and my work is there now.  I will also have 3 pieces at the Long Beach IQF show this July.  I have been asked to submit art to various galleries and shows nationally, as well, but you will have to see my Facebook site as these venues happen.  Happily, I have also been approached about writing a book... but, for sure, you won't see that this year!
  6.  Do you teach?  where?  I do teach, and I love that I do!  I've taught from California to Florida and up to Washington state.  I'm looking forward to teaching at Asilomar, and "Quilting in the Desert" in Phoenix, as well as at AQS in Paducah, Kentucky, all next year.  This year I've been to many quilt guilds, and soon I will be in speaking and teaching in Lincoln, Nebraska (so I get to see the Quilt Study Center, too!), and in the fall I'll be up in La Conner, Washington teaching 4 classes for Quilt Fest at the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum. What fun!    
  7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?  There is more than one artist who's influenced my work, mainly because I nearly took a degree in art history... loved it!  Raoul Dufy was an early influence on me.  His paintings are bright, happy, and his color never stayed inside the lines.  His work still inspires me.  Always Japanese artists, from the oldest to the newest, have been inspiring to me because their composition sense is completely unique, not based on the European view of what composition should be.  But for use of fabric, it's Edrica Huws, the English artist, who used cloth like Dufy did his paint.   But she could use slices of plaids and strips and flowers that Dufy never had. I bet he would have done, though, if he'd had plaid paint!  
  8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?  In my wildest daydreams my art hangs in New York City!  As a high school student and later a university coed, I commuted into "The City" nearly anytime I wanted since we lived in Stamford, Connecticut and my dad worked in NYC.  Imagine... the Metropolitan, MOMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim were all there for me to wander through!  That will never happen, of course, but I'd be happy with a piece permanently installed on a hospital wall there, or in a small art gallery, or The Folk Art Museum...  oops!  Somebody wake me up... I'm dreaming again!  
  9.  Describe your studio workspace.  That's easy.  It's my spare bedroom, complete with its own bathroom and an entire wall of closets, which are not enough!  The work table with my sewing machine is right next to two large 2nd-story windows that look out over our backyard with two African thorn trees just beyond the fence.   They are precocious trees, covered with huge pink orchid-like flowers before the leaves pop out. After summer is over, they have large hanging green pods that explode handfuls of cotton all over our backyard.  By the way, all our over-night guests have to give us at least a month's warning before they come so I have time to turn my studio back into a guest room!  ... and they always know that they have only 3 inches of closet space to hang their own clothes...
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?  My two eyes and my finger tips are the most important tools of my trade, but that's not what you mean, I'm sure.  The 3 tools I couldn't live without are scissors, a straw needle, and my portable, handy-dandy thread holder full of every solid color of thread that Mettler makes!
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  Gratitude!  That's what drives me...  When I was 4 1/2 years old and sitting in my kindergarten class drawing a picture of a log cabin in front of a lake with flowers surrounding a log and pine trees, I decided right there that I wanted to be an art teacher.  Well, it happened!  I loved every single day in the secondary classroom, even when I switched to teaching English literature.  Now I get to teach people across the country that they really CAN make art!  Who wouldn't be grateful for a life like that?  I'm just plain lucky!
12.  How do you balance your life?  I can't balance it... it's as simple as that.  It's like trying to stuff an octopus into a plastic bag!  Something is always sticking out, waving at me that it's not going to happen the way I'd hoped.  And please... please don't look inside my closets!



http://www.terrywaldron.com/

Cindy Cooksey - Irvine, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise? I am an artist.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump? Taking a long walk is a tried and true method for me to get my creative ideas flowing. Going to good art museum works, too.

3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?  What a question!? Okay, how about I'd put images of my quilts up on the big screens in Times Square?

4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.? I do, but fitfully, when I'm in the mood.

5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc. 

I have a quilt in the traveling exhibit called "Noble Seasons-Fall" that's in several places, including some of the Mancuso shows. I have two quilts in Simply Mini Quilts by Lark books. I have a trunk show in Visalia in late April. A number of other possibilities are in the works but not sure things at this point. 

  6.  Do you teach?  where?  A little bit, here and there, locally. I would like to do more.

  7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why? There are many. Gabrielle Swain, for her beautiful handwork. Yvonne Porcella, for her love of color. Therese May, for her playfulness.

  8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday? I'd love to get into Quilt Visions again. 

  9.  Describe your studio workspace. I have a medium-sized room that is getting rather full of stuff. That's where I do my machine work, cut out fabric, store fabric etc. I do all my handwork in my chair in the family room, with all my handwork materials kept nearby.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without? That's a tough one. Seam ripper, Bernina stitch regulator, rotary cutter.  

11.  What drives you to make the work that you do? Mostly I do it because it makes me happy.

12.  How do you balance your life? It's not easy, is it? I try to set priorities. I try not to get over scheduled. I try to have some quiet time in a busy day.

http://www.CindyCooksey.com/

http://Cookseyville.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Ryan - Thousand Oaks, CA

1. What do you call yourself - art wise?  Mixed media artist
2. How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump? I turn out my studio lights, light two candles, and look through favorite art books such as The German Expressionists, Kathe Kollwitz woodcut artist, and California Painters.
 3. If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art? I would put more of my pieces on my walls, give a gift occasionally to a friend, and donate significant pieces to nonprofit offices.
 4. Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.? Yes, but I sit down in my studio and sketch/watercolor several ideas at once instead of stopping to sketch during the day.
5. Where can people see your other work this year? I currently have a piece, “Summer Peach Dreams” at The Gateway Center for the Arts, DeBray, FL, in the Volusia Wrapped in Fiber SAQA exhibit. I also have two woodcuts in the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, Newbury Park, CA open juried show.
6. Do you teach? where? I teach my mono printing and woodcut techniques informally, but have not taught art classes.
7. Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why? Kathe Kollwitz, a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor (1867-1945), created artwork that consistently explored raw emotion and pathos. She gave voice to thousands of the struggling poor in Europe through mass printings of her dynamic woodcuts.
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday? I have a five-year plan which includes submitting work to Visions, continuing to enter out-of-state exhibits and fine art gallery shows, and having a solo show.
9. Describe your studio workspace. I now have two funky studios: Indoors, I sew and sketch in my upstairs magic kingdom, and in my outdoor studio I do painting and mono printing and other fun, messy stuff.
10. What 3 tools could you not live without? Janome sewing machine, sharp-point scissors and digital camera.
11. What drives you to make the work that you do? The longing for visual substantiation of my inner theater.
12. How do you balance your life? I’ve spent so many years “balancing” that I now strive for creative chaos. I am most energized when I allow daily time for family, friends, personal reflection and artwork.

http://www.carolynryanart.com/

Jamie and Leslie teach at Festival in Cincinnati!

Festival in Cincinnati - Here's the sign on the door outside our classroom...pretty cool!  A dream of ours to teach at Festival.  More photos on both of our personal blogs Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison's blog

The collaborative painting begins with a playlist of eclectic music in the background.  When the music stops, everyone changes places, so you are not painting in the same spot the entire time.  The students painted 2 different canvases.

No painting experience necessary in this class.  Canvas is getting a little more detail

In all the classes we have taught with the painted canvas, this is the first class to add words.  Canvas #2

More details and it is coming together!

I love this!

Our students!

Cutting up the canvas, and having the students select a section from each canvas, face down, so it would be a surprise as to what they got.

Students had the option of saving one section for a future project, and cut up the other one to create art cards, postcards, ATC's and cover a journal.  We will be teaching this class at Festival in Long Beach also!

Scenes from our "Musical Chairs Painted Canvas" Class in Cincy

"Musical Chairs:  A Painted Canvas Adventure" is a collaborative painting endeavor on primed canvas.

The students painted, switched positions, and painted over the work of others in the class.  Two canvases were set up and the students switched back and forth.  The first half of the day was spent on the paintings.  After the lunch break both canvases were divided and each student got a portion of each one.

These pieces were subsequently fashioned into journal covers, art cards, postcards, ATCs (artist trading cards), and more.  We played music and had a fantastic time!

Here is the progression of one of the canvases:

the artists pose in front of one of the painted canvases.

Beautiful!

Afternoon:

We gathered around a table and spent the afternoon creating

lovely pieces of art with the painted canvas, markers, etc.

This class is such a joy for Jamie and I to teach!

If you are planning to come to Costa Mesa to CREATE!, we will be teaching it there.

Please join us!

Beneath the Surface at Festival in Cincinnati

The show floor from the sky walk.  Beneath the Surface was on the other side of the vendors - see top of photograph

Show open and people viewing the exhibit

Beneath the Surface at Festival in Cincinnati;  the exhibit was across from the SAQA Exhibit and next to the Festival Theatre.  These photos were taken before the show was open.

This was a horseshoe configuration for this part of the exhibit

Another view

Another view

The other side.  The exhibit was well received and every time that Leslie and I went on the floor to check things out, we enjoyed interacting with everyone about the exhibit.  Our last hurrah for BTS!  Thank you to all of the artists in Beneath the Surface!

Sarah Ann Smith - Hope, Maine

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?   Quilter.  Art quilter.  Textile artist.  Interrupted by life!
 2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?  Don't know that I've had a slump per se.  Usually I am just too busy with life interfering with art or too tired.  That means I have a surplus of ideas and never enough time, so I just pick whatever quilt is hollering most loudly inside my head and let that one out next.
 3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   Make more!   Give some of it away... I would love to do a "quilt mural" project for the local middle school (first panel is done), the continuation of "Be Inspired, No. 1" into a series of six quilts with people and places from around the world.
 4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   Yes.  I'm not as diligent as I would like---it's that lack of time thing.  But I have learned how useful they can be, am constantly inspired by my friend Kathy Daniels' journals, so am trying to develop my own better "noodling around" habits.
 5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc
My book (ThreadWork Unraveled), my blog (www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog) and website, in my classes, the 2010-11 Quilting Arts Gifts issue, and whatever shows I get in (as long as I remember to apply in time).
 6.  Do you teach?  where?   Have paycheck will travel--yes, I definitely teach!  I prefer to teach places where I don't have to fly---detest airports--will gladly drive 2-3 days each way instead!  But I've been all over, and would love to go more places even if it involves an airplane.  Australia or Hawaii anyone?  My current bookings are on my website at http://www.sarahannsmith.com/schedule.php.
 7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?
Vincent Van Gogh - COLOR! Henri Matisse - exuberance and line; Auguste Rodin - passion and form; The artisans of the Sutton Hoo burial grounds (UK--in the British Museum) - design and ornament;  Edward Steichen - The Family of Man book/exhibit; grew up poring over the photographs and still do; The 8th grade neighbor girl who made the apron for my Barbie when I was 6--that got me started with sewing!
 8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?   IQA-Houston, again I hope...And if I ever make work I think suitable, Visions and Quilts=Art=Quilts, or if I can afford shipping the UK's Festival of quilts and the Tokyo show.
 9.  Describe your studio workspace.   In progress.  We moved in February 2011, so at the moment most of the boxes are unpacked, but I still need to paint the floor (I have a large semi-unfinished space in the basement) and get some closet doors made before I can really settle in.  Despite only having four small windows near the ceiling joists (space is semi-finished, we spray painted the joists and under-floor white so it would look more ceiling-like), I installed good lights with daylight bulbs so it is bright and cheery.  I'll have a 22 foot closet made by putting up design wall panels as sliding doors on one wall for the detritus of art and teaching (file cabinet, teaching items, books for sale, art supplies and stored quilts  inside--don't like working with too much visual clutter).  I hope to have a reading area, and my beloved Hoosier will be my desk.  I may even get to add a sit-down mid-arm machine this year....
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?   MistyFuse. My Janome 7700 sewing machine.  Digital camera!
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  I can't NOT make my quilts--it would be like asking me to stop loving my kids and hubby or do without oxygen.  Just can't be done!  I love to make things with my hands...to make something from inside my head become real.  There are so many things I want to learn how to do in terms of creating the image, both conceiving it and then physically making it.
12.  How do you balance your life?   Balance?  does *any*one have balance? (Picture Sarah ready to teeter off a rope while tossing a thousand items up in the air.)  I seem to lurch from one urgent thing to another, hoping I haven't forgotten something important.  I know the insanity will slow down eventually, but right now I just try to make sure the family gets everything they need, and that I can still make enough art to keep myself sane!

Author of bestseller ThreadWork Unraveled
website: http://www.sarahannsmith.com
blog: http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog
e-mail: sarah@sarahannsmith

Jane LaFazio - San Diego, CA

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?  A mixed media artist. Then I elaborate, stating that I paint watercolor, work in collage and make art quilts.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?   Just walk in the door to my studio. There’s always an unfinished project to get my attention, or a book or magazine open to some technique I want to try.
3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   Same as I do now, sell it, write about, enter it in juried exhibitions.
4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   Yes, I sketch and watercolor the details of my life.
5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc
Big news is my brand new DVD “Art Journaling to Art ~Drawing, Watercolor, and More Techniques for the Mixed-Media Artist with Jane LaFazio” from Interweave. I’m also in Quilting Arts magazine this year. My quilt “Eucalyptus Zen” from Dinner at Eight’s Edges exhibition was juried into Quilt Visions 2010: No Boundaries this year, and now is in “San Diego Art Institute 51st Annual International Exhibition.”
 6.  Do you teach?  where?  I’m teaching a lot this summer! at CREATE in Southern California and Chicago;  a retreat Utah, Art Unraveled in Phoenix; Art & Soul in Portland; wet felting in Idyllwild, California…My teaching schedule is here and I’d love to see you in one of my workshops! Oh, and join me in Italy in 2012!
7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?  Danny Gregory 
8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?   Hmm. Good question. I’m not a setting goals type of person. I just work hard, doing what I love, and I usually say ‘yes’ to opportunities that will either, a)make me happy,  b) make me happy AND earn some money, c) make me happy AND advance my art career.   I guess shows aren’t on my radar (other than Dinner at Eight exhibitions!). I’d love to teach at Penland, or John C Campbell…
9.  Describe your studio workspace.  A dedicated space for my artwork in my home. Probably measures 10x12’ and is full of supplies, artwork, and artwork in progress, a tv. Definitely a working studio, rarely clean enough for company.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?   Needle, variegated perle cotton embroidery thread size 12, and scissors.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?   I don’t know. I just love to make things.
12.  How do you balance your life?   A loving, supportive husband helps a lot. I’m organized, I  prioritize. I try to include play in my life. I do yoga. There are times when I’m ridiculously busy and over committed, and I try to prepare in advance, and then just be in the moment, enjoy the experience for what it is, and most importantly, include some laughter in whatever I’m doing.

http://JaneVille.blogspot.com
http://www.JaneLaFazio.com
co-rep SAQA SoCaL/So Nev
http://saqasocal.blogspot.com/

Susie Monday - Pipe Creek, TX

1.  What do you call yourself - art wise?   Artist. Fiber Artist. Textile artist. Artist who makes quilts for the wall. Depending on who asks.
2.  How do you jump start your creativity when you are in a slump?   Usually I wait it out for a while, believing in compassion for myself at this age, and with the experience of knowing that slumps really don't last forever. In those instances I try to feed my imagination with a trip to a thrift store to look for textiles, or a trip to the library for new books. Now that I have a computer-linked TV I might watch a documentary or film about an artist. But when a slump looks like it is taking serious hold I make myself pull out fabric and pile it on the design table, auditioning colors for something working out of one of my ongoing series.
 3.  If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your art?   With just a bit more security in the financial realm I would enter more juried exhibitions -- especially non-art-quilt ones. And if money way REALLY no issue, I'd take on some giant-scaled art collaborative projects, pay a slew of assistants to do all the drudgery parts of the process, make some enormous art quilts/installations for non-profits or schools (with the participation of those within them) and see where that led us!
 4.  Do you keep a sketchbook, journal, etc.?   I do on-and-off. Right now is "sort of on," but not daily. I do use sketchbooks and journals to inspire new projects when I think I don't have any ideas. My piece for this exhibit was taken directly from a collage that I had tucked away in a sketchbook -- I rarely work from sketches or paper designs, but when I do, the work comes from an old sketchbook or journal, rarely a current one.
 5.  Where can people see your other work this year?  shows, books, magazines, etc.  In my studio, at the Twig Bookstore in San Antonio (a small ongoing exhibit/sale).
 6.  Do you teach?  where?   I teach weekend retreats at my home/studio, El Cielo, which is on the top of a ridge northwest of San Antonio in the Texas Hill Country. I also teach at the Southwest School of Art and around the country at conferences, guilds and shows, but I confess that this year I have been less active as a fiber arts teacher, since I have been working quite a bit for an international program based at Alamo Colleges. Through that program I teach creative workshops to Central American teachers who are the U.S. to add to their abilities to teach in their rural schools back home, as well as teaching art workshops to Central American Youth Ambassadors and their Texas hosts.
 7.  Is there a particular artist who had influenced you in your art life? and why?   I am still looking at Matisse. His paper cutouts, use of color, amazing spirit as a lifelong artist all inspire me, and have since I was in high school.
 8. Where or what show do you hope your work will be in someday?  Quilt National. But I've never had the courage to enter!
 9.  Describe your studio workspace.  I have the studio of my dreams. For years I worked in a dusty, un-air conditioned crumbling shed/garage. When we moved to the country about 5 years ago we landed in a big house with a separate studio/apartment and 2-car garage. It's large enough for me to use for teaching, but not so large that I don't have to keep it cleaned up. And there is a 20-mile view outside the doorway, and a 10 second commute to the kitchen.
10.  What 3 tools could you not live without?  The Bernina; cheap scissors that I don't have to worry about and toss when they get dull; fusible web.
11.  What drives you to make the work that you do?  A respect for creativity and our human right and responsibility to live in its realm. A profound love of color and texture and shape that is part of my birthright. The desire to tell stories about life and living my life through potent, powerful images.
12.  How do you balance your life?  On tip-toe. Teetering this way and that. With the support of my partner. By living away from a lot of distractions. 

http://susiemonday.squarespace.com