Hakuna Matata

We arrived at Kapama Private Nature Reserve in Kruger National Park today! And, I have internet service! The trip has been unbelievable so far. I have so much to tell you all. I went on my first game drive. My next one is at at 6:00 am tomorrow morning. Today we saw monkeys, lions and zebras. I have been trying to upload some photos, but I am out in the middle of the bush and the internet keeps going out. I will write more tomorrow when I have some free time and try to upload the photos again. I hope everyone is ok. I miss and love you all so much.

Betchworth, England

These photos are looking out the door of  Potter's Studio, the textile studios of Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan of Committed to Cloth. I had the pleasure of spending the day at the studio yesterday on my way to South Africa. Although it was a grey, cold day, the studio was filled with wonderful artists and great energy. It was just what the doctor ordered!

The Party is Over

Leslie Morgan of Committed to Cloth working in the Virtual Studio at the Festival

New work by Jane Dunnewold, " Love Affair"

Paper Lamination piece of mine from the workshop
 (this is a different piece than I previously posted)

Detail of my piece

Anyone who has ever been to an art conference knows that once you are there, you are totally emerged in art for the entire time. That is just what happened to me. I met wonderful artists, saw fabulous exhibits, spent lots of money at the vendors, and made art. What could be better? But now the festival is closing until next year. Everyone is leaving energized to go back to their own studios and get to work. The photos I have included are from the Festival. Leslie and Claire set up a "Virtual Studio" where working artists let the public see how they worked and all the processes involved in making art cloth. Jane Dunnewold was an invited guest to the Festival. She had an exhibit of some recent work and showcased her new book, "Art Cloth". And the final photos are of a small piece I made in my class with Sarah Welsby. Sarah was a joy to work with and I came away empowered to explore paper lamination in my own work. It has been fun writing this blog and a great learning experience. My goal now is to use this experience to create a blog and website of my work. I will let you know when it happens. Thanks for going on this adventure with me. So long for now.                         

Claire Benn of Committed to Cloth with Claudia Helmer at the Virtual Studio

Festival of Quilts - Paper Lamination Workshop

Today was Day 1 of my class, Paper Lamination, with Sarah Welsby at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. Paper Lamination is a process incorporating paper and cloth. Sarah is a fabulous artist who has created incredible works using, cloth, paper and stitching. Our class is held in the convention center where the Festival of Quilts will open on Thursday. It is fun to be there early and watch all the exhibits being hung. You can google both the Festival and Sarah for more information.

There are twelve in my class and students are here from England, Wales, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland! I am the only American. It is a great group and we are having a lot of fun while learning. I feel very blessed to have this opportunity. I know the week will fly by, so I am trying to savor every moment.

The photo above is a detail of a piece I am working on. It is the first step in paper lamination and it will be interesting to see how it changes as I continue to layer and stitch. I will try to photograph it at the end of each day to show my progress. Miss you. So long for now.

The Greswolde Hotel & Brasserie Knowle Solihull

I arrived in Knowle around 2:00 having slept the whole way out from London. I guess I am not quite over the jet lag. It was a two hour drive! I went to dinner with my British friends, Claire Benn ans Leslie Morgan at a wonderful Indian restaurant close to the hotel and met my teacher, Sarah Welsby. I can't wait for class to start tomorrow. The Festival of Quilts sounds like an incredible event with lots of exhibits, classes and vendors. Jane Dunnewold arrives tomorrow. It will be so great to see her again.

The town is out of a story book and the weather feels like early fall. I have a lovely, quiet room, but there are no lifts in this hotel so I had quite a challenge hauling my bags up all the stairs. I included the photo of the nail salon for obvious reasons. I almost died when I saw it. I hope everyone is well at home. I am glad to have kindred artist spirits here but miss you all terribly. Until tomorrow, so long for .

Tate Modern/Tate Britian

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Today I went to the Tate Modern then took a boat down the Thames to the Tate Britain. I saw lots of art and included some photos here. Unfortunately, I don't have my IT people (my children) here with me to help me organize this blog page! The first photo is a piece by Andy Warhol at the Tate Modern. Picture two is for Sarah. One of the sponsors of the Modern is Bloomberg! They created interactive areas for museum attenders to "play" with art. The next photo is out of sequence (thus the need for the aforementioned IT help). It is a lovely painting by John Singer Sargent at the Tate Britain. Following the Sargent is a painting by Mark Rothko at the Modern. It was quite a tiring day, so I cam home early for tea in my room (the final photo). I leave London tomorrow for Knowle. My class at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham starts first thing Tuesday. Time has flown by, except when I stop to think about how much I miss everybody. I will write again soon. So long for now.

The Adventure Continues

Now that I am rested, my brain is working somewhat better. When I wrote yesterday I never explained why I started this blog in the first place. As the taxi driver said, I am an independent woman. But, what he didn't know is that I left all that I love behind. I was scared to death to get on that airplane Thursday night. It was only through a talk with my best friend, that we came up with the idea of creating this blog to keep me connected to my family and friends. So, here it is.

I decided to go to the theater today instead of going to the museums. My body was screaming from all the walking I did yesterday. So, I called the concierge and he got me tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen's Theater. It was so wonderful. I am so glad I finally got to see it. Now I am back in my room, perusing the in-room dining menu. Tomorrow I will be back to the museums. I miss everybody. I will write again then. So long for now.