Natural edge collage: Work-in-Progress

July 3, 2022

I think my love of a natural-edge ripped fabric comes from my love of the natural deckle edge of paper.

I haven’t tried a natural fabric hanging in my work yet. But I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

So, here we are. Long holiday weekend. Lots of heat and lots of rain. Lots of reasons to go into the studio and try something new.

Here’s my vision: I want to create a wall-hanging on natural canvas. Unlike a quilt: No binding. No batting. Collage construction. Stitching? Probably.

I invested in some heavy cotton canvas and ripped it to a size I thought I would enjoy working. This will finish out to be about 24” x 42”. I prepped with a wash of white latex housepaint, watered down and applied with a natural sponge.

When I ripped the canvas, it had a mind of its own and ripped in the opposite direction in a few places. OK. Now I’ll let that be part of the piece.

I’m designing this work mostly from fabrics I already have on-hand. I’m not sure how the actual construction and presentation will work. I might need to tweak the plan if I decide to create more of these. So, using up pieces I have takes some pressure off. I haven’t created a lot of yardage that I’m in love with and will really regret using if I don’t like the final result.

I started by trying out some fabrics in different configurations.

Then I decided to unify a section with a screen-printed pattern. Same pattern on fabrics near one another. I picked a tree limb screen and printed with dark blue-black.

The top sections are loose and organic, suggesting sky and water. Now I’m creating a shape-filled bottom section, using a dividing line in complementary color and then the limb-printed sections.

Tip for collaging; Working on either paper or fabric, it really helps to tape your substrate down to a working board. Tape all sides securely. Both paper and fabric wrinkle when they are wet, and the acrylic medium I use for glue will be wet. You’ll notice the wrinkling-bubbling problem the most when you are collaging on only one part of the substrate with another section un-glued. The varying surface tensions of your piece will start fighting with each other.

So far, this heavy canvas is acting like a champ. Nice and smooth!

Here is where I left it at the end of the day.

Things I like: the variety of forms. The color palette. The looseness.

Things that still need to happen: Tying it all together once the parts are collaged. From my experience creating a lot of paper collages, I have come to define this stage as “oh-no-it-doesn’t-look-good-be-calm-don’t-panic” stage. There’s still plenty of opportunity to work on the surface with paint, stitch and other mark-making. It doesn’t have to look done yet.

Stay tuned. I’ll share how this develops and how it turns out in coming weeks.

I also enjoy creating paper collaged works. If you’d like to take a look at some of these collaged works, please visit my website here:

https://www.bobbibaughstudio.com/wednesday-collage/

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

BLOG POSTS - once a week: Mostly about what I am creating in the studio. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail, please subscribe here: I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts. You’ll hear from me about once a month. NEWSLETTER

Art that’s ABOUT something

June 26, 2022

What’s it mean? Why am I spending time doing this?

I’ve had two different opportunities this week to talk to other artmakers on the subject of art being ABOUT something.

Last Thursday I gave a gallery talk at Ormond Beach Memorial Museum for the textile art exhibit currently on display. (I just have to say what a thrill it was to be in a room with five of my large quilts beautifully lit, beautifully hung, and the room packed with about forty people who were interested enough to show up and listen. Wow!)

Introducing my way of working, I listed my studio choices. One is that I want to make work that’s ABOUT something.

This might seem obvious. But my earliest experiences with surface design were experiences in process. I was thrilled to create images on fabric. I loved monoprinting. I delighted in mixing geometric shapes with organic. I dove into explorations of colors and layering. For a while, this was enough.

I completely understand how fascinating and absorbing it can be to put images on fabric and then to bask in the pleasure of looking at those images. “Wow! Look at the fabulous detail I got in that leaf!”

I have discovered, however, even more meaning in using those surface design methods to communicate ideas and emotions. I do this mostly through visual storytelling.

It can be about memories.
It can be about dreams.
It can be about things you fear.
it can be about thinks you imagine.
It can be about things you don’t understand.
It can be about things you are coming to understand.

Ideas prompt images. Then images spark more ideas. Then concepts develop and deepen.

This is the process that draws me into the studio for hours at a time.

My second opportunity to talk to another artist about artwork being ABOUT something was a conversation sharing grief and outrage over the recent overturning of Roe v Wade. My artist friend wondered if there would be exhibition opportunities on this subject.

I don’t know the answer to that question. (Although, generally, there are many exhibits that welcome political commentary artwork.)

But I told my art friend that she should make work that expresses her emotions anyway. I encouraged her to dig deep and find ways to let the things she cares about find voice in her artwork.

Artwork should come from the heart. When an artist is moved, concerned, scared, outraged, or heartbroken about an issue, it just makes sense that those emotions should be incorporated into her artwork in some way.

It’s hard to do.

But it’s worth doing.

(To find relevant images to include in this blog post, I visited my current working pile of scraps. These varied pieces will – I hope – find their way into finished works and contribute to communicating an idea or emotion.)

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Proving that I am Me

June 19, 2022

How do you know who you are?

And how can you prove that to somebody else?

I think about identity a lot. I am interested in understanding my own past and my own self, and I am interested in other people’s experiences as well.

This week I gained some new perspective on identity; an unlikely source of inspiration - the drivers license office. There, because it was time for an in-person-take-the-vision-test-bring-a-bunch-of-documents renewal experience, I found myself on a plastic chair, one of a number of people on plastic chairs, each holding on to our folders full of gathered identification papers, waiting to be called by number to one of ten numbered work stations.

I passed. I had all the required documents. (No small task!) With my new cataract-free eyes I passed the vision test without glasses. And now I have new updated proof of who I am.

It was actually an odd and thought-provoking experience.

Irony #1 . . . Being herded from standing in line to the plastic chair to the cubicle and finally out the door was – though professional and efficient – a dehumanizing experience. All to prove one’s unique identity.

Irony #2 . . .That all of this verification is to create the enhanced security for travel and having a gold star on one’s identification. Did anybody actually think through the historical meaning of identifying people with gold stars?

Further, it made me think of those who are unable to gather all the documentation required, for whatever reason, and how frightening and unbalancing that must be.

And I thought of how hard people work, especially artists, to find their unique voice. And then to express it.

How amazing that a good poet can be identified by a few short lines of verse, if their artistic voice infuses those lines. Every voice is not the same.

How amazing that visual artists can be identified by their unique style. Given the same sets of tools and materials, two artists will produce completely different works.

The differences, I believe, will come from developing your own sensitivity, your own set of interests and passions, your own representational vocabulary. Unique work is much less often a matter of technique or material.

There are only so many colors.
There are only so many fabrics.
There are only so may things to do with the fabric.

The challenge – the joy – the work – the hope of an artmaker is to develop ways of working that comprise a unique and interesting voice.

I’ve been showing bits of my quilt “Growing Unseen” in this post. It’s a work that explores the concept of identity and uniqueness. And, because it’s one of the works I am exhibiting at the textile show at the Ormond Memorial Museum, I have been thinking about it, along with my drivers-license-inspired thoughts about identity. If you’re interested you can learn more about this work on my website HERE.

Finally, for readers who are in Central Florida, please accept this invitation to my gallery talk at the Ormond Museum this week. (With apologies, it’s an in-person event only. No online options) I would love to see some friendly faces there.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts. You’ll hear from me about once a month. NEWSLETTER

What am I to make of that?

June 12, 2022

I have just come this morning from our porch, where it is cool. I have watched birds, while reading some very fine poetry that speaks to my inner being. What am I to make of that?

The poet traces her journeys. The places she has lived. Sometimes she fit where she was. Sometimes she shifted her body in the place like adjusting to ill-fitting clothes. I have been there. What am I to make of that?

In my studio today there is unfinished chaos. It looks like the work of someone who believes our nation has just barely survived a coup, that it is being revealed in detail, and that all the forces and players who put in motion are still very much a danger. Which I do. What am I to make of that?

My eyes are an annoyance now. The miracle of cataract surgery is completed and successful. Now I do not need glasses, except for reading. I am walking around feeling naked, like part of my face is missing. I am not used to putting them on and taking them off and then forgetting where they are. Until the final prescription is done, my eyes and my seeing just don’t feel like I am quite myself. What am I to make of that?

And right beyond the peace of my quiet porch, the coolness of this morning-after-rain, down the street are houses posting signs and displaying flags that speak to me of ugliness, the underlying causes of the attempted coup. It is not far away. It is right here. What am I to make of that?

*Photos of my neighbor’s signs, transferred to muslin*

All of these things – the gentle cool air. The discomfort. The fear. The searching. They will all turn into something. I will make them into something.

And it will be ongoing. Processing and creating. Not just a one-shot deal.

Meanwhile, I had the affirmation last Friday night of a genuinely fine opening of the textile art show at Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens. Great visiting and camaraderie with artists I know. The take-a-deep-breath-and-just-look-at-that! experience of seeing my own work beautifully displayed and filling the wall of one room.

I look forward to presenting a gallery talk: at the Ormond Museum on Thursday June 23 at 11am. I welcome you to join me if you can.

In ways I know are real but don’t always fully understand, all these things work together.

(Note: The image in the header of this blog post – and shown below - shows a portion of a work-in-progress that is a reaction to our ugly civic divide. I just wrote some “What…” sentences and let them form an underlying pattern. This section, and others in which I want the fabric surface design to speak to my thoughts and emotions, is part of the answer: What am I to make of this?)

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Messages from the birds

June 5, 2022

Sometimes we all feel stuck.

Sometimes, we might feel trapped.

Sometimes our hearts break seeing others who are trapped.

Sometimes hope seems possible.

Sometimes the complexity of things hidden appears strong.

Sometimes we want to sing, but we can’t.

These are all possible states of being.

I’m a bit in-between things in my studio practice this week. I want to finish the two large projects I’ve been working on and writing about for the last few weeks. And, I have a new project that interests me a lot, but which I just can’t rush. I feel in varying stages all at once.

Thinking of this, I remembered a work I created several years ago to address some of these feelings. It features images of a bird and a jar. (I worked on a series of bird and jar images for a while.) I was very drawn to the concept of addressing complex ideas with simple symbols, to see if the works would communicate.

Building this work was an experience in variations on a theme. I used the same elements, rearranged them, and created a work in three panels.

This work represents some of my earliest experiments with monotype printing on varying surfaces. I hope you’ll enjoy some up close looks.

I’m looking forward to what’s next. Some satisfaction of work completed. Some surging energy in new projects tackled.

If you would like more information about “States of Being,” it’s on my website HERE.

A reminder for readers who are close to Central Florida: Friday, June 10 is the opening of an interesting textile art show at Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens in Ormond Beach. I’m pleased to have five of my quilts in this exhibit. (I am also giving a gallery talk on June 23 at 11 AM)

I hope I’ll see you there.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

In the Studio… Is it Working?

May 29, 2022

Two projects-in the-works have been the focus of my posts for a while.

I’ve been working on a large quilt featuring a wind-filled sky. And I’ve been working on a 3-panel quilt seascape: fish below and birds in the air.

Both of these projects have required a lot of attention to the surface and the patterns. Close-up work. Details.

Now I’m at a point where I need to step across the studio and take a look at the big picture to see if the parts are working together as I’d hoped. (Studio wisdom: sometimes you have to look closeup. Sometimes you have to step back.)

Here’s the windy sky project, almost completed.

I thought it was about done (except for binding and finishing) a week ago. But I looked at it again, with the help of some good critiques from my local artmaking group. (Life wisdom: It REALLY helps to have other people help you see your own work through fresh eyes.)

Without intending it to happen, the strong diagonal horizon line was drawing the viewer’s eye away from the tree and the roots. Not what I wanted. So, I have worked on the underground section. There’s more dynamic interest there now. And I broke up that strong horizon line with small shape interruptions. I’m pleased with the changes.

I’m going to let that one cook on the back burner for a little bit before I bind it. Just to be sure I don’t see something new I missed.

Today I did some work on the fish-and-birds project. Here I’ve got it up on my easel.

I’ve done all the stitching in the sky portions. I think it has a nice flow and some energy. Now it’s time to plan the flying birds.

I combined several reference photos of real flying pelicans. Then I put them in Photoshop Elements placed to scale on pictures I took of the quilt panels. This gave me an idea of scale and position.

I printed them on 8.5 x 11 sheets. Then I drew the birds freehand on manila folders, which I will cut by hand to create stencils.

Now I have the drawing up on the panels to see how everything will go together.

I’m mostly happy with the shapes. I think I may move and re-size one bird. The computer mock-up helped me to get here. But I had to actually see the parts in person to see if I like the pattern.

For both of these projects, my next stage will be back to close-up. Binding and finishing on the windy sky quilt. Painting the birds into the sky of the 3-panel piece.

…………………

You are invited – I’m presenting a Gallery Talk

I’m pleased to have five works selected for an upcoming show of textile art at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens.

The exhibit is “Stitched, Stamped and Sculpted.”
June 10 – August 14 Opening Reception Friday, June 10 at 6pm

My Gallery Talk will be about my own work and will also draw from other works in the exhibit. I hope you can join us.

Gallery Talk: Thursday, June 23 11AM

…………….

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Just What I Needed to Be Doing

May 22, 2022

Ironing. Ironing little pieces as I retrieved them out of my fabric bins. Ironing for several hours.

And it was perfect.

This morning I gathered with fellow artmakers for our monthly meeting of work and conversation. I have been a member of this group for over ten years, and the longer-time members met together for years before I became a part.

The work and the conversation today were great therapy.

I have been working pretty seriously and diligently on several large projects. I have several new ones on the back burner, just cooking. And thoughts about a series that interests me is on an even-further-back burner just beginning to form.

So I ironed. It was a way to discover what fabric scraps I have accumulated that might prove useful in coming work. As I pulled little scraps from the bin, I remembered printing them, and I separated them into piles by color.

The forming of the next work began to come together as I saw actual pieces that might fit together.

Every step of artmaking is important. Sometimes sketching and planning are what needs to be done.

Sometimes reading poetry is what needs to be done.

Sometimes going out for photo shoots is what needs to be done.

Sometimes looking at the completed work created by other artists is what needs to be done.

Sometime receiving critique of work-in-progress is what needs to be done. (I am grateful that my art friends did that for me today also.)

And then – of course – hours in the studio actually doing the work — which, for me, involves hand printing fabric, collage and stitching it all together — is what needs to be done.

Today I needed to explore the fabric bins. Sort. Iron.

At the risk of seeming a bit corny in this comparison, I thought this afternoon about the flowers in our garden. On the way to the mailbox I passed by our morning glory and also a little patch of rain lilies. They need different things. They grow on different schedules.

The morning glory is up-and-at-em absolutely every single day without fail. Morning. Bloom. Stay open all day. Evening. Close up shop. Do it again tomorrow.

The rain lilies take their time. I don’t actually know what they are doing underground when they are not blooming. But something is at work. Then — generally all at the same time — they will all put out buds, and bloom for a short while. They are not attention-getters. Very delicate. But such a nice addition to the garden!

As I was ironing, I hope I was allowing ideas to unfold. To do whatever it is they do underground. The time spent will turn into work. But not today. Today was ironing day.

. . . . . . . .

As a happy reminder that going through all the steps can, in fact, lead to completed work, I am pleased to let you know about four exhibits in which I have work showing in the next month. If you are near any of these exhibiting places, I hope you will stop by to take a look.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Wading deeper into the water

May 15, 2022

This week I’m continuing the project I posted about last week.

The project is a 3-panel quilt depicting a split landscape view: fish below and birds in the sky above. Last week, I had worked through several composition options and had begun the create the monotype background for the underwater portion.

This week it’s all about fish.

I created a large stencil with all of the fish cut out and stenciled it with a glue resist. Then I over painted with wonderful watery phthalo blue, mixed with a little burnt sienna to bend it towards teal. When everything was dry I washed out the glue resist.

Now: green fish swimming in blue-teal.

I was letting this evolve, so I did not know exactly how it would look. My first reaction was disappointment. I guess I had hoped that the overprint of the blue would be enough to create the underwater mystery. But it wasn’t.

***Here is one panel after the fist blue overprint. A bit weak. Promising, but definitely not there yet***

I looked at these panels a long time and finally decided to introduce some other shapes – geometric shapes that would not actually occur in an underwater scene. That would, I hoped, transform how the images work. It will be a way to play with value and contrast and also take away the thought that this is an actual photographic reproduction of fish underwater.

I just want it to FEEL like being underwater.

This is as far as I’ve made it this weekend. There are now a lot more layers and – I think – some sense of depth.

I have one panel glued to its fabric-sandwich backer. I am hoping it will be dry enough tomorrow to start some surface stitching. I am excited to see how that functions with the painted scene.

Just a “how-to” note: I can add more surface design after stitching. That is likely to happen. So, surface design – then stitch – then more surface design is possible. I’ve just got to see where this goes.

Meanwhile, in other adventures… This week I am scheduled to have my first cataract surgery. The second one should happen in June. I can’t wait! Threading needles is turning into quite a challenge. Friends tell me that one experiences color altogether differently after the cataract surgery. Who knows, next week I may have to report that the underwater scene isn’t at all like I thought it was!

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Jumping back into the water

May 8, 2022

“Water, Water Everywhere.”

If you look at photos of Biscayne National Park, that’s what you see. Water. Water. Water. In colors that are incredible and filled with both light and depth. Here’s a photo I found from the National Park Service that captures some of that magical color.

I’ll be participating in a group show at the Biscayne National Park later this summer and I want to create new work for it. I have done some works before which depict underwater fish alongside birds in the air and I enjoyed creating them. So I’m anxious to jump in again.

I want to learn from what I enjoyed when creating previous bird-and-fish compositions.

But I want to do some new things to keep it interesting.

I started with a sketch based on reference photos: fish plus pelicans.

I like this composition, but I decided to keep working on it. My concerns were both logistical and artistic. I want to make a pretty big piece that will fill a wall with color. But, creating and shipping a work that’s much over 44”W overwhelms my studio. And, despite all the moving parts, this composition doesn’t really go anywhere.

So, I am going to break it into three panels, dividing up the scene and adding a few more areas for pattern and color.

I think this will have more energy. The movement of the horizon line up and down creates a rhythm. Each panel will be about 22” wide. So the whole presentation when hung will be about 66”. That’s much more like the size I have in mind.

Today was working day 1: time get some color down on the fabric. I’m starting with the underwater, then I’ll print sky and birds next.

I am printing this color as monotypes with acrylics onto satin, so it has a nice intensity and a strong “Pop!”

The intense aqua of the fish from my reference photo is hard to capture without using fluorescent colors, which I don’t want to do. This lime hue will end up being overprinted with translucent phthalo-blue-based-mixed-teal in masked-out stenciled layers to create the shape of the fish. The green undertone will add richness to the water. I am hoping to create a luminous water effect.

After monotype printing this morning, the rest of my studio day was spent on beginning the construction. I’ll construct three separate panels, each a sandwich of muslin with felt batting between. I started getting those cut and put together so I can begin collaging on the fabric in layers.

In the next few days I’ll be drawing and then cutting out shapes of fish.

I can imagine a scuba diver under the water, surrounded by fish and colors, being surrounded and mesmerized. It would be endlessly interesting to see.

That’s how hours in the studio feel to me … endlessly interesting, with new things to discover on each project.

. . . . . . .

If you also like images of water, birds and fish, here are a few pieces on my website that I created. Each one handles the elements in a very different way.

IMAGINING WHAT’S BENEATH A POND SURFACE

FISH SWIM BENEATH THE MOON

SONG BIRDS IN A DEEP THICKET

. . . . . . .

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts.You’ll hear from me about once a month. NEWSLETTER

Variety without Hodge-Podge

May 1, 2022

I like surface design in my work to have a lot of variety and energy.

But I don’t want it to look like I just threw the fabric and paint down the stairs and I got what I got.

I am more pleased with the final results if I combine the spontaneity of hand printmaking with some attention to connecting the patterns across the work.

For a work in progress, I am getting to ready to build a section that connotes life below the ground. I want to suggest roots and connectedness to the earth.

Here’s where I started this weekend.

When I printed this piece, I had not intended that the “rocks” section and the “roots” section would go together. I was just using up two halves of the fabric. But, once I printed them side by side, I really liked the interaction: completely different patterns, but printed in the same color.

Now my task is to create more pieces that will work with this one.

Let’s walk through some steps:

GETTING READY.

I had the piece of teal fabric already. It’s a little overwhelming for the place I want to use it. So I’m thinking about overprinting a monotype in a mixed red-brown complement to the teal in the same “roots” pattern as in my beginning section. Already, I can see I’ll have both unity and variety: the roots pattern will appear now in two places.

“INKING” the plate with acrylic paint.

GETTING READY TO PRINT

PRESSING THE FABRIC INTO THE IMAGE WITH MY HANDS

REVEALING THE PRINTED PIECE

Now I have some already-printed pieces that I want to relate to this one. The backgrounds are rock shapes as in my original piece, but a smaller size. They are a little flat. Some splashes of the red-brown should add energy, then also relate these two sections to the teal one I just monoprinted.

You’ll notice that the two rock backgrounds are opposites of each other. One was printed from a rock-shaped stencil. (Rock shapes - paint.) The other was printed from the ghost image of that stencil print. (Background around the rocks = paint.) This is another way to connect different fabric sections.

MEANWHILE, BACK TO THE TEAL + RED-BROWN

This fabric is a little bigger than my plate, So, I printed it a second time along the bottom in a less tall strip. Maybe I will cut them apart. Maybe I will keep them together in one big section. I did a relief print of the linear pattern on the less tall strip to connect to the other pieces I had just stamped with those lines.

To these just-printed pieces, I will add others I have collected for this work. Some neutral yellows, a bit of orange. I don’t know yet if I will overlap them as organic forms or square them off into block sections. That exploration is for my next studio session.

. . . . . . . . . .

TA-DAAA! I completed a large two-panel quilt recently: (It is also built from hand-printed fabrics. A richer palette.) Discerning What is Real. Here is a detail of one half of the finished work.

I had this one in the works for several months. I’m pleased with the results. If you’d like to see the whole work it’s on my website HERE

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

All about the surface

April 24, 2022

I like working in a studio where all the stuff of artmaking is out and visible. The “mess-in-progress” inspires me and makes me think of new things that interest me.

Here’s what I saw as I walked into my studio this weekend:

On my easel, side by side, I have pinned up two pieces that need finishing touches to be ready to send off for exhibit. In the back corner I see a completed collage in deep colors. And a few steps and off to the left I see printed sheer fabric. (The next step of the project I wrote about last week.)

So. What’s to see in all of this that’s interesting?

Starting with the two pieces on the easel, I see again how I went about creating the surfaces in completely different ways.

This is a detail of one of the works on the easel, More than Bread.

I created this as a whole cloth piece; the backing is a bed sheet. The only collaged section is the golden yellow sunshine in the window. Everything else gets most of its definition by stitch. The random arcs in the yellow sun. The patterned table and wall. And the stitch-as-drawing that I used to define the figure. I loved creating this work and making the surface come alive with stitching.

Here’s a closeup of the other piece on the easel, But in the Silence Between.

It’s quite different from the Bread quilt. To me, this work is a hybrid between an acrylic painting/collage and an art quilt. I created layers of paint and texture by collaging onto a gesso-prepared piece of muslin. I like the translucent watercolor-like quality of the images.

It is also stitched over the whole surface. But the stitching functions differently than in the Bread piece. It is primarily functional – to hold all the parts and to prevent wrinkles and puckers. The visual texture is from the images.

Here's a detail of Then The Edge of Dusk, the piece that’s hanging on the wall in the corner.

This work is collaged onto a wood panel and framed from the back. The process of collaging onto a flat panel, instead of a fabric surface is just a different experience and creates different visual textures. And, of course, if a portion has stitching, it has to be stitched before it goes on the wood backing. This work also has some painting-like qualities.

Finally, the loosely printed fabric waiting to be made into into artwork.

The fabrics I showed in last week’s post were printed as monotypes using tree stencils. This portion is same-but-different. I am still creating the feel of wind, but not with tree forms. I used random placements of string on my monotype plate to get these shapes. I want them to seem random and chaotic compared to the trees.

This quilt will have a collaged composition, and lots and lots of stitching to enhance the feel of wind. (I’m still prepping the backing layers to be ready to compose. I’m anxious! I can collage maybe tomorrow.)

I worked in other mediums before discovering textile artwork. It seems the perfect fit for me. Lots interesting things to see and discover. Varied finished products possible. Always challenging!

And here’s one more detail from the studio:

One more little detail to share: for artmakers who enter your work into exhibits. Here is one way to do the label. I type the information I want and print on my home laser printer. I use a generous coat of gel medium on the top of the label to seal and protect it, and more on the back to collage it to a piece of muslin. Once it is dry, I will stitch it by machine to the quilt backing before I apply the backing to the quilt. (I generally back with grey eco-felt, gluing to cover the quilt back. Then I flip the edge binding and hand stitch that to the eco felt.)

If you would like to see more of the completed works in this post, you can find them on my website:

MORE THAN BREAD

BUT IN THE SILENCE BETWEEN

THEN THE EDGE OF DUSK

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading.
I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Simple Methods – Interesting Images

April 17, 2022

I began a new project this morning that will require at least one new stencil to add to my image vocabulary.

I will be featuring trees in motion. So, I am cutting a windswept tree shape.

I use stencils a lot – both for fabric surface design and for paper mixed media collages. They are a staple in my image toolbox. It pleases me to be able to create varied and interesting images with very simple methods.

Starting at the beginning today gave me a chance to talk some more about using stencils.

Step One - Cut the stencil. (Actually, this is step two. Step one was figuring out what image I wanted and what size. Then I drew it on cards stock: several manila folders taped together.) If I am creating a stencil I think I can use multiple times, I invest the time into making it strong. Here I am coating the card stock with matte medium. Do both sides. You could also use gel medium. This creates an acrylic surface to the card stock so it won’t fall apart when you use it.

There are other material options:

Tyvek. I cut up tyvek envelopes. (VERY strong. Very thin – good for not leaving a paint drip edge when painting. But very flimsy. No good for all shapes.)

Freezer paper – can be ironed onto the fabric and stays well. You can’t use one of these forever, but you can probably iron it down a few times. Also flimsy. Not good for complex shapes.

Plastic – Strong. No need to coat them. But some plastics are hard to cut. Washable.

Commercial Stencils – There are a lot of tempting stencils available at various art supply outlets. I choose to use only original images that I draw and cut myself. But you might enjoy using ones already made.

Step Two – Cutting Interior Spaces and creating positive-negative

Most stencils that you cut actually create two pieces to work with: one is the positive. One is the negative. In this case, the actual tree I’ve created is the positive. When I lay it on fabric or paper, it will block out the background and I will print around its shape. When I use the negative (the hole in the card stock is the shape of the tree) it will be a way to print the shape of the tree itself.

Interior Spaces (Donut Holes)

A complex shape like a tree will have interior pieces that fall out when you cut away the parts around it. To make the negative shape usable, you’ll need to put these back into place a build little bridges to hold them there. I use thin strips of masking tape, adhered on both sides of the stencil.

Here are the pieces I created Saturday morning. on the left is the negative, with the donut holes in place and reinforcing bridges applied. On the right is the positive shape of the tree.

PRINTING WITH STENCILS

I pulled some tree shapes I already had to print background shapes of tree forms. These will be the background layer, as I build more color and texture in subsequent layers.

FAMILIES OF SHAPES

As you begin to collect a repertoire of shapes you like to use, you will probably see patterns emerging. I use a lot of background patterns that are based on circles. These can look like bubbles, or rocks, or honeycomb, or just geometric shapes depending on color and context.

Here is a closeup of a quilt-in progress that incorporates a window shape in two sizes. The smaller size was used as part of the surface design in the fabric background. I laid down the positive shape of the window then loosely painted the teal over it. The background gold tones showed through to depict the window. For the big window. I used a large version of the window to make a cutting template. This dark blue window is cut out of painted sheer fabric, collaged into place, then stitched.

The secret to creating images that please you and that you find interesting is to spend time experimenting. There are lots of variables in the materials you choose, the colors, and how you apply the paint. The joy of discovery is in the practicing!

The galleries on my website have many artwork samples that were created with stencils (in addition to other methods.). I invite you to take a leisurely stroll. GALLERIES

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts. You’ll hear from me about once a month. NEWSLETTER

Sun – Porch – Sketchbook

April 10, 2022

This porch called to me.

How could I resist a yellow rocking chair in the sun?

This is the porch on my daughter’s house, where I have visited this week to meet my new grandson. (Yup. He’s pretty adorable.)

A porch can be a wonderful source of patterns and shadows.

I had with me a small sketchbook I use mostly when I travel. And so it is a record of ideas and sketches from specific times and places. This visit to this porch brought me memories of other visits to other porches.

This little sketch is from 2010, made during a visit to a long-time friend in Belfast, Maine. This is looking over the railing to her neighbor. I liked the way the architecture of the porch where I was sitting provided a frame for the house next door.

These little sketches are of the porch itself. And some rocks.

My friend, Charlotte, and her family collected rocks from their vacations. They would enjoy silly ceremonies of placing the new rocks on the pile or in the garden next to previously gathered rocks. Building stories.

That trip inspired me to create one of my first art quilts, created around 2010 when I returned from that trip. This is Memory Rocks.

This little quilt is about 20.5” square. I enjoyed looking at it again today when I photographed it. I can see a lot of ideas I was working out and developing.

So I had some very nice connections this week on that sunny porch rocker.

I remembered how a place can inspire a story.

I discovered again the beauty of interesting patterns and shadows that can be captured in very simple spaces.

I connected again to another porch through the record of my sketchbook. (I am a strong advocate of keeping a sketchbook, or several, and referring back to them periodically. Put a date next to what you write or sketch. A lot of what you thought and sketched will have changed and might not mean anything to you at all. Some of what you thought and recorded will resonate with you again, perhaps in a new way.)

I will enjoy pulling out the sketches I made, some evening in a leisurely way on another favorite spot: my front porch at home.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Depth Beyond the Trees

April 3, 2022

Here is what awaits me – on the easel — in my studio.

At the time this blog posts, I will be visiting my daughter and her husband and my brand new 7-day old grandson, Simon. (Can’t wait!)

So, I have about a week of no studio time, concentrating on other sources of contentment. While I’m there, I suspect that on the back burner I will continue to cook up some ideas for what interests me to work on next.

I have several projects that involve trees and layers in nature.

I am going to address birds in flight and fish underwater again.

I am working through ways to look at landscapes as an opening to wonder and meaning. How to stir memory and dreams with stories that are not actually stories, that do not have characters.
I’m not sure of the answers to that yet. But it sounds worth pursuing.

The quilt shown above on my easel is almost done. It is constructed in two panels, each about 35” wide. So, the whole piece will be about 70” wide. Already it has been a good challenge to work on the two panels side by side to make the halves feel connected and to function as one piece of artwork.

The tree landscape on my easel is one that I wrote about in early February when it was in its very early stages. If you’d like to go back and read about it at that point, it’s on my blog here:

https://www.bobbibaughstudio.com/blog/2022/2/13/beginnings

Meanwhile, I just completed a new quilt that also features trees, as well as suggestions of memory and dream. This is Speaking the Memory.

***SPEAKING THE MEMORY*** ART QUILT 2022

If you would like to learn more about Speaking the Memory, it’s on my website HERE
I look forward to letting you know how the new piece evolves to completion.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

The Safe Harbor of Strong Women

March 27, 2022

We journey.

We take one step at a time.

We make stupid mistakes.

We get lost along the way.

We need to start over.

All of this is easier with help.

I have made a number of quilts that explore the journey of a girl or young woman. It’s been part of telling my story.

But, until this work, I have not focused on the important role that strong women play in the lives of other women. (I know how important it has been to me to have strong women to lean on at the times I needed them. I am forever grateful.)

Inspired by a group of women who are in my life now, my weekly writing group, I created Writing the Next Word to honor women who provide safe landing places for their friends.

I created this to enter in the SAQA Global Exhibit, “Haven.” It was accepted; it will premiere at the Houston Quilt Festival in October then travel to other venues for approximately two years.

I am so happy that a work that’s meaningful to me will be seen, and also pleased that now I can write about it.

The focus of the quilt is the seated woman. I photographed Joan one week in writing group, then created a drawing from the photo.

The figure was built by layers of fabric cut and collaged into place. I used several scraps of recycled denim for her jeans and monoprinted sheer polyester for her skin tones. I also did some drawing, and additionally used machine stitching for texture and further mark making.

One of the things I like about creating with fabric is the hands-on, tactile involvement in the subject matter as it evolves. As I glued and stitched the character, I felt like I was getting in touch with who she is.

To me, the essence of beauty in older women is confidence. I enjoy seeing women who are comfortable in their own skin and their own body. And a face that shows experience and wisdom. For this portrait, I worked to create just a hint of expression on the face while keeping her depicted without a detailed, specific face. This work is inspired by a particular person, but I want it to be experienced in a more universal way.

Because the exhibit theme is “Haven,” I wanted to suggest a journey. A safe harbor occurs in the context of a journey. It is when we are traveling through experiences that we really need a safe place to land.

The left part of the quilt is the journey.

It began with printed and painted surface design. Then I worked to push back the image and incorporate it into the right half.

I used the border pattern across the bottom to depict change from harsh journey to arriving at an oasis: the pattern is constant across the bottom, but the color changes.

What do I hope a viewer will think or experience when looking at this work?

Each one will, of course, bring their own experiences, and those experiences will blend with the image in the quilt to create a personal meaning.

For those who have been fortunate to benefit from the counsel of wise women, I hope they will remember. For those who have been the wise counsel-givers, I hope they will realize how important they are.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Creating parts with a voice

March 20, 2022

Compare and contrast.

Same, but different.

Light and dark.

Parts that will speak to each other.

These are some of the concepts I consider as I am creating a composition. As much as possible, I try to think through these ideas in the design and sketching phase so I know where it’s going. But, if the plan isn’t working along the way, I’ll adjust and try something new.

I had a chance (through the wonderful surprise of being on the cover of SAQA Journal) to look again at my quilt, Seeing Through to the Light. I think the composition works, and I think the contrasts are at the heart of it.

LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT The top section is dominated by a photo transfer of an image I have used in several quilts: a picture I took looking through the windows of an abandoned house. The overgrown vines were flooded with sunlight, creating intricate, delicate patterns.

Then I also created some hand-printed fabric to square off this section, which is so similar in character to the photo that it blends in as part of it.

It was here that I also introduced the yellow lines indicating light.

DARK DARK DARK The bottom section is the opposite of the top. Almost no pattern. Very dark values. Although there is actually a good deal of surface pattern in this section, it is so subtle it’s only visible right up next to the quilt. From across the room this looks solid black.

Then, in what is actually the point of the quilt, a few shafts of light dissect the dark. The light penetrates, breaking through.

DIFFERENT DIFFERENT DIFFERENT As a transition between these two sections, I created the vibrant orange circles, resist-printed. The round shapes are not found in the patterns of the other sections. The color “pops” They provide the entry point for orange as a design element, which I then pick up in two other splashes.

As I compose, I like to think of ways for the various parts of a quilt to speak to each other. To do that, each section needs o have its own defined voice. I was absolutely transfixed by the image I took of the light and vines through the window. Its voice is strong, and offered me subject matter to use as a beginning point.

Seeing Through to the Light is part of the SAQA Global Exhibition “Light the World. “ (That is how it came to be featured on the cover of SAQA Journal; inside this issue is an article about that traveling exhibit.) Seeing my quilt again helped me to remember making it, and what I was thinking about during the process. This week, in other projects in the studio, I have tried to incorporate some of what I thought worked in that creation.

Compare and contrast.

Same, but different.

Light and dark.

Parts that will speak to each other.

. . . . . . . . . .

If you would enjoy looking at other quilts based on landscape and natural elements, I invite you to visit the Layered Nature Gallery on my website, HERE.

. . . . . . . . . .

You are invited:
Art in the Garden… This Weekend!

Saturday, March 26, from 9-3 PM at Select Growers Nursery on HWY 11 just North of DeLand. This one-day outdoor event is from 9 am -3 pm, and features displays by local artists plus food and beverages all in a beautiful shaded pavilion in the middle of a spectacular plant nursery. You can browse, shop for art and shop for plants all at once. I’ll be exhibiting. If you are near the DeLand area, I hope to see you there.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

BLOG POSTS - once a week: Mostly about what I am creating in the studio. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail, please subscribe here: I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

Sand and Water and Memories

March 13, 2022

What are your feelings about sand, salt, hot sun, cool water and cawing seagulls?

I love them all. I have always felt completely at home on the beach. Childhood beaches in New Jersey. Adult beaches in Florida. I love them all.

I created two beach memory works over a year ago for entry in a regional art quilt exhibit, “Floridian Flavors.’ I just got my quilts back from the final exhibiting venue. I unpacked them and put them on the storage shelf. But, first, I took some time to look at them again, to see what I could see.

Each of these quilts depicts a beach scene, but they are actually depictions of memory.

Two Orange Creamsicles, Please is an image of nostalgia. To reach the memory, we look off into the distance.

Though it is rendered in a representational way, it is not “real” in the way a photograph is real. I simplified the scene, leaving out elements that would actually have been there. I intensified the colors of the truck shadow. I intensified the sky.

The focal point is the large truck in the foreground..

***The truck as it appears in the finished work***

***The truck-in-progress in my studio***

But the work is actually about the two women walking away from us, towards the sky while – we presume – they are eating ice cream bars. The intimacy of their stroll together suggests to me that they are old friends, perhaps sisters.

I used a loose gestural drawing of these figures to give them life.

I liked creating this composition with the strong horizon line. Of course, that’s a strong visual characteristic of being at the beach. But, here in the visual plane, it offers a chance for me to have an element very clearly in the closest part of the foreground while the characters in the story moving up and away from that place.

Classic is also a beach scene, and a memory, but a completely different method of involving the viewer in the scene. The memory is right up at the front of the picture plane.

The main character is depicted in a close-up. This image was based on a picture from a family scrapbook. I love the confidence of the woman in her bathing suit. I love the ease of just enjoying that coke straight from the bottle. (I think I am drawn to these details because the women on my side of the family were not like that at all. Rarely comfortable in their own bodies at the beach. Never drank soda from a bottle.)

I wanted the fact that this is a memory from a scrapbook to be an obvious part of the composition. I used the photo frame as a frame for the woman.

But then – to play a bit with the realities being depicted, I have allowed her to extend outside of the photo. Her legs have made it into the actual ocean foam. Her head extends beyond the photo frame.

So she is both in the photo and at the actual beach. The actual beach is in the background, but has entered into the photo.

Unlike the loose drawing of the two women in Creamsicles, this one is more detailed. I muted the color in the character, to suggest an old black and white photo. All the deep color is in the depiction of the beach elements.

Now, this memory cycle is complete. I drew from real beach memories to create. I re-experienced the scenes as I was working on them. Now, looking at the process of creating several years after the actual quilt creation, I remember the artmaking of it.

My hope will be for these works to find a home (perhaps a wall in a beach home?) where they can also conjure memories of sand and salt and sky in those who look on the scenes.

If you are interested in learning more about these works, they are on my website HERE:
Two Orange Creamsicles, Please
Classic

Finally, just a note for all of t hose who have been nice enough to ask: The studio tour last weekend was fabulous. HUNDREDS of visitors. Wonderful art conversations. Good sales. I was so happy that people were interested in being out and about on an art adventure. To readers who showed up… THANK YOU!

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Studio Tour Take-Aways

March 6, 2022

I began Saturday morning driving around to the appropriate intersections to place signs that would lead visitors to my studio for the tour.

What a fabulous really-and-truly small independent business tradition. You just pound into the ground a sign with an arrow. Another woman from my neighborhood was stopping at all the same intersections as I was. She was having a garage sale, about a block down the street from my home. We laughed together. I said I’d send people to her garage sale if she’d send them to my studio tour. Deal. Done.

***I spray painted this old door to create a quirky sign - letting visitors know they’d found the right spot.***

Take-Away #1: The Learning Component
I rediscovered that people LIKE to learn about art. Not all people are prospective buyers. They may not have wall space. They may not have the budget required. All fine. People are respectful of the work required, plus the individual spark required, for one to be an artmaker. They appreciate knowing how things are made.

(Note to artmakers: Don’t be shy about telling your story: How did you become interested in your chosen artmaking method? How many hours do you spend? What comes hardest to you? What do you like the most? Patrons and just regular folks enjoy learning this. Offer the information. Sometimes people are afraid to ask.)

***“The Lord Giveth and the Interstate Taketh Away.” Displayed outdoors with good light. Lots of people asked about the story behind it. We had some great conversations.***

Take-Away #2: The planning Component

Our Studio Tour is put together by a very small committee (actually one person) who handles: registering artists, collecting funds, contracting with web provider, planning the paid advertising, whipping into shape the participating artists to encourage personal social media and other advertising. In this event, as in almost any successful community event, volunteers ROCK!

Take-Away #3: Energy! (And sore Feet)

It’s hard work to be “on “ for a solid stretch from 10am – 5pm. I am grateful that I hardly had 15 minutes without visitors to look at art, shop for art, and talk about how things are made. The time passed quickly. But I’m pooped. (And my feet are tired too from standing all day. I’ll need to switch shoes tomorrow.)

Inside the studio I had set up both finished work and work-in-progress. More opportunities for conversation.

Take-Away #4: Living the Life!

Like many women aged 60+, I worked through a lot of other life experiences to get here. I feel alive and energized and grateful to have a life as a full-time artmaker at this point in my journey. It is good!

To everybody who visited today - showed interest in artwork - purchased some to take home with you - thank you! I’m writing this Saturday evening. I’m looking forward to another interesting day on Sunday.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts.You’ll hear from me about once a month.NEWSLETTER

Cleaning. And other artful projects.

February 27, 2022

One of the good things about having guests is that it forces you to clean up in advance.

I am not a fan of cleaning. Actually, there is almost no activity I dislike as much as vacuuming. (Just when you think you are done with a room, you pull a little more and yank the dumb plug out of the wall. Ugh! And the incessant whine of the vacuum noise. Also ugh.)

But… this week I will be cleaning and preparing my studio for the studio tour this coming weekend.

I’m looking forward to it. (Both the cleaning and the tour.) As I was doing some sewing this afternoon I looked around my sewing desk and realized that these spools of thread have gotten out of control.

And I have a few baskets of scraps I intended to do things with that have taken on a mind of their own.

It’s time for some good sorting – discarding – wiping away dust – rearranging – and (yes) vacuuming. I suspect I may even discover some stencils I had forgotten I had.

Meanwhile, I am putting together parts on a new quilt that explores patterns of trees and their reflections in water. I have done the photo transfers and created a lot of fabrics that I want to use as elements to give voice to the patterns I see. Here they are laid out on my work table.

I had to photograph them in place - to remember what I had done - because my next step was to take them all apart so I could begin stitching and quilting in sections. (Having only small machines to work with, I quilts as I go, then combine sections.)

I also just finished a new body of collaged paper works, many featuring trees and arch-shaped portals. I enjoyed exploring these elements in a number of different palettes.

If you would enjoy looking at these new paper works, you can find them on my website here COLLAGED ARTWORK

Finally, one more time, please accept this invitation to the DeLand-Area Off the Beaten Path Artist Studio Tour March 5-6. I will have done the cleaning and vacuuming… now I just need visitors!

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

Orange Power

February 20, 2022

Saturday I was up bright and early to join my Rotary club in planting saplings. (Actually, at this point they were more like twigs. We work with our City tree nursery to pot 2500 baby trees so that two years from now they will be ready to give away to folks in our community.)

As I was inserting slender future trees into their pots of warm compost/potting mixture, I was struck by the intense colors of some of the roots.

Right above the fibrous root ball. Right where that portion joined the main trunk. Oh my goodness! Incredible burnt sienna into red, and in some cases a wonderful bright orange.

Work was done mid-morning (2500 trees potted. Yayyy!) and I was home in my studio. And now I’m thinking about orange.

I looked around to see if I had samples in projects working. Well look at this!

This one is quite subtle. The background, which looks orange, is actually raw Sienna. The reddish-brown overprint with sponge paint helps the surface parts unify. It softens things up so the black screen printed tree forms don’t make it look like a Halloween Illustration.

In this detail of some recently printed/painted fabrics, the orange hue is also raw sienna. It pops so nicely in this little section because of its proximity and contrast with the teal blue that I used. (A color I love and create a lot.)

Now we’re talkin’ orange! A true orange-orange painted piece of fabric had glue resist circles printed on, with overpaint in a darker orange-red. A little of this goes a long way. But I think it will be a terrific splash.

All of these pieces are in the pile for a new work-in-progress. I have been inspired by reflections of tall pines in a small stream near my house. There are good hints of brown-orange in the photos I transferred. I am hoping the fabrics I am creating to go with the photo gives voice to the intricate variety I see in the trees and pines.

That makes a good conclusion to my Saturday: beginning and ending thinking about both beautiful color and wonderful trees.

. . . . . . . .

I only have a few more chances to promote the West Volusia Studio Tour. It’s COMING SOON! Saturday and Sunday, March 5-6, 10am – 5pm. I love being on this tour and welcoming folks to my studio. If you are in driving distance of DeLand, please take the day and come do the tour. (Stops in downtown DeLand before or after are fun too.)

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch: