aprons, aprons, aprons .... potholders

My daughter requested aprons as gifts for her bridesmaids. I needed to make 7 plus one for her. Twelve plus reversible aprons later.... my OCD is forcing me to continue making them! Help!

They are all completely reversible, pockets on both sides, adjustable buttonholes, faux piping on the straps.

They have been fun to make.... and the scraps became 9 plus funky potholders. I love the running silhouettes fabric.

And the lobster print! And the deviled eggs print... so much fun but enough is enough.

Published! Calendar this time

Four of my 12"x12" pieces are part of SEFAA's 2014 Calendar. One of them is the cover!

Click SEFAA's website to purchase calendars to buy one and support SEFAA

Inspired by the Canadian Pavilion 1970 Expo

Sneak peak of a large piece I'm working on
at the moment ... turning, turning, turning ....
inspired by the Canadian Pavilion at the 1970 Expo in Osaka Japan.

Published!

My Mask on the cover

The article. There is also another article on how I teach in this same issue.

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Spinning Silk

Silk Rayon top I'm working on. The fabric obviously inspired the piece below:

hand dye painted silk and embellished
mounted on persimmon orange silk dupioni
A small "sketch" piece.
81/2" x 11" wrapped and mounted
on foamcore.
$50 plus shipping.
Please email hellenne@live.com.

Last Weekend's Workshop in Rozome

We had a wonderful master silk artist Kiranada Benjamin come to Atlanta for a 3 day workshop on Rozome, Japanese wax resist. Although she was able to only show us a few techniques in that short time, her 40 plus years of experience impressed us. Her work is gorgeous Kiranada Benjamin's Website and how she quickly did a bokashi (blending) demo was like magic. Especially after each of us tried it on our own. This is going to take a lot of practice... and very special handmade Japanese brushes.

My favorite brush is this one. It's tanuki hair (don't know if American raccoons have the same type of "hair") and is stiff, dense, and I get much control with this. Worth every penny! Yes, it's super expensive.

Here are some of my practice samples of bokashi:

This is going to take years of practice. Notice I couldn't even make a perfect circle.

We also crackled the wax resist and also etched on the thick wax. Here are some more samples:

My Flying Heart flew to her blog

Denise's blog

Japan trip: Tokyo

Boys Day Carp

view from Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

A quick visit to Japan

I took my son for a whirlwind trip to Japan to show him where I grew up and to visit a dear friend in Osaka. We had a very busy schedule, so visiting friends was not an option, besides he'd be bored. That means little shopping too. Bummers.

From Tokyo, we took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Osaka where my friend lives. The next day we went to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, then the next day to Nara to see the big Buddha at Todaiji. A visit to Osaka Castle and then on back to Tokyo.

Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

Crowded Japan

Fields

Houses going up mountain sides

Local train: Hankyu Line in Osaka

very old cherry blossom tree

cleanse and purify before entering shrine

We tried as many vending machine drinks as possible

inner garden 

Kiyomizu temple grounds

Kiyomizu Temple

trains

guardian at temple

Todaiji Temple

Buddha at Nara

Osaka castle

food vendors

roof shingles with Peach corner shingle