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“After all, hope is a form of planning. If our hopes weren’t already real within us, we couldn’t even hope them.”Gloria Steinem


Saturday, July 25, 2015

A fair to remember, The Haleiwa Arts Festival 2015

A fair to remember,The Haleiwa Arts Festival 2015!

MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2015 was the ORIGINAL  POST DAY

                      
Only weeks left  before the big white tents are up
at Haleiwa Beach Park 
for the 18th Haleiwa Arts Festival
July 18 and 19, 2015
(10am to 6 pm Sat and 10 to 5 Sunday)

Very soon the artisans will fill the tents with the colors and ideas of our imaginations
 for you to see and touch and consider.
Food, music, visual arts, stuff for kids to do, dance to watch are just some  highlights! this year the bagpipers were back!! they are wonderful
I imagine that many studios are humming with activity... mine is!
with finishing up a few requests as well as new works.
There is always a quilt or angel or bag that needs finishing, that final hand work or  sewing that has been saved for quiet time in a chair under a shady tree,perhaps.
 On sunny days,
I am painting up fabrics for my projects and always have some to share at the fair for those who see the possibilities in them  to compose their own art with.

This  war memorial is at the entrance of the park.
This  photo was taken on a beautiful Haleiwa day

This year, my booth is # 86, same area as last umteen years
I am near the entrance of the show, close to information  and community tents
according to map they sent recently.( where the tents actually go up.. is close.)
 Today I am finishing up two quilts, painting labels and  doing the hand work including threading needles which is somewhat annoying to my mature eyes. My mobile sewing  machine mechanic gave me a couple of those needle threaders that i have been loading up with 4 or more needles at a time to keep things rolling along.

Painting cotton fabric is a very large part of my preparations as many pieces are used in my finished work.Some great pieces are also tagged for sale.
 Here is a flowering bromeliad as inspiration for what later became a journal cover!



 
Sometimes just watching  the paint dry on fabric is one  highlight of my day.
This sort of pastime gives me pause to muse about what they might  become
while enjoying how colors and textures flow and  mingle, thusly
giving me "idea seeds" of what might be. Some of the above pieces actually were quilted and sewn into journal covers that i make refillable with those marble composition books and in 2 sizes.
I hope to see you soon.
come see the hand painted postcards among the many fine pieces i make!
Aloha, Sonja

Then my helper Ruby said........" sometimes selecting fabric just makes me so dizzy......"

6 COMMENTS:

Sherrie Spangler said...
Your painted fabric is beautiful! Good luck at the show.
LA Paylor said...
as always Sonja, I'm with you in spirit. I hope this year's festival brings you many connections, and sales, and moments of sharing.
Ruby, you continue to be lovely and sleek, what a nice spirit you have. LeeAnna
sonja said...
Thank you Sherrie and LeeAnna for good show wishes and kind colorful words !
And You guys really do get color !
Anni - My Creative Life and Mixed Media Books said...
Beautiful photos Sonja, love your dyed fabric, the colors are so wonderful.
Anni
sonja said...
thank you Annie! i so enjoy the process like painting fabric. And after it is dry and ironed ,washed, and ironed again, using it in my art work! There are always surprises!
i am so impressed with prompt card and the ideas you materialized, the board/card series games where super!aAd that your "arted" everyday shows discipline!
sonja said...
thank you to all that passed through my tent of my arts. #86 this last weekend
i hope to hear from the lady that picked out 6 bags and the stylist that chose the rainbow fabric, as we discussed!
aloha, sonja

Thursday, July 23, 2015

after the fair is over.......

Recovery from a weekend art show consists of some relaxing with feet elevated.
A rope hammock is best and the shade helps especially when breezes are blowing through.



This is important even if you have 4 feet, that your feet get some air time!!
 Then  to repack after unpacking  the bins and boxes of colorful fabric and hand made treasures, followed  closely by more feet's up and ice tea in hand. Then there is always stuff to catchup on like emails, laundry, and sleep, glorious sleep. so i do a little of this and some of that, retreating to a cool  spot with comfy chair now and then. This takes a few days, these days, to recover.

 I have consistently designed,  made, shown and sold my hearts' fabric gifts since my early twenties, in Hawaii since 1971 and show I  no sign whatsoever of stopping, only slowing down. I make slow art slowly. This last decade I have been very selective  to where and when (time to crank it down again!) to go out to respect the vintage child i find i have become.  She is wiser, funnier, kinder, greyer, shorter,..okay wider and  more easily fatigued and still at first, somewhat annoyed by  rude cluelessness of some people, then i find the humor in it all!

 Mostly, i am amazed and delighted with people that gravitate to my art in its color and style,
my style and that is what helps to feed my soul. i continue to practice my art of art.

 Kurt Vonnegut has a few sensible and quotable words on that.



(this is one of my postcards of fabric and paint and stitch, one of my favorite practices!)
SO,
A huge thank you all who walked through my tent last week end and had taken the time to notice, ask questions, and to purchase gifts for friends and yourself,
and  to express  your wonder and give comments of respect.
I am a gypsy on a life journey of color and fabric and am happy our trails crossed.
Aloha , Sonja