My painting ladies at Quilt Hawaii 2008

Why do these  ladies  look  so happy?

well for starters, they are in shady patio on the big Island of Hawaii .

 and  they are painting fabrics

and as some of our fabric are almost  dry ,

 some of us have started to dance  because that is  what the light hearted feeling of making art does this  to some of us...myself included!

(or i might break into song , usually a rock and roll line that strikes a cord.. )

here are some of my "painters of the pacific"  in action.

 (a few went out for ice coffee or something so i didn't get  your mug shot)

Meg!

 in a  balmy , comfortable atmosphere with encouragement, paint, and new and renewed friends , a day like no other is created  that is full of  laughter and color.  these faces are in the art journal of my heart as i love to paint and i love to share my paintbrushes with folks like these. i bring the paints  too and serve  them up with a spoon to your palette.what is you favorite color....today?

we are getting  our next class together on  Friday July 2 , 2010

#303 ,  Heliconia flowers  and fabric painting

at the Waikoloa Beach Marriot Resort  and Spa

on the the big Island Hawaii.

i hope you can join us ! Aloha, Sonja

 for information   and registration  go look at :

 http://www.quiltventures.com/  update:
Sorry to say they QV do not come to Hawaii any longer.
This  venue lasted until 2013 making 20 years of quilt show history.
I showed and taught with QH from 1999 to 2010.
What a fun decade!
Aloha and Mahalo Faye and Ellen for your venture in the Pacific!

We  ALL had a great time,
 a great decade for me to paint and share !!
Aloha nui loa, Sonja

seacups

"seacups up held by seaweed "

was the working title for a postcard exchange i recently completed in one of my  online trading groups that goes by the name of Fiber Art Traders . the theme was bras and the format was to be a postcard . that is my favorite size to work in when short attention span is me. i let that simmer in the part of my self that makes stuff up . out of paint and fabric, mostly . i don't know exactly where that is but if left to stew something ususally surfaces. after painting and quilting and  bead sewing and sparkle adding , i sent this  off to Tasmania  to my  assigned trading partner . i sent it without  a cover or envelope so i was glad to hear it arrived in about 10 days or so. we all added a little pink ribbon to our cards as well.

good bye peewee

his name was peewee .he was with us 19 people years. he was found by my husband at a job site  just days old .

when his eyes opened and he was cleaned up he stole our hearts.

about ten years ago i got a pair of litter mates  because i though it would be different to have regular cats raised and socialized by their own kind. peewee didn't agree and disappeared for months . turns out he was just next door and he didn't like kittens and returned  when they were months older.

when we moved he held out three weeks in the surrounding woods before returning to the fold. he clearly had ideas and standards.

 he liked NPR radio, tuna , and sunset walks with us and the other cats.

 he had been declining in health the in last year, rarely leaving the deck.

he was last seen walking down a grassy slope 3 mornings ago .

                             "he who must be obeyed" will be missed.

coke break

i belong to a several  online trading arts groups for fabric and mixed media. these folks are from all over the USA and  some are international as well.

 the horse card above was  the one  i made for the art4mail group .  what a joy it is to get something in the mail made by someone by hand with an idea they are reaching to communicate  into a composition  4" by 6" in size .  i joined in on a "western roundup" theme exchange  last year  because i am a horse lover since forever. 

armed with a idea and an old photograph , i  set to work  to fill in what  that theme or idea  might look like to me . this will change as i go along , adding this, subtracting that and  this evolves  if i am lucky  into art to mail, or frame or keep. sometime it doesn't work and i start again. or scrap the whole deal and start over.

 a memory of my horse  Rojo Diablo, some  photocopies , some thread,  a few beads,  and  a few hours later i had my cards ready. i like to make one for myself as well . the old photo was taken after a 4Th of July parade in a small California town by my mom. horses like soda and sweets and i had to be careful not to bump his teeth as he finished  the last of the coke. 

sometimes  people will  ask "where do you get your ideas from?" i often answer , where do i start?  

Happy Easter

 A Happy Easter to all!

like the onion-domed iris

i am awakening  and opening to the  spring.

sending peaches a postcard

Just last Thursday someone  asked me about Peaches  my pet rooster. i said he is  fine. now i have not seen him since that morning and still he is missing.  wild dogs? poacher? old age?  last year for an art exchange  with the theme " for the birds"  i drew and painted and quilted and beaded  a postcard depicting his handsome likeness. it is so odd not to have him walking along side me at feeding time  and muttering his chicken speak . five years and some is time to get to know a pet.

Quilt Hawaii 2010 Heliconia painting class

                              

                                             This year Quilt Hawaii 

is on  the Big Island again , this time  at the Waikoloa  Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Waikoloa. my class is all about the lovely heliconia and  we will be  painting flowers and fabrics. there are so many kinds of heliconia with the most amazing  colors .

 i have added some  paintings and also some with  machine quilting paired with  yardages painted in  above  photos.  drawing skills are  not required as i have a good method  of sharing some  artistic  skills. please note .....i have been at this for decades. basically , it  really helps to  have some good material, tools,  and the time set aside to have fun. and encouragement helps! i can't teach you to be an artist but can share with you some  of the techniques  i have collected to put you on the road. ultimately you must do the work  in your studio or  on the kitchen table or under a  shady tree. i am a facilitator, mostly.

this is always one of the best days of the year for me  as we get to play with color and fabric and discover talents and techniques  and make new friends. i have done this  most summer fun project since 2000 and look forward to it once again this year.

 i am having an all day class #303 , it is on  Friday July 2, 2010.

 i bring the all  paints and  some  tools and samples to draw out the artist within.

check out the site below  for brochure with information.

 http://www.quiltventures.com/

tsunami watch

"felt like winter" postcard by sonja

we had a really looong day today and the tsunami did not damage us .

just tested our readiness .

life indeed is fragile and we sometimes get to rearrange our priorities when

nature prevails.

and so today we hosted some dear long-time beach friends and took the day off to just be..

and happy to say my friend MEG M. in Japan was also spared...

my heart goes out to Chile and Haiti .

from sonja in a tiny spot in the pacific ocean

plumeria baby pillows

ALOHA! the two baby pillows are finished . i painted a batch of flowers a few weeks ago  and i made them a size i have not made before. these little sweeties are about 9" by 14" as the new grandmother requested. they came out so swell i made a second set! i machine quilted free motion on my mature  Bernina 830 record, a machine i bought refurbished and is a very fine workhorse of a machine  for quilting especially and it is all mechanical . these baby pillows are finished with an envelope back which means the incert can fold out for washing . and grandma Velma loved them! she got to pick out her choice of two sets and i got a great big hug! sometimes a customer will come to me with a twist or idea or varation that is a great place to go next with the art adventure!

the plumeria is the first flower i made when i started out my project of quilting the paintings i do , back in the early 1980's. now i have to look up that quote by Georgia O'Keeffe  about flowers and friends and taking the time to do so .
i am  still learning so much and watching flowers as they are amazing teachers .
aloha, Sonja

plumeria

what is one of the sweetest fragrances you have experienced? to me it is the plumeria blossom. it is the fragrance that welcomes you to the islands each and every time you go throught the airport. the invisable fragrant lei of velvety flowers that say welcome! welcome home !! it is the very first flower i painted on cloth and proceeded to quilt . it is still a favorite. next month i will make a pair of baby pillows for a grand mom's first grand baby and the love will continue ! i painted them last week and quilted the pair today . they are so cute that i will make a second set . i can't wait to get them all sewn up.

painted hearts

just today i finished up a batch of my sweet little " valentine pockets '' for a nice lady i know. i painted the flowers, usually on a scrap muslin from a pillow top and then quilted the flower in a 5 inch or so space. i back them with random hand painted fabrics and make a small pocket in the back for "something" to be tucked in . a ribbon to hang and sometimes a bead are the last touches before i offer these non-caloric treats up . after 20 some years of making them, i still enjoy the smallness of just one blossom and tiny leaves in colors i blend . the way the inks and paints flow on to the cloth , moved here and there with the brush , a drop of sparkle sometimes. a small mediation of color and cloth. and there something to be said about small works of art that are finished and gifted as a token of love . a nice retreat from quilts and wall art. they get shared because they get finished.

i was having a discussion last week with some art pals of mine and that old theme came up of unfinished items or ufo's as they also known and how some folks put themselves in a pickle (i think) by saying they won't start any new ones until the old ones get done. what a killer of art and inspiration is that is !! i bristle when i hear that repeated and sent out like a wet blanket. into the universe! my take on ufo's is this....that unfinished project my well have taught/ shown you all you need to know about this or that and needs no further attention. i donate it , recycle it , or toss it out .maybe let the cat have kittens on it .be done with it if it has the flavor of holding you back. move on . our art time is so precious i refuse to shackle myself to a lost cause or ufo that needs to be let go of. what do you think?

Peaches and some new year chicks

this handsome fellow is Peaches the rooster. he was hand raised and thought he was people for a short time. for a while he jumped up in laps, dinner plates when we were out on the deck eating, and in my hammock while i was reading, he actaully like to hear me read aloud , and he even took naps in the hammock with and without me in his youth.
 for months he lived in a cat carrier until he got a bit larger and brought a girl friend home one evening.  with barely enough room for him in the carrier at that point ,  the next night he stayed out. and the next in the carrier and so on until he made the successful transition to the tree with other chickens. good . he was getting much too large for the carrier . for months he would show up at dusk and jump in my lap so i could put him in for the night...we are glad he is normal rooster, for the most part tho he still walks along side of me and mutters at times....chickens also eat all bugs and centipedes and insects and lizards they can catch. that is a plus. they also eat all table scraps and veggie trimmings .

this January chickens are already hatching out in clutches and mommies are hovering about with little peeps under their feather skirts at rest. they are so sweet and so many! we collect the eggs, when we can find them, sell and give them away and make alot of deviled eggs for snacks.

hang ten....

AT least twice a year, which is not nearly enough, 3 of my artsy and funtastic gal pals and myself have lunch at a local watering hole. i bring the camera usually so that i can take pictures and not be in them or because i see a photo op in the parking lot. well, i usually paint my toes but these gals are townies and they really know how to glam up the toe nails. i am the country mouse and paint my toes usually to cover a bruise as a bar of soap falling in a shower can cause. not this year. not yet. bare toes into the new year i go. and in rubber slippers too. hey , they are new and i can paint on them and have to keep them from walking away on someone elses feet as it is most common here to leave the slippers out side the home before entering.

hang 20 here!

Christmas cactus

this is a photo of my Christmas cactus in bloom last year. the color is almost indescribable so a photo really helps. my husband's mom gave me a cutting and that cutting has been shared with other gardeners. i went to a party at one of those green thumbers homes and hers had become much grander than any i have seen!

this last weekend i held my 12th annual home show featuring some of my fabric art finished (and some unfinished it turns out as i have painted fabric for folks to cut up and create with ), available as well as my ornaments and larger items. this show turned out to the best one attended and shopped, ever. it is a positive note to the makers and shares of art that the real handmade gift still gives !

also, each year i have a surprise drawing to sign up for that day and the surprise is i haven't a clue as to what it is as i haven't designed it yet so it will surprise me as well ! my muse always come through for me on this project as i unwind from the sales part of my work and go to the true gifting part of this holiday season. i am thankful that i can share my art! i am thankful daily for all the folks that support me with their enthusiasm and purchases through the years and that my hands and my eyes still work and that the muse dances with me . i am thankful and happy to meet new folks each year and make new connections with cloth and paint and imagination moments. those bright moments of what if , that sometime just around the corner is good and coming our way!

.

now to begin to go fill a few orders before i sleep, perchance to dream.

i know i am an elf because of this love of workshop and making something out of a thought or dream and paint and fabric, mostly, and because of the shape of my ears.....

thank you to all the came up Saturday (and in the past ) and shared with me!

Most happy holidays to all ! Sonja

arranging veggies

i have a very small garden in raised boxes. with a wire top on them to keep chickens out. i harvested a few herbs and veggies the other day and then rearranged them into a funny face. and look how cute those little Italian roasting peppers look, don't let them fool you...they are way hot and used sparingly. kale, Italian parsley, green onions, basil and eggplants made a great meal when combined with pasta and tomatoes and other things. we are fortunate to have 2 farmers markets in our area as well as farms!one market held on Saturday and another on Sunday. what a great way to eat real food, supplement your garden, support you local farmers , and socialize all at the same time.

cupcake painting

i have painted on fabric since the sixties .that is when i started with batik by melting down crayons in an electric fry pan from Goodwill , painting on muslin, and then over dying with Rit dyes. one set of curtains later i found out about procion dyes and paraffin and bee's wax and made art to wear in the form of sundresses.

i have also painted with food coloring mixed into frosting and made a batch of cup cakes for HD birthday again this year . i like to bring these kinds of treats to Easter brunches and potluck gatherings . using the lids of yogurt containers with dollops of icing in the middle , i added drops of food coloring to paint my waves and palms and suns. a slim brush and a flourish made for frothy waves.

they were a hit for dessert.

This is art  that you can eat!

fabric painting ladies

Painting in paradise daylight!
Four ladies here posing for a group shot!

Last month i had a group of ladies over for a painting class. We had all met at the Haleiwa Art Festival where they had expressed an interest in trying their hands at painting on fabric, which is one of my favorite things to do so i jumped up and said okay . on a sunny Saturday in August, Ann, Jan, Barb, and Mary came up armed with yards of muslin, sporting funky tee shirts as art is messy  good fun, and carrying in potluck lunches . What a great group of they are , brave enough for my unconventional teaching methods and good cookers, too! we spent the day outside with trade winds frisky enough that we needed small rocks to hold down paintings in progress and drying. Some of the finished paintings, dry now, are displayed here on the happy painters. we drew, painted , changed brushes, chased blowing away art materials and had a great time and even learned a few new things ! then near the end of the class i confessed to them i couldn't really paint very well sitting down so we set up a table tall enough to work together on at a standing height under a shady tree. With one yard of blank material and squirt bottles filled with colorful paints and water spray bottles we all made a wonderful yard of art together . colors swirled and blended and did amazing things. after it dried on the lawn, i ripped it into 4 fat quarters and each painter one got a piece.

art shared , much like a potluck lunch , is often much nicer than the sum of its parts! thank you ladies.                                                                             Aloha, Sonja

green and shedding

i went out to take photos of an orchid that only blooms in August when i spied this guy spying on me. he was making his way along the top of a fence back to the hedge. this must be a male Jackson , because of the 3 horns, that is wild and roams the hills and trees looking for juicy insects to eat. he is also shedding his last summer's skin. if you have ever seen one move it is quite a sight. they sorta sea sew back and forth to the next foot hold and what a grasp they have as all four feet have a sort of claw or opposable digit that won't let go this the next grasp is complete. more studies in green here . what a wonderful jungle we live in!

stars at sunset

The latest star quilt using my hand painted fabrics is finished now that i have sewn on the label. i like to paint my labels as well as document my work with dates and size . i also put a close up shot in here to see the free motion quilting i do by hand guiding my very, very mature Bernina 830 Record , a lovely old reconditioned machine i got last year to add to my stable of sewing machines. i used variegated and natural thread of the King Tut Superior brand and love them. the top was pieced on my 1959 Singer Featherweight that has been my workhorse for all these years and was given to me by my mom when i went off to Long Beach State College back in the day.these are wonderful gems of the sewing machine world and i am so lucky to have three! one is white in color and was made in the UK in the 60's found by my DH in a Goodwill store that he went into to get some old clothes to paint in . he saw this machine sitting there for only 25 bucks! a steal and it was only missing the bobbin case to make it a working machine. i think the bobbin case was around 50 bucks at the time but we are still talking being in the right palce at the right time. these are great machines to teach beginning sewing on and a few kids have worked with mine to get the basic skills.

now i am back to painting more fabric because i used up most of my yellow and mango hued cotton. i could have picked a better day as it is almost 100% humidity here today so it will take longer for the paint to dry than usual.

So what's next? i am teaching a fabric and flower painting class this Saturday so i need to get art materials organized for that . AND i am dreaming of pumpkin colored quilt blocks.

and sunsets. what are you dreaming about ?

quilt top

so this is the 25 star quilt top i am working on... still. i hope to post the finished quilt next. i can always hope. it did not get to the Haleiwa Arts Festival finished as planned but traveled back and forth in a tote bag needing only half the hand binding and a label to be added before hanging. this top it is composed of my hand paints in the lovely colors of life, assorted muslins and pieced into a saw tooth star block that seems to be my favorite as i use it again and again. each block has 4 points of yellow to mango colored fabric and the rest random. i hung it on the clothes line to take the photo .the stained glass effect my fabrics radiates makes me happy on this rainy morning. it is oh so close now to being finished as i unpack and unwind from the gypsy art fair world of last week end. it was truly Christmas in July in so many ways. it was filled with new and old friends and acquaintances and customers and sights and sounds, ( bag pipers even!) and foods from local farms and creative cookers . my tent was not too far from the main stage and when i could take a brake i would listen to Celtic, Hawaiian, jazz, big band , and rock music and watch dancers as well. if you get a chance to go to a festival in your area you will be renewed and energized by the spirit of such as temporary art city and all its citizens ! now the tents are down and the trampled grass can once again grow up to the light and green up . my tent was partially under a huge monkey pod tree which gave off a light exotic fragrance from the pink blossoms when the winds blew a certain direction. and we had some big wind ,too. i brought a box of rocks to hold my fabric and angels down on the displays thought some angels did fly about the booth and into my neighbors ..... and some flew to other countries and many to the mainland in hand painted bags, quilted and otherwise....
now that's another story .