What's on the Design Wall

In keeping with the monochromatic theme I began before the grandkids arrived, here are three works that are "in process" at the moment.
Below is the value study for the quilt in the lower left above.

It's hard to see from the top photo that there are indeed two different shades of brown - one a deep, rich chocolate brown, the other a medium rust-toned batik. Here's a close-up shot of it.

All three are done with reverse applique. The top two are heavily quilted, but the edges are not yet finished. The bottom left has not yet been quilted. That's tomorrow's project... or maybe I'll try something altogether different!

Trouble with my Blog Settings...

Artsy Fartsy Images...

Here are NYC and Princeton a la my artsy fartsy side. While the grandchildren enjoyed New York and Princeton, my artist's eye and camera (and a little help from Adobe Photoshop!) did what they are prone to do...










Granny did the Granny thing, but she also did her OWN thing!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Ah, it's summer once again and time for the grandchildren to come for a one-week visit each. Of course, they have 2 foreign exchange students living with them, so the two boys came first, followed by the two girls. Only the eldest was unable to come - she was working full-time prior to beginning her freshman year in college.

As any proud grandparent, I'll have to share some photos... you can always skip this post and move on to another blog!

The boys: Our grandson, J.D. (on the right) and Felipe, from Brazil

The menfolk in NYC:

The boys in the Natural History Museum:

The girls: Our youngest grandchild, Alyssa (on the right) and Ha Trang, from Viet Nam

Ha Trang and Lady Liberty

The girls with NYCity's finest

New Work

Following on the monochromatic theme, here's the work currently "in process."
WHITE STRIATIONS - 6 x 8" detail (c)Pat Dolan

The completed size will be about 28"w x 34"h

Now, back to work!

What Have I Been Doing Lately???

Several quilts are now in the completion stage of hand-sewing down the sleeve on the back. Above is my original 5" square drawing for one of them, and below is a detail of the finished piece:

Above:
GLOBAL WARMING (c)Pat Dolan - detail. Full size is 26"w x 27"h

I love color and use lots of it - often opposite colors on the color wheel as in "Global Warming" above. I like the drama, the impact, the power of the images in full, living color.

Why is it then, that suddenly monochromatic colors are becoming so fascinating? At the moment, I have three white+off-white quilts in the works plus have drawings for several more...
Here is my first monochromatic piece, just completed. It is based on a foam core experiment that featured paper clips...
Below: PAPER CLIP MORNING (c)Pat Dolan 12"w x 21"h

Here, from my art journal, are just some of my drawings for upcoming art quilts. I've tried to put the original inspiration with the drawing so you can visualize how I come up with my designs.

Above: a value study of the magazine clipping on the right above the drawing.

Above: the drawing for the reverse applique pictured BELOW that is in it's initial stages on the design wall.


Above: The stone patterns in the magazine photo on the left above captured my attention and inspired the drawing on the right. The drawing was completed today - who knows when I'll begin (or end) the quilt...

By the way, today in the mail were two rejection slips from PNQE XIII (Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza 13). You win some and you lose some!