D is for Deadlines...

I'm one of those folks who works best when I have time constraints. Deadlines are both a blessing and a curse, of course, like most of life. Still, deadlines get me going or keep me going when the going is somewhere I want to go.

Today's deadline was for me to have all my jpegs and written info completed, put on a CD and in the mail to David Walker, who will be designing my web page. While having a web page has been a dream for several years, my courage and self confidence were somewhat lacking. Instead, I put my work up on a number of sites by joining different organizations. That was an important step for me - to go public on the internet. It's one thing to be "known" in one's own area and quite another thing to be "known" to the outer world.

I once thought I was extremely talented - that was until I saw the work of a freshman Drawing 101 class at Southern Illinois University where my husband was a grad student. I had my BA in fine art and was proud of it. But the drawings from this class were superb and seemed ever so much better than the drawings of all the students in my graduating class. At least that's what I thought at the time. Mind you, there were a total of 6 art majors the year I graduated - one of the largest classes ever! So I was a big pebble in a puddle at my college and I discovered a huge lake full of rocks in the "outer" world. It was a tough lesson, but a good one. Humility never hurts anyone!

Anyway, now that the CD is done I can breathe a sigh of relief. My next major project is partially completed - a CD for the Fiber Revolution exhibit entitled "Quilts As Art" at the Museum of the American Quilter's Society in Paducah, KY late this year (November 9, 2007 - January 22, 2008). The museum plans to sell a CD of our work at their museum shop, so I am collecting the images and creating the presentation for the CD.

Now that I can pause for a moment, I'm allowing my imagination to run wild with some ideas that have been fermenting within me for several months - even prior to our wonderful trip to Ireland. Some of it involves using my rusty fabrics and some of it involves experimenting with blueprinting fabrics. I have no idea if or how any of my notions will manifest in reality, but I'm anxious to begin playing again with my stuff!

Meanwhile, here are a few photos that were taken within the past few days.

Below: Jewel Weed aka Touch-Me-Not

Below: Admiral Butterfly