DAY 27

This is our last day here at the franch. It has been the most marvelous, magical time.

It has been a time of struggling to get going on a new path, working hard, laughing a lot, sharing with friends from all over, and a lot of growth.

We owe so much to Karey for this very special time. Both Virginia and I were at a point in our careers as artists where we really needed this opportunity. It has proven very beneficial to each of us. We are both well on the road to a new body of work.

For me, I will finally have a cohesive collection of work so I can finally find a solo show venue that I have wanted to do for some time. I have a great sense of gratitude to Virginia for pushing me to get to 20 pieces, and I surprised myself by not giving at at 17 when I didn't think I would have enough batting to get past 19. I worked it out and got my 20 plus a number of smaller pieces, plus a piece that was entirely different from the others...in fact, it was my very first piece that I did.

We have spent our last evening at Las Fuentes with Karey. We haven't been there for an entire week and that has become a record for us. We spent a lot of time sharing with her our feelings about the experience and especially how wonderful it has been for the both of us.

Such an opportunity doesn't come often and we were both very fortunate that our family situations allowed for us to take advantage of this opportunity. It was the right time in our artistic careers...a time when we have matured as artists, have worked through a lot on our own and were in need to the time away to allow ourselves to grow in new ways.

It has been a privileged to become intimate with Virginia's work. I have told her that I feel she is an absolute genius as abstracting nature...you feel nature, when you look at her work. You don't see trees, or water, or whatever else, you just feel it in your soul. What a special artist!

I also want to thank all of you who have been so supportive of us during this process. I blogged about the process as I feel so many artists, just starting their journey as artists, think that it is always easy, and I felt that the creative process needs to be shared more so others can understand the ups and downs that occur. Just because you are not actually creating work does not mean that you are not working. Remember to take time to refill the well of inspiration. Take time to question what you are doing. Learn, which I have been doing, to trust your instincts and to make your own work. Seek your own voice and follow it. But most of all, have fun!

Sorry to get so philosophical but that is part of the leaving process.

DAY 26

So, the process of separating continues although both of us have still been doing some work. I was able to get all of my quilts into my large suitcase...because I am shipping so much other stuff home. I have three more boxes to ship....

Here are a number of Virginia's pieces in progress...they are really cool, even unfinished. I can just feel the atmosphere of the Boundary Waters and lose myself in the trees and water.

and another


and another


and another

love the star charts!


and water

and horsetail reeds...I think that is what Virginia said


Earlier today as I was running errands, I found the back of some buildings, which are much more interesting than the fronts. I'm sorry we haven't had better weather because it would have been fun to wander the alley ways downtown for pictures. Don't you just love all that rust?

And right next to it was another door. If you look closely, you can see that a lot of the bricks have no mortar.

We decided that we should go out and finally take some pictures of the longhorns who live nearby. But first we stopped on Windy Hill Lane for a close up of these berries but neither one of us knows what they are.

Now isn't this a face any mother could love? Tried to get the "red-eye" out but it didn't work because the calf doesn't have red eyes to correct and I didn't want to spend the time fiddling with it to fix it so it is the zombie calf.

and the zombie long horn

Then we came back to Windy Hill Lane and right on the road is Fished and Loaves, a nice little restaurant...this is where we have come for Chicken Fried Chicken which is on special on Wed. nights which includes two pieces of chicken per person, and five or six different sides. I think I talked about this in an earlier blog. Of course, tonight wasn't Wed. but Virginia had friend chicken and I had a humongous quesadilla filled with cheese, chicken, mushrooms and spinach with a great chipolte sauce! MMMMM....half of it came back with me.

So we are starting to pack up the last stuff. Tomorrow morning I will head up to the studio, do a little work and then go to church, come home and finish packing. Karey comes back from Houston tomorrow so we get to say good bye!

I am ready to go home. today I did the stitching on all the edges on #20 and that felt really good but will do well at home in my own studio. Then add backings, turn them, and do the quilting.
Oh, that will take a day or two!

DAY 25 I DID IT!

I did it! I have gotten 20 large pieces done in the circles series!

Below is #18



Below is #19



And below is #20. Right now this is my favorite! But of course, it is the last one I have done.

Today I folded up all the big pieces of fabric from this series. If I make more I will have to get some more black fabric so I can discharge the smaller circles that I cut out and add at the end.

Tomorrow I will use scraps and do a bunch of 10 x 10's and then add backing and do the edging on all of them that aren't finished. That will keep me busy for tomorrow.

Sunday Karey comes back so we can see her before we leave early Monday morning.

I am so proud of this body of work. I still have a lot to do to finish it and I would dearly love to see them all together in a big show. I have only seen three or four together at a time and as I have finished them and taken them down off the wall, they have been piled up on a table. With these 20 and two others that I did, I think that is quite an accomplishment. And, I also have that small purple and gold circles series and the black ones that I am still doing. I am going home with more work than I had dreamed of.

I have also been able to go off into another direction, which I dearly wanted to do. I think the fences are done, and the flying geese ended a while ago...and I don't think these will have any satin stitched lines in them. Besides, I am beginning to see those things showing up in other people's work so I have to keep ahead of the crowd!

I feel really good!

DAY 24

Time is really moving fast, but then so am I.Today has been really busy but well worth it. Got more of the 12 x 12's done, finished 15 that I started last night and finished 16, and 17. Also went to the post office and shipped off 7 boxes for home and went out for dinner at the Rotary Pancake dinner!


Above is a 12 x 12


And another one

Saw a discharged cow...actually there were two but I am letting you see one. If we had waited, I could have given you a picture of a discharged cow discharging.

Here you see four grills working away at the Rotary Pancake dinner...there were about five more. The place was at the elementary school cafeteria and was crowded with people coming and going constantly. All you could eat pancakes and sausage! Three were enough!

In backwards order, although I am beginning to get confused, I think this is #17.

And this is #16 for sure...it's also bigger!

And #15

and another 12 x 12

and another one

Thank you to all of you who have been trying to find some Quilter's Dream cotton select...I really appreciate the efforts. I have enough of it to do 18 and 19 and I may try some Mountain Mist for the last one...it depends upon how desperate I get.

So, tomorrow's agenda, mail another package or two, make two more large pieces and maybe a couple of 810 x 10's and go out for dinner and a fiber art show and see several more friends including Linda Minton, whom I haven't seen since Houston '05. She has a picture of me that she could black mail me with but she is too much of a lady to do so. Karey comes back to say goodbye on Sunday and we leave early Monday to take Virginia to the airport.

Virginia has been busy the past couple of days doing some really neat things...she will show you when she is ready. She's been working the way she wants and is doing great stuff!

See y'all tomorrow!