Blog Hop Around the World

I was invited by the lovely Michelle Reynolds to participate in this blog hop. I first met Michelle when we were in an online class together, and now we are both instructors with Creative Klatch. Michelle does wonderful, colorful paintings that I love and also works with Gelli Prints. She started the Gelatin Printing Enthusiasts group on Facebook.  Check out her work on her blog.

What am I working on?
Lately I have been busy preparing items for sale in Klatchapalooza Handmade Art Market, a pop-up shop on Facebook Thanksgiving weekend.  I've created a bunch of sewn items for that sale but mums the word on those items until the shop opens! But I have also been working on a series of art tags with a tutorial for Creative Klatch where I demonstrated how I make them.  Here is a pic of the whole series.

I also recently completed a quilt using bright prints on a white background.

How does my work differ from others of it's genre?
I work in a variety of media but the distinctive mark of my art is color. I love bright, happy colors, and have a strong influence from nature in my work, whether that be fiber art, quilting,sewing, drawing or painting.

Why do I create what I do?
I've always loved everything creative and love making a variety of colorful things. It's just a part of who I am!

How does my creating process work?
If I'm making a fiber art piece there is more planning usually. I sketch out my design and choose fabrics to bring the design to life.  I cut or tear the fabric, then pin it until I am ready to sew it in place - usually  by machine. I like to add hand stitching for details. If I'm quilting, I like to take an improvisational approach and make it up as I go along. I love the serendipitousness (is that a word?) and not really knowing how it's going to look. If I'm sewing a bag or pillow I am sometimes inspired by beautiful fabrics and I play with combining fabrics in different ways. With painting/drawing, I usually just sit down and start to paint and see where that takes me. I may have a loose plan I follow, but if doesn't work out I just paint over it and start again.

Sometimes I just sit down and sketch/draw or doodle and see what comes out. Other times I have an image in my head of a piece I want to create.  When I'm in the flow of creating I can reach for one thing after another as ideas pop into my head. Things can get a little messy!

Thanks to Michelle for inviting me to participate in this blog hop!

I'd love it if you would check out the art work of some of my friends over at the Creative Klatch blog. You can find links to their personal blogs there, too.