the blues...

i've been busy!

things around the house that have been on my mind for months are getting checked off my to-do list and it feels good. radiator covers are getting painted, clutter is being reduced...

i took today off, though - i mean enough of this efficiency business, right?

yup, indeedy. i took today off and drank tea and read elle decor and house beautiful - such fun! and then i came up to my studio and drew. the light isn't good today for taking photographs, so, while i was adding some adjustment layers, i decided to play around and manipulate the photo of the drawing. here's what i finished with:

still life in blues. 11"x14". digital manipulation of pigma ink drawing. 2013 

i love blue and white china and have seen a lot of it in antique stores lately, so it came through. love the color of this!

okay. time to head downstairs and think about making dinner.

can you guess which china i'll serve it on?

: : karen anne

twenty-nine years ago...

twenty-nine years ago was a thursday. as on every thursday, i planned to watch tom selleck on magnum pi when it came on at 8 pm.

but i didn't.

at  8pm i was in the full throes of labor, focusing on the wall clock with each contraction. i remember seeing 8 o'clock come and go...

that night i gave birth to my first daughter, megan elizabeth, and became a mom. a few years later i gave birth to her little sister, emily rebecca, and it was just as wonder-full and magical.

today's quilt and haiku were created as i reflected on my firstborn; my sweet megan:

1.12.2013

angel from afar
she came borne on light and love
a gift from heaven

happy birthday, sweet girl!

: : mama

northern lights...

carlisle arts learning center is having another of its color-inspired exhibitions; the next one is Ultramarine and will be opening 18 january. it's always fun to see the range of work that is presented.

in addition to a work on paper from my show there in August, i decided to submit a necklace that i've titled Northern Lights.  it's 22" long and has a mix of different beads (semi-precious, glass, ceramic, metal) strung on wire and finished with a pewter toggle closure:

it was fun to take a bit of a break today and just get lost in my stash of beads and think about all the lovely northern lights i saw in norway when i was a kid...

and, typical of me, i just couldn't resist adding that red cinnabar bead - just because!

: : karen anne

a tiny seed...

i was lucky enough to have been given one of these seeds and it has a place of honor in my home. it is just one of the millions that were made by hand for an installation by chinese artist ai weiwei.

it is so hard to imagine even beginning a project like this, isn't it? simply boggles the mind. 

or my mind, anyway.

shoot. i've made only 222 quilts as of today. a mere drop in the bucket compared to all the seeds...

the seed, and ai weiwei's story came to mind when i was making today's quilt:

1.06.2013

from whence doth it come
yon snow of downy softness
feathers of angels

the fabric with the design that called to mind snowflakes, is a fabric that i won from artist julie booth.  printed by hand, it arrived in the mail last week and has been urging me to use it. the size and shape of the little designs are so similar to my teensy sunflower seed that i know the fabric will make a reappearance in the future and reference ai weiwei's work in some way. i can't predict when that will happen, but i know it will... (btw - don't take the language of the haiku too seriously - i was just channeling my inner shakespeare or something!)

thank you, julie, for the gift of such lovely fabric and thank you, barbara diduk for bringing me the tiny seed!

: : karen anne

fear not...

i'd love it if this was the year i overcame all my fears...

1.5.2013

go ahead and jump
do not give in to the fear
have faith and believe

do you have things you fear, too? do they hold you back from being all you could be?

i'm not giving up my fear of heights, though, because i KNOW that gravity is just sitting there waiting to suck me over the edge! (you think i'm kidding?!?!?!?)

: : karen anne

our island home...

the first time i heard our earth described as "our island home" i was reminded of the photograph of the earth taken from space. do you remember being amazed at how small we really are - and how fragile and beautiful earth is when you saw that photograph for the first time? amazing...

today's quilt is a response, i think, to all the craziness and bipartisanship i've been witnessing the past months. we can't  afford to be crazy. or bipartisan. we are all connected and earth deserves our very best - which is not what we've been offering her.

this is, after all, the only home we will ever have.

1.3.2012

earth is our island

our home in a sea of stars

there is no other

: : karen anne

the ripple...

this past november, i received an order for one of my quilts. kate, the young woman purchasing it, explained that she had chosen one before realizing that it shared the date of her mother's birthday. she told me that her mother was a quilter and that she was giving to her for christmas.

the day after christmas i received a lovely email from her mother, anne, who graciously allowed me to share it with you:

I received your quilt dated 9/13/2012 from my daughter Kate for Christmas. I wanted you to know I went to   Japan for the memorial service for the victims of the tsunami. For two weeks when i got home I dreamed of the Nori gates and hundreds of people walking thru them. I am also a quilter, Kate got me the quilt you made on my birthday 9/13 the gates at the threshold of my dream. We are all so connected. Thank You. Anne 

Here is the quilt she given and wrote about:

9.13.2012

she dreamt of an asian garden that welcomed her with a magnificent gate. 

she stepped across the threshold into a magical world that took her 

breath away with its beauty. "i don't want to wake up," she whispered in her sleep...

i love the whole story, don't you? and i absolutely agree with her; we are all so connected - and in ways we can't even imagine.

when i wrote her to thank her for telling me her story and asking if i could post i here, she responded with: 

Of course you can and I want you to know, I love your art and it has touched the way I look at creating now also. The ripple. Anne

i've been thinking about her words for several days and it came through in today's quilt:

1.2.2013

toss the pebble in
ripples pass in the distance
embrace those that come

the ripple...

we put things out there, dropping them into a vast pool without ever really thinking the ripples they make will reach another shore. 

but sometimes they do. 

and sometimes we're lucky enough to hear from the person who embraced the one that came her way.

thank you, anne. and kate, too!

: : karen anne

and so it begins...

a new year! a year full of challenges and possibilities...

after a lovely brunch at a friend's home i headed up to the studio, determined to be quiet and follow whatever path revealed itself. (that sounds so much more lovely than: "...and follow whatever hints all the fabric on the floor, overflowing the ironing board, and falling off the shelves screamed at me", doesn't it???)

i ended up with a quilt that came together in short order. i love that it is made with strong fields of color; i've missed those the past couple of months. and i love the message that came with the haiku:

1.1.2013

a swing and ladder

beckon you to dare new heights

lose your fear and soar

if we are to become all we can be it's imperative that we are not fearful, isn't it? too many times in the past i've let my fear hold me back.

i think this year might just be different.

hope so!

: : karen anne