Journal

Random Musings on Art and LIfe

Categories

A First Gallery Exhibit: Contemplations in Cloth

September 22, 2021

At the beginning of the month, I had the honor of participating in my first gallery exhibit at One Division Art in Buffalo, MN. The exhibit was titled Contemplations in Cloth. I enjoyed working with gallery owner Christopher Hoffman, and shared the exhibit space with Carolyn Abbott of Brainerd, MN. Carolyn and I worked together…

How to Sign a Stitched Painting

August 20, 2021
Sign a Stitched Painting cover image

In preparation for my first gallery show, I had to solve the problem of how to sign a stitched painting. The pieces were finished. They were stretched on internal frames. They were absolutely ready for the packing crate. Except that… oops!… Nothing had a signature! Now I knew I could sign the back of the…

Learn from my Marking Pencil Mistake

June 30, 2021

There are few things more frustrating than mistakes that can be avoided. In this post, I share my mis-adventure with a marking pencil — and how you can avoid this mistake in your fabric art projects.

A Talavera Awning in 4 Simple Shapes

March 5, 2021

About a month ago, I wrote about my dreams for a Talavera Awning. Today, I’m excited to say that I have an update for you. It’s going to happen! It’s going to be a Talavera Awning in 4 simple shapes! Yes, I’m excited. I see this awning design as an extension of my stitched paintings.…

I’m dreaming of a Talavera Awning

January 20, 2021

Does the current state of the world have you dreaming about crazy stuff? Has lock-down fever finally got the best of you? Well, I know I’m getting a bit stir-crazy when I start dreaming about a Talavera Awning.  I know that sounds a little crazy. And no, I don’t literally want an awning made from…

Stitched Paintings by Shelly Stokes

January 6, 2021

As we begin the new year, I’m making time to celebrate a few wins from 2020. It was a challenging year, but were definitely “wins” to go with the losses. For me, one of the biggest wins was getting four of my Stitched Paintings out of the closet and into their final form. I started…

How I get more done with Studio Stations

November 4, 2020

A few months ago, I decided it was time for a studio make-over. I had everything I needed, but I was forever setting things up and taking them down. Thankfully, Engineer Brain had a good idea –– it was time to set up Studio Stations. The first big change was a permanent home for my…

Pint-Sized Projects

September 30, 2020

For the past 3 years, I’ve been working on large Stitched Paintings. As much as I love these embroideries, they are big projects and often take months to complete. A month or so ago, I thought I would try — one more time — to figure out how to work on pint-sized projects that don’t…

A Special Sofa for my Castle

September 10, 2020

When I purchased a home in Mexico, I didn’t just purchase a home. Nope! True to my overly vivid imagination, I bought myself a castle. And, of course, not just any old sofa belongs in the living room of a castle –– only a very special sofa will do! When the hotel in our compound…

StarFlower 5 Complete!

July 30, 2020
StarFlower-5-Complete cover image

Completions are a big deal here at Cedar Canyon, especially when a project stretches out for months. Needless to say, I’m happy to say (shout?) StarFlower 5 Compete!!! Ahem… did I say that loudly enough? When I wrote my last update a few weeks ago, I was chuckling about the value of Ugly Brown Beads…

StarFlower 5 Stitch Update

July 2, 2020
StarFlower-5-Stitch-Update cover image

I’m at a particularly happy stage with my current Paint • Stitch • Bead adventure, so I thought I would pause and give you a StarFlower 5 stitch update. Start with Paintstiks My normal working order is to create Renegade Stencils using the Silhouette Studio software and then cut the stencil(s) from vinyl with a…

Fill the Hole in a Vintage Guatemalan Huipil

May 18, 2020

On a trip to Guatemala in February, I purchased a number of vintage hupiles (Guatemalan blouses) from Chichicastenango region. I loved the geometric designs in the weaving and knew they would be perfect for an upholstery project. But… when you repurpose these used garments for a project, you have to Fill the Hole. And that…