Now on Etsy

So, actually, I've had an Etsy shop for almost a year.  Every once in a while I get the urge to make something with scraps--something that is not artistic.  My kids have plenty of toys (especially stuffed toys made by me), so I listed some of them.  I am hesitant to advertise, since I don't actually want a full time toy making business, but I might as well sell off the inventory I have--so there it is.  Here is my big ad--on my obscure, mostly unread fiber art blog.  Maybe next year I'll buy air time during the Super Bowl.  Oh, and the link is http://www.etsy.com/shop/amosthefamous?ref=si_shop

On the Ghost Coon Trail

We took a road trip down to Texas over Christmas.  We went through Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.  It was my first time in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  On the way home we stopped off at Natural Falls State Park near Siloam Springs, OK.  It was one of our favorite places on the whole trip.  It is a limestone sinkhole, deep in the ground with water flowing down 70 some feet into beautiful pools of water.  It is where "Where the Red Fern Grows" was filmed.  The above tree was inspired by our hike there on the Ghost Coon Trail. 

Banks of the Poudre River

Stage 1

All done

All done and framed.

Christmas present for my sister.  Acrylic on raw silk and embroidered.  I started it the week before  Christmas.  Wish I'd had two more weeks. 

Milo

Because you aren't really an artist until you've done dog portraits. 

Miles and Miles of Iowa

The whole things

close-up

The clouds.

Back-side

My good husband--who has learned the art of framing for my sake.

Finished Product.

This is a commissioned piece for a family from the Ames, Iowa area.  They have lived here many years and are moving away and wanted to take a piece of Iowa with them.  It is a country church that they have loved. 

Portrait of Molly

This is the third portrait that I've done of my kids in the last year or so. It was done for the LDS Church Art competition. I guess I'll find out if it was accepted later this month. It is acrylics on lace, overstitched with embroidery. I love it. I included three picture of the process, in case anyone is interested.

This is what I wrote about the piece:

Last fall my oldest daughter, Molly, turned 12. She does not, in general, go easily into transition, and her move from Primary to Young Womens was no exception. She is tall, studious, a little gawky and almost always awkward in social situations. I ached a little each week watching her walk into that room full of beautiful, confident teenagers. One of her first activites was a Secret Grandmother Dinner. Each girl was assigned an older sister to visit with. I was there helping serve the food, and I watched from across the room as Molly’s “grandmother” would ask her questions and Molly would answer with two or three word and then retreat to herself. I felt a little frustrated with the situation, with Molly and with myself as her mother.
A little miracle happened for me then. As I walked back in the room with dessert, I saw Molly again and the words came into my mind that “Molly is your work.” I knew that the work Heavenly Father has given me to do with my life is to raise and teach my children. I felt so much gratitude that Heavenly Father would trust me with this work. I more easily saw Molly as a child of God and as a work in progress. I saw this short awkward time as a period of learning and growing for Molly and for me. And I saw a little more clearly how this is my work, but even more it is the work of my Heavenly Father.
I made this portrait of Molly to record my feelings from that night. Behind her are embroidered words that describe what she and I want her to become. I don’t care if she chooses to become an astronaut or a librarian or a gardener, but I do care that she chooses to be kind and righteous and good. This is my testimony of parenting and my testimony of the kind of parent that our Heavenly Father is.

Red Corn

 

I did a whole lot of shows this summer.  The last one this year ( I think) is in Fairfield, Iowa in October.  I'd planned on using the Anti-Clematis piece I did earlier this year--recycling it from a show in Cedar Rapids.  But it sold.  That was great--but it meant I needed something new.  I did this piece--it is about 9x10 inches of heavy embroidery in about a week.  My right arm was SORE by Saturday.  Sore from gripping a needle.  I must be getting old.