Creative Chaos

That was our March - so much going on that neither of us quite managed a blog post.  April looks a bit less chaotic, but though I have a slight lull in the early part of the month, festival season is starting so there's no time to just sit in the hammock.  Here's the update on what's been going on.

One big event for me was having my "Word Power" quilt shown a the d'Art Center in Norfolk as part of their exhibit Persistence.  It was quite an honor to participate in this show celebrating women's empowerment.  I attended the opening and was just blown away by what I saw and what I read in the accompanying statements displayed with each piece.  There are pictures from the reception on their Facebook page which give you a peek at the exhibit.  Even from the photos you can get a sense of how well put together this exhibit was.  Each item was beautifully displayed and lit.  (You can get a glimpse of my work in the fifth picture - under the flag.)

The other big event was our participation in the Textile Extravaganza at the Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center.  Sonja and I had several works in the exhibition, taught some workshops, and did a trunk show this past Sunday afternoon.  It has been years since we'd done a trunk show or any teaching, so the prep work took more time than if we had been doing this routinely, but we made it through.  Plus, we met many very nice people and learned some new tips in the process.  That's the best part of it.  Many people asked if we'd be doing more teaching, so we're giving some thought to what we can manage.  Stay tuned for that.  For now, here a couple of pictures from the exhibit.

Sonja's Mandalas

These are the mandala pieces Sonja created as part of the challenge she set for us late last year.  It was an amazing experience to pick up our local paper one morning and see that purple "triptych" in the banner at the top of the front page. Then on the inside it was there again in a bigger format as part of a great article about the Textile Extravaganza.

Ann's Mandalas

These are my mandalas.  I hope you can tell that I had a great time with this challenge.  It's wonderful to have an art partner who pushes you to try new things.  We had just two rules for the challenge - a finished piece measuring 6" x 8" and a mandala (circle design) of a specified size in a specific place in the piece.  I let myself try out a bunch of ideas.  Though our official challenge period is over, I might do more.  I learned so much in the process and it's such a satisfying form.

So that's the summary of the art part of our busy month.  In the midst of all that Sonja was also dealing with big doings in her personal life.  In March she also started the process of buying a house.  So far things are proceeding well and it looks like come mid-June they will live even closer--only 5 minutes away, not 25 minutes.  I think I'm the luckiest woman in the world!