RedBarn Studios

two weeks ago i joined my art group Fiberart Options for a fantastic day at Daniel Stow Botanical Garden for their annual AutumnFaire.   five of us set up shop to sell some of the work we’d create.

as you know,  i love working with paper and fabric like my Breaths Journal, opposite (SOLD…sorry) and had the idea to update one of my journals, the Lil Purse, to see how they would fare.

a couple of cousins of mine, Francine and Vernell, are avid scrapbookers (guess the creative gene runs in this family of ours) and after reading their blogs i guess i caught the scrapbook bug.

now, i am really not that interested in doing large scrap pages (tried that and left it by the wayside oh so long ago) but i do love the idea of combining my love of bookbinding, my desire to create journals and this new thing i’ve just discovered….mini albums (ooooh!).

Butterfly Kiss Journal

for the last few months, to satisfy this insane craving, i’ve been scouring the web and Youtube for more about these little gems and came across the very ordinary lunch bag.

and what the heck is she gonna do with that you ask????

with a little bit of hocus pocus craftiness, they become wonderful and functional pockets.

each LUNCH bag yields one big pocket that can house lots of pictures or pieces of memorabilia and the bottom of the bag becomes another pocket in itself.

i stitched 2 bags in each Lil Purse and each bag pocket contains 2 journaling tags for a total of 4.  Each tag have a space on the front to place a picture and a perfect journaling spot on the back to write about the event they want to memorize.

so my Lil Purse, originally created for young ladies (and for boys w/o the handles) to begin journaling their daily thoughts and big ideas, got updated with the humble and ordinary brown paper bag.  think of it as the old time secret diary, the kind we all kept as young kids.

i know you had one.  mine was red (of course!) and i think my mother still has it lying around somewhere with pages and pages of swooning for that fella i fell for way back when (ain’t no way i’m gonna give out that name… Ha!).

anyway….what i didn’t realize until i started selling some of them at AutumnFaire is that women, grandmothers in particular, were falling love with them as a perfect gift to themselves to write about their grandchildren.

remember those grandma brag photo albums that were all the rage.   well the Lil Purse is an updated version of that!

so, for the 6 weeks prior to the faire, i was been feverishly working on all sorts of journals for the sale and in the end made 7 of these Lil Purses.   i am please to say i only have 2 left and will be adding them to my etsy shop this week.

i think the Lil Purse is here to stay…they are way too cute not to keep them in my line-up.  i’m busy cutting & stitching up some more and have even been toying with the idea of writing up a pattern for them. Any feedback, tips you care to share?

p.s. I know that re-debut is not a word but….i wanna use it (she says whining)….so there!

Tags: FAO, journals, Paper by grace
1 Comment »

dancing in the moonlight journal

This weekend I’ll be at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden at their annual AutumnFaire. More than 25 local North Carolina artists and craftspersons will be setting up to showcase and sell their artwork.

AutumnFaire is a celebration of nature, plants and gardens with items including, among other things, basketry, soaps, pottery, jams & jellies. A few of us in my group, Fiberart Options, decided to rent a booth this year. We would love for you to come by to say hi and  check out our booth and our own nature inspired art. I’ve been busy the last few weeks making some new journals to add to the booth.

Lil Purse – journals for girls

By the way, there’ll be carriage rides, autumn displays and the beautiful gardens at Stowe to explore. It takes place this Saturday and Sunday, October 2nd & 3rd from 9am to 3pm.

Toodles,

Tags: FAO, journals, paper art by grace
3 Comments »

Last night, busy in my studio, I decided to take a computer break. As usual, I got caught up and before you know it, I had spent almost 25 minutes online (considering I just went there to refresh my memory on a photo I had taken…mmmph!).
\

\
I stretch, after having sat there for so long, look over and see this red blob on my floor,
\

\

\

\
and realize that there’s a barely perceptible whizzing noise coming from the blob as well.\’a0 Now what do you think this can be?
\

\
Of course the first thing any sane person does in this type of situation is….grab\’a0 the camera, of course (duh!).
\

\
First things first, earlier in the afternoon I was helping my son with his homework. We finished and he left the room to repack his book bag. I then began to wonder what little gift he set up for me.
\

\

\

\
So with camera in hand I step closer to reveal my gift (can you see it yet??????).
\

\
And what to her wondering eyes should appear (yeh I know, must still be in the mind for Christmas)…
\

\
~
\

\

\

\
…but a little boy – fast asleep.\’a0 Awww shucks…isn’t that the best gift?
\

\
BTW, the big round thing under the blanket is my exercise ball.
\

\
Don’t ask.
\

ART BREAK:

\
In a few weeks, the art group I belong to (fiberartoptions.blogspot.com)\’a0 will have a fiber art orchid exhibition at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC. We are so excited. So for the past few weeks I have been hard at work finishing all my pieces. Here’s a sneak peak at another one of them.
\

\

\

\
I’ve tried something totally new for me and have hand painted this one using acrylic paint on Pimatex cotton, with Gac 900 as the textile medium (yah me!)
\

\
Using Golden Gac 900 with their line of fluid acrylics (instead of regular textile medium) gives the fabric a softer hand than even using Jacquard textile paint, which is what I started with.\’a0 The area at the bottom right (painted with Jacquard and medium) is much harder, almost like paper, than the rest of the piece.
\

\
I think I’m in love…with Golden products that is.
\

\
~
\

\

Tags: captured moments, FAO, fiber art, paintings by k grace howes
No Comments »

\

\
For my recent zine, “The Inner Eye“ I had to include an interview. Since my zine is an inspirational art zine I, of course,\’a0 chose to interview an artist.
\

\
The only thing with that was that after I came up with the questions I was nosy enough to want to know how other artists would answer these same questions.
\

\
So I came up with a plan and chose to pose the questions to a few artist friends and include all their answers in the zine. Over the next few weeks I will post some of the answers from these individual artists. Since yesterday’s post was about Nancy, I’ll start there.
\

\

I’ve known Nancy for a few years and was invited by her this year to join Fiberart Options, a fiber art group. In the last few months I have gotten a better chance to get to know her.
\

\
She is a wonderfully warm, engaging and inspirational artist, who is always willing to answer any questions we might have about our art in order to help us succeed. And…she loves to laugh, which is always good for the soul.
\

\
Her recent work is very much nature inspired. She paints her beautiful art pieces with Tsukineko inks on sumptuous hand dyed fabrics, then expertly enhances them with her quilting stitches.
\

\

\

Inner Eye: What informs your artwork?
\
Nancy Cook: My work is informed by the traditions of botanical illustrations and quilting mediums.
\

\
IE: Why fabric/thread/paint as a means of expression?
\
NC: I love the textures that result from the quilted line, it is a way that I connect with my past and women from many cultures and across time.
\

\
IE: Who continually inspires you?
\
NC: Women artists, especially fiber artists, women politicians and role models like Oprah Winfrey.
\

\
IE: What, if anything, precedes the full blow idea for a piece of art?
\
NC: Sometimes I wake up with an idea that is pretty close to full blown and that is a gift from the gods or muse.\’a0 Other times it is looking, really looking, at a tree seed specimen.\’a0 It takes time, perhaps a magnifying glass and, often, sketching the piece multiple times, before the full blown idea emerges.
\

\
IE: What matters most to you about the work that you do?
\
NC: That it satisfies me in terms of concept realized, quality of the production.
\

\
IE: What do you ask of yourself in terms of your art in the next 5 yrs?
\
NC: Have sufficient recognition that it will not be rapidly consigned to a garage sale upon my death.
\

\
This last question I thought was the best answer an artist can give…
\

\
IE: If you could not pursue your art, what other way would you spend your time?
\
NC: I haven’t the slightest idea.
\

\
I loved her answer especially because I believe that in in order to produce the best art we can, whatever medium we choose, our art should consume our souls. Nancy’s answer (to me) shows exactly this. You can find Nancy’s work on her website and more about her on her blog.
\

\

Be on the lookout for upcoming inner-view posts, including nationally known quilt artist and designer Sarah Ann Smith and one of our own local artists, PJ Howard.
\

\
NOTE: **you can purchase a copy of the first issue of my zine “The Inner Eye” in my Etsy shop.**
\

\
~
\

\
See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: artful creations, community, defining one's art, FAO, pay it forward by k grace howes
7 Comments »

Back in May I was privileged to be asked to join a new art group, Fiber Art Options.

We are 7 fiber artists working together to promote and support each other. I had not had a chance to post and entry on our blog but now you can visit and read my first post.

I had a chance to play with soy wax again and created a few new fabrics for my stash. Like….big time!!

Remember in a previous  post about attending AQS in Knoxville a few weeks back…..well guess what….I bought not a stitch of fabric!

Yes, you heard me right. There was nothing out there I desparately needed because I am soooo much into creating my own pieces to use in my artwork. How cool is that piece above!!!!

In the post over at FAO I described the soy wax process I used to create the 3 pieces of fabric. Nice….even if I say so myself!

~

See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: artful creations, FAO, surface design by k grace howes
4 Comments »