Gallery Shots, Postcard, Painting on Fabric, Weaving, Show & Tell

Postcard Swap, Great Grandmother Willie (born before the end of Slavery) & Great Aunt Eunice her daughter walking on Market Street in Philadelphia. This photo was taken before 1945. The building was Tuskegee Institute, now University where three of the youngest, of my great-grandmother's nine children attended school.  Eunice or E. Finch Morris, as she like to be called was one who attended.

This was drawn as one of a series, done immediately following a GYN appointment.

My Dear Professor Haymaker.  He encouraged me to enlarge my work from 8 1/2" x 11" to 8x10 feet.  The weaving behind us is one of three I made during our time together.  I often start small but end up five to ten times larger.

 

Bad hair day, not anymore.  I created the square behind the face, of paper, thread, crystals, glue and fabric.  Later this mask required a backing and the cream fabric square felt just right.  As I completed the appliquéd of face, hair, then necklace I realized it needed to be larger so I added the boarders.  The quilting is the first overall machine quilting I completed after I got over the fear of machine quilting.  Oh yes, I was nervous about it for years, finally taking the plunge after a session with Juanita Yeager.  So it doesn't matter if you can draw, sew, paint, or fussy cut. There are things that have us stumped...until we gird up our loins and punch through or pop the bubble.

My dear friend and Show & Tell partner.  I use this piece to demonstrate the way some quilters show their work.  After the demonstration we all laugh at ourselves and having gotten the point do a much better job at introducing ourselves and sharing one of our art works with our audiences.

Three Pregnant Ladies a Chair and a Antelope

During the most pressing times of my life I paint, sketch, put colors together in a manner that relieves stress and pressure.  Fabric has always been important in that process.  Quilting has come and gone and come again into my life.  What is special about this piece is it encompasses all of the above.  A time when my daughters were pregnant, my daddy passed on and I was pregnant with that pain, and when I was in physical pain from an injury.  I found my fabric, paints, with years passing before this became a finished piece. What happens for me is a start, pack it away, a finding, work on the parts, a finding of the last piece or technique needed, then a finish.  Just so with this piece.  I also found a way to handle all the emotional turmoil happening at the same time.  

Did I mention I went to live for a period of time with my mother after my father's death?  Well that is a whole nuther quilt...I haven't finished collecting the thoughts, pieces, paints, story on that one yet.  I will post it when it is a bit more along in the process.  The story behind each of these quilts has been written and one day will be published with the quilts.  What a lofty goal. LOL

Lectures & Workshops by Ms. V - Empowerment - Promote Your Work

This Lecture & Workshop series was created to empower artists to manage the expected and unexpected ups and downs of being in business with and for themselves from a position of strength.  Oh yes, we are generally the business manager, along with the artist, the clean up crew, the shopper, no wait, we like that role, LOL, you get the point.  (Fees Listed At Bottom...just in case...LOL

Bless You - detail, 2007

We live, work, and create in two different worlds. We generally create alone. It is an interaction between us, our materials, our tools, and our evolving workspaces. After a period of time say a few weeks or a few years we share our work with the general public.  Well some of us Do share, some of us Think about Sharing, and some of us put our Work carefully away for long periods of time, some even forever.  Why? Often because we can not figure out where to begin.  We sometimes need to learn how to reallocate learned life skills into our art tool contaniers. And other times we need the company of other like minded people to realize our own worth and value as artists.  

Beyond Comfort, detail 2011

As I have grown/sewn in this field I discovered moving from a private life into a public and on-line life was more than a notion.  I realized I could offer a few How To's...for those of us who get stuck, feel intimidated when viewing other 's work, feel lost or just not up to doing the tasks necessary to reach or set our goals.  So I looked back at my diaries and selected some of the roadblocks I have hit and decided to write down how I met the challenge or overcame the situations. Thus two series: Empower Your Creative Self and Promote Your Work, were developed.

Each lecture was designed to appeal to a general audience of both artists and non artists.  Each: 

• Has a PowerPoint presentation available enhanced by relevant artwork.
• Has a varied format of mini-workshops (2 hours), a 2-5 day workshops, handouts, workbooks.  
• Full day lecture has a hands-on art related component, we create!
• Lectures can be restructured to target specific audiences, new lectures and workshops can be created to address specific topics, at various levels; beginners, intermediate, advance/seasoned artists all designed upon request.
• Lectures and workshops are designed with the needs of artists at their core.

Lectures & Workshops and studio arts classes available in 2012

Promote Your Work, Without Apologizing

Changing Directions, Getting through the Change, Status Quo

Finding My Voice, My mark, My Signature, creating a body of work
Marketing Yourself - But I don't like that Part!  
Moving from the diningroom table to a studio or not
Building Self Esteem & Self Confidence - Tools of the Trade
Healing Arts - I Sew and So I Am

Studio Arts Classes available: Surface Design - silk screening; batik; fabric painting; fabric dyeing;
Design - 12",  18", 44" designing my own quilt from scratch; learn to follow a quilt pattern, small project start to finish with surface design elements.


Fees:

My Basic rates:  which include lectures, teaching fiber art classes, quilting techniques, and surface design workshops

• $700 Per day class teaching stipend (up to 20 students, after that an additional $35 per person)
• $400 One hour lecture with trunk show, and all expenses.
• $850 Combination of presentation and workshop held during the same event/day plus expenses with permission to vendor before or after workshop or lecture. 
• Custom Rates are available for special programs.

Expenses include travel: mileage for airport trips, airline tickets, shipping any supplies back and forth, taxi if needed, as well as all motel and meal expenses for the 'days of the presentations'. If DH has to drive me our mileage fee is $.50/mile, and his motel provisions and meals should be included for the working days, when in attendance he is a part of my package, other DH's are encouraged to attend those lectures as we often speak as a team. I generally arrive the day before teaching starts, and leave the day after teaching ends. I am deathly allergic of cats and some dogs so my preference is to stay at a hotel.

Bottom Line:  I am open to negotiating rates, but fees and expenses can not leave me in the red.