jennie kohl austin

I call these Squiggles, completed in 2006, followed by a few shots of the process and materials.

A few of my favorite photos from my visit to Hilton Head Island, SC:

Here’s another project I did at Hilton Head…fiber art earrings!

Wow I can’t believe it’s February already. Christmas has come and gone, and January brought some major changes in my personal life. As I get through this tough time, I want and need to turn some of my freed up energies toward the arts.

But first I have to get used to my new routines and get my home in order! I’d like to do some small-budget decorating to really make my home an inspirational place for me to live, work and heal. One up-side is that there’s more physical space at home so that my art doesn’t always require a trip across town to the studio, which should help with maintaining momentum once I get going on a project. I’ve recently finished reading Susan Magsamen’s Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine. Very inspirational, it shows how creativity is or can be part of everything you do, and it’s given me some wonderful ideas for my home. I’ll update the blog with my progress!  ~Jennie   

 

  

Greetings. I just returned from a lovely holiday in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I was blessed with a trip to the December conference of The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (Thanks Dad & M!) which turned out to be a much-needed rejuvenation of my heart and spirit. I’m still trying to adjust to the idea of this blog, and it’s hard for me to get past my insecurities, but I fully intend to forge on and continue to share my thoughts with whoever is interested.

So on to artistic endeavors. While my life has been a bit hectic what with the trip and holiday preparations and all, I was able to complete two pieces of artwork with which I was quite please. The first was a pair of fiberart earrings – photos of those will follow in the next post. The second was a small piece of fiberart, entitled “Moonrise.”  Here are photos:

I gave this piece away to some wonderful people I met on my trip. (Hi Mike and Deanie!) Mike told me about the beautiful moonrise he saw, and I did my best to capture it just as he described. The next night, after they left, I saw that orange moon too.

I learned a valuable lesson from that little piece of art. I found that my art MATTERS. Not in a little, self-serving ‘yeah my art is important to me’ sort of way, but that I can create something from my heart that will become more than the sum of its materials and take on a life of its own.
 

So, since my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my daughter Maggie also had her 14th birthday. I can’t believe she’s already 14!  Anyway, I made a bunch of cloth bags for her friends as party favors…the bags were a hit, and so was the party!

Today is my 35th birthday, and I chose to take the day off from my regular job and work in my studio. I haven’t really worked IN the studio much this year, but used it mostly as a storage space for all my STUFF. But since my house is starting to get a little overrun with art supplies, I decided today would be a good day to clean up a bit at home and then go and clean up at the studio. My plan is to spend more time up there, and only bring home artwork for specific tasks. I have kids and so I can’t just spend all my time being creative – I have tons of responsibility – but I think this will be a good balance. I took some pictures to share while I was up there, it’s not very decorated yet but it’s still pretty cool.
From the entrance:

The sewing area:

The cutting area:

For painting, stamping and other messy work:

A divider area, mostly storage:

I’ve gotten quite a bit done on the Seashell Quilt yesterday and today, here’s how it’s looking:

I also made an Art Trading Card (ATC) quilt yesterday:

For the back, I used a scrap of fabric onto which I had test-printed my logo.  I should have used two layers because my hand-stiching knots showed through, but otherwise it’s pretty cool to have that on the back.

I’ve had a couple of slow weeks, or should I say weeks that were busy with non-artistic endeavors. I have been planning a couple of new projects that I plan to share as they come together. This piece is inspired by the following painting:

What does this painting have to do with Seashells? Well, this oil painting was done by my Grandmother, MariAn Hatten Ellis, who passed away in 1997. This beautiful work of art now belongs to me and although nobody knew it at the time it was painted, is of one of my great loves – fabric. I have not yet hung the painting, because when I selected a space for it, I felt like there was something missing. After some soul-searching I decided that since my Grandmother was such a significant influence on me artistically, that I would like to hang it with a piece of my artwork of a subject matter that I think she would love – seashells. 

Here’s a little taste of what is to come, more photos will follow:

Here’s some additional photos of the painting for your enjoyment:

I have most recently completed a fiber art postcard entitled “Harmony.”

This piece was donated to Fiberart For A Cause, a fundraising project for the American Cancer Society. All donated art postcards will be sold at the 2006 International Quilt Festival in Houston, November 2-5. Although this is the first postcard I’ve made, I can’t wait to make some more!

For more information, please visit Virginia Spiegel’s website: