4 COLLAGE ARTISTS

A few piles of painted papers,

rubber stamps,

scissors

& paste.

Tri-folded white strips

or design on a rectangle.

Each came up with their own design.

So here's work

by mom & kids....

THE WHOLE FAMILY CREATES

My new friends seem like old friends. I first got to know them through STATIONS, an invitational art exhibit in Paris. I wasn't able to be at the opening but they attended & turned up in this photo looking at my piece "TOUT" "ALL".

We've been building a friendship on FB, blogs and emails for over a year now. Today we finally met in person & did what we've been planning for months...creating in the studio...the whole family !

While cutting, pasting, & rubber-stamping we talked about their experiences in Paris & I shared some of the art I've done cross-culturally. Time slipped by so quickly. So much more to share and create. It ended too soon.

After lunch, I sent them off with my postcards and big hugs. Once again I feel so rich having all these wonderful relationships being built through art.

Tomorrow I'll post their finished pieces.

EMPTY STUDIO ? NOT REALLY

Actually my studio is not so empty but I like this shot, taken last year. Today I was out and about-so nothing creative happening.

Tonight I'm setting up to do collage with new friends coming through in the morning.

Check back tomorrow to see the creative activity.

FRIENDS FROM INDIA

My friend, called to ask if she could bring her family over, visiting from India & Florida. Of course!

I brought out the big National Geographic Atlas and located where each is from in India. We eventually made it up to the studio where I shared the Creation quilt, they discoved their language in the design of For God So Loved & of course they wanted to see the story ropes having heard so much about them from Mina.

That called for telling my story. I brought out the suffering collages to show, as I told about the dark pieces of fabric on my story rope - my long dark depression.

Much conversation up in the studio. Before leaving, I gave them postcards of the quilts - enough to share with their friends back home. I love these women from India & feel so rich with all my friends from around the world.

ZACCHAEUS QUILT lesson 2

We began designing a little quilt top for practice today, learning how to simplify images (buildings) and try out techniques (heat bonding material & zig-zag stitch) that will be used in the Zacchaeus quilt.

At home Nilce wrote a contextualized version of the story of Zacchaeus, which takes place in a city with high buildings. Working with colorful scraps, Nilce & Raquel created buildings & a street with a cross-walk. Next class we'll add windows, doors, maybe some trees.

Nós começamos a projetar uma superfície de quilt simples para a prática de hoje, a aprender a simplificar as imagens (edifícios) e experimentar técnicas (material de colagem de calor e ponto zig-zag) que serão utilizados na colcha de quilt de Zaqueu.

Em casa Nilce escreveu uma versão contextualizada da história de Zaqueu, que acontece em uma cidade com edifícios altos. Trabalhando com retalhos coloridos, Nilce e Raquel criaram edifícios e uma rua com uma faixa de pedestres. Na próxima aula vamos adicionar janelas, portas e talvez algumas árvores.

'HOW TO MAKE A STORY ROPE' video

I developed the story rope in Rwanda as a way for genocide survivors to process their stories. Since then I've taught many how to use it in their cross-cultural work. Most recent 'how-to' requests have come from people wanting to use it in India, Uganda & Australia. Pat Butler & I partnered in making this video to share the process.

'How to make a Story Rope' http://vimeo.com/26931171

Please let me know where in the world you are making story ropes & I'll put a pin in that spot on a world map. You can contact me in the comment area.

ZACCHAEUS QUILT lesson 1

My new Brazilian friends, Nilce & daughter Raquel, came over for their first lesson in making a picture quilt.

How do you make a quilt that tells a story & where do you start? That's what we talked about today, looking at examples & materials to stimulate creativity.

Nilce wants to make a quilt about the Bible character, Zacchaeus. She plans to use it when teaching immigrant children. Contextualizing the story to make sense in our culture will be a creative challenge. More after the next lesson.

Hoje minhas amigas brasileiras, Nilce & Raquel, vieram para sua primeira lição de como fazer uma colcha de imagens (técnica de Quilt).

Como você faz uma colcha que conta uma história? Por onde começar? Foi sobre isso que nós falamos hoje, olhando para exemplos e materiais para estimular a criatividade.

Nilce quer fazer uma colcha sobre o personagem bíblico Zaqueu. Ela vai contextualizar a história para fazer sentido em nossa cultura, com os filhos de imigrantes com os quais ela espera para trabalhar. Continuaremos na próxima lição.

RAINY PAGES

2 spreads from my book, RAIN.

Thinking about next book.

Did you see the cover?

Click - to see yesterday's post.

Next post on Monday.

ON MY BOOK SHELF

A new book has appeared on my shelf of children's picture books. Mine!

RAIN

by Marge Malwitz

My husband, Nelson, used the online Blurb program to create this beautiful hardcover book from the scanned pages of Sketchbook Project 2011, RAIN.

A wonderful birthday present! Thank you, my dear!

Some book pages tomorrow.

As always-click on photos to enlarge.

I blogged the creative process of making RAIN. Click to see.