Another pink again

This is the kind of pink I am working with. Do you think it is pink enough?

Bid-4A-Cause: Roseus Goddessii

There have been several pink textile works in my life over recent months but it's all been for a good cause. The Bid-4A-Cause reverse auction commences on Friday, 27 November 2009 (Australian time) to raise funds for the [Australian] National Breast Cancer Foundation. Amongst the 14 A4-sized pieces that are up for grabs is Roseus Goddessii:

Roseus Goddessii by Brenda Gael Smith

"Roseus Goddessii" comes in all shapes and sizes. This piece includes eleven fine lines – ten pale pink and one deep pink – to represent that one in eleven women in Australia will be diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 75.

The one I didn't do

I have had such a hard time getting inspired to do a pink quilt. Sorry, but I just don't like pink, except in small doses. Last week when our STASH group visited quilt shops I bought this fat quarter.

It is a subdued pink—not too bubblegum or Barbie. I told Gerrie I was going to take it home and stare at it until something came to me. Then a few days later I drove up to meet some friends in North Portland (you may have read about it on my blog. It was the tour of Mississippi street) and I had to park a couple blocks off the main drag in a, shall we say, "transitional" neighborhood. Right across the street from where I parked was this sad, pink house.

My photo doesn't really show the full extent of it's peeliness and patchiness and sagginess, though if you look closely I think you can see that the address plaque on the door hangs at an angle. It was obviously many years ago that someone had the inspiration to paint it a precious combo of pink with aqua trim. Its grodiness really appealed to me and I got right to work drawing up a plan for it when I got home. But as I worked I could see that it was going to end up in fabric being "cute"—exactly what I did not want. Hmmmm. What to do?

I got sick the same day I was humming on where to go with this darn pink challenge and went to bed with a slight fever that night. I slept fitfully and dreamt, crazily, about making a pink quilt. At one point an old friend, an angel really, appeared in my dream, waving scissors and pointing me in an altogether different direction. When I awoke I had my new idea, goofy as it is. And I have to tell you that subdued pink is not going to work at all. Yesterday I went out and bought a nice garish bubblegum pink fabric. I have gone over to the pink side...

Exciting News!

The Twelve by Twelve artists are excited twelve times over to announce that:

(drum roll, please.... )

Sterling Publications/Lark Books will be publishing a book on our Twelve by Twelve Collaborative Art Quilt project!

We are thrilled beyond words to have this wonderful opportunity, and so happy that our art endeavors and friendships are turning us into authors, too. We know that Lark was impressed by the loyal folks who follow our blogs and website, so thanks to all of you friends-of-Twelves for your encouraging words through our explorations!
We'll keep you posted as we know publication dates.

We are lifting a virtual glass of champagne to each other and to all of you for your support!

Done

This is all you get until December 12 -- reveal day.

In the mood

I'm trying to get into the pink spirit here!

Nearly Done

This is going on my Pink quilt. My inspiration is the pink I see twice a week, but know is a part of all of us. And as I'm working on this, I keep hearing Stella from Project Runway in my ear saying, "leathah!" Any guesses?

Four Twelves or One Third!!

Four of us together at Diane's home yesterday!! Helen and I in the back and Karen and Diane in the front. Thank you Diane for a really wonderful day. And thank you Karen for making the trek from Thousand Oaks for the day. And most of all thank you, Helen, for giving us an excuse for the rendezvous.

2x12s Together!

I am headed out shortly to meet up with Helen! Helen and her husband Dennis have been in San Francisco for the last several days, and we are meeting up in Berkeley to do a tour of a few fabric shops (Stone Mountain and Daughter, New Pieces, The Cotton Patch) and then Helen and Dennis will come back to Healdsburg to stay with me and my family for a few nights!

I can hardly wait to meet her, and I SO SO SO wish all of you could join us!

We'll be thinking of all of you!

Tickled pink...

... that I have finished my pink quilt as I had images of me toting it around world with me. Of course I cannot show it you but I will assure you that I have not abandoned my penchance for stitching odd things on to my quilts. Nor am I ashamed to embarrass myself in the name of art. Which is how come I went to the local pharmacy.

"I need some over the counter medication please."

"Of course, what is it for?"

"It doesn't matter as long as it is pink. Its for sewing onto a quilt."

She did not, to give her credit, bat an eylid. She searched and opened packets and found me pink pills. She sold them to me, she smiled and, as I was walking out of the shop with my back turned I heard her say,

"Well, that's the oddest one yet."

I took it as a compliment :)

Think Fuschia

Guess what I've been doing today?!

Another pink

Into the Pink

When I snapped these photos on my morning walk towards the end of our Twelve challenge, little did I know that "pink" would be our first colourplay palette:

I have an idea (and it doesn't involve flowers) but need a break in my calendar to explore it more.

Postcards to South Australia

Thank you to all our readers who left a comment on our Celebration Awards. It's been a heart warming and eye-opening experience to revisit the significant body of work that has been created over the past two years. I collated the comments, allocated a number to each and then applied a random generator to draw Jennifer Loveder from South Australia as the winner of some freshly minted Twelve by Twelve postcards. Jennifer is a longstanding follower of the Twelve by Twelve blog and is keen to see if she can attend the WORLD PREMIERE of our exhibition at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, 29 April to 2 May 2010.

Kirsty and I will both be accompanying the 144 art quilts from our first Theme series to the AQC exhibition and will be giving floor talks. In additon, I will be teaching four, one day workshops ranging from Scrap Queen Odyssey to Stacks of Improvisation. The full tutor list and workshop program for the Australasian Quilt Convention 2010 can now be viewed at online and bookings open at 9am on Monday, 26 October 2009.

Most Surprising

Honestly, the first thing that comes to my mind is how surprising this whole experience has been. When Diane invited me to participate more than two years ago, I just thought it sounded fun. Sure, it's been fun. But, it's been much much more.

I have grown to know, respect, appreciate and completely enjoy every moment with the eleven other artists. A delightful surprise.

Also, I've created a body of work with my 12 pieces that I am very proud of and is a great representation of me as an artist. Who knew I was essentially creating a portfolio for myself? I would guess several of the other 12s would say the same thing. A delightful surprise.

As far as surprising quilts, where to begin?

Surprisingly similar: Chocolate quilts by me, Brenda and Nikki.
Surprisingly realistic: Diane's Shelter quilt
There are other quilts with lots of realism, but several of them include image transfer of photographs (which is wonderful!). I love this image that Diane created exclusively with fabric and thread!

Surprisingly candid: Terry's Chair quilt
Terry shared a lovely story about spending time with her granddaughter and her cousin. This quilt is so evocative of those experiences.

Surprisingly moving: Kristin's Twelve quilt
Surprisingly educational: Helen's Illumination quilt
I was totally unaware of Blackpool or Blackpool rock candy. Helen's original blog post was so interesting and I did quite a bit of internet surfing, "research" and reading about it after seeing this quilt.

I can't wait to see what surprises will come with the next round of "colorplay" quilts!