This blog is getting positively dusty with disuse. The sad truth is that I am just not a very good blogger. I started out with such good intentions, and then once we moved and life got busier, I have barely posted anything. Maybe now that I’m getting used to teaching, things will change…we’ll see….it’s just that there books to read, recipes to try, people to see, children to make art with, and now there are even crocuses peeking out of the ground (Yes, Columbus friends! Spotted on Neil Avenue yesterday!) despite the fact that it is only mid-February.

Anyway, I am here to say that my art show at Benetti’s in Raytown (a skip, hop, and a jump from downtown Kansas City) will be up for another week and a half. Benetti’s is worth a visit no matter what, because their coffee craftsmanship is of the highest quality and the baristas are simply delightful people. Here is a post with photos of my work in the space from their website. Aside from the embroidery drawings (featured in previous posts on this blog), there are also some of my block prints, pictured below:

Dear friends,

Tis been a very long interval between posts. Yet, despite the absence of updates, I HAVE been working on art. Some of it is Christmas surprises. Quite a lot of it is part of my new-ish job as an elementary art teacher (involving washable tempera paint, elmer’s glue, construction paper, and other fun media). And the rest is in preparation of an art opening I’ll be having on December 27th at the most excellent Benetti’s Coffee Experience in Raytown, Missouri. This just so happens to be during our very brief Christmas visit to the Kansas City area as well as on the day of our second anniversary, so it is going to be a very happy day! I’ll send out a facebook invite at some point, but if you’re interested in coming, I would just love for you to stop by, say hello, see my work, and have some delicious coffee. The show will be up by mid-afternoon at the latest and we’ll be hanging out there into the evening. Also, if you can’t come that day but want to see the artwork, it will be up there until mid-February.

If you’ve followed this blog at any time in the past year, some of the work in the show will look familiar. But there will also be some new pieces. Here is a sneak preview:

This is a small piece called Solitude. Works of embroidery will be the main focus of this show, but there may some block print pieces as well. I hope to see you there!

It’s been so long that people probably forgot I have a blog. That is because life has been extremely busy and full of upheaval. In a good way. Things that have happened since my last post:

1) We have a new apartment (hooray!)

2) I got a job teaching elementary art (double hooray!)

3) I started training for my first half marathon, which I’ll be running with my studly husband

4) We’ve been traveling

5) I started printmaking (and I LOVE IT)

Anyway, I do have a new piece to show, from the embroidery series I’ve been working on. I’m taking it to the next level! From now on I’ll be making compositions with multiple overlapping, transparent figures. Hopefully they’ll start to get more panoramic, but right now I’m only up to two figures. It’s way trickier than just making a single figure.

It turns out that Columbus has a lot of nooks and crannies just waiting to be discovered. So, for for Andrew’s belated birthday celebration we went treasure-hunting (complete with a map). Spots included: Karen Wickliff books (tunnels and mountains of ancient books), Vintage Fountain Pens (not just pens, every awesome old thing from records to cameras), Beechwold ravine (frisbee party), and Whetstone Park of Roses (perfect for napping in the grass or watching lots of bridal parties’ photo shoots). To go along with our navigational day, I made this for Andrew:

and the back:

It is NOT a purse. It is a very manly pouch. However, if I ever make something like this for him in the future, I think I’ll try to add more pockets, and make it bigger. This is really only big enough to hold a sandwich, or a large flask. But I’m quite happy about the button and buttonhole! This is the very first time I’ve made a buttonhole with the sewing machine, and it’s so nifty.