Creative Life Sampler

  How Painting Happens (and why it matters) by Martin Gayford This was a Christmas gift from my thoughtful kids and I've just finished it!  A good indication that something has resonated with me is the amount of times I mark what I want to remember. Photos taken at a show or museum, notes from a meeting, and, in this case, lots of post-it tabs throughout the book; all a good sign that the experience has left an impression. For me this was an entertaining and informative read that is as much about creativity as it is the specific medium of painting.  Martin Gayford 's presentation makes the information accessible to the reader and easily applicable to one's own method of self expression. He doesn't rely on traditionally dense art jargon from the past. In each chapter, he breaks down the components of composition and execution with examples that address things like texture through brush strokes or effective use of color. Consideration of these elements is valuable to any ...

  Lord's Snowfall, 2018 Season's Greetings!!! I'm indulging in a flashback Friday for a visual to accompany my very best wishes for happy, healthy holidays to one and all.  It's always productive to look back at your work, to appreciate what you've done and acknowledge how far you've come. It brings perspective. Lord's snowfall was finished in 2018, appliqu é d by hand and hand quilted. It was one of the first times I "went off script" without a pattern and it took over 2 years to execute. Not only has my work evolved significantly in the last 7 years, but I've gotten much faster at handwork. It kinda boggles my mind. This was an improv quilt; there was no plan starting out. Each snow crystal is unique. They were cut out and centered on varying sized blocks using a variation of the Hawaiian appliqu é  technique. As the blocks began to accumulate, conscious choices were made so the background would be a gradual transformation from blue to white ...

Q=A=Q 2025 at Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn NY We arrived a bit later than planned for the opening night of the Q=A=Q exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center on October 25. It was a rainy evening; the cloak room was filled. People were milling about taking in the show, reconnecting with friends, enjoying refreshments.  Opening Night 10-25-2025 This is always a special event, showcasing a wide range of unique voices from the quilting world in a wonderful setting. The staff at SAC handle the art work with great care and professionalism. The staging is thoughtfully and tastefully presented. This year's j urors,  Petra Fallaux and Paula Kovarik , chose 70 art quilts from pieces submitted by 330 artists who could submitted no more than two pieces for consideration. Curating a show is a major feat and their choices spotlight quilts from across the country as well as Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, and  South Korea.   When you enter the space, you are aware ...

  For the things we have to learn before we can do them,  we learn by doing them.          Aristotle I think it's really healthy to take stock of the progress one makes on their creative journey  from time to time . Like so many things in life, that retrospective process is often put aside in favor of the tasks at hand. Those consuming activities bring us joy and fulfillment but they can also stir up frustration and discouragement. Sometimes we just need a little perspective. I've been given the opportunity to get that perspective, and it's come in the form of an invitation to speak at a quilt guild about my work. So, I'm gathering up my thoughts and choosing quilts to share for a trunk show (lecture) in May. It has made me a stop to appreciate the stages of my artistic evolution.  Lord's Snowfall (10/2015-2/2018) The presentation will start with early hand appliqu é d and hand quilted pieces. It will gradually move to the last quilt I shared...

  Total for 2023: Nine hand appliqu é d/reverse appliqu é d and hand quilted pieces Well, it's been yonks since I've taken the time to write, but this is a good moment to be a bit reflective about the work that I created last year.  Assess the successes and learn from any mistake,- no, not "mistake," . . . diversion? redirection? 2023 started with a continuation of my focus on designing compositions with segments of the cropped letter "Q." This has proven to be a fertile theme to pursue. Ideas on how to manipulate the designs and options for their execution came faster than I could make them a reality.  But this line of exploration was not without its detractors. More than once someone suggested that maybe I should "try something else." This suggestion from well meaning supporters begs the question: "Why do we create?" To satisfy an audience or to give voice to our own individuality? It might have gotten in my head but for the fact that ...

Getting ready to see QuiltCon 2023 next week and this quote caught my attention. It feels so appropriate, for while we celebrate the individual achievements of the quilters who were juried into the show, one can't help but reflect that the show, as a collective of creativity, is adding to the history of this art form.  Looking forward to being inspired by the work of Modern Quilt Guild members!  © Lauren Klementz-Harte Our epoch insists on individualism, yet the ever-flowing, self-refreshing stream of art is a collective achievement. Norbert Lynton The Story of Modern Art, second edition Note:  This picture was taken out of an airplane window  as we traveled over a winter storm.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakes. Carl Jung

                                                                                                                                                                             © Lauren Klementz-Harte                                             Wishing you all a holiday season filled with joy,  . . . and moments of replenishing peace.  

Loving the colors and textures of the harvest season!!! May your heart be filled with the warmth of gratitude  this fine Thanksgiving Day.    And may the observance of this day be just the  beginning of more blessings to come.                                                          © Lauren Klementz-Harte

Memorial : something designed to preserve the memory of a person or event,     as a monument, periodic observance, etc.    Monday is Memorial Day here in the states, a day set aside in memory of dead military personnel who fought for their country. The first such observance was in 1868, to commemorate fallen Civil War soldiers. Unfortunately, there have been many conflicts since then and this holiday has come to memorialize the casualties from all US wars.  For many it also marks the beginning of summer. But too many people will not be celebrating the beginning of summer this year. Some won't have the privilege of seeing the summer unfold, others have lost someone special and there isn't anything to celebrate. With so much going on in the world, and in our country, right now, I hope that this holiday weekend will include some quiet reflection. Could there be a more appropriate time to ask ourselves: "Is the current version of the United States of America t...

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols."  Thomas Mann (1875-1955) -  The Magic Mountain

  " What if today we were just grateful for everything?" Charlie Brown Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Several people have asked about the status of my sewing machine, so this week's post is a final diary entry in my little story.  Dear, Dear Diary, I'm so pleased to have my sewing machine back! Sigh, . . . life is good.  I had resolved to face another weekend without it. Then the guy called around noon last Friday to let me know it was ready. Too bad h e couldn't see my happy dance  over the phone .  I tried to stay cool and collected as he read out all the things he had to fix or adjust; but I was just so excited. It was a long repair list though. Turns out it does matter who repairs your equipment. The last person that looked at my machine replaced an important part with a comparable piece that was not for my machine. NOT GOOD. There were a couple of things that weren't functioning at the right calibration, so they were adjusted. That weird clicking sound is gone and the light bulb was replaced. We're back in business and it's sewing like a dream.  Another ben...

FRIDAY Dear Diary, My sewing machine is in the shop and I don't know what to do with myself!!! We've been struggling with each other a lot lately. I'll be honest, frustration was growing by the minute, but I pushed through until I couldn't ignore it any longer. We had to take a break from each other, there was no other alternative.  Still, this is really difficult.  SATURDAY Diary, I suppose it's for the best that my machine get some attention.  I tried to be a good owner, cleaning out the lint occasionally. I even Goggled how to fix tension problems. I seem to have made matters worse.     So many spools of thread, so many miles of stitches.  We've been through a lot in the last year and a half. A light bulb went out months ago and we've practically been sewing in the dark ever since.  It doesn't owe me anything, and it will be so much better when everything is functioning as it should. At least the guy said he can get it to me by Monday. That's j...

Thought for Today If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know.                                                                                                          Thomas Wolfe 1900-1938  

Message From 2020   Christmas gift with a "Be Still" message in reverse appliqu é . As we prepare to turn the calendar page to 2021, it may be beneficial to take a moment to reflect on the lessons of 2020, and try to find something positive to bring with us into the new year. 2020 was challenging, and often disheartening, to be sure. Stay-at-home orders cushioned us from the outside world, but in doing so it left people feeling isolated. So, to help feel connected to something beyond our four walls, it was natural to search out information in order to "stay informed." After all, the world outside continues to turn.  However, the endless news cycle often felt more like an emotional roller coaster than a source of information. In our home, we began to tune out the sensational stuff, absorb the substantial highlights, and capitalize on the moments of quiet the circumstances afforded us. More than ever, it became important for mental well-being to take time to "Be ...

 Happy Thanksgiving! The textured fruit of the Arbutus Unedo- the Strawberry Tree 2020 has been filled with challenges for all of us and may leave people wondering why we should set aside a day for thanksgiving, especially this year.  We are being called to pare down our plans, curtail celebrations, and put our grand gatherings on hold. In essence, we've been asked to simplify and at this point we can view circumstances as an imposition or an opportunity. The hidden gift of simplifying our Thanksgiving plans, (and possibly all our plans for the traditionally busy, festive holidays between now and January 1), is the quiet space it gives us. It's not always a comfortable or familiar space in our hectic world, but it is a gift to ourselves, a place to really think about past, present, and future blessings and to be at peace.   This year will pass into the history books; normal activities will eventually resume. A positive side effect of this year of deprivation may be a...

Happy Autumn!                                                                                                                        © Lauren Klementz-Harte                                                           This year, given the restrictions on movement most of us have experienced, it would be easier that usual to let the world go through its motions without a notice from us. But the world does continue to turn and a new season is upon us.  It starts out gradually, hardly discernable, and then flashes of autumn change the color palette in...

Thought for the Day "Only through art can we get outside of ourselves and know another's view of the universe which is not the same as ours and see landscapes which would otherwise have remained unknown to us like the landscapes of the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing a single world, our own, we see it multiply until we have before us as many worlds as there are original artists." The Maxims of Marcel Proust Marcel Proust (French writer) 1817-1922 This morning the word "artistry" kept coming to my mind. So I pulled out my trusty Bartlett's Familiar Quotations to see what the voices of the ages had to say on the subject and I ran across this thought provoking quote.  Proust is instructing us on how to view and appreciate art. Standing in a gallery before a French Impressionist painting, we get a glimpse of life in the late nineteenth century. An early American portrait or Renaissance masterpiece pulls us into a world we would never...

Glitches in Creating After some time under stay-at-home restrictions, I anticipated having several projects to show for all the time at the sewing machine. In the spirit of "making the best" of a difficult situation, I'd resolved to clear out some space and stream line my work space. UFOs (Unfinished Opportunities, in quilter jargon) were pulled out for completion.  I wish I could make a big reveal at this point, but I've run into a couple of unexpected glitches which have been compounded by the fact that I've chosen not to take advantage of curbside pick-up service or mail order delivery. I've stubbornly stuck with my goal to get rid of what I've accumulated. But I'm rapidly running out of thread; several spools of white were the first to go, followed by light gray and remnants of odd colors from long forgotten projects. (More than once I've wondered what I'd made with certain uncharacteristic color choices.)  And since I...