Here it is, nearly the end of February. I should have two Women Artist projects nearly complete: a Hawaii journal inspired by Violette and a stained glass piece a la Robbi Joy Ecklow. Are either near completion? Not only "no," but "hell no!"
In my own opinion, my sanity was in question when I conceived of this project. I doubted myself whether I could really do it. Given that I'm only two months into this, I hope it's too early to say that the jury's still out, or even that final arguments are being made. I'm still building my case, but even this attorney is skeptical.
Anyway, enough whining. How far along, exactly, am I? The journal is still in the same state as when I last reported. The paper pages are done, but I haven't yet begun mounting them on the fabric backing. Haven't even prewashed the fabric, let alone started cutting it out.
The stained glass piece might actually be a bit further along, but only because I switched gears. Some might even say cheated. Instead of developing my concept for a puzzle-style piece featuring a wine bottle, glass and book, as I'd originally intended, I opted to complete a piece I'd started in December. In my defense, I did have Robbi's style in mind when I designed it, and it still fits the mold of one of her puzzle quilts. It's a 9-patch of squares overlaid with circles in three sizes. Here's a photo showing 2/3 of the glass pieces cut, fitted, and foiled.
It will have 59 pieces total, not counting any borders. I've been working primarily from the stash of scrap glass I purchased, picking and choosing from the full spectrum of colors as they appeal to me. I do love working with scraps! So much less intimidating that whole, big, square pieces. Here's a photo of some of the scraps I was choosing from to create the bottom right square, above.
For now, since these are projects I want to finish anyway, I'll keep plugging away at this goal I've set for myself. It's time, however, to pick the March artist and I'm not quite sure who she'll be. Someone I can emulate in a quick, easy way, that's for sure!
