Good Monday Morning.

As I look out my window, I can see the marsh grass changing from the brilliant greens of summer to the olive greens, yellows and browns of autumn.

We are so lucky to live in North Carolina and Virginia where we can witness Mother Nature's color show with the changing seasons.

If you love color, you gotta love the Fall season and I hope to post inspirational photos of this breath taking wonder for the next several weeks.   

I am keeping the blog short today because I plan to send out an e-mail too.  I have been thinking about all our SAQA members in NC and VA and how great it would be if we could get to know one another a little better.  So, to that end, I would like to begin a feature on our blog each month to introduce one of our members.

 More details about how this will work will be forthcoming.

Until then, keep creating!

Good Monday Morning North Carolina and Virginia.  Can you believe this is the last day of summer?  Wow, where does the time go?  I'm sure many of you know that time happily spent in our creative spaces seems to pass by in the blink of an eye.  So, for that reason, I want to give you all a gentle push to be thinking about the SAQA Studio to Gallery conference sponsored by the Florida region and thinking about getting some work ready to enter in the Southern Accents exhibit. SAQA members in the Southeast region....(that's us!) are eligible to enter this exhibit.  And since we all know that time flies,  the entry deadline will be here before we know it.  So, get to work!  Let's have our region well represented.

Another great piece of important news is that our own Lorie McCown, my regional co-rep, is the featured artist for the Artist Profile segment of the Oct/Nov Quilting Arts Magazine.  Way to go Lorie!!!  The article about Lorie is terrific so if you don't already subscribe to this magazine pick up a copy so you can read all about her.

So, on this last day of summer, I'll leave you with a few more inspiration photos from the beach.  Enjoy!

Good Monday Morning..........WHAT???  It's only Sunday, not Monday.  Well, I am a little ahead of myself but tomorrow is the start of the 2014 SAQA Fundraising Benefit Auction and I just wanted to give everyone a little reminder.  There are so many wonderful quilts this year that the hardest part will be to pick out a few favorites.  Here is the link to see the quilts  http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?ID=3220

See what I mean?...... they're fantastic!  So now you can have a nice slow quiet Sunday afternoon to peruse the auction quilts and be ready for the bidding.

Oh, and here's a sneak peek at a couple of the quilts I chose at random

Copper Seeds by Shelly Burge

Intersect by Nancy Dobson

Perfect Storm Jazzy Dance by Joan Sowada

Anyone in our region have a quilt in this auction group?  Let us know!

And one final note....please try to help out with the Fredericksburg Sewing and Quilt Expo if you have some free time.  It's a great way to spread the word about SAQA, and all the great people in our region, and if you haven't met many of the NC/VA regional members, this is a good chance to do so.  Plus, you get to see the Sewing and Quilt Expo.  Contact Lorie McCown if you can help.

So, happy bidding!

Fredericksburg Sewing and Quilt Expo

My friends in art...SAQA is trying to put together a table space at  OSQE here in F'burg Va. If you can spare some time, to help man the booth please let me know! The dates are Oct 2,3 & 4, 2014, that's Thrus, Fri and Sat. No Sunday.  If you've already responded to my email plea, no need to respond here. I've got you! ;)


If we'd like to have an informal meeting/social there are some nice eateries here!

Thanks !!

Lorie McCown

Lhmccown@verizon.net

Hope everyone has a Happy Autumn.!!

.Good Monday Morning.  We've been looking at color and how it can be inspirational in your artwork, so today let's look at white.  White is created when all color is reflected and the reflections of the colors give white a whole range of hues. What I mean is, there are a lot of "colors" of white and like many other colors,white can change it's appearance by what is next to it or around it. White absorbs colors as I am sure you all know if you have ever done laundry and washed your whites with something red.  (ha ha.....hate it when that happens!)

Ocracoke lighthouse NC

 There has been much discussion as to what color to paint gallery walls in art galleries because many feel that the starkness to white contrasts too much with the artwork that is to be the main feature.  A more subtle neutral grey is frequently chosen or perhaps an "off white" color.  I mention this because it gives us something to think about when choosing a color for a design wall.

Just look at the stark contrast in this photo of the against the other cool colors.






 White symbolizes purity, cleanliness, innocence, simplicity.  I'm sure you have all heard the term, "Pure as the driven snow",  but even snow is not one "color".  It is bright, blinding light on a sunny day, and a soft cool blue or gray on a cloudy day.


You may wonder why ocean waves always look white when the water may be green or blue or gray.  This is because of bubbles....yes. bubbles.  They may be very tiny and not visible to the naked eye, but they are there in crashing waves and foam and they scatter the wavelenghts of color and come together to form white.

So, let me leave you with an image of something white that is near and dear to our hearts, the cotton boll. You can see that if you are looking for something with strong contrast, place white against something dark.

Cotton Boll

And finally a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci;  "The first of all single colors is white.....We shall set down white for the representative of light, without which no color can be seen:  yellow for the earth; green for water; blue for air; red for fire; and black for total darkness."

As always, if any of you in the VA/NC SAQA region have any shows, exhibits or other information which may interest our members, just let me know!  Thanks.

Black.  Black as night, little Black dress, Black sheep, Blackmail, Black hole are just a few of the phrases associated with the color black.  Black is the absence of light, created when color is totally absorbed.  It is a strong color associated with mystery, sophistication, fear, death, and power.  A little black can go a long way but provides excellent contrast for intense colors.
Here are a few interesting quotes about the color black:
--"I've been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colors was black."  Pierre-Auguste Renoir
--"There's something about black.  You feel hidden away in it."  Georgia O'Keeffe
--"Black is not a color."  Edouard Manet

So, here are a few inspirational photographs taken by yours truly to illustrated the power of black:

Full Moon over Emerald Isle

Fireworks

Oliver, my adorable big black cat

Hope you all have a wonderful day today on Labor Day.  And as always, I'd love to hear from you if you have any news to share with your fellow regional SAQA members.......there must be something going on out there!
Eileen