SAQA 2014 Benefit Auction

The 2014 SAQA benefit Auction will begin on September 15th.  This is a wonderful opportunity to add to or begin an art quilt collection made by some very talented artists from all over the world.  By bidding on your favorite piece(s) you are also helping SAQA and supporting the art quilt movement.

You can view these unique art quilts on the adjacent slide show or click on the show to go to a link and the SAQA web site to learn all the details.

Here are a few of the art pieces made by our regional members that are being offered in the action.  Many more of our members have contributed so be sure to have a look at all of the beautiful quilts. Such diversity!  I'm sure you will have a hard time narrowing down your choices for bidding.

Sea Oat by Jenny Williams

Blueberry Fields #2 by Christine Hager-Braun

Piscis by Nanette Zeller

Looking at the slide show is so inspiring, that's all that needs to be said.  Until next week..........

Wow, is it Monday already?  Well, good Monday morning everyone!  I hope you are finding time to put your creativity to work this summer.  We have been talking about color and what a powerful artistic tool color can be.  It can affect your mood and how a viewer actually feels about a piece.
The color of today is Green.  Representing earth and nature, green is a soothing and relaxing color.  Green is the inspiration for many songs, titles, and phrases;  The Green Mile, How Green was my Valley, Green Acres, Green Green Grass of Home, and the eco-friendly phrase, Going Green.  
With so many refreshing sentiments associated with the color green, it's ironic, isn't it? that it is also associated with jealousy, as in green with envy or the green eyed monster.  Thought to have originated in Roman times, the association with envy was cemented into our language by Shakespeare and Othello. (1)
In the late 1800's and early 1900's, many famous artists such as Van Gogh,           Degas, Hemingway, Picasso, etc. enjoyed a popular drink of the times, absinthe, which was also know as the "green muse" or the "green fairy".  Getting it's green color from chlorophyll, absinthe became so popular in France that the "green hour" became the time that cafes filled up with absinthe drinkers. (2)
Chlorophyll is the green pigment from nature that is responsible for the production of oxygen which is what we need to survive.  So, green became symbolic as the essence of life. (3)

So, I'll leave you with some green inspiration and the following question......Is the grass always greener on the other side?

1,2,3.  Information and examples of the meaning behind the color green from, "The Secret Language of Color", by JoAnn Eckstut and Arielle Eckstut, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2013.

Good Monday Morning!  Well, it is still overcast, grey and rainy here in eastern North Carolina.  How I wish for some blue skies. Today is "Blue" Monday, but, I don't feel blue (ha ha, that's a little corny) because it's such a beautiful color.  The color blue is calming, tranquil, and is the most gender neutral color.  It is attached to a lot of phrases in our speech such as "got the blues", "out of the blue", "blue plate special".
The first things most of us think of are blue skies and blue seas.  So, here are a few blue inspirations for you.

Blue Pots

Blue Ridge Mountains

Ocean Blue

And here are a few fun blue facts you might not know.

The color blue has been shown to help solve creative problems.

Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice as much as any other color

Blue is a favorite color choice for toothbrushes.




The color blue makes eating  unappealing so it's a good dieting color for plates.  (no, I did not make this up, I actually read it on the internet somewhere.)

Painting the ceilings of your porches a light sky blue color will deter spiders and other bugs from
making their homes there.















.

So, on this blue Monday morning, let me leave you with some blue skies.

Blue Skies over Cape Lookout, NC

Rainy days and Mondays always find me in my sewing room.  I don't know about the rest of you, but here in coastal North Carolina, we have been having torrential downpours for the past 4 days.  I love it because what else can you do except hole up in the studio and be creative.  I feel sorry for all the people who are vacationing at the beach, but really.....I can't be out playing in the sunshine every day!

whoooo loves a rainy day?

So I guess this weeks motivational Monday is all about rain.

But, there is a bright side.  Have you all seen this summers' edition of the SAQA Journal?   The featured artist is Eileen Doughty, our very talented SAQA member from Virginia.  Looking at Eileen's work is like seeing a rainbow after the storm....very beautiful and inspiring!

Rainbow altered in Photoshop 

After the Storm