Empty Spools 2022 Continued 03-31-22

I have been so wiped out since returning from Empty Spools, mostly I have slept the days away.  In between naps I have gradually put some things away, edited my photos, taken care of KoKo, including two walks a day, and taken more naps.  I don't have Covid, so I guess it is just old age.  I haven't made it to the market, but will have to go tomorrow.  All I have left is some milk, some eggs (from my neighbor's chickens), and a few slices of bread.  Even the freezer is mostly empty!  

Sue Benner's class was very busy and she keeps the tempo up with assignments, slide shows, lectures and demos.  Our second assignment was to make six quilt "sandwiches" (backing, fusible, batting) either square or rectangular and I chose the 8" X 10" size.  Using the inspiration picture that we brought from home we were to make one realistic interpretation and five abstractions.  My inspiration was Angel's Trumpet Flowers and I found abstraction difficult. 

The original image is below my name, below that is a template I cut to use in some pieces.  The piece to the left is my realistic piece with yellow flowers. Below that is just a sort of outline in fabric, but there is something missing and I don't know what!  On top is one cut and fused with lace on the red backing - this will improve with quilting.  Below the lace one is a failure of three birds cut in the shape of the flowers which just doesn't work.  And, finally, on the far left is my REALLY abstract effort which everyone likes best!   The off kilter at lower left is the back of the sixth piece - I used this sale table banana fabric on the back of all the others.  

My tablemate, Andrea Bacal, brought a picture of a sort of garden gate with a wall, some potted plants, and an exit sign.  I think her abstractions are much more interesting.

Jackie Seidell sat behind me and started out with a picture taken in a fabric shop (India, maybe).  The photo is below her name and her realistic interpretation is to the right of her name.  At the bottom of the image are small pieces she made and rejected.  

Nancy Butterfield has her 1st project (12") on the left and her abstractions from a beach photo on the right.  

At the end of the class Irma Lubbe has all her work on her board. Lower right is the first 12" project, on the left the five 8"X10" abstractions with the small inspiration photo.  And her larger and final project on the top right.  

Colleen Babcock's 1st project on the right
is based on a picture of a bunch of people in round hats and a person who might be ill - I can't tell.  Her 2nd project on the left started with the image of the front of a train on a bridge.  

Elizabeth Littlefield brought a bright sunflower as her inspiration and did six abstractions using bright colors.  She also had a little sign posted on her board, "Keep it Simple".  Good reminder for this class.  

I hope I will have more energy and fewer naps tomorrow and will post more images from the class.  We went on to do a larger project, size and subject of our choice.  With the limited space in class my piece is only about 22".  

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Catching up, I hope! 03-29-22

I am sorry I have not been able to blog while at Empty Spools.  Trouble with my cell phone and with my laptop, along with exhaustion every night!  And now, even at home, I cannot change the margins on this paragraph.  Computing doesn't seem to be my thing anymore.  Anyway, I will blog pictures from my class until I run out, maybe be the end of this week. 

I can't find words to say how FABULOUS it was to be back at Empty Spools.  I felt like I was home after a long trip away.  Some students I knew from the previous 29 years, but there were new people to meet and a couple new teachers.  Of course, Suzanne and Gayle, the owners of this seminar event were there and Carolee with her shop in the back of Merrill Hall.  I did visit all the classrooms on the walk-about on Thursday after class and attended all the evening programs.  This time I had two friends riding along with me, Andrea Bacal and Judy Warren-Tippets, from San Diego.  Andrea and I roomed together and our room in Surf was only four doors from our classroom in Surf and Sand.  Very convenient.  

The building is the furtherest west on the campus and this is the view out the sliders.  On the far left is Sunset Road that goes along the Bay and in the dip in the right middle is a view of the waves in the Bay.  Those spikes at the top are the ends of the rafters that extend the roof over the little deck outside the back of the room.  We had four beds - a double and three twins.  Lots of room to spread our our stuff and, by choice, no maid service so we never had to tidy up.  

The classroom has great light since it is just floor to ceiling windows on three sides, but it is a little small for twenty students, each with their own table and all their piles of fabric and equipment.  The noise level can be dithering.  But we managed as has every class that has been in this location.  I took this picture while standing in the door, pretty much shows how together we were.   The class was all about ABSTRACTION.

Our first assignment was to take the picture Sue Benner gave to each of us and abstract it into a 12X12 fused fiber image using five preselected 20" square fabrics.    The original timing was 20 minutes, but we managed to stretch it to more like 40!  We then pinned them up on design boards and critiqued. The smaller images are the original pictures.  

The picture Sue gave me is an aerial shot of tundra with trees.  And this is what I did with it.

       And in middle right is Andrea's image of a deep water fish and her abstraction. 

I will share more with you in coming days, but right now I need a night's sleep, even after all the naps I have taken today.  Old age is upon me!

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Looking back 03-23-17

This is a quilt I made in 2005 - one of my few attempts at abstract design.  I rather like the way it turned out.  It was based on Sue Benner's techniques and has her finish on the edges.   I was reminded of this quilt now because I was taking a Sue Benner class in abstraction and because I ran into the owner of the quilt.  She says she still enjoys it after so many years.  And I still like it, too.

 

"Underview"  Del Thomas 2005  17" square

Fused using silk, polyester, cotton, rayon fabrics.  Machine quilted. 

 

The yellow/white/orange fabric had a manufacture's splice and I just left it in.  Such a brave thing for me to do!  But there was a limited amount of that fabric.  Guess we could call it texture. 

 

The bird is on the back outlined with black fabric marker.

 

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Empty Spools - Sue Benner "Abstraction" Class (cont'd) 03-13-17

Here are more pictures I took in Sue Benner's class at Empty Spools at Asilomar.  There will be one more set tomorrow night.

 

Suzanne Gaensbauer used this picture of apples in a crate for her inspiration.

This shows the original and a paper collage made with pieces ripped from magazines.

Here are six abstractions from the original inspiration. 

This is Suzanne's first project with the picture that Sue gave her on the right and her abstraction on the left.

 

 

 

LaDonna DeCamillo abstracted these from her inspiration image from home.

 

 

 

Carroll Hirsch received the picture at top center from Sue and created the abstraction at top right.  Her other abstractions are from her inspiration photo at middle right. 

 

 

Mea Lee  worked from the magazine picture at top left to create the abstract on the bottom.  She started her smaller work with the very faint picture at top right which is a cabin in Tahoe.

She created these three abstractions of the cabin, each more abstract.

 

 

 

Margie Bushaw worked from her inspiration photo at top left.  On the bottom right is one she called "Abstraction Playtime", made from scraps.

At top left is the picture she received from Sue and the abstraction at bottom right.

 

 

Jean Impey worked from the picture at left to create this great abstraction on the right.

 

 

Here is Jean's board with the inspiration photos at left and the abstractions on the right.

A little closer up on two of Jean's pieces.

 

 


 

Nancy Bourns' board - on the left side are the abstraction from Sue's photo with the actual photo below it.  Next to her name is the inspiration photo she brought from home and then the six smaller pieces she created from fabric. 

Here are two larger abstracts that Nancy Bourns brought from home to share. 

 

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Empty Spools - Sue Benner "Abstraction" class 03-11-17

It is taking more time than I thought it would take, but here are some pictures from the Sue Benner workshop at Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar, CA.  More tomorrow.

Del, the Hulk, with Sue Benner  03-08-17

The inspiration at top left and the five abstractions.

The two on the left are from the window in back of the sofa.  The monochromatic is from the chair inn the front left corner and, of course, the one on lower right is from the pillows on the sofa.

 

Realistic abstraction.

Color change abstraction.

Cushions on sofa.

Abstraction of window behind sofa.

 

First, Sue had us all stand in a circle, each with five pieces of fabric cut six inches square.  We then swapped one fabric with the people on each side.  I missed the part about "different" fabrics and had made all mine the same, resulting in only having three fabrics to work with instead of five.   The brown and the grey were the exchanged fabrics. 

 

For our first assignment Sue gave each student an image from a magazine.  No choices, just take what she gives you and abstract it using the five fabrics we exchanged.  Sort of like throwing someone in the pool and saying sink or swim.  We all swam, with differing degrees of success.  In my piece the penguins became five spikes. 

Elaine Pappas-Puckett brought the image at top left from home and used it to do the next assignment which was to abstract that image in five different ways.  She was particularly attracted to the curved, diagonal line in her inspiration picture.

For her first assignment Elaine interpreted the image on the left.  I can't tell what it is.

Karynn Dittmar's first assignment is at the top.  The second down is an abstraction of a field of wild flowers at Anza Borrego, taken some years ago.

Karynn's tree photo at top resulted in two abstracts in fabric.

Barb Virtue based her five abstracts on the photo at top left, taken in Canada.

Barb's first assignment evolved from the picture of a tornado on the right. 

 

More pictures tomorrow. 

 

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