2009 Wrap-Up

At the end of 2008 I attended as a vendor one craft fair (my first one). In 2009 I was a vendor at 3 Art & Craft Fairs and 1 other event. I am also still selling my scarves (in addition to my Nuno-Felt scarves I am also selling dyed and printed ones this year) at Painted Light Photos & Framing (and Mom is selling her hats there too). So I feel that I have made some progress as far as getting myself and my art out into the public eye.

I was in the Lill Street Member Sale (my first Art & Craft Sale on my own).



I was once again in the Streeterville Artisan Market with my mother (which is also the one we were at in 2008).



Mom and I also attended the Bucktown Bazaar as vendors.



Last of all my Aunt who owns Stern's Book Service (which is a psychology bookstore and service) asked my mother and I to include some of our work in with her books for a recovery conference put on by Hazelden in downtown Chicago. She figured that since it was so close to Christmas that some of the people would like to do some Christmas shopping while they did their book shopping. I was only there the first day of the conference (though our stuff was still their for the second day) but mom and I actually sold several items. I was very happy about this. It was a nice wrap up for the year. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the table at the conference. Although if I did, I think I would have skipped the pictures of the table and taken a picture of the salad bar the hotel put out for the conference goers. It had to be the fanciest salad bar I had ever seen (and so very, very tasty)!

Also, there was one last thing that put my work prominently out in the public eye and that was the Felt Hanging I did and showed on my front porch for UnitedFelt's First International Day of Felt back in early October. My pictures are not only on my blog and on the Lill Street Textile Department's blog but on the We United Felt website at
http://www.feltunited.com/
just scroll down to the bottom and click on "2009 exhibit online" which is in red and then choose the format that you want to see the pictures. I highly recommend taking a look at it as there were many, many excellent feltworks done for this event.

I also took various art classes at Lill Street Art Center(printing, embroidery, glass bead making) and attending one of the SDA's post-conference workshops in Kansas City. The post conference workshop was great not only because it dealt with felt but because I got a chance to study under and Internationally Renowned Felter, that being Jorie Johnson. I would recommend her classes to anyone.

I am still working on figuring out my resolutions as far as the direction I wish to take from here, so, that will have to be written up on another post. I hope everyone had a happy holiday and a great New Year!

SDA Conference Part 2 - Pictures!

So here are some pictures of the the three things that I finished from the SDA Conference (finally).

Belated SDA Post Workshop Report - Part One

I really enjoyed the Surface Design Association Post Conference Workshop taught by Jorie Johnson. Next time I want to go to the conference as well. Mom and I arrive in Kansas City on the last day of the conference. We couldn't join in any of the conference events since we did not pay for the conference but we got to go to the vendor room. I of course found more wool to bring home. It was great to actually touch and see the wool before committing to buy. Although for the most part I have been really lucky with my online shopping and usually find the quality of my purchases to be above reproach. If you are into felting I highly recommend taking a class with Jorie Johnson. I found her to be a very good teacher. She has a couple of really good books out too (just toss her name up at Amazon.com for a look-see). I don't have a lot of time to get in depth today, but, so much time had passed I didn't want to let more time pass before posting. I have included a picture of my class in a round table discussion. Till later.

Getting Ready for My SDA Post-Confernece Workshop w/ Jorie Johnson in Kansas City MO

Above is a picture of my workspace at Lill St. Art Center. I work there as a monitor once a week during their open lab time in the Textile Dept. Above is the table I usually snag for myself. I have been making pre-felt for the last couple weeks for my workshop at the Surface Design Association's post-conference felting workshop with Jorie Johnson. It is being held at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City MO. Rebecca who is the director for the Textile Dept. at Lill St. is also going to be there at the same time but she will be there as a teacher (she is teaching the class titled "Fast Line, Slow Line"). I am really excited about this workshop. Not to sound too fan-girlish but I have all Jorie Johnson's books (the ones I could easily get in the U.S. at least). My mom will also be attending the Jorie Johnson workshop with me. We will be driving down with a ton of wool (yes sir, yes sir, three bags full...no joke, lol). I will be bringing my NEW digital point & shoot camera so I can get tons of photos. I probably won't have internet access but if I do I will be sure to blog as I can, otherwise I will blog about it afterward (it is a five day workshop). I hope all of you had a great holiday. Here in Chicago it has been cool and wet. It is my understanding that Kansas City has been hot and humid. I will have to remember to pack accordingly. Till later, ciao.