When I'm creatively "stuck" I sometimes view some YouTube videos and that seems to provide the inspiration I need.

​Lately, I've been viewing BB Henry Art 's 5 minute art journal videos.  I love that they are short (who really has the time to view an hour video????) and I find them good as a starting point for my own interpretation of the page.  Of course, no one can exactly copy someone else's work (who would want to do that anyway?) but I find it's just a great jumping off place for me.

I'm working on mixed media pages measuring 10" x 5" so the "book" will end up as a 5" square.  I enjoy working on loose pages so if something doesn't turn out, I can throw it away and it won't end up in the final book.

I'm still figuring out how to "bind" these pages into a book.  They can't be sewn into a traditional binding since the backs of these pages are white and I would lose the ideas that these pages are spreads -- meant to be seen together.  Oh well, that's what art is all about.  Solving problems!
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I've been creatively stuck lately.  When this happens, I like to work on small projects -- just to get the juices flowing.  So this week, I've been painting and drawing on watercolor paper to make a series of bookmarks.  As usual, I don't have a plan for what to do with them.  I might include them in my Christmas cards this year.  Or, put them in the gift gallery in RiNo as an inexpensive item to sell to tourists.  

But if you are reading this blog and want one, I'm happy to put one in the mail to you.  Send me your snail mail address to [email protected] and you will get a Carol Ann Waugh original!

Looking forward to hearing from you.
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After stitching 21 five inch squares, I've decided to end this series.  It was a nice diversion but now, I'm ready to go back to painting.

Here's the piece I made today.  I used fluid acrylic and three different stencils to get a layered effect.

Somehow, many of my paintings look like wallpaper.  I guess I like an overall design even though critics would say "Where's the focal point?"  Maybe it's because I cut my artistic teeth using fabric where 99% of commercial fabrics do not have a focal point because the pattern is repeated to make the yardage.  

​Now that I look at this piece, I think it would make a wonderful design for fabric.  Do you agree?

I haven't counted all the pieces I've made in this series, but I have noticed a change in the way I approach my stitching.  I like the pieces I've made more and more as I challenge myself to work with color and pattern.

This is one of the last pieces I made in this series. Since I limited myself to just two stitches (running stitch and French knots) for the whole series, I had to find new ways to create texture as well as how to choose threads that met my happiness level.

​Now, I will mount all my pieces and see what they look like shown together.  Another challenge will be to find a venue for exhibiting them.  Not an easy task for fiber art.  This is a time when I miss not having my own art gallery.  

The Denver Botanic Gardens now has three beautiful art galleries.  I try to attend each exhibit because the quality of the artists they have chosen is excellent.  But this exhibit is stupendous and I have visited it 4 times with different friends because I get inspired each time.

​Ursula is 80 years old and is still creating these huge sculptures in her Brooklyn studio.  She uses cedar wood and she''s allergic to it so she has to wear a hazmat suit each time she works on a piece.  

Each of the many pieces displayed in this exhibit are taken apart to ship and then put together when shown.  The engineering is incredible because she has made it so the seams are invisible.

Interestingly, Ursula also works in fiber.  She knits forms with wire, incorporates fabrics and thread into her hand-made paper, and sews together dried cow's intestines (sounds gross but these are actually beautiful) with twine.  

The exhibit is up through the beginning of September so I'm sure I will be back to visit again.  If you find yourself in Denver, I hope you have a chance to see her work in person.