On one of my rides looking over the countryside. Breathtaking!

These twigs are curly willow. My friend Sandy Maxa is a basket weaver and sculptor. She grows and cuts her own willow. I was lucky that she gave me this and some larger willow that I will have for my installation. These smaller twigs may work well in a wall hanging.

Last Saturday I went to a small town in Iowa called Maloy. It was settled by Irish immigrants. It is almost non existent anymore. A few houses, a church, a rec center and a park with a prairie make up this place. I took my first lesson on weaving here. This is tablet weaving using a deck of cards. It is really quite simple and fun.

This is the storefront of the Corning Center for Fine Art. I arranged things and displayed some of my t-shirts and aprons. I have sold a few shirts. That's positive since there aren't many people that stop by. On the bright side, there isn't much distraction.

I made this a couple weeks ago here in Corning. I call it "What Does Your Garden Grow." It's made with scraps of my screen printed fabric, wood blocked printed fabric, and a few silk vintage pieces with organza. It is bordered and backed with pillow ticking.

More amazing sky.

Storms passing through make beautiful and mysterious lighting.

Every Thursday and Friday I teach classes to kids in the Art Center. Here they were working on printing techniques with mono printing and making stamps using cardboard. It's fun to work with kids because you never know what they will say and they are always creative.

Small painting from my sketchbook. Sometimes is nice to just paint or doodle and not think.

The sky out here is beautiful. Since Corning is hilly, there are good lookout spots. This one comes directly from my window. Across the street is "Sweet Desires" bakery. Fresh baked pastries. I especially like the chocolate long johns. I've been good and eating my cereal.

This is the stage from the top half, showing the ceiling tile patterns and stenciling. An original wooden stencil was found in the basement. I went down there too. It was like going into Tales from the Cript. That brings up another interesting story. When the Opera House was built, the main level was used as a commercial space. There was a separte interence for each space. It was a furniture store below. Back then, it was common to have the furniture maker also make the coffins. I don't think any body was prepared there-just the coffins, I hope.

Sketch of the stage.

Like many artists, I have a thing for texture. I started today by doing some rubbings to see what interesting lines came up. After that, I decided it was time to sketch and really observe the space more than just a photograph would allow. There is a lot of imagery to be inspired by. The original stenciling that borders the walls and ceiling are still intact. The tin patterned ceiling tiles have an elegant art deco kind of design. Natural decay of the walls, wood, and overall structure create organic patterns of their own. I'm interested in the stories that have layered its history. Old buildings always have many stories, and I've been hearing some from people around. After it was no longer functioning as an opera house, a basketball hoop was installed for kids to practice. Some kids snuck up for their first kisses and first cigarettes.

I have never seen this flower before. There were bunches along the side of the road growing wild. I'm not good with names of flowers but I do like looking at them.

This image is from the back where the banister from the second floor is floating in space. While in Corning, I'm also going to be teaching art classes to kids. I was looking through my big book of lesson plans and stumbled on a shadow puppet lesson. Instead of using it as a lesson, it got me thinking about creating my own shadow puppet installation. Hmm...I love puppets, who doesn't? Maybe I could use my intstallation as a lesson on shadow puppets later. I will be student teaching in the fall, so it would be convenient to make curriculum straight from my art. I'm still in the very beginning stages, only brainstorming right now. I need to just go spend time alone in the space and draw. There's so much imagery and imagination to add.

At a face off. I sutmbled upon this cow who was startled by my bike.

The georgraphy of the area allows for expansive veiws. Corning is not flat. In fact it's full of rolling hills. I love biking up hills because that only means I get to go down...very fast!

The train runs through the southern part of the town. I came just in time to catch this image.

Today was one of the most pleasent days of the year. I had to go exploring on my bike. There's nothing better than being on my bike and freely roaming city and country views. I will be doing a lot of riding, and picture taking along the way.

Looking down Davis, the main street of Corning Iowa.

Bike tour begins...

What I love about the Opera House is that a lot of original architecture, furniture, and surface still remain. The natural sunlight creates peacful lighting that fills the space.

From center stage

From the stage

Beautiful colors! From the Opera House cieling. www.corningoperahouse.org

Backing up...I haven't been consistent at blogging, but since I'm doing my residency this summer, I feel it's important to write and document it. This image is from my BFA thesis show. Now I love doing installations. I thought I should put this image up so that there isn't a such a huge jump from the art I've been previously showing.

At the Surface Design Association conference, I got to be assistant in Alice Kettle's workshop called Following a Line to Tell a Story. There were fifteen of us and our room was full of thread, fabric, buzzing machines, and of course creative people. Working with Alice was a wonderfull experience becuase she has great patience and enthusiasm for her student's personal discovery.