Christmas Crazies

Hi everyone! Again it's been awhile, but my husband has bought himself a new laptop, which means this computer is pretty much mine. Now I can get to it whenever I want so I should be able to keep this blog up a little better!

I have some fantastic news! The skull grimlet I told you about in my last post is going to be in a beautiful magazine called Haute Handbags!!!!!!!!!! I am so very excited!! This will be the first time I have had anything in a magazine. I have made a few more grimlets since that one. My sister, Rhonda, has bought a couple, and I made my daughter, Hilary, one with a "wailing zombie" theme. I just realized I never took a picture of that one; I'll have to get it from her. I also have a variation of the skull grimlet for sale on my etsy site. I will include a picture of that one. I was going to post the first one, but now I think I should wait!

Well here it is the Holidays. I just love this time of year and I love all the holiday festivities, but is it ever hard to get any work done! I feel I have to think about all of my my spare time and plan it to the minute! I am working on a new quilt that I would like to have finished by Jan. 25, 09, but I may have to just plan the month of January to do it! I also want to start a new weekly mini quilt series, too, so I think it may be time to look at my time and see if there is anything I can cut back on, like cooking? Sometimes I just feel stretched too far. Need to enlist Buddy's help more. He is, in fact, my husband.

Anyway, it feels good to be back. I'll never be a daily blogger, but I would like to post 2 or 3 times a month. Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas!!!

QBL

Sorry its been awhile, summer tends to get away from me.I wanted to tell you about the class I took this summer with quilt artist Rosalie Dace. It was at Quilting By the Lake, in Morrisville, N.Y. What an experience! It was such an "aha moment" week for me as far as making progress on my work. She had a quilt hung up that was not finished, along with the photograph she had taken the image from. In the photo there were 2 strong diagonals that she had not incorporated in her design. After 2 days of studying that piece I finally asked her about it, and she told me she did not like diagonals, they were too directional. In complete awe I said, You don't have to put everything in the quilt, do you. To which she said, Why would you make the same photograph twice? It was, truly, dawn breaking over marblehead. So now I look at everything a little differently and ask myself, What do I love about it? Because everything in my photo doesn't have to go into my quilt!!
Here is a photo of the piece I did in that class, still a work in progress.

Handbags

Today I finally got my handbags ready for Leslie's store--what a relief!! That was one of those things that was kind of weighing on me and was becoming stress. My friend Leslie has this amazing little store in downtown Plymouth called North Street Stained Glass Emporium. Leslie is a stained glass artist and her work is amazing!!- so bold and colorful!! It is a store/studio/classroom and it is the coolest! It is what I would want only with fabric and beads. The last time I was at one of her artists receptions she invited me to put some bags in for sale. She hosts a local artist every month, and MY show is in September!! Anyway, I finally got my bags there today: a felted purse, an evening bag with one om my mini quilts as a pocket, and a black back pack with a pink skull motif. This is an example of one of my felted purses. These are really fun to do if you like to knit. Leslie loved the bags and hopefully I will make a sale!

I have fallen totally in love with making handbags, and it's weird, because I have never been much of a purse person. When I get a bag I like, I tend to use it until it practically falls apart. Everyone I know is always changing bags!! As I said earlier, I love the thought of making functional art, and I think people will like using my bags as a way of showing their own creativity.

I have had the past two days off from work and they have been productive, good days. I feel like I have found my path again. Not only did I get Leslie's bags done, but I started my new line of "Grimlets." Last month while I was on vacation, my daughter asked if I knew how to make a wristlet. I said, tell me what that is and I'll tell you if I can make one!! A wristlet is a little clutch with a small strap attached for carrying around your wrist. Sure, I could do that, but when I tried to think of the design in my head I kept calling them grimlets. Yeah I know, nuts. I would say, no, wristlets. But I liked the word grimlets, and wanted to use it somehow. Now, I am a major league horror movie fan, so I thought, why not a grim wristlet, featuring a mildly scary motif!! So I fashioned my first "grimlet" featuring a little skull I have had for years named Jed. It is coming out awesome and will have a picture next time. Woudn't it be cool if these took off?

Welcome to my Blog!!!!

Ok, I'm going to try my hand at blogging again. It's tough for me to spend a lot of time in front of the computer, but I realize now that I really need to have some sort of internet presence if i am going to have any success selling my art.

I am Karen Tripp from Plymouth Mass. I am a painter turned fabric artist, and for the most part that manifested itself in the form of art quilts. I started as a traditional quilter, and the artist in me simply took over. I took a class on how to make quilted landscapes many years ago, and realized that I could use what I knew about painting and translate it into fabric. Above is a quilt that I made for my daughter. Her favorite flower is an hibiscus, and I surprised her with this quilt this past Christmas. I have had a little success showing and selling my work, but I think at this stage in my life (I turned 50 last year) I would like to really get serious about promoting my art. When you have another full time job, one that pays the bills, it is easy to let life get in the way. I have been trying really hard to NOT let it get in the way, and when it does to get right back in there and keep going. It's tough sometimes, though, isn't it? I went to see Tom Petty in concert this weekend and although it was totally awesome and I had a blast, it still interrupted my artistic flow---train of thought if you will. I mean, I realize that I have to work, and have fun occasionally, and put food on the table, but you know? Sometimes I just don't want to!!!

Anyway, (boy, that's another subject, isn't it?), what I was leading to above was that I have since discovered the art of making handbags!! What fun! If you think about it, a handbag does start with a flat surface (quilt?) and take it from there! I love the thought of art that is functional. And handbags are such a means of expression for the carrier. When I come back, I will show you a bag or two(getting tired). Thanks for visiting!