 My husband and I just moved into a brand new house in beautiful Camarillo, California, and the best part for me is the big open upstairs bonus room that now houses my art studio. It's more than twice the size of my old "sewing den" at our previous home in Reno, Nevada.
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 I'm excited that my first phoenix is finally done! I'm calling this one Reemergence. You'll find more photos here. Now on to phoenix number 2!
 1/12/2020 I've been told that Grayson, my African Grey Crowned Crane, received a merit award at the "Art Quilts" exhibit at Sebastopol Center for the Arts in Sebastopol, California. Also, he was sold on opening day!
 10/21/2019: I'm excited about this phoenix project, and have decided to make more than one. I will post updates to this blog as my work progresses.
 We all know the story of the Phoenix, a mythological bird that lives for several hundred years before dying in a burst of flames, and then rising from the embers to live again.
These are the materials I've gathered so far. I will update this blog periodically as I work.  Here is my entire owl collection.
What I like: They're adorable, full of individual personality, and they make me smile. What I dislike: They look too much like toys. They were fun to make, but I'm ready now to move on to other projects. You can find more photos of all my owls in the gallery.  I need some color in my life after spending many months working on black and gray birds. And I hope owls will be simple because they're upright and easy to balance, with flat faces and human-like shapes.
 All five ravens are done! Here are four of them. The fifth raven was a custom order and had to be shipped out before I could photograph it along with the others, but you can see photos of all of them by clicking on "Continue Reading."
 This is the fun part: When the ravens finally start looking like birds instead of dinosaurs. Continue reading to view the progress.
 4/3/19: Wire supports keep the bird upright and stable and prevent the legs from twisting sideways. Continue reading for instructions.
 It's time to give these black birds a little personality. Continue reading to learn how to create the beaks.
 From designing the pattern, to stitching the pieces together, to filling with stuffing. Continue reading to learn how I made the raven bodies.
 The raven legs are finally finished. It took four days to wrap, paint, embellish and glaze all five pairs. This includes the drying time between each step. Continue reading to view the process.
 I love using heavy lace to represent feathers on my birds' heads and necks. But it's not always easy to find, so I decided to try making my own. Continue reading to learn how I did it.
 March 8, 2019: I'm getting ready to start on a group of ravens, otherwise known as an "unkindness" or a "conspiracy" of ravens. I prefer the latter, because when these birds congregate, it's easy to imagine them plotting mayhem.
Before I start, I'll need a lesson in raven anatomy. Continue reading to learn more.  Now it's finally time to complete the crane's face and add a few final embellishments.
This is my favorite part of sculpting, because now the bird's individual personality starts to reveal itself. Continue reading to learn more.  I can't put it off any longer. It's time to figure out how to make the golden crown for the crane's head. Continue reading to learn more.
 For the head, neck and shoulder detailing, I decided to use motifs cut out from some heavy guipure lace left over from my previous career as a ballroom dance costume designer. Continue reading to view more.
 With the basic body structure completed, it's time to add feathers. These are a lot of work. Continuing reading to see how they're made.
 I've made some progress on my trio of crowned cranes since my last blog post on Feb. 3, 2019, about making legs. With the legs done, I now turn my attention to making the bodies. Continue reading to follow along.
 How on earth do these huge birds balance on those long, skinny legs? More importantly, how do I reproduce them? Continue reading to find out.
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Welcome to my fantasy worldI'm a textile artist in Camarillo, California, USA, specializing in three-dimensional fabric sculpture. I use this blog page to record my journey and to share some of my successes and failures, in hopes that it might help you with your own creative endeavors. Archives
February 2023
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