Winterizing in the Studio!

I have had a mini vacation from (nonart) work for the last 2 weeks.  My first week was spent in the studio prepping for my visit with my mentor, but the second I spent insulating and closing up holes in my studio walls.  We put a door at the top of the stairs and added another receptacle and a ceiling light for the stairwell.  On breaks from that I was getting in some research time along with currently getting my paper put together.
I found a chair along side of the road near the house which will fit perfectly into a small vignette that I am creating in my studio.  So I had to sweep the floor.  I guess my studio might creep out those who prefer a pristine environment to work in, but I prefer a space that I can get messy without worrying like crazy.

Crazy Month

This is my craziest month of the year with 5 birthdays in the immediate family running from October 10th- November 10th.  I finally finished my quilt, which relates to memories of my childhood.  My Grandmother and Aunt Mary always made these 9-patch quilts out of scraps laying around.  I made my version of this "family favorite" out of things laying around, but mine were out of drink cans that my family consumed.  This was a very time consuming process and a total of 486 cans were cut apart, pattern traced on them, cut again, and then folded in shape.  I started this project just before my last mentor meeting in September, with 36 cans to show her the idea and how it was to take shape.  The total hours were calculated up around 70-80.  Sheesh!!!  I also made more plates and started a different project...okay a few other ones.  Here is the finished quilt.

Interesting Artist

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to see an exhibit in the gallery at Herron.  Her name is Nnenna Okore and she is originally from Nigeria.  I was attracted to her work, because I have also begun to use materials that she has also been using in some of her pieces.  Here is the link to her web site.  http://www.nnennaokore.com/index.html