I took Kakishibu Iris III with me, and a bag of fabric paints and threads, planning to enjoy working alongside other artists. Here's the result of an afternoon in the painting studio. In the room were a hospice chaplain working on an altered book, a painter at her easel, and a mother and daughter testing out some new techniques. Across the sidewalk people were working in a fully equipped potting studio.
After the painting was done, I spent time on a balcony over the Frio River, stitching. I met only one other fiber artist, a weaver, at the retreat. Maybe more next year, as I certainly plan to go back and hope to bring some colleagues.
Here's a closeup of the two blooms on the right. I'm pleased with the color blending and the way the dyed dark streaks remain visible through the paint.
Probably a couple more days of hand stitching, then I'll finish it off and move on to Kakishibu Iris IV.
We were celebrating our recent successes--the Interwoven V show, Hope and Suzan winning awards in the Houston Area Fiber Artists exhibition, and Suzan having two pieces in the Festival itself--and winning an award there (though we don't yet know which award she won; that will be announced tonight). And Hope's inclusion in SAQA's Deux exhibit, now in Europe. Our little art quilt group is doing pretty well. You can google Hope Wilmarth and Suzan Engler to see their beautiful work.