All Tied Up

Sorry about the arty angle shot but it is hanging on a wall in our hall.....but it is finished. Now I just have put velcro on the back so it will hang correctly. It actually is quite fragile but with the velcro will hold it perfectly is shape on the wall.

The velcro hanging is a method I highly recommed for art quilts. Even if they are regular quilts, not open like this. I make a sleeve attach one side of the velcro to the sleeve and then with small finishing nails attach the other side of the velcro to the wall. Oops, left out the step where I stitch the sleeve to the quilt. You get the idea....and I guarantee it holds the quilt nice and flat against the wall. Unfortunately with this piece I will have to used sticky back velcro. Keep your fingers crossed it adheres well to the watercolor canvas.
What do we have here. A blank canvas...empty design walls. This will never do. Gotta get something up there quick. Exciting to be finished and eager to get back to some of the tops I had started earlier before "the lost month."

Spent some time reading through your blogs tonight. What great work you have been doing and loved reading how your lives have been going. However, what caught my eye were some posts on reviews, critiques and criticism. Oh no, I can hear you saying, here she goes. Well, you are correct.
I worked too long in the theatre to know a review is one persons opinion...and mostly, they are trying to make themselves look good. Ya
know how intelligent they are and how they can evaluate better than you as the arbitrator of what is good. The are worth the paper they are printed on....not that some aren't truly a viable evaluation of whatever the reviewer was seeing.
It just isn't that important to me. You have to become your own best critic. Sure I make some less successful pieces....but I know that already...no one needs to tell me. They stare back at me every time I see the piece.....but I hold to the concept that some pieces are experimental and some are finished and successful....just keep on working. Turning visual into verbal is a difficult task. You really need to see the work yourself to get the best review. Of couse, taste comes into play. While all reviews try to be objective, it is darn near impossible. You can't just cut out that part of your brain but overall they do their best. Guess I am just too old to give a hoot. I am doing what I am doing....and only what I want to do. If someone else likes it, hooray; if not, so what. Yes, I know we have fragile egos as artist because we are putting so much of ourselves into the work. Just remember you aren't what you do and keep that ego at bay. View your work with fresh eyes....not the eyes of the maker but the eyes of a viewer. Off that soap box.
As to critique and criticism.....I always learn more from the critiques of others work since I have nothing invested in the piece. Criticism is an entirely different animal. Criticism comes from the world of writing....especially essays...and has absolutely nothing to do with evaluating a piece of work. Get it....example: On the Separation from Nature, an essay by whoever. That would be a criticism....not a critique. This may feel like we are talking semantics but there is truly a difference.
Shutting up before I get into real trouble....gotta get something on those blank walls.