Madeline Island School of the Arts

I got to visit the Madeline Island School of the Arts last Saturday with our Wisconsin lake neighbor Betty who grew up on the Island.  In fact, the school is based on her great Aunt's farm which made the visit even more fun to see and hear her recollections.  

We took our car on the Ferry from Bayfield, Wisconsin over to Madeline Island on a perfect summer's day.  The school is not far out of La Pointe in a  beautiful pasture.  It consists of a collection of newly restored buildings all painted in barn red with white trim.  There's the main office, a gathering place for meals and relaxation, a building for classrooms, guest lodging and the farmhouse where the guest artists stay during their workshops.  The classes offered range from Plein Air Painting, Writing, Photography, Fiber Arts, Yoga and Wellness which last 5 days.  You can check out more information on their website here.  

Traveling by Ferry to Madeline Island

Farmhouse where Guest Instructors stay

One of the classrooms

Gathering spot for students

Our friend Betty (Nelson) Tribbey who grew up on Madeline Island

Guest lodging

Classroom building called The Milk House

Dining Hall

Marking Time in Style

I'm always looking for contemporary Craftsman style items for our home and this summer I got a great one.  My sister took me on a trip down to Iowa City, Iowa a couple years ago to show me a store she thought I'd like called Iowa Artisans Gallery.  Boy, was she right!  It had a variety of art, hand crafts, glass, metal arts but the Schlabaugh & Sons handcrafted clocks blew me away.  They are based in Iowa and have a website to purchase their work.

The wood finish is so smooth, the Craftsman style honored its roots and the Motawi tile insert was the icing on the cake. I didn't buy one then but this summer I had the perfect reason to get one.

Our previous mantle clock had stopped working and we substituted a family hand-me-down that was not our style.  This summer marked our 30th Anniversary so I suggested to Mitch we purchase a new clock to 'mark time'.  He trusted me to pick something out on my trip down to visit family in July.

Well, it wasn't an easy decision.  My sister and Uncle went with me to The Iowa Artisans Gallery and patiently watched me select one clock at a time and place on a pedestal to visualize it on our mantle.  Finally I selected this one with a nice warm wood and Mowtawi tile called Songbird.

It looks great on our mantle and marks a milestone as well.

Poppy Hop Pouches

The Linden Tree Shop in Minneapolis

                                                                                                                                                                                    How fun to visit The Linden Tree and see these pouches! A mini mountain of my Poppy Hop fabric collection. They are beautifully sewn by Mary DesCombaz under her shop name "PogTotes". 

The pouches are over 13" long and 5" high so they are large enough to carry many items.  That's good because I outgrew my last travel pouch.  They are fully lined and have a zipper closure.  

Mary has a wonderful fabric sensibility (is that a term?) and has paired up other designer fabric totes as well using Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry to name drop.  But of course, I encourage you to purchase one of mine.  The Linden Tree is a great neighborhood shop in Minneapolis, so plan to check it out soon.  Here's a link for more info on their hours and location.

Mary has an Etsy shop as well if you can't stop by the Linden Tree, so you can view and purchase her work at this link.  

To purchase my Poppy Hop fabric at Modern Yardage to make your own pouch or other projects, please visit my page at this link. 

Thank you! 

Poppy Hop fabric from Modern Yardage sewn by Pogtotes

Poppy Hop Links and Dance in turquoise collection.

Poppy Hop Passion and Dance in blue color collection

Refresh Your Home Decor

We like to update our homes with new fabric colors but often aren't sure what to do. Last Saturday, The Linden Tree hosted Gabberts Interior Designer Christine Sutphen to help people by showing how to incorporate my fabric into their homes.  She created a board with swatches of paint colors, my fabric, glass tiles, wood samples and coordinating fabrics for a professional put together look. I loved seeing her visual creativity at work.  There were little vignettes of my Modern Yardage fabric color ways for Poppy Hop, Ginkgo and Zig Zag with dishes and home accents that I put together in the store window for inspiration.  Melissa did a wonderful job taking a rocker and upholstering the seat to match the fabric lamp shade I created. Carole and Melissa sewed some table runners and accessories which I coordinated with ceramics and some of my art prints which are sold at The Linden Tree.  Thanks to all who stopped by to talk with us.

Lampshade in mint Links, shower curtain in Poppy Hop Dance, Blossom in Taupe

Ginkgo leaves turquoise on gold with my Dragonfly print

Poppy Hop Passion tangerine with Links napkin

Zig Zag, Poppy Hop Passion in taupe by my Dandelion print

Very cool dishes from Ikea looked great with my Dash blue and blossom prints

Poppy Hop Dance in Turquoise pillow and Zig Zag turquoise on cream window display

It's my best shot of the window display from outside the shop

Lindsey writing up the event on the chalkboard, including a Poppy

Great totes made of my fabric by Mary of Pog for sale at The Linden Tree

Left is Christine Sutphen with the display board she created

Rocker by Melissa with my lampshade in Poppy Dance natural

Poppy panel made into a pillow

Modern Yardage produced all the fabric and are available online

Erin is wearing a Poppy Hop Dance & Links in magenta dress made by Melissa.and ready to walk Jackson.

Simple Fabric Projects

I'm working on some simple home dec projects using my Poppy Hop fabric from Modern Yardage.  This is all for a great event coming up in a few days at The Linden Tree. An Interior Designer from Gabberts, Christine Sutphen, and I will meet with customers to show them ideas or answer questions on how to use my fabric for any size room projects. Click here to read more about the event.

Right now I've been working on some small projects to go with other larger items that The Linden Tree is working on. Above is an upcycled bulletin board I made using a thrift store frame I painted white, covered with magenta Poppy Hop fabric on foam core and glued into the frame.  That's a pic of me with my sister Cathy and my Mom with her sister Rose.

The lampshade was a new but inexpensive lamp from Target that I covered with my mint links from the Poppy Hop Collection.  The fabrics all come in three different scales which is very cool.  This is the large scale print.  I have to thank my neighbor for requesting this color for the print. I love it!

Well, back to work with more event prep.  I can't wait to see what Melissa, Carole, Rose and Mary are making out of my fabric, too.

I'll post more pics as projects get made so you will be inspired to get started on some home decor projects, too.  If you want to use my fabrics, they are available thru Modern Yardage here.

                                             

Surtex Wrap Up

My booth at Surtex

Surtex went smoothly this year with flying into New York City and getting a cab drive right to Javits for the set up on Saturday. The banners turned out great this year from US Press and reflected my emphasis on showing more work on the walls. So many manufacturers quickly glance at your art on the walls to determine if they'll even stop to look at your portfolio so your booth design is critical.  Set up takes just over an hour for us and then off to the hotel to check in and a walk down Broadway and Times Square for some fresh flowers to put in my booth.

The show ran Sunday thru Tuesday with Monday and Tuesday being the busiest.  I got to meet with a couple companies I have licenses with including Dale from Check Advantage.  What a nice guy and the future projects with them sound really fun.  I met a few new potential clients and will be sending them emails and samples in the coming days.  Fingers crossed that I continue to build my licenses with companies! You need a lot of patience in this business.

Minneapolis is well represented by creatives both as rep groups and individuals. I was so excited to meet Lucky Nielsen who was in the row next to mine and who lives pretty close to me back in Minneapolis.  Can you say, 'small world'?  Also had Lindsay Nohl from Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis stop by with a group checking out the show.  K&K from Minneapolis had a great booth again this year and I met Lisa Blades from Duluth exhibiting for the first time. Minnesota has its share of companies viewing the art work as well including Target, Midwest CBK, Garven, among others.  I met Mary and Julie, two new fabric designers from Modern Yardage who were walking the show. My booth neighbors were wonderful and I was grateful to meet and talk with Amy Biggers of Snowpea about organizing my licensing images better and copyright issues. I don't have a rep, so I have to learn from others who have experience and will help me.  I got up the courage to introduce myself to Josephine Kimberling who's work I follow. A warm friendly person who's booth was near Kate Spain, another person I admire.

Surtex can be an emotional roller coaster; you wonder why more people don't stop, you wish you had a few more art pieces to show, you see how talented these younger designers are and then someone will stop by and say 'I just love your work' and you smile and feel more confident.  I really appreciate all of you who gave me the 'thumbs up' on Facebook when I posted my booth set up. Your support means a lot to me.  

The National Stationery Show is going on next door and I love going over to look at the companies, big and small. Thanks to my retail reps at Square One for stopping over to visit me during the show.  The furniture show in the lower level is wonderful, too, for seeing great interior design.  I put on a lot of miles and was grateful my new shoes were kind to me this year. Mitch wasn't so lucky and had to buy a new pair of shoes after a day of walking.  We celebrated the end of the show by dining at Carmines.  It's in the Times Square theatre district and we faced out towards the busy streets watching the crowds and enjoying our meal.  A great way to enjoy New York. 

Getting served Spaghetti at Carmines. Delicious!

Heading to Surtex in NYC

Booth #553 art mock-ups

Tomorrow I head out to New York City for Surtex, the surface textile design trade show. This is my third year exhibiting my art to show manufacturers in home decor, paper goods and retail how my style can help sell their product.  Saturday will be spent flying in, checking into our hotel and rushing to Javits to set up my 10 x10' by 5 pm.  When it goes smoothly, it doesn't take too long and hopefully our luck continues.

Banners of my art hang around the walls and this year, I'm including a few more visuals of my art mock-up on products as you see above. I have my goldfinch and sunflower art as potholders and tea towels, the blueberry pattern is shown on dishes and the cardinals are convincing on totes, pillows and dishes.  My latest dragonfly art looks really nice on bedding and I hope grabs the attention of a company looking for new cabin style comforters.  There's also a shelf in my booth to show more items including some items from The Linden Tree made from my Poppy Hop textiles.

I'll be meeting Dale, my contact from Check Advantage, the company who prints my art on checks and labels.  They've been a great company to work with and am looking forward to talking with him.  I will also be meeting with some new contacts I've made here in Minneapolis and New York as they walk the show.

The National Stationery Show is going on as well right next to Surtex and I love seeing all the different companies, big and small exhibit their lines.  My retail reps at Square One will be there meeting with clients and always stop over to see me.

My goal is to continue to meet manufacturers whose products are great for my Craftsman Nouveau style. Each year I feel more confident and learn so much by attending. Wish me luck and I'll post pics from the show next week.