Published in the UK!!!

I have to admit, this have been a fabulous year for me, so far.............wait, find a piece of wood to "knock on"  :)


A wonderful friend of mine, Marion Barnett, published a journal of mine that I created using Evolon.  You might remember a blog post I did on this journal back in June of last year.  Marion introduced me to Evolon, told me to work with it & see what happens.  I tried to give up twice, but Marion wouldn't let me & I'm glad she didn't! I was able to have the opportunity to work with a fiber I didn't even know existed & it really challenged me since I was used to working with natural fabrics & this is more of a synthetic.  (Which is why I stumbled & hesitated so much!!)


Once I started working with it, it reminded me a lot of Tyvek & since I had played with Tyvek quite a bit, my fear subsided (a little).  

Both Tyvek & Evolon can be melted using a heat gun, however, Evolon takes a lot longer to melt & I think it's more toxic smelling than when melting Tyvek, so make sure you wear a respirator & do your "melting" outside, just to be on the safe side!!

You can read about the the techniques I used here.  (Thank you Lynda Monk & Carol McFee for introducing me to Golden Fluid Acrylics).  The beautiful colors with the synthetic fibers of Evolon created a beautiful shimmering appearance!

I was SO excited to see my work published in Marion's book, that I didn't even notice when I read through it the first time that I was the only US artist published in this book!!  (Didn't know I could get anymore excited than I already was, but it happened!!)


THANK YOU MARION!!

Below is an "up close & personal" look at my journal.  I think, um..........those might be my fingerprints in the paints (I used my fingers to "move" the color around on the surface) we'll just call those "the artist's textural marks".  

Published in Draft Magazine!!!

Does anyone know of any fiber artists that have recently been published in a National Beer Magazine? I do, I do..........................ME!!! :)

Recently, I was contacted by the editor of Draft Magazine to see if I was interested in sending them some of my repurposed "beer art" to be professionally photographed for their next issue (as you can see, they chose to feature my luggage tags). I jumped at the chance................to have my art published in a National Beer magazine (my other true love) I'm on cloud 9 & still haven't come down yet!!

I've always viewed brewers as artists, refining & crafting their recipes & techniques to create a product that people will want & enjoy (what every other artist strives to achieve!) I've always wanted to work in some aspect of the brewing industry, but haven't researched what's all available for a person with no home brewing experience. The thought of home brewing has never seemed as appealing as brewing in a brewery with all of the beautiful metal beer tanks & working with others that share a common interest.............beer & another reason I haven't considered home brewing is if I take on one more interest, my DH will kill me!! :)

Wow!!! The thought of working in the beer industry & being able to create my art................................sigh!!!!

Featured on TryHandmade.com

My repurposed art has been featured on TryHandmade.com's website again, yeah!! (Thank you, Rebecca!!)

May 17-23 is American Craft Beer Week & what better way to support American Beer Craft Week (other than drinking wonderful craft beers) but also by creating art from those empty bottles, beer labels, bottle caps & 6-pack cardboard containers!!



Check out my wonderful friend :), Michelle's bottle cap bracelet!! I think some of those might be from caps that I sent her!! We constantly support each others' art habits by Michelle saving & scavaging curbside recycle bins while walking her dog, Rosi, while I save her all the caps from what I drink & from when I attend social events that serve their beer in bottles. Just last night at my office's Cinco de Mayo party, I was able to get her over 20 usable bottle caps. :) (Will be mailing those out soon with bunch of others, Michelle!!)

I have to say, since I've started creating art from repurposed materials, it really makes you realize, how many missed opportunities, get tossed into the garbage that could have been used to create art. (I have 5 Rubbermate totes FULL of possible opportunities!!)

PUBLISHED!!! 1000 Artisan Textiles

Woot!!! My Green Apple Martini Quilt aka "GAM" was published in 1000 Artisan Texiles!! What a wonderful book to own, so many beautiful colors, so many wonderful pieces!! A definite "must have" to any art book collection!!

(If you didn't know, I'm the one up in the top right corner!!)

I've blogged a lot about Green Apple Martini in past posts, but for those that are just meeting her for the first time................GAM was created using hand dyed bamboo poplin (LOVE that green!!) She was machine quilted, then layers of hand dyed cheesecloth, misty fuse & Angelina Fibers were added. Metal squiggles & cast paper triangles were added as embellishments.

My intentions originally for GAM were to try to enter her into a couple of shows, but when those options fell through, I decided to put her up for sale in my Etsy shop. A couple of months later, the opportunity arose to submit this quilt for possible inclusion in a new book that Sandra Salamony & Gina Brown were compiling called 1000 Artisan Textiles, so I took Green Apple Martini out of my shop & awaited their answer. Which I am very happy to say was accepted!!

Now that GAM is a star (lol) I can't seem to part with her, so she happily resides on a wall in my home!!!

I'm Going to be Published, TWICE!!!

Remember this...............

© 2009 Tracy Borders

Sandra Salamony was seeking submissions for her new book, 1000 Artisan Textiles. I submitted Green Apple Martini & it was accepted!! The book is slated to be published May 2010. (I'm not sure if I can wait that long!!)

I also have another piece that is to be published in Marion Barnett's new book, Exquisite Evolon. The publish date for that is right around the corner. Sorry no pics to show of that piece yet, I sent it out the next day after I completed it & didn't have time to photograph it. Marion promised me some digital photos.

I am hoping to add a third piece to my "being published" list this year. I submitted art work to Greencraft Magazine. The deadline was last week & I'm waiting to hear back. Sorry, I can't go into detail with what this may be (don't want to jinx it) but will tell you it's for Greencraft Magazine, that's totally dedicated to art made from recycled materials & it's something I've never created before. :)

Fingers & toes are crossed!!