I had a dream last night that I was at a farm with lots of cows and the farmer asked me why we weren’t doing another Gallery 99 this year. ( I know this doesn’t really make sense, but it was after all, a dream) I tried to explain to him that it was a lot of work and as much as I loved being a part of it, we’re all volunteers and it  requires balancing Exhibition time  with studio time.  Not a very mystical dream, but practical, I guess I  was just figuring it all out in my subconscious.

So, speaking of studio time,  I finished the Night Sky potholders that I started just before Gallery 99, when I found the lost dog Ben.  I have 8 for sale.

Also for sale are my last 2 Clock potholders my last Paris Cafe potholder and a Mushroom potholder (I have  a little more of this fabric, enough for a couple more potholders)  They are all vintage fabrics from the 1970′s.

All these potholders are $15 each including shipping.  If you’re interested in any, just email me at maria@fullmoonfiberart.com or got to CONTACT ME.

Clocks

Paris Cafe

mushrooms

  Terri sent me this photo of my Dancing Ladies wall hanging in her kitchen.  They go really well with the tangerines.

  And here’s a couple of potholders from Kathleen’s kitchen.  She intentionally left the chicken in the photo in honor of Meg and the girls.

We had a great opening night at Gallery 99.   People were walking out the door with art and I was there to fill in the holes with more art.  There are two days left and I thought I’d extend Gallery 99 to our blog community by offering what’s still available of Jon’s and my work.

So here it is.  Jon’s  signed photos are  matted to fit into a standard 11 x 14 frame.  They are $75 + $10 shipping.

Meg on the feeder SOLD

Fran and Meg

Roosterness

Chicken Shapes

Sisters SOLD

Chimes

Izzy SOLD

Milk House

Mist

I have two Streaming Wall hangings  available.   They are both about 12″x15″ and are $60 + $8 shipping.

Tears turn to steam SOLD

“Tears turn to steam when the tea pot screams, My work is divine”

Move SOLD

“Piece together my soul with flowers, cookies are restless, movement heals, move move”

If you’re interested in any of these pieces just email me at maria@fullmoonfiberart.com, go to Contact Me or leave me a comment.

Ben, the lost dog, Lenore and I found on the path last week is doing well.  His owners came by yesterday and said he had an infection from the porcupine quills and the vet told them if we hadn’t found him, he probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.  But we did find him and he happily recovering at home with the people who love him.  Happy Ending.

I  completely enjoyed working on Gallery 99, but it was nice to be back in my studio today making some night sky potholders for a customer.  I was going so well, even when I had enough, I just kept making them, the colors easily finding their place in each design.

I stopped for lunch and was eager to get back to work, but the dogs looked at me longingly and I was coerced into taking them for a walk.  We were half way down the path, and I turned to call Lenore who was lagging behind.  Then I saw her jump back from something and give a surprised bark.  Frieda and Izzy and I walked back and saw a dog curled up on the side of the path.  I had walked past him a moment ago and not seen him at all.

A month ago a neighbor came by letting us know that her dogs, a mastiff and a bull dog,  had run away together.   The dog on the path  looked like a mastiff to me and I hoped he wouldn’t take off before I got back.   I took our dogs back to the house.  Jon wasn’t home, so I got some treats a  leash and my cell phone.  I ran back down the path and the dog was still there.  I assumed he was hurt so I approached him slowly talking quietly and tossing him treats.  He gave a little growl then ate a biscuit.  I slowly moved closer and offered a treat from my hand which he gently took, then I put the leash on him. I saw that his nose was bloodied and speckled with porcupine quills. When he stood up I saw how skinny he was, his ribs sticking out.

The dog allowed me to lead him up the path, walking gingerly as if in a daze.  I put him in the fenced in area behind the house and he gobbled down two cups of food.  The donkeys were snorting and stomping her feet.  I didn’t have a phone number so I drove to my neighbors house and I was thankful to find someone home.  A small bulldog was at the door looking happy and healthy, she had come home  a few weeks earlier with porcupine quills in her nose, but their other dog was still missing.

My neighbor came back to the house with me.  It was a beautiful thing to see when she called Ben’s name, and that sad, starving dog started wagging his tail.  He didn’t have much energy, but he followed her to her car, tail going as she lifted him in.

As they drove away I realized that if Lenore hadn’t seen Ben on the side of the path and barked at him, he probably would have starved to death.  I walked past him and didn’t see him.  The other dogs either didn’t see him or  ignored him, knowing he wasn’t well.

I thanked Lenore and gave her a big smelly dog treat.

Diane checking out the gallery with art on one wall

by Betsy Krebs

by Charlene Leary

by Chung-Ah Park

by Betsy Brandt

By Diane Swanson

Jon's notecards

by Robin Blakney-Carlson

Nancy Bariluk-Smiths Earrings with Charlene Learys fiber art

These are just some of the artists in Gallery 99.  The opening reception is tomorrow night from 5-8 at the M Dolan Jr building  3 Broad Street Glens Falls NY.  It’s sponsored by Art in the Public Eye

Most of the artists who are participating in Gallery 99 dropped off their work today.  They are asked to fill out their own tags with information about their pieces.   I like it because they have to hang around longer and you get to catch up with people you know and meet new people.

In between artists coming in,  Diane and I got to unpack and look at all the art.  It’s always lots of fun to see the work for the first time.  Then we started placing it (more fun)  matching up pieces  from different artists with similar colors and  themes.  It’s usually slow going at first then comes a point where something clicks and it just starts to flow.  Both of us swirling around moving art from one place to another then stopping and looking and moving it some more.  Then we hang it on the walls and move it around some more.  Eventually it’s just right, or we’re exhausted or we run out of time.   So far it’s always gotten done and always looked good.  I love working with Diane, and each time I do I think that we should do it more often.

Tomorrow I’ll try to remember to take some pictures of the work to post on my blog.  We could have a mini-virtual Gallery 99.

Our first viewer and the show isn't even hung yet!

The artists have begun dropping off their work for Gallery 99 today.  Diane and Patrice are at the M Dolan Jr Building in Glens Falls checking the art in.  Tomorrow  Diane and I will begin hanging  the Gallery 99 Show.   I made a few Goddess Potholders to go with my streaming wall hangings.

Jon will be selling matted photos and his note cards.  That’s a picture of Meg on the hay feeder.  (She’s looking for the  seeds  that drop from the hay, smart chicken)  And Nancy dropped off her lampwork jewelry at my studio today to bring with me tomorrow.  These are her Chinese New Year Earrings. (Oh that red and orange)

We’ll be hanging the show for 2 days then reception is Thursday night from 5-8 at 3 Broad St Glens Falls NY.   You can meet the artists, there will be food and entertainment.  The gallery will also be open on Friday from 9am-8pm and Saturday from noon -6pm.  Monday we clean up and it’s all over till next time.

A few weeks ago I began a healing drumming class.  It immediately opened something up inside of me.  I couldn’t stop crying in class and became very anxious out of class.   I felt such an old sense of vulnerability  I thought about dropping the class.  It was taking me to a place I didn’t want to go.  But, of course, that’s why I was there.   I may procrastinate, but I’ve come too far to stop now.

The anxiety finally  got so bad I couldn’t stand it anymore.  So I went to see  Mary Muncil, my spiritual counselor.  She  guided me through a visualization that put me face to face with a very old fear.  The little girl I met there, took back her power and drummed her way to safety.

When I began this streaming piece I had no idea what it was about.  But now I know I was telling myself to open my heart and step through the threshold,( just the opposite of my original impulse.)   The girl standing on the drum came after my realization.  She now occupies that place where fear and vulnerability were for so long.  I have a feeling she may show up again.

“Stand in the light of your soul, there’s an ocean in my heart, trust the beat of your heart.”  This is my latest wall hanging for Gallery 99.

Another piece of Gallery 99.  I didn’t get to finish this today, but three quarters of the way through I saw it was about movement.

This is it, my first piece for the Gallery 99 show next weekend.  That means I have to make all the rest of the pieces between now and next Tuesday when Diane and I hang the show.  But I confident about what I’m doing now.  Originally I thought of having a central image, but it somehow didn’t feel right to me.  The size throws the whole thing off somehow.  This piece is about 12″x 15″.  I think because of the limited space and the size of the images they relate to each other differently than on a larger piece where some of the pictures get lost.  Here they are all of the same importance so they effect each other more directly.  This piece seems to me to tell a story without a linear narrative.

When I finished it and looked at it I was struck by a memory of being in music class in junior high school.  It was the first warm spring day and I was standing by an open window feeling and smelling the warm spring air.  And I just wanted to run out of the class room and keep going, I felt like a Monarch Butterfly feeling the call to migrate.  I think it’s the story of escaping to myself.

The words are “tears turn to stream when the teapot screams, my work is divine.”

The Gallery 99 reception is next Thursday February 2nd, from 5-8pm.  I’ll be there and working the rest of the show too.  It’s   Friday the 3rd it’s from 9am – 8pm and Saturday the 4th from noon to 6pm.  This Gallery 99 is in the M Dolan Jr. Building 3 Broad St Glens Falls NY  12801.  Check out my Events page for more information about Gallery 99.