Ta Da .....at last......

We are pleased to present A Way to Women's Wellness 2010 Art Bra Calendar!

Cover Design "Days of Wine and Roses and You..." by Barbara Blankenship

Please check out our new site at: http://www.artbra.org/

The 2010 WTWW ArtBra Calendar will feature all newly designed ArtBras, complete with stories, and three spectacular crazy quilts. Net proceeds from the sale of the calendars will be donated to two cancer centers in Pennsylvania. A portion will be donated to the Fox Chase Women's Cancer Center mobile Mammography van, which will provide free mammograms to Philadelphia, PA neighborhoods. Proceeds will also be donated to the Lehigh Valley Breast Health Center in Allentown, PA for Survivor Services.

We expect this year's calendar to sell-out! Over 50% of the calendar printing has been sold to date so please get your orders in early to ensure your copy. Calendars are $14 US, printed with heavy-laminated covers and gorgeous photography.

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MEET THE DESIGNERS at the WTWW ArtBra opening
exhibition at
BYERS CHOICE, October 2, 2009
in Chalfont, PA

All proceeds from the Exhibition Opening Cocktail Party will be donated to Fox Chase Women's Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA for breast cancer research. The WTWW ArtBras and Crazy Quilt Exhibition will be open through October 31, 2009.

Event Info

October 2, 2009 Cocktail Party
7 - 9 PM
Byers Choice, County Line Road, Chalfont, PA
Exhibition will be open from Oct 2-31, 2009

October 3, 2009
Calendar signing at the James A. Michener Art Museum
Doylestown, PA
October 4th
Calendar signing at Byers Choice, Chalfont, PA


Designers attending ~ Barbara Blankenship, Victoria Brown, Leonie Hartley-Hoover, Laurel Mazziotti, Stephanie Novatski, Brenda Wilson, and Julie Yonge.

Start your holiday shopping early and have the designers sign a calendar for you!

A Way to Women's Wellness, Inc
http://www.artbra.org/
info@artbra.org

Busy Month

I am leaving Sunday for Kalamazoo, Michigan to spend five glorious days with Laura Cater-Woods and to break free and make some serious art. I have long wanted to study with her and I am psyched to go!

I will be home a couple of weeks and then off for three exciting days to the American Sewing Expo in Novi where I will spend some time with Koos van den Akker. I hope some of his glorious talent will rub off on me a little and inspire me to new heights. I also hope while there to meet up with my old mentor, Kenneth King, who has inspired and influenced my beadwork for many years.

In the interim, classes will commence at CEG where we are hoping for a wonderfully creative , stimulating year and the joy of being with old friends.

Not home long from the expo and it will be off to Pennsylvania for the grand opening of the WTWW Art Bra exhibit at Byers Choice along with the James A. Michener Art Museum events and a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my amazing friends and fellow Art Bra designers.

My go-to guys will be cat sitting and looking after affairs here in my absence ,bless them and probably enjoying a nice break from my female presence and the general chaos I seem to create. Thanks guys! Love you.

I hope to spend the rest of the year tying up loose ends, taking care of some family business and spending some quality time in the studio designing new
work and creating new classes.

So I will be quiet for a short time here on the blog but will be back soon with lots of news, inspiration and updates. In the meantime, stay well and continue to enjoy creating.

Byers Exhibit and James A Michener Art Museum

The Byers Bra designed and created by Victora Adams Brown


The art bras are once again stirring up a great deal of interest as we look to the fall and the month of October, which many of you are aware is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Byers Choice Ltd. in Doylestown PA. USA, is hosting a month long exhibit of the Art Bras featuring 35 WTWW ArtBras and three spectacular crazy quilts with some of the ArtBra designers, including myself, in attendance the weekend of October 2nd, 2009.

Friday, October 2nd at 7 pm join us for the Grand Opening of the Art Bra exhibit. Reservations are required and tickets can be obtained at 215-822-6700. There will be 2010 calendar signings at The Byers Choice gift shop Oct. 3rd from 10 a.m until noon and on Oct. 4th from 1pm - 3 pm. where you will have a chance to meet and chat to the artists.
On October 3rd from 1 to 3 pm the designers will be at the beautiful James A Michener Art Museum in Doylestown for a calendar signing and there you will get the opportunity to see Barbara Blankenship's "Grape Expectations" and my newest piece " Who's the Contemptible Scoundrel who Stole the Cork from my Lunch?" It will be a busy but fun time for sure and if you are in the area please drop by to see us and say hi. I'll keep you all apprised of the goings-on in further posts as the time draws near. I have been asked to keep " Contemptible Scoundrel" under wraps until the 2010 Art Bra calendar is ready to go but I think you will like this year's offering when it is finally unveiled.

Fiberarts in the news

For those among you who enjoy knitting and perhaps poetry too, here's an interesting article on how a poet's words about a passion inspired an unusual challenge. I love it when I see how people push the boundaries and take on something that normally one would not think about doing. I look forward to seeing the finished product , learning what the poem will be and how impressive the size.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/18/giant-knitted-poem

Art Bra Mania - Again!

Detail - Little Miss Dynamite, copyright Léonie Hartley-Hoover

Well after a year's sabbatical, while everyone re-grouped and the hopes of a stable and generous sponsor was in the mix, there is wonderful news in that THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE A 2010 ART BRA CALENDAR!! For the time being, check out this link to Victoria Adams Brown's blog for initial news re the calendar. In deference to our amazing sponsor(s) we are laying low with revealing too much at present but stay tuned for exciting news re an exhibit and the 2010 calendar, which will be a doozey, let me tell you. There is much going on behind the scenes right now but we are all very excited and hope that many of our loyal and faithful followers of our work and calendars will be more than delighted when the news breaks officially. Thank you always for your continued support and interest in our breast cancer awareness programs and charitable efforts in the fight against breast cancer. We are truly grateful.

I can confirm that Somerset County Health Unit has generously loaned Little Miss Dynamite to be photographed for the 2010 calendar and we are grateful to them for their goodwill in working with us.

Please check in with our blogs for updates and future press releases.

Peace,Tranquility and karma....

My third and fourth acquisitions from Collage Mania, "Peace" and "Tranquility" were created by another Chicago artist, Jacquie Stone. Now, my own personal imagery of peace and tranquility tend to embrace a myriad of blues and greens with touches of spiritual mauves, so what drove me to become so attached to Jacquie's Oriental, colorful renditions? I have to honestly say I was drawn like a moth to a flame by her creative use of texture and fabric manipulation in addition to both pieces being predominantly handwork.
Her unusual choice of background fabric set the pace and united both pieces of work. I totally appreciated the hand stitching that went into each piece and of course, the build up with beads was the crowning glory. The colors and shapes bring unity and harmony to these works and makes for an attractive pairing.
Once again I have to say that the colors are far more vibrant and outstanding in the flesh than they appear here.

Peace by Jacquie Stone

Detail bead and sequin clusters - Peace -

Detail of stitching and fabric manipulation - Peace -

I have always been drawn to artists with a flair for the unusual or those who are not afraid to create what they feel and make their pieces individual and outstanding. To me, these pieces of Jacquie's portray a sense of confidence and joy in the artist's work which in turn gives pleasure to the viewer.

Tranquility by Jacquie Stone

Stitch detail - Tranquility -



Fabric manipulation, embroidery and beading details - Tranquility -

Now for the KARMA - I purchased these two pieces based solely on their appeal to me with no prior knowledge of the artist. All I knew was she was from a surburb in Chicago not far from where my late friend, fiber artist Roxy Barkofsky was born and raised, Jacqui was involved in dog related charities much like Roxy was and she was donating her work in aid of a cancer charity that I had previously supported in Roxy's name.
After I had won my bids for Peace and Tranquility, I received an e mail from Jacquie which surprised and delighted me. She informed me thatshe had been one of my online beading students with Joggles.com (where students often go by christian names or user names) and she couldn't have been more pleased that I had selected her work to purchase. It was a lovely coincidence that gives me even greater pleasure in having Jacquie's work hanging in my home.

To view more of this multi-talented artist's work please check out Jacqui's site and her blog: Your comments re her work there or below on my blog are always appreciated.

Morocco via Texas

The second piece of art I acquired entitled" Moroccan Mirage" grabbed me immediately when I first laid eyes on it. I have long since childhood had a fascination with Morocco and it is one of those far away places I hope to be able to visit in my lifetime.

The artist Laura Osbun who hails from Corpus Christi, Texas, is a very unassuming lady, warm, sensitive and delightful to chat to. Laura shares my love for Moroccan architecture, in particular the splendid arches that catch the eye. It was those very arches that inspired Laura to create this exotic artwork that I now have hanging in my Marrakesh inspired bedroom, where I can get lost in it on a daily basis. I fear my photographic efforts do not do justice to the amazing and vibrant colors Laura has incorporated into this work:

Moroccan Mirage by Laura Osbun

Laura hand painted the sky fabric, then used" a sort of reverse applique with the help of an adhesive fusible" to create the colorful buildings. She said she enjoyed working the free motion stitching around the arches and buildings and then used watercolor pencils to draw shadows inside the arches, giving them depth.

Detail and Stitched Edging - Moroccan Mirage

Stitch detail Moroccan Mirage

Laura's donation to Fiberart for A Cause has special significance for her in that she lost her young son Christopher to leukemia and her partcipation in Collage mania was a tribute to him. To quote Laura" I made this piece in his memory because the creative process of it brought me enJOYment ...joy...something he filled me with during his short yet remarkable life."

Your beautiful tribute has brought joy to many others too Laura. Thank you for sharing your amazing talents with us and I am beyond thrilled to have your artwork grace my home.

Unfortunately for us, Laura does not currently have a blog or website as she says she is " still learning to be friends with this computer" but I understand she is boning up on her " Windows: Plain and Simple" book and before too long, with the encouragement of her friends, we are hoping she will join the blogging community where we can continue to enjoy her creative talents and warm personality. In the meantime, please feel free to give positive feedback to Laura through my comments section below.