Author: JP Dawes Artist

Quiltart Quinceanera

| JP Dawes Artist

Quiltart Quinceanera Online Exhibit 

It was announced today that this exhibit, celebrating 15 years of the Quiltart list ,is now open for viewing. Click on the link above to view the show.

There are some outstanding quilts in the show, created by 80 talented fiber artists.

This is my piece I created for the show. There is more about it on the exhibit site. If you click on the small thumbnail, you will be taken to a single page for each quilt. Most of the quilts have a detail button to see a closeup detail of part of each piece.

I will be teaching again for the first time in many, many years.  This is a class I have designed called “Beyond Surface Design”. I’m excited to say that there really are people who have signed up to learn the process of creating an art cloth similar to this. Will wonders never cease….and I owe it all to Quiltart list and the wonderful, sharing artists who are always free with advice and direction to solve problems. Without the list I think I would still be floundering without direction. Thank you  all!

More Cotter Trout Festival Pix

| JP Dawes Artist

Here are more pictures I thought you would enjoy. Just a reminder if you didn’t read the last post, these are of the Cotter, Arkansas Trout Festival. There are pictures of the old swimming hole, Arkansas quartz with my dear Ron and the Plein Air paint in.

Cotter Trout Festival and Sisters on the Fly….Inspiration

| JP Dawes Artist

 Our morning was spent at the Cotter, Arkansas annual Trout Festival. This tiny northern Arkansas town calls itself  “Trout Captial of the World”….it must be true…..it says so on the water tower.

This is a great little town with all the homes built on steep hills with most roads that run to the river. It has become a mecca for retirees, many whom are from Colorado. I’ve even heard it called Little Colorado.

The first picture is part of Big Spring, I’ve included it so you can see the natural beauty of the area. I’ll have more on Big Spring park in a few days.  This natural beauty in the area is what drew us to live here. Both Ron and I love the outdoors and never get tired of exploring and finding something new to exclaim about.   

I didn’t notice the men in the window when I snapped this picture. They sort of look like old trout fishermen haunting Big Spring in an eternal fishing trip looking for that record trout.


When we drove into the parking area I was thrilled to find a Sisters on the Fly vintage camping trailer on display. I don’t have much on my bucket list but to spend a weekend with these women camping and fishing would be close to the top. Of course I would have to buy a vintage trailer and have all the fun of designing it and getting it ready.

This trailer is painted like a brown trout. The tow vehicle is in front of it. Notice the very large red and white bobber on the top. As we sent around to the front we saw the line coming from the antenae to the bobber and then this wonderful peacock feather  fly  that had hooked to the window! I love the creativity of this sister, all the detail she put into the trailer.

 If you look closely you can see how she used the eye end of the peacock feather for the eyes of her giant fly.

 As we walked further into the vendor area I found this wonderful Peace car! It was painted with Peace signs and paisley designs. It was even embellished with pearls…including pearls of wisdom in the form of signs and bumper stickers. How cool is this?
Just when I think there is a lack of non-conformity in the area I am treated to a sight like this.

I always try to remember my camera when I go out on a Saturday outing. We weren’t sure what we would find this year since our area has been in the grips of the heat wave with 100+ degree heat index every day for over 2 weeks. There isn’t much going on after about 10 AM.

In the next few days I will post more photos I took this morning. This is really a small town that comes complete with the old swimming hole. It is where some of Big Spring comes to the surface and is pretty cold water. There is an iron pole with a rope swing that the kids stand in line to use. Really…..and the parents let the kids do this for the sheer joy of the experience….nobody cautions them that they will break a leg, arm or their head. 
One of the other big activities today was a Plein Aire paint in. I have pictures of some of the participating artists that I will share with you. There will also be a picture of Ron next to a huge slab of Arkansas quartz crystals that a rock cutter had there.   So stay tuned and check back in a few days for more small town fun.

Golden Moldy Oldy

| JP Dawes Artist

Remember those experiments in rust dyeing the FFA group did?  Here is what one of them ended up being.

The Fast Friday Fabric Challenge for this month was fungus. I remember the days of dampening ironing to wait for pressing. If you forgot it too long, it ended up looking like this light teal linen napkin. So it ended up as the focal point for my piece.

The black areas were the result of experimenting with additions to the rusted fabric. I got some pretty interesting designs, some intentional, some accidental. I started with embroidering areas of rust to separate them and contain them into form. I was careful to keep the eye moving through the piece. next I free motion quilted the least rusted forms. 

It was okay but needed more. Then I thought of the really moldy food you get either in the back of the fridge that looks like science experiments gone wrong, or that sock that was left inside your child’s wet boot since it rained last month…..I knew it needed some chunky pieces of mold and dimension so beading was added. That one took me an entire week.

I don’t usually frame my work with borders but this seemed to need it. With fabric and some rust dyed vintage trim I created my idea of a fancy gold frame. Sort of a tongue in cheek that this beauty in nature needed to be presented as fine art.

Sewing Table

| JP Dawes Artist
[Occupied Japan Featherweight Machine]
Here is my new sewing table that Ron  made for me. We found this new table top at the Salvation Army Thrift Store and it had no legs. The price was right and I thought it would be perfect for this project.
We mounted an old sewing cabinet on the backside to make room for a 17 inch cut out at the front. This size will accomodate all of my vintage machines that I use and it made room for a set of plastic  drawers under the table. Because it was a table top, there was a skirt on all sides. That’s where he fastened a shelf board  to support the machine in the cutout. If you look closely at the right side of the drawers you will see a heavy adjustable pole we put there as extra support for the weight of the machine.

This is a close up of my 401 sitting vertically in the cutout. There are 2 pieces of masonite we cut for the sides to close the hole when the machine is there. There will be plexiglass in the future but this works great for now. This allows me to have a smooth surface, at the right height for me, and the machine can sit either horizontally or vertically. When it is vertically like this photo shows, It can be used like a mid-arm on a table.  I have plenty of table support space on both sides for a larger quilt. I am so pleased with the improvement in my comfort levle  it has made for me.