Well, summer has arrived, a full moon is just about upon us and I realized today that I only posted once to this blog in June. No, I have not taken full advantage of the good weather. I spent every moment I had on the computer trying to pull together some options for a virtual version of Art Quilt Campus / Art Quilt Residency.

With much back and forth, countless hours of research and testing various ideas strongly encouraged by the majority of former registrants I felt pretty confident that we could pull something great off. Yet, in the end, COVIT19 claimed another victim… AQR has received a funeral with highest honours. It was a great eight years! Thank you to all former registrants for your unwavering support. I wish everyone the very best in their future endeavours.

With such uncertainty this year and no vaccine for the most vulnerable in sight I will not pin my hopes on next year or the year after… and my personal experiences show that once a break is imposed on a “good thing” interest quickly wanes and is redirected. I will not hold on to an illusion. I am too much of a realist. It’s time to redirect dreams!

These days I am redirecting my energy toward virtual sessions with individuals and small groups. Those interested in such a session would request a questionnaire to get the thinking process started. Once the questionnaire is submitted back to me I spend a fair amount of time reviewing the written information and images formulating suggestions and creating scenarios to discuss in person during our ZOOM session. These responses are inserted into the submitted questionnaire and forwarded to the client just prior to the face-to-face session. I have a few of these consultations under my belt by now and I have learned a fair bit. I know that I spend at least an hour in preparation for each session, then the actual session is set to another hour.

Initially I had suggested the one hour session for small groups or creative clusters to share. However, I have realized that each person needs at least 25 – 30 minutes to discuss her/his topic to tie it back in with the overall group vision. I have just recently adjusted this information on the Virtual Classes page. Have a look here. Creative clusters, take the plunge and give this virtual feedback session a try!

And then there is the plan to offer some special workshops in design and Kantha… all that will crystallize soon. I promise I will keep you all posted with regular updates and calls to register. Class size will be limited and kept to 6 participants to ensure maximum learning.

As a bonus for you reading the blog today, I wanted to share a link to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK. Their decision to take the show and master classes virtual is a forward thinking move in my books. While I have attended the Festival of Quilts in 2004 and thoroughly enjoyed my time viewing the quilts, reveling in the very first International Judge’s Choice Award for one of my entries I felt rushed while walking through the huge quilt display and running from one lecture to another, making sure I had the proper supplies for the hands-on sessions and finding the correct room. It was all a bit much. This year’s option is much more suited to my pace these days.

I hope you have the same fabulous weather wherever you are overlooking the landscape. The lake is a deep blue and there are no clouds overhead. I think it’s time for an iced coffee on the deck. Take care! Check back soon for updates and find out what I am up to for the rest of the summer.

Keep smiling and stay creative!

02 Jul This entry was published on July 2, 2020 at 3:42 pm. It’s filed under Art, Art Quilt Campus, Creativity Update, Design, In the News, Journaling, Motivational, Networking, staying in touch and tagged a fitting tribute, Festival of Quilts in Birmingham - UK, new directions, new virtual options for art connsultations, sharing resources, summer musings. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.