Creative Nudge – A Culture of Beauty

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Luana

I am dashing off this newsletter late Tuesday, just before I leave for Tokyo early in the morning. In case you missed my last newsletter – I decided to use my miles to get a last minute ticket – to go to the Tokyo Quilt Festival again!

The other plan is to go to the coastal village of Kesennuma on Saturday, where we distributed your 2155 donated quilts on July 13. I don't know if I will find anyone who received our quilts, but I can find out how this community is doing, and take lots of photos of this hard-hit region. (most affected by the tsunami in March 2011.)

The dream that is Venice, still haunts me, and I will have images to share. Here is a gold tile mosaic mural on the outside of a building, that I snapped from the back of the vaporetto (water bus) as it churned up the Grand Canal. There are some cities in the world where art and embellishment is everywhere…and Venice is surely one of those cities. Barcelona is the other city that comes to mind, that has eye candy almost anywhere you look. The colors of the buildings in both of these cities, are like a window full of those French macaroons that are so popular now!

It is going to be very interesting to travel from Italy to Japan within just a couple weeks. Both Italy and Japan have such an incredibly strong design aesthetic. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is stunning, but the sheer grace and beauty of design in both countries is almost overwhelming. I remember the first time I stood in that space between the Duomo and the golden Baptistry doors in Florence, I literally had tears running down my cheeks.

When I travel to either place, I am just a sponge….soaking it up and thinking about what kind of social and historic bubbling brew can create a culture of beauty that is so consistent.

VeniceGoldMural1_W

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MLK, Venice and Tokyo

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Luana

With the long Martin Luther King Day weekend coming up, I know a lot of quilters who will be spending the day sewing up a storm. I'd like to send out a special hello to our friends in the many African-American quilt guilds, as we observe the accomplishments of MLK, and the inspiration he left behind. I try to explain to my children about the Civil Rights movement, and the struggle against injustice. So I am grateful that we have a day to honor MLK, although his work is far from finished. I am also grateful that we live in a world where families can adopt across racial boundaries, make friends and play in multi-racial neighborhoods. MLK's work continues, but I am glad to be alive and see how far we've come.

If you haven't seen my first batch of photos from Venice, be sure to check it out on my photo page, or my Facebook Color and Design page. I'm working on the next batch this weekend. It is a lot of fun to share these images – and I hope you'll find the colors and art an inspiration.

Hey guess what? I didn't have plans for next weekend, so I used my mileage points to get a ticket to Tokyo this week! I am leaving Weds and will be at the show Friday. I am also working on traveling up to the coast to see what it looks like now, 10 months after the tsunami hit. Not sure yet if and how that will happen but I'm working on a plan for next Saturday – a week from today. I don't know if it is possible to get to the little village where we distributed the 2155 quilts that you donated, but I want to go and see in person what is happening on the coast now. We'll see ….I'll let you know in my midweek Creative Nudge as my plans come together.

And of course, after the trip, I'll have some wonderful photos from the Tokyo Quilt Festival!

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Creative Nudge – a Classic View

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Luana

VeniceSilhouette1_W

How often are you drawn to an image or design that is old… classic… even clich?d?

The familiar can also be comforting, and if that's what you're after then reproducing an old classic quilt, or reproducing another artist's work, can be very satisfying.

However, for many, it is unthinkable to copy or reproduce another's work, when creating a quilt or work of art, even if it is by an artist from a couple hundred years ago.

Truly, either way is fine. (As long as you are not breaking another's copyright for self profit) What is most important is that we find joy, peace, or healing in the process. We make it our own by doing what WE enjoy, not what we think others expect.

During my visit to Venice over New Years, I thought a lot about this concept. I absolutely delighted in discovering and photographing those classic views of cathedral silhouettes, gondolas reflected in canal waters, and the open spaces of Piazza San Marco.

However I was also alert to the opportunity to capture an image with a sense of humor, with some local color, or with the irony of hyper-tourism in this antiquated city.

Why do we create?

To express a feeling that cannot be verbalized.

To release an energy that can be shared visually with others.

To follow a pure urge to make things.

We can talk about it and think about it and even argue about why we create, but all that really matters is that we do it.

Whether you are copying the work of a master, or an anonymous 17th century crafts person…whether you are inventing from scratch or meticulously recreating another's beautiful idea….it is all valid and valuable.

Learn the concepts of color and design by copying, then use the work of others as a springboard for your own creative process. We are all influenced by the work of others. Lets be honest about that. Then we can build on top of what we have learned, and rearrange all the elements into something fresh and intriguing.

While in Venice I knew that my best photos would be by the water's edge at sunset, (thanks to the work of countless artist over a few centuries) but then I followed the wisdom of my own eye, and made it my own.

I've posted my first batch of Venice photos on my photo page, and on my Facebook Color and Design page. Enjoy!

Best wishes and Happy sewing,
Luana

********************

6 Houston Quilt Festival Videos available now!

See my photo page for travel images, comment on my blog, follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more color and design ideas. Quilt show reviews on the eQuilter Video page.

11 Day Tour of Ireland + Quilt Festival
(click "View Trip Itinerary" for details)
June 5-15 with Luana
$3165 Air/Land, $2573 Land Package Only

Click Here to See ALL our Newest Products This Week!

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An Artist’s Life Work

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Luana

About 2 am Wednesday morning we made it home safely from our long journey. (3 flights over 24 hours, to get home from Florence)

I am going to be processing this trip for a long, long time. Thanks to Mason's semester of art history classes in Italy (see the last midweek Creative Nudge newsletter) we had a tour of Italian art history with Mason as the lecturer, that really altered my perspective of reality as a creative person.

On our last day there, we visited San Marco church and monastery, which is now a museum. It features the life work of a famous Dominican painter, Fra Angelico. He painted frescoes in every monk's cell in the convent, plus more frescoes throughout the complex, including the magnificent Chapter House fresco.

We also visited works by Michelangelo all around the city, which are not on the usual tourist stops when zipping through the city in a daytrip. Having previously seen the great works by Michelangelo (such as the Sistine Chapel, and The David), I enjoyed seeing works like the Pieta (in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) and the Night/Day and Dawn/Dusk marble figures of the New Sacristy at the Medici Chapel.

I had to go stand in front of his Holy Family (Tondo Doni) painting in the Uffizi again, just because it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen up close and personal. Last time I saw it there was no protection – you could lean in and inspect it closely – which was kind of scary. Now there is a plexiglass covering for which I am grateful.

This trip was my 3rd time in Florence, but my first in Venice, and I can hardly put words down about the experience. So I am posting photos from Venezia this weekend and perhaps I can say with images, what can't be expressed with words. To talk about the Light, the colors, the water… would just be cliche. It was great to go in the winter (less tourists), and for New Years Eve (to celebrate with the locals). Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I will try to distill the essence of what inspired me on this trip, and you can see it on my photo page over the next few days or week.

We wish you a New Year full of creative inspiration and visual joy, that takes your breath away and puts a fire in your belly!

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Happy New Year from Venezia!

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Luana
NYSanMarco2
 
*
As promised, I am sending you my New Years Greetings and humble gratitude from Venezia, the City of Canals, City of Bridges, and City of Light… Venice, Italy!

As I wrote about in the midweek Creative Nudge, I've been dreaming about this trip since I was 12 years old, and after watching Katherine Hepburn in "Summertime" (set in Venice) for the umpteenth time, I decided to tack on a 3 day visit to this beautiful city while picking up Mason from his semester abroad in Florence. After director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) made Summertime, he had fallen in love with the city, and bought a home here. In an interview recently aired on PBS, he said the movie was a chronicle of him falling in love with Venice.

 
Now that Mason has become an art history maven, we have such a great time traveling together. It is one of the areas of knowledge we access most frequently when writing descriptions for our fabrics, so it is wonderful to have a "refresher course" and see the Real Thing. Our mutual love of art history is something we'll treasure together for the rest of our lives. Sam is just walking around with his mouth open, occasionally squeezing my arm and whispering in my ear, "THANK you Mom!". Last night we saw a "local" production of Verdi's La Traviata in an 800 year old building, then strolled back in the misty evening, admiring the lamplight shining through the seafog as it softly reflected off the canal waters.

Speaking of seeing the Real Thing, you know there are many cities around the world with canals, that refer to themselves as the Venice of the West, the Venice of Texas, the Venice of China, etc., but wow there is just nothing like visiting the real city from which all this inspiration has sprung.

You may already know that Venice has always been a favorite hangout for expat artists and poets, including Claude Monet, Whistler, Goethe, Charles Dickens, William Turner, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Diaghilev, Percy Shelley and Robert Browning… and Shakespeare wrote two plays that were set here. (Merchant of Venice, and Othello) I've spent many hours in museums, gazing dreamily at the misty pastel-hued paintings of this magical island and its atmospheric skies above…and imagining seeing it in person. Have you seen Midnight in Paris? I dream of visiting Venice in the 20's…

Thursday night when we arrived it was dark and rainy, and Friday morning when we started our tour of the city, it was cloudy and chilly; but by that afternoon the sun started to peek through, and by sunset we had such an incredibly awesome display of misty colors over the bay, that felt like we'd traveled back in time with the Impressionist painters!

I've been taking lots of photos, with lots of creative inspiration to share with you: the expansive Byzantine gold mosaic ceilings and inlaid marble floors of St Mark's, the chalky pink and lilac colors of the sunset sky, the terracotta colors of the buildings reflected on the teal canal waters, and the vivid rainbow of Rialto Market. I'll be editing and posting photos this coming week when I return to the US, sharing lots of art, color and design inspiration with all of you!

I am traveling to Bangkok to speak at the Color Marketing Group Asian conference in February, then Melbourne Australia for the Australasian Quilt Fest in April, and of course my tour of Ireland in June. If you share my passion for travel, color and creative inspiration, perhaps you can join me in Ireland, or meet me in Australia!

Happy New Year from Venezia, and may you live a beautiful childhood dream in 2012!
We wish you a beautiful New Year full of health, peace and abundance, with friends and family, and the time to enjoy it all.


sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Creative Nudge – A Dream Come True

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Luana

VasariSunset_W

I've just had one of my childhood dreams come true, but not the way it was originally dreamed. When I was 12 years old I dreamt of coming to Florence to study painting and art history. My oldest son has just completed his semester abroad in Florence, studying art history and photography, (he hoarded all of his business school electives for this semester) and I am here to spend a week with him and then bring him home. He and I saved up for a long time to make this happen, and now I am going to share my dream with you.

When I was twelve, I read The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone for the first time. And the second, and the third, and the tenth time. I read that book til the cover fell off and the pages began to drop out. (In case you haven't read the book, or seen the Charleton Heston movie, it was a biography of Michelangelo, sculptor of The David, and painter of the Sistine Chapel.)

Years later, both of my sons read the book and loved it like I did. Sam found an original hardcover copy in a used book store, from the 50's, and got it for his book collection. Mason took it a step further and chose to study art history in Florence, and then signed up for 2 Italian art history classes…one of them solely about Michelangelo.

Yesterday morning Sam and I arrived at the little airport here in Florence, checked into our hotel, and met Mason after not seeing him for 4 months. Then we managed to get tickets to a twice-a-week private tour of the Vasari Corridor – the hidden corridor that Cosimo de Medici built that goes from the Uffizi, across the top of the Ponte Vecchio, and up the hill (on top of medieval residential buildings) through the Boboli Gardens and finally ending in the Pitti Palace.

We had a tour guide, but since Mason has been studying with a famous Italian Art History professor in 2 classes, he was able to whisper our own magical history tour with all the exquisite and lurid details, as we moved through the 3 hour Uffizi and Vasari Corridor tour with about 12 other people.

I was in heaven.

I put out a dream 40 years ago, and it came back to me yesterday. Certainly not the way it was originally envisioned…. but maybe better?

We have a busy week, and I'll be sending New Year greetings to you from a very special place. Since I have my laptop (i.e. color editing of my digital photos is less accurate) I will edit and post the bulk of the trip's images when I return after Jan 3.

Best wishes and Happy sewing,
Luana

(photo taken of the Ponte Vecchio and Arno River, from the Uffizi Gallery – the Vasari Corridor is the 2nd story across the top of the bridge, with the small windows)

********************

6 Houston Quilt Festival Videos available now!

See my photo page for travel images, comment on my blog, follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more color and design ideas. Quilt show reviews on the eQuilter Video page.

11 Day Tour of Ireland + Quilt Festival
(click "View Trip Itinerary" for details)
June 5-15 with Luana
$3165 Air/Land, $2573 Land Package Only

Click Here to See ALL our Newest Products This Week!

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Creative Nudge – Magic of the Holidays

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Luana

ZooSparkles_550

I believe in Magic.

I believe in the Magic of the Holiday Season, because for a week or two, we allow ourselves to suspend disbelief and dream about Christmas Miracles, Holiday Wishes Granted, and the Grace of a New Year.

This may be the last year that Sophie believes in Santa, but even when she ponders the impossible logistics of Santa visiting a billion children in one night, she will still have the urge to believe in the magic of the story.

This year it wasn't magic that raised $100K for charity here at eQuilter – it was the support of our friends and customers – bringing our total to $950,000 and allowing us to believe in what is truly a miracle of a family-owned business reaching a goal of raising a million dollars to help others by Summer 2012.

In this season of giving, we know that much of the fabric and supplies you have purchased over the last several months, has gone to make gifts for others. Not just Christmas presents, but baby quilts, graduation quilts, wedding quilts, and quilts to comfort those suffering a loss.

Together we delivered 2155 quilts to tsunami survivors in Japan in July this year. (with the help of Mission of Love!) It was truly an act of Grace to put out the call, and have thousands of you respond with a selfless gift for a stranger on the other side of the world.

As we close out 2011, we are also closing out hundreds of bolt ends, discontinued and overstock items. The remaining 1800 yearend closeouts are now 45%-75% Off – our way of saying thanks for your support in 2011!

Best wishes and Happy sewing,
Paul and Luana Rubin

(photo taken at 2011 Zoolights at Denver Zoo)

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PANTONE TANGERINE TANGO

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Luana

Pantone_Tangerine_Tango
Last week Pantone revealed the 2012 Color of the Year – Tangerine Tango – an energetic reddish orange.

I posted this on my Facebook pages and range of responses was astonishing.
(my FB Friend page is about full, so I am asking new Friends to Like my Color and Design page)

The variety of comments (from "Ewww" to "my favorite color!") shows that color evokes deep emotions, and therefore it is important that we choose colors that nurture and support us, instead of colors that create angst, or worse!

The Color of the Year is not necessarily meant to be the color of your next sweater purchase. It is not meant to be necessarily a color that you can wear. As quilters, crafters and artists, we are drawn to colors that can be added to a palette to add drama. These are called accent colors. You may use this color in a small or a big way, but it should not be judged only as a "wearable" color.

This color has been bubbling up for awhile now, in the Bohemian Paisley palettes of the fashion and home dec industries. It has been mixed with a variety of jeweltones, including the 2011 Color of the Year which was a rich pink hue called Honeysuckle. I remember in the 70's I had a paisley rayon challis scarf with these colors, mixed with cobalt, teal, and amethyst. Do you remember those Seventies colors?

Today's versions of those color palettes are edgier and deeper, but still evoking the color combinations that come from Eastern Europe and India. As the economies of these countries (including Russia) continue to expand, we'll have more color trend influences emanating from those parts of the world.

Some of the most beautiful Christmas art and traditions come from Eastern Europe, and as this part of the world opens up more, we'll see more color and design influences coming from countries that were part of the former Soviet block. A year ago I was in Prague and Budapest, savoring the Christmas Markets and handicrafts from this part of the world. If you missed my blog a year ago, you can still see the photos I shared…some great ideas for holiday decorations and crafts!

For my fabric friends outside of the US – if you'd like to join my Ireland tour (and the Irish Quilt Festival!) there is a price now for the land package only, so you can book your flight separately. I'd love to have some friends from Down Under, Asia and South America join my Irish Adventure!

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My Zero Stress Plan for the Holidays

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Luana

RobinBerries1_W

Every year seems to go by so much faster than the last year, so that finally I have achieved Zero-Stress for the holidays because I just can't believe it is almost the end of the year! How can I get stressed about the holidays when it seems like it should be only October?

However I do make a list of things to do, but because that list is always so ridiculously long, adding a few things like signing Christmas cards or wrapping gifts, doesn't really faze me.

Today I had a rare moment where the house was empty and quiet (the kids were both out with their activities) and I had a chance to just crash in a comfy chair and mindlessly watch the birds at our new birdfeeder outside of our backyard picture window. It was amazingly restful and really cleared my mind. I was thinking "I should be stressed – the holidays are coming up" – and then – "I really deserve to sit and do nothing for awhile!" Creative people don't do well being busy ALL the time.

We do like to keep busy, but it is the times of doing nothing that we get our greatest ideas. When we clear our minds and relax, that's when we get the great genius inspirations. Well yes, cleaning your studio or work space can have a similar effect….but you know what I mean. Also, creative people like to have all their creative stuff out so they can look at it and think about what to do with it…after their head is finished clearing out.

This is very hard to explain to an Organizer type of person. If you have a compulsive organizer in your life or in your house…well you know what I mean. You can have a pile of fabrics or postcards or magazine articles out for months, til the whole thing gels and leaps out at you one day like Sheldon's "Bazinga!"….an Athena springing fully formed from Zeus' head.

It makes no sense but if you are a creative person, no doubt you know exactly what I mean. However my Inner Demented Compulsive Organizer is starting to whisper "It's time!"…and since we are contemplating a tree to hang our collection of eccentric artsy and travel-themed ornaments, something has to get cleaned up in order to make room for the tree.

I just thought I'd share this story, so you'd know you are not alone. *smile*

Have you heard about the new 2012 Pantone Color of the Year? I've posted a link on my brand new Facebook Color and Design fan page, and I'll write about color trends in the upcoming Midweek Creative Nudge newsletter.

If you don't currently get the Creative Nudge, be sure to update your subscription options now!

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Creative Nudge – For the Love of Fabric

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Luana

WomanFromGranada550
( 'Woman from Granada', by Hermen Anglada Camarasa, Circa 1914. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona Spain.)

As I write this midweek Creative Nudge, I am appreciating all the great old Broadway shows (whose music I listen to often in my studio), and in particular Ira Gershwin because today was his birthday.

Brothers George and Ira Gershwin bounced off each other to write one of the most creative collections of lyrics and tunes in the history of American music!

As long as there has been fabric, both men and women have been mesmerized by the magic of textiles. Ira got it right, when he wrote this song's lyrics for the show "Nifties Of 1923".

Fabric of Dreams:

Weaving a dress for my lady
Out of the fabric of dreams;
Fashioned of twilight,
Sewn with the shy light
Of stars and the moon's fragile beams;
Clasped with a girdle of dawning,
Rainbows to cover the seams,
Brightened with kisses,
Ladylove, this is
Your gown from my fabric of dreams!

For many of us, our greatest pleasure is to pet our batiks, fondle our fabrics, and stroke our stash. Auditioning colors, rearranging our fat quarters, and actually sewing fabric, can be the highlight of our week.

You probably figured this out long ago, but the quilt industry has evolved a specialty cotton fabric that is silky to the touch, and either visually stimulating or calming. We are drawn to the colors and the sensuous "hand" of these high quality cottons, and the whole act of making a quilt or garment is full of the pleasure of silky fabric fondling. Now don't blush and giggle, you know what I am talking about girls and boys! It's all good clean fun!

I am including this photo of a favorite painting I saw in Barcelona… this woman is obviously enjoying her large swathe of embroidered fabric!

sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana

6 Houston Quilt Festival Videos available now!

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