This week is the BIG Kick Off Opening "Due West" of the 7th Annual WEST Austin Studio Tour which begins THIS weekend! What is WEST you ask? It is the premiere spring art event in Austin covering two weekends in may with over 400 participating artists. It is produced by Big Medium, a non-profit whose sole purpose is to support and promote contemporary art and artists in Texas. "Big Medium produces the East Austin Studio Tour, the West Austin Studio Tour, the Texas Biennial, and presents innovative exhibitions throughout the year in the Big Medium gallery." The WEST Austin Studio Tour, of which we are honored and excited to participate in as an artist for the 2nd year, is a

[caption id="attachment_15504" align="alignnone" width="584"] "Leaf Trinity" by Judith Simonds.[/caption] It's already May and the WEST Austin Studio Tour is upon us. Boy, are we excited!! It was so fantastic last year (our first time participating) that we decided to have our studio Deborah Main Designs participate again this year with SIX artists!   Not familiar with WEST? It's the west side of Austin's EAST Austin Studio Tour, and it has been growing rapidly. Hundreds of artists participate in both tours. EAST is always in the fall, and WEST is always in May. It's so fun to grab some friends or family and take

[caption id="attachment_13649" align="alignnone" width="584"] Detail of Encaustic painting by guest artist Annie Darling.[/caption] I've been absent from blogging for a couple weeks recovering from the FANTASTIC experience of my first WEST Austin Studio Tour.  It was a whirlwind of a two weeks but couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Thank you to my guest artists Annie Darling, Judith Simonds, Denise Jaunsem, and Yuliya Lanina. What a wonderful, talented group of women!  Thank you to Big Medium for putting on such a stellar Studio Tour. But most

[caption id="attachment_13450" align="alignnone" width="584"] "Bits or Pieces?" by Fiber Artist Marie Welsch. $100 Available at ArtSpace in Round Rock[/caption] With my 60th Birthday now behind me (boy was that Garden Party a blast...thank you to all who stopped by to help me celebrate!) I can now refocus on my textile artwork, blog and upcoming shows and sharing other artists work with you. It has already been such a busy spring with many exciting exhibitions happening all at once for which I'm incredibly grateful.There is only 1 - 2 more weeks to see my artwork in person at both Round Rock Arts gallery ArtSpace Fiber Exhibition till May 1st and Texas State University Round Rock IMAGINE Exhibition till May 6th. So please stop by. These past three weeks have been jam packed with my 60th Birthday Garden Party, the Peacock Alley Austin Grand Opening and my first group Fiber Arts Exhibition at the Round Rock Arts gallery, ArtSpace, in Round Rock Texas.  This is only my 3rd exhibition as a textile/fiber artist, as I just started applying to art exhibitions last summer. (See my 1st exhibition Artists Interpret Red post HERE). It's a very exciting journey for me because I love color and texture and textiles and all things vintage.  So it was a logical conclusion to realize

20170308_224445 (2) SXSW and Spring Break are here, our Airbnb guest from Holland has arrived and I want to inspire you with art. I love going to art openings and art galleries. Art has a way of opening up your mind, sparking creativity, inspiring imagination, and seeing life from a different perspective.  I believe we all need more art in our lives and the Austin area has plenty of it, and at affordable prices too. The above image detail is full of color and texture in the form of tiny square photos taken by artist Thomas Athey.  Wait till you see below the larger image of his fine photography below!

[caption id="attachment_13105" align="alignnone" width="950"] Photo by Round Rock Arts of IMAGINE, their annual Art Exhibition.[/caption] IMAGINE walking into Texas State University Round Rock campus this weekend and seeing hundreds of pieces of art from artists all over central Texas - paintings, sculptures, mosaics, fiber and more. You'll see just that at the Opening Reception of the IMAGINE Art Exhibition this Saturday, March 4th, from 7 - 9:30 p.m.  And you're invited!! The exhibition runs through May 6th. This week's Texture Tuesday gives you the full scoop on the IMAGINE 2017 Art Exhibition, and a sneak peek into some of the color and texture you'll find there.  (Full disclosure: one of my textile art pillows below will be in this exhibition.)