[caption id="attachment_13580" align="alignnone" width="584"] Sculpture by artist Judith Simonds and mechanical music box by artist Yuliya Lanina.[/caption] I'm so excited to be participating in W.E.S.T West Austin Studio Tour which starts THIS Thursday night, May 11th, with Due WEST, the official kick-off fundraising event at the Dougherty Arts Center at 1110 Barton Springs Road Austin, Texas 78704, from 7 - 10 p.m. All 300+ artists on the WEST Tour will have one piece of their art at this group exhibition event throughout the duration of the WEST Tour dates, May 13 - 14 and 20- 21. Come out and support this wonderful non-profit

Happy Texture Tuesday!  With all that's going on in our country and the world, I thought I'd give your mind (and mine) a break with this week's Texture Tuesday.  I feature three textile art pillows I've submitted to apply for art exhibitions. Some exhibitions your work gets accepted, and others it doesn't. I'm currently waiting to hear back from two. I thought you might enjoy seeing the creative process that goes on behind the scenes in the Deborah Main Designs studio for each art piece I handcraft.

[caption id="attachment_12621" align="alignnone" width="584"]"Fit for a Queen" by Simmang Design. "Fit for a Queen" by Simmang Design.[/caption]

No, it's not the third day of Christmas yet. And no, sadly my true love did not send me this beautiful necklace above. But I just couldn't wait to share with you this fabulous piece by Simmang Design that I just happened upon this weekend when I popped into a fun little holiday show in North Austin at Just Jill Beauty & Wellness.  I had no idea that, on what was supposed to be a lazy Sunday, I was going to have so much fun and a little impromptu pampering at a local event.

For this week's Texture Tuesday, instead of three French hens, I bring you three Italian blue Goldstones. Originally designed in 2013 for Austin Fashion Week by Jillian Simmang of Simmang Design, this regal necklace features three glass stones and a host of other textural details.