What To Do With Old Work

     Before I revamped my website, I had all my old art quilts on it for sale. They were there for years. Then, when I created my new website, I decided to post only my newer works. The older ones weren't part of a series. They were important steps in my growth as an artist because, in each one, I explored a theme or a technique and I learned about various topics such as color, composition, line, etc. But they weren't important to me anymore. So I put them in my "Gallery Under the Futon". I realized that they were probably never going to be sold and didn't want to gift them to someone who may not be crazy about them. And, since, they weren't characteristic of what I want to create now, I took my labels off the back so that I wouldn't be associated with them. I donated them to Ruth Funk Center for Textiles in Melbourne, Florida. They wanted art quilts donated so they could auction or sell them as a fundraiser to improve their storage facility. I ended up giving them 11 art quilts. It felt good. I hope the money will help them because I love that museum and enjoy seeing the exhibits there. And since I took my name off the pieces, my current art will not be devalued if they only sell for a pittance.
     But I didn't give them all my old art quilts. Two of them weren't worth sharing, so I threw them out. Two more had some promise so I trimmed them down to the parts I still liked. For one of those, it now seemed like a complete composition. It was already backed and quilted but to give it a more arty look, I fused it to ecofelt  to stiffen it up. I cut the edge of the binding off because it didn't seem to contribute to the overall look and then I painted the edges with dark blue paint to keep them from raveling. Now it hangs in my entrance hallway and I'm really pleased with it. All it needs is a name.

Unnamed

     In November, I wrote an article for  HandEye Magazine. They asked me to write why I make art. Writing it, was a good reflective exercise. And two of my smaller works got juried into the exhibit Small Things Considered at Arts On Douglas, a fine art gallery in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  As its name suggests, it is an exhibit of smaller artworks they do every December with the idea to sell art for holiday gift-giving.

My two mounted on black linen-wrapped canvas

So now, I'm winding the year up with smaller holiday-themed projects and enjoying not having artworks sitting around gathering dust. It leaves me open, mentally, to create anew. I'm linking this to Off The Wall Friday where you can find art blogs. Please make comments on the artists' posts so that they know you stopped by. Thanks for visiting.